foxtrapper
foxtrapper UltimaDork
4/8/16 8:26 a.m.

One already exists. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/i-gave-up-on-2-stroke-power-equipment-hello-40v-co/102423/page1/ In fact it's Slefain's fault I now have one, and feel the need to sing praises about it.

OMG!!! I LOVEthis thing! Pull the trigger, it spins. That's it. PERFECT! That's all I've ever wanted any of my tools to do, just work.

Let me start backwards, with the big garden tiller attachment.

My Echo (mantis) tiller decided this spring it no longer wanted to work. The stored dry carburetor gummed up. Taking it apart the diaphram pin snapped off. The replacement carburetor didn't flow gas right. Then the ignition petered out. And finally the starter spring broke. Launching it about 20 feet down the driveway resulted in the throttle trigger breaking.

I marched inside and ordered a tiller attachment. I actually went with the Royobi unit as it had good reviews and was cheaper than almost everything else.

How did it work? PERFECTLY! Far better than my Echo did when it was running, and the Echo tiller was good.

I plugged it into the shaft, walked over to the garden bed, dropped it on the dirt, pulled the trigger. The tines spun, it dug in about 6 inches, and the garden was tilled. You work it like a leaf rake. There is no bouncing, no skipping. It just tills the dirt. It pulls away from you as you relax your arm, and comes towards you when you pull.

It would do the little raised bed in about 30 seconds. By hand that would take me about 10-20 minutes at that depth, depending on how obnoxious the roots were in the dirt. The Echo/mantis would do it in about 5 minutes, and did sometimes bounce into the boarder boards, damaging them.

This thing is almost eerily perfect at the job.

It spins up, the dirt it tilled, the job is done. It took me longer to smooth the dirt out afterwards than it did to churn it up. The roots were no challenge at all to the unit. Nor were the little rocks, as there was zero bouncing. ZERO. Power was absolutely adequate and never was there a hint of inadequacy.

I've used the hedge trimmer attachment a fair bit too now. It drives it just fine. I've used this on the extension shaft so I could trim all around the pond and creek, and without the extension so I could trim some bushes. It powered along just fine, gnawing down any sapling that could get into the teeth, as well all the brush and reeds and such. I was wiped out from the pond while the battery still had some charge.

This is where the lack of heat and fuel and such really shined. Because it's an electric motor and battery I could hold the unit any which way. Perfect for hedge trimming, and trimming vines out of trees. The lack of noise and smoke and vibration also meant it was never blowing in my eyes or making my hands go numb. YAY!

The closest I can come to a negative in hedge trimming is that will the extension pole, it's a little slower spooling up when you pull the trigger. Never noticed any lack of power though. Just needed to give it a second before you swing it into the weeds/reeds/brush.

The pole saw chainsaw attachment was equally glorious. Ever try to old a 2 stroke pole saw up in the air? It's not a pleasant experience. This thing was. Again, hold it anywhere. No heat, no smoke, no vibration, no gas dripping down your arm. Just the whine of the chainsaw attachment and watch it cut the limbs.

Lastly, it's also a fantastic string trimmer. The lack of noise and the lack of vibration mean you can control the trimming with a whole lot more accuracy and ease. I trimmed around the house and the trees and fence without ever having to bump the head to extend the string. All because I wasn't beating it on things, I could finesse my way up to them instead. I really didn't know how obnoxious normal vibration was with a gas type trimmer.

The ergonomics of the thing for string trimmer are spot on perfect for me at 5'5". In the normal hold, the head is perfectly level with the ground.

I'll wait a little while, just to make sure everything stays spiffy. But I fully expect to be selling ALL my 2-stroke lawn tools this spring/summer. Only my big Dolmar chainsaw will be staying.

This thing is wonderful! Thank you Slefain for turning me on to such a wonderful tool!

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
4/8/16 9:12 a.m.

In reply to foxtrapper:

Agreed, I picked up the trimmer and separate blower, and they've both worked flawlessly so far.

Though at 5'6" I wish I could adjust the handle on the trimmer so I didn't have to lift it up as much - you must have longer legs & shorter arms than I do.

Edit: Oh, and I see that Ryobi is selling a garage door opener now. I'm temped to try one out, as one of my old Craftsmen is on its last leg. However there's a lot of E36 M3-talk about Ryobi on Garage Journal, so I may hold off a bit.

Enyar
Enyar Dork
4/8/16 9:27 a.m.

I regret buying an 18V version. It works GREAT, but the 40V seems like the way to go.

I'm secretly hoping it dies so I can upgrade.

slefain
slefain UberDork
4/8/16 9:52 a.m.

Aaaaand now I want the tiller attachment.

Glad I could help! Maybe I should contact Ryobi about a sponsorship....

Brian
Brian MegaDork
4/8/16 10:22 a.m.

Sounds like the stuff I want for the small lot in town house I'm moving to.

szeis4cookie
szeis4cookie HalfDork
4/8/16 10:27 a.m.

Has anyone tried the 40V lawnmower? If that works well also I'd be very tempted to try the entire set.

bastomatic
bastomatic UltraDork
4/8/16 10:47 a.m.

I'm close to buying the same thing. I have the 18v version and it's worked well enough, but could use more oomph. And the tiller attachment sounds great. If the mower works well I'll get the set.

thewheelman
thewheelman New Reader
4/8/16 11:01 a.m.

I have the 40V leaf blower, and that thing is damn impressive. It clears the driveway and sidewalk just as well as my 25cc gas unit did, all while making barely any noise. It really freaks the dog out.

The battery charger has died on me, though - but with Ryobi's 2 year warranty, I just need to get off my butt and take it back to Home Depot for an exchange.

Your testimony has convinced me that I need to replace my trimmer and edger/pole saw attachments. My bank account does not thank you.

foxtrapper
foxtrapper UltimaDork
4/8/16 12:31 p.m.

Can you imagine if they were to make an impact driver or drill using this battery pack and motor?

stanger_missle
stanger_missle GRM+ Memberand Dork
4/8/16 4:35 p.m.

You guys are terrible. After seeing the other thread, I bought the 40v trimmer and tiller attachment last Saturday. Wow, I'm impressed. I haven't had a trimmer in about 5 years but I needed one at this house. My dad was even impressed. Does one of you own stock in Ryobi?

turtl631
turtl631 Reader
4/9/16 1:09 a.m.

I have the Ryobi 40V mower for our smallish urban lawn and I love the thing. I can do front and rear with one battery. Nice and quiet, no fumes or gas can, just works.

Enyar
Enyar Dork
4/11/16 8:15 a.m.
szeis4cookie wrote: Has anyone tried the 40V lawnmower? If that works well also I'd be very tempted to try the entire set.

I borrowed my friends once. 7500 sq ft lot (including the house which I did NOT mow) and it had no problem doing the whole lot. I'm still partial to my reel mower though.

What about the pole saw attachment? I have plenty of the 18v batteries but this may be a good excuse to get the 40v stuff. Corded may work here as well.

STM317
STM317 Reader
4/11/16 10:00 a.m.

What kind of useful life are you guys getting from a charge with these? And what kind of charge time before you're back to work? I may go with something similar pretty soon, but I've got 3 acres to manage so I need something that can last awhile. I know there's a Kobalt line of 80V products that would work, but if this one works almost as well for significantly less money it might be the better buy.

slefain
slefain UberDork
4/11/16 11:45 a.m.
STM317 wrote: What kind of useful life are you guys getting from a charge with these? And what kind of charge time before you're back to work? I may go with something similar pretty soon, but I've got 3 acres to manage so I need something that can last awhile. I know there's a Kobalt line of 80V products that would work, but if this one works almost as well for significantly less money it might be the better buy.

I charged the 40v battery at the beginning of the summer and didn't charge it again. I wanted to run it til it was dead, but it never died. I did a metric crap ton of trimming with it last week and still only used half the battery.

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
4/11/16 3:06 p.m.
STM317 wrote: What kind of useful life are you guys getting from a charge with these? And what kind of charge time before you're back to work? I may go with something similar pretty soon, but I've got 3 acres to manage so I need something that can last awhile. I know there's a Kobalt line of 80V products that would work, but if this one works almost as well for significantly less money it might be the better buy.

I can run the blower for about 30-minutes of full-throttle use. I've not used the trimmer as much, but it seems to last a bit longer. I don't have thick weeds to trim though - I'm basically using it as a mower to just knock down the tall stuff in the yard, which isn't much.

They quote 90-minutes for a full recharge. I've only drained a battery twice, but it definitely hasn't taken any longer than that.

Happy Carmore
Happy Carmore MegaDork
4/11/16 3:11 p.m.

GRMers liking new technology,

stanger_missle
stanger_missle GRM+ Memberand Dork
4/11/16 9:23 p.m.

I put mine through its paces this evening. After mowing, I had some small areas to trim but I used it to edge the entire property. This is the first time in probably 8-9 months that I edged everything, so it was very overgrown. It took my about an hour and it was constant full throttle. I finished and I still had 1 bar of battery left. It ate everything I threw at it. I even tried to chop a couple of small saplings down without success but I did manage to strip all the branches and bark off of them

Damn impressive.

foxtrapper
foxtrapper UltimaDork
4/12/16 8:37 a.m.
STM317 wrote: What kind of useful life are you guys getting from a charge with these? And what kind of charge time before you're back to work?

I bought my trimmer and battery as a refurb from Home Depot, and it may well show. The battery was the roughest part of what I got.

Without using numbers, I can say I can go trim all around the pond with the hedge trimmer, and do some of the fence, until I'm rather tired and want a break. I will still have a bar or two on the battery.

I can plunk the battery in the charger, take a potty break, a snack break, etc. When I'm ready to continue, the battery will now have 3-4 bars showing (4 is full charge). It has not yet let me go "darn Sweetie, I've got to continue my napping because the battery isn't ready".

Enyar wrote: What about the pole saw attachment? I have plenty of the 18v batteries but this may be a good excuse to get the 40v stuff. Corded may work here as well.

It has worked just fine for me. Better than the gas ones because there is no heat and exhaust in my face, and very little noise. I can hold it any which way. It spins the chain just fine, cuts just fine, and throws the chips in my face just fine. No matter where I stand, the chips always get in my face.

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