Up in the Colorado mountains the leaves are turning, the first real rain of fall is on the way, and the first storms are only weeks behind it. That makes now the time to get automated snow removal dialed in, not the night before the forecast turns.

In the video above, Will from Zippy Snow swaps a Yarbo from lawn duty to snow duty at a customer’s property: a gravel driveway, lots of trees, and no garage. Here’s the whole process in writing, with the details that are easy to miss.

1. Pull the lawn module and clean the core

The mower module comes off first and goes into storage for spring. Before anything winter goes on, wipe the core down. A summer of mowing leaves dust and debris everywhere.

Will uses Armor All protectant wipes on the plastic and rubber. They help with UV exposure, and they leave a slight slick finish so dirt and snow don’t stick as easily. Two cautions: stay off the electrical connection points, and leave the hydraulic motor alone. Clean everything around them.

2. Decide whether the studs stay on

The winter tracks have traction studs. Whether to keep them depends on the surface:

Gravel: leave them on. There’s no hardscape to damage, and they bite well. That’s the setup at this property.
Asphalt, concrete or pavers: consider taking them off so they don’t scrape the surface. More on that in pavers, gravel and lawn damage.

3. Tip it on its side, carefully

To change tracks, the robot has to go on its side. This is the step where things get broken if you rush it.

It’s heavy. Built up, the unit weighs about 200 pounds. Get a second person if you can.
Protect the top. Cameras, sensors, lights and the RTK antennas all sit up there. Snap one off and the robot won’t navigate properly.
Use wedges. Will slides tree-felling wedges under the frame on both sides. They hold the unit steady and keep its weight off the sensors and antennas.
No garage? Use the charging pad. It’s durable enough to work on, and it beats doing this in the gravel.

4. Swap the lawn tracks for winter tracks

Yarbo includes the tools you need in the bag that comes with the robot, so a homeowner can do this without buying anything extra.

Remove the outer side panel using the small hex key from the tool bag. This exposes the track tensioner and the axle points.
Leave the front (drive) side alone. All the work happens at the rear.
Loosen the limiter bolt that locks the tensioner. Will pulls it all the way out so the tensioner can travel past its hole and give more slack.
Crack the axle nut, just enough to slide things back. It doesn’t need to come all the way off.
Back off the tensioner until the track goes slack. Keep a finger on the threads as the bolt turns to stop grit from packing into them.
Take the track off from the rear wheel side. The front wheel has teeth that drive the track; the rear doesn’t, so the track slides off far more easily there.

5. Clean out the inside before the new track goes on

With the track off, you can see a season’s worth of dirt packed into the running gear. Pull the rear pulley wheel, wipe out the dirt and the old, dirty grease, and reinstall it lined up top and bottom. Start the winter clean.

The lawn tracks get hosed down before they go into storage so they’re ready for spring. If you’re only winterizing a mower and not running snow, this cleaning is the same job. It’s just where you stop.

6. Install the winter tracks

Check the grease. When the winter tracks were stored last spring, they got a fresh line of grease. Make sure it’s still there, like greasing any axle.
Seat the track on the front wheel teeth first, then press it onto the rear wheel and line it up.
Mind the direction. The tracks are directional. The scoops on the tread should face the way the robot drives so they dig into the snow as it moves forward. It’s easy to get this backwards working alone.
Re-tension the track until it’s snug and spins freely, then put the limiter bolt back in.
Tighten the axle nut. It’s a locking nut, but after being loosened and tightened a few times it’s worth making sure it’s properly tight.
Refit the side panel, then repeat on the other side.

7. Flip it back and check the sensors

Lower it gently. Again, it’s heavy. Pull the wedges out, then look over the cameras and sensors, make sure they’re clean, and confirm the antennas are undamaged. Then lift it back onto the charger. As Will puts it, this is why you never skip leg day.

8. Mount the snow blower and connect it

The snow blower’s power plug is tucked under a small compartment held by a single bolt. If you’re working outside, put that bolt somewhere you won’t lose it.

The unit in the video is a Gen 1 snow blower. The motor that sets the chute’s throw angle sits low on the module and adjusts the deflector by pulling a cable. On the Gen 2 module (the 2027 update), that motor sits up top and simply plugs in, which makes the swap simpler.

To connect:

Plug in the connector securely. It has a locking switch.
With both locking tabs up, slide the module into line with the core.
Push the locking tabs down.
Check that it’s secure before you walk away.

9. Protect it for the season

A final pass of protectant on the plastic and rubber keeps it from weathering in the sun. Then the covers go on, one for the core and one for the snow blower, until the first storm.

What’s next: mapping with NetRTK

This property is heavily wooded. Last winter the robot ran successfully using its Data Center base station, but trees are the classic RTK headache. The next video covers re-mapping it with NetRTK, which gets its position corrections over the network instead of from the local base station and sidesteps many of the problems trees cause. Background on how that works is in Does it need Wi‑Fi? RTK, the Data Center, and the trouble with trees.

The short version

Clean the core and protect the plastics before winter gear goes on.
Keep studs for gravel; think twice on pavers and concrete.
Tip it onto wedges, never onto its sensors or antennas.
Clean out the running gear, check the grease, and mount the winter tracks facing the right way.
Secure the snow blower connection and lock both tabs.
Cover it, and get the mapping sorted before the first storm.

These robots can clear your driveway without you, but they can’t maintain themselves. If you’d rather not wrestle 200 pounds onto wedges every fall, that’s what a Zippy Pro is for. We cover Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Northern Virginia and Colorado. If you’re outside those areas, reach out anyway and we’ll help however we can.

Thinking about a Yarbo? Our free Robo Snow Users Guide covers specs, what installation really involves, and a pre-winter checklist.

Getting a Yarbo ready for winter: tracks, studs, and the snow blower swap