Hello yarbo team and community, I am not a yarbo owner but I am a snow removal enthusiast. My suggestions are based on observations of many videos of Yarbo blowing snow but specifically a video from State of Charge on youtube. The yarbo was bogged down by heavy wet snow on its way back up his steep long driveway. Yarbo is a powerful tracked machine with good weight and its blower is no joke powerful, so what is stopping Yarbo? I believe it is the drag from the auger housing causing the problem. It’s the same as using a powerful walk behind blower, it works easily until it’s heavy thick stuff the machine gets less traction and you find yourself having the help it along. If you look at Japanese market snow blowers they all have the auger protruding from the housing, allowing them to begin working into the snow eliminating alot of resistance when trying to move forward. Mayne this is not allowed to to regulations in the US market? I think it would save a significant amount of battery too reducing how much it has to push itself into the snow ahead.
TLDR don’t recess the auger in the housing, it will allow it to blaze through anything with its already powerful auger, it should extend its battery while blowing and keep heavy stuff from ever stopping it. Maybe R&D has already tried, it looks like R&d could test it by modifying the current blower.
I watched the same video and I think if he removed the flume diverter and did some other tweaks he wouldn’t have had an issue (maybe 1 or 2, wet snow is tricky). I’m sure they don’t do this for safety reasons since it’s autonomous. Sounds like they are maybe using 3 stage snow blowers in Japan?
My simple observation from my usage, and the SoC video - I think it boils down to loss of traction through terrible algorithm.
Don’t stop to pivot, then try to restart. You lose momentum and get stuck.
Don’t set the front down on snow then try to move forward. The front end lifts part of the tracks off the ground and loses traction and get stuck.
Don’t zero turn in snow. The tracks and underside will get hung up on snow and lose traction and get stuck.
Thank you for your attention and for sharing such valuable suggestions. Since the very beginning of Yarbo’s development, our goal has been to help maintain a clean and well-organized yard while freeing up as much of the user’s time as possible.
We do recognize that more aggressive design choices—such as extending the auger outward—could potentially improve snow-blowing efficiency to some extent. However, this approach may also introduce safety risks, such as damaging yard facilities or posing potential hazards to children or animals. These are not scenarios we want to see during normal use.
At the same time, we acknowledge that there is still room to further improve the algorithm and overall snow-blowing efficiency. In the next version, we will continue optimizing the driving logic and operational performance.
Once again, thank you for your thoughtful suggestions and support.
Thank you for raising this question. In the next version, we will optimize the algorithm so that the unit will no longer stop to pivot when traveling in light snow conditions, allowing for smoother and more efficient operation.
In addition, a counterweight kit—weighing 4.3 kg per side—will be released at the end of March. It will be installed on the track side plates and is designed to improve traction and reduce slipping when operating in wet snow conditions.
I’d like to correct the information I shared earlier. We do not yet have a confirmed launch date for the counterweight track option, but it is expected to be available before the next snow season.