I reviewed the giant Yarbo lawn care robot – here’s why the $10k price isn’t as crazy as it seems

Yarbo’s robot lawnmower claims to do a bit more than mow your lawn. It’s pegged as the ultimate garden robot that mows the grass, clears snow, blows leaves, and could probably tow your barbecue back into the shed. That probably makes it the best bit of garden tech around. I know what you’re probably thinking, and I thought it as well at first – that’s an awfully big promise.

But when this real, tank-tracked, yellow-and-black unit arrived on a pallet, it turns out, the Yarbo system manages to do everything it says. All of that functionality, doesn’t come cheap, however.

A fully kitted-out system will set you back $9700/£9300 from Yarbo’s store – which is an eye-watering sum. But (and hear me out), I don’t think this price is as crazy as it seems. Plus you can pick the standard model up for around half that – $5000 on Amazon US.

At the heart of this system is the Yarbo Core: a chunky, industrial-looking rover that looks more like something you’d see clearing mines than trimming hedges. It’s the main unit, weighing almost 60kg, and connects to different job-specific modules. Each of the modules turns the Yarbo Core into a purpose-built machine for whatever task you’re dreading that week. The idea is that you only need one main machine, and can swap out the sections depending on the time of the year.

The Snow Blower alone could level a snow drift like it’s clearing a runway. The Lawn Mower has a torsion-flex deck with twin cutting discs and enough adjustment options to make even the pickiest suburban dad feel seen. The Blower Module practically weaponises air. Plus, there’s a tow hook that comes included, with the ability to pull up to 1600kg (a small car). A trimmer attachment has just been unveiled for the mower, and a grit and fertiliser spreader are coming later this year.

Impressively, Yarbo is committed to adding even more modules in the future. I know there are plans to unveil an attachment to push and pull wheelie bins, a fruit picker, a sprinkler system, and even a large house for them all to live in. It’s something seriously impressive big-picture stuff. But for the time being, I’ve used the lawn mower for a few months, and also tested out the leaf blower.

Set-up and mapping

Yarbo doesn’t pretend this is a five-minute plug-and-play device – it’s more of a project. And that’s both a compliment and a caveat. But I wasn’t quite prepared for just how involved setting up the system would be.

Unboxing alone took the better part of an afternoon – and a decent chunk of storage space. The Yarbo Core, the modules, the Smart Assist module, the docking station, and the battery (which could double as a gym weight) all came packed in industrial foam on a pallet. Additional items such as antenna, labelled bags of screws and accessories are also in the boxes. I appreciated the labelling. But it still felt like assembling machinery from scratch, complete with a side quest in antenna positioning.

The RTK antenna needs a clear line to the sky, so naturally, that meant clambering onto the garage roof. I ran (and kind of squashed) an Ethernet cable out the corner of a window, and found a spot high enough to avoid trees but not so far that I needed to splice cabling like I was setting up a ham radio tower. There’s a PoE cable for power, along with a regular Ethernet cable that needs plugging into your router.

Once that’s all set up, you’ve got to turn your attention to the charging dock. It’s heavy, needs to be firmly anchored into the ground, and if you get the placement wrong, it’ll cause nothing but grief. In my case, I couldn’t hide it next to the shed due to weak satellite signal and a warning about the gap not being big enough. So my Yarbo unit (nicknamed Monty) now sits proudly in the corner of the garden like a piece of furniture. Great for functionality. Terrible for aesthetics.

After everything’s plugged in, things get a little bit easier. You can turn to the app, which will guide you through the set-up process. It’ll search for the right signals and insert a couple of updates. Then, you can save the location of the charging dock, so your Yarbo unit always knows where home is. Afterwards, you’ll need to map out your garden – another process that could use some improving.

Like some other robot mowers, you need to manually map out your garden by driving it around the edges. You can use either the included joystick remote or mobile app for this. Now, driving this miniature tank around the garden did fill me with a sense of giddiness – it’s like a toy car for grown-ups.

My garden is separated by paths, so required me to split it into sections. Now, most people won’t have to do this, but it added an extra complication for me. I had to drive around each section, and then map out some crossings (again, by driving the unit) for it to use on the paths and switch off the cutting blades. It lost signal under a bush one time, so I had to go back to where it last had signal. But once I’d driven it all around, I could then set a schedule and let Yarbo start doing its thing.

Given how high-tech the Yarbo system is, I understand the need for the complicated set-up process. However, I think instructions need to be a little more detailed. I had to turn to some YouTube videos to help clarify points that the manual didn’t explain very well – but maybe that’s just me. I’d also recommend installing it with at least one other person, and an entire weekend carved out.

Mowing and performance

Yarbo’s Lawn Mower Module is deceptively advanced. Underneath its industrial-looking shell is a 20-inch dual-disc setup, each disc with five blades spinning fast enough to put your regular mower to shame. You can adjust its cutting height from 1.2 to 4-inches, which covers most turf types unless you’re trying to recreate the greens at St Andrews. I set mine to a middle-ground height and let it loose on a soggy afternoon. It powered through, but got clogged up and quit. In fairness, Yarbo says to only cut in the dry, and when you do so, it does an excellent job.

One thing I appreciate about Yarbo is how it handles uneven terrain. Thanks to a flexing deck and the Core’s tank tracks, it doesn’t freak out over slopes or root bumps. I’ve got a particularly lumpy patch near a tree that usually causes push mowers to go into convulsions. But Yarbo rolled over it like it was nothing. It’s rated to handle inclines up to 35%, which is more than anything in my garden – but Yarbo says it’ll stay stable, even when the ground is damp. It did bump into one particular tree a lot when I first started using it, but has since stopped. It’s unclear if there’s machine learning at play, but it would appear there might be.

Yarbo doesn’t always go for crisp, parallel stripes you’d get from a lovingly operated riding mower. Sometimes it meanders. Sometimes it does a few laps that make you think it’s gone haywire. But give it time and space, and it will get the job done. It may not win aesthetic awards for line precision, but your lawn will be evenly cut, and isn’t that the point? Also, it gets bonus points for being so quiet that you can have a conversation next to it.

Battery life is solid, if not earth-shattering. It manages to do the entire garden in about 2 hours before returning home with 40% left – which is pretty much what the specs promise. And if you’ve got a larger property, you can set Yarbo to auto-dock and resume, which is brilliant in theory and mostly reliable in practice.

Speaking of rain, Yarbo is smart enough to avoid it. If it senses incoming wet weather, it’ll trundle back to the dock on its own like it forgot to bring an umbrella. I found this feature reassuring in the British spring, when the weather can change faster than you can keep up with. It didn’t get stuck in the mud, didn’t tear up turf with turns, and crucially, didn’t leave any tire tracks that made it look like I’d hosted a monster truck rally.

There are a few quirks, mind. Because of its sheer size and weight, turning in place can chew up thinner patches of grass. I’ve noticed some spots near the dock looking a bit balder than usual after Yarbo did a 37-point turn trying to line up for the next pass. It’s also not great at telling you any errors that arise, such as clogged up blades.

Additional modules

While the lawn mower module is likely the one that’ll see the most action in the UK, Yarbo earns its keep year-round thanks to its ever-growing line-up of modules. The leaf blower module is the one that impressed me when I tested it. There’s something inherently satisfying about watching a robot drive around your garden clearing leaves and debris.

The leaf blower module looks like someone took the nozzle off a jet engine and strapped it to a robot. This thing moves air at up to 190mph with a CFM rating of 760. That’s enough to relocate leaves, debris, and probably the neighbour’s cat if you’re not careful. I tested it on a particularly crunchy day earlier this year, and it cleared a patio and garden path in about five minutes flat. The follow mode is quite clever too – Yarbo will shadow you like a pet dog, blasting away leaves as you walk.

The best part? It’s quieter than it looks. Despite looking like a miniature wind tunnel, the noise is tolerable – especially compared to your average gas-powered blower. With Yarbo, you could theoretically clear your drive without annoying the entire neighbourhood.

Then there’s the snow blower module – a two-stage unit with a motorised chute that hurls snow up to 40ft. And this isn’t just light, fluffy snow – it’s rated to handle the heavy stuff with ease. You can tweak the direction and angle of the throw from the app, although I’ve not had the chance to try it yet. Yarbo reckons it can power through 8 to 12-inches of snow accumulation without needing babysitting.

Swapping between modules isn’t as easy as I’d like. It’s less click-and-snap, more lift-and-sweat-then-pray-you-lined-it-up-right. But once it’s attached, it’s rock solid. The first time I watched it dock, charge, and clear snow autonomously, I was immensely impressed.

Now, there’s towing. I didn’t expect much here, honestly. It’s a niche feature, right? But when I hooked up a small garden cart loaded with bags of mulch and watched Yarbo pull it like a robotic ox, I (again) was impressed. Apparently, it can tow up to 1600kg. That’s the weight of a small car. I’ve ever seen it pull a Tesla Cybertruck (though this isn’t recommended). Obviously, you’re not going to hitch a trailer to it and head to B&Q, but for moving garden waste or tools across a large property, it’s surprisingly handy.

Each module feels well thought out, with software settings that expand their usefulness. While none of the modules are light or convenient to swap solo, once in place, they’re no-nonsense workhorses. You can always use the manual mode to drive the Yarbo system with the remote or in the app. This also lets you adjust the mowing blades yourself, so you get a real hands-on experience. It’s also great for rescue missions if Yarbo gets stuck.

Yarbo verdict: is it really worth buying?

If you’ve got a sprawling lawn and lots of seasonal yard work you’d rather not think about, then the Yarbo system starts to make a lot of sense. It’s not cheap. As I mentioned, the fully kitted out system costs close to $10k/£10k.

But that price is offset by what it replaces: a decent snow blower, a decent mower, a blower, and potentially a service to do the lot for you. Add in the time you’re saving, the maintenance you’re avoiding, and the satisfaction of never having to argue with a pull-start engine again? It does start to add up. Plus, the potential for future modules has you future-proofed – which I particularly like.

That said, Yarbo is not for the faint of heart. Set-up is a proper project, the GPS isn’t flawless, swapping modules can feel like wrangling a Dalek, and it’s not exactly graceful in tight spaces. It’s more JCB than Roomba.

But when the Yarbo system gets going, it feels like a glimpse of the future. Not the sleek, minimalist robot fantasy, mind you. More like a grizzled, all-weather, industrial-strength version. One that shows up with mud on its tracks and gets the job done anyway.

Yarbo technical specifications