Thinking about buying my parents an electric mower. Anyone have this Ryobi? Other Recommendations?

[thestrangebrew1]

Like title says, looking to purchase one. My dad is down & out with some med issues, and my mom is too weak to pull the cord and get the mower started. Because of this, thinking of getting an electric self-propelled mower. I was looking at this specific one since it's self-propelled:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-40V-HP-Brushless-20-in-Cordless-Electric-Battery-Walk-Behind-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower-with-6-0-Ah-Battery-and-Charger-RY40HPLM07K/337561078

Anyone have this or similar? Their yard is small, about 500sf total for front and back. Took me less than 10 mins to mow it on Saturday.

 

[lxskllr]

I wonder if it wouldn't be better to just pay someone to do it if you can't get to it every week. Health/mobility issues are probably just gonna get worse. OTOH, a 10 minute walk every week is better than nothing for exercise. Can't help with the mower. I don't know anyone with electric.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I wonder if it wouldn't be better to just pay someone to do it if you can't get to it every week. Health/mobility issues are probably just gonna get worse. OTOH, a 10 minute walk every week is better than nothing for exercise. Can't help with the mower. I don't know anyone with electric.

I thought about just hiring someone to do it since I live about an hour from them, but they love spending time outdoors doing yard stuff. I figure they could use this and it'll be easier on them.

 

[lxskllr]

While I've never used Ryobi, I have a good impression of them. Whenever I read forum posts, they go something like "I just bought Ryobi cause... but it's been working great...".

Electric stuff is weird. It feels like overall quality amongst all the brands is fairly low til you get to the pro($) gear. I'm not sold on electric stuff yet, but I would consider a Ryobi mower if I were buying.

 

[nakedfrog]

I've had a very similar looking non-self-propelled version of that Ryobi for 9 years, I'm happy with it. I got a string trimmer to go along with it, because my old one was corded, and it was nice to have two batteries if I happened to put off mowing for too long occasionally.

 

[I'dluv2]

 

[Greenman]

While I've never used Ryobi, I have a good impression of them. Whenever I read forum posts, they go something like "I just bought Ryobi cause... but it's been working great...".

Electric stuff is weird. It feels like overall quality amongst all the brands is fairly low til you get to the pro($) gear. I'm not sold on electric stuff yet, but I would consider a Ryobi mower if I were buying.

Ryobi makes decent consumer grade stuff. I have two or three Ryobi tools that are alright, and one that's surprisingly good.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Yea I have a few of their power tools that's going 5-7 years so far and are holding up. I think I'll just pull the trigger on this. The air district offers rebates for switching to electric mowers. You can get up to $250 if you take the gas one to a qualified dismantler. Win-win...

 

[nisryus]

I have an older version electric mower from Ryobi which my wife uses (I have a gas one from Honda). The battery is good, the wife usually can finish mowing the whole front and back and still have half juice left. The only thing she doesn't like is that it is great if the grass is not too long, but it kind of struggle if you try to mow anything taller than 4 inches.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

...but it kind of struggle if you try to mow anything taller than 4 inches.

Barring any setbacks, my folks don't usually let their grass get that tall. My biggest concern is weight. Doing some research, these things vary from 50-70 lbs. I told my parents I was going to get them one and he said if I do, he prefers the 21" which is around 71 lbs IIRC w/both batteries. Seems kinda heavy to me but with the self propel it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

 

[lxskllr]

As long as it doesn't have to be manhandled anywhere, it can weigh anything. How will blade sharpening be handled? I don't sharpen my gas mower blades at all, cause I don't care, and it has excess power to knock the grass down. I suspect blades are more crucial for electric.

 

[nakedfrog]

As long as it doesn't have to be manhandled anywhere, it can weigh anything. How will blade sharpening be handled? I don't sharpen my gas mower blades at all, cause I don't care, and it has excess power to knock the grass down. I suspect blades are more crucial for electric.

I haven't ever sharpened my blade either, I'm sure it'd benefit from it, but I'm only out here cutting grass from necessity, I'm not doing it for aesthetics.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Yea I don't think they've ever had their blades sharpened before. Also, at less than 500sf, I don't think it'll ever be an issue...

 

[lxskllr]

Since the subject has come up... How do electric mowers handle sticks and stuff? I use my gas mower virtually as a bushhog, and will shove it through anything that won't cause it to stop with a bit of feathering of the push. IOW, I abuse the shit out of it. I wouldn't expect an electric to handle that, but there's zero chance I groom the yard, and pickup all the sticks that fall from the trees. Can an electric deal with that?

I get my pushmowers from the consignment shop for ~$100. Running it through my head, it might be worth $500-$1k to go electric to eliminate the noise and pollution. I could charge off my solar panel. I might have to split mows into a couple days to get everything done, but that's not the worst thing in the world.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

In my research I came across a video of a guy going over some taller weeds and brush (about knee highish) and it seemed to do ok. Probably wouldn't do what you want to satisfaction and may just make more of a mess and/or damage the crap out of them. I think most of the decks are plastic.

 

[nakedfrog]

Dunno, I do generally pick up sticks but have definitely missed some and mowed over them. It's performed at least as well as my previous gas mowers but I'm maybe not abusing it quite as much as you.

 

[lxskllr]

Left side, and front yard are pretty easy and clear cut. Right side and rear is where stuff gets dicey, especially in fall when the backyard is covered in walnuts. Maybe I'll just keep my eyes open for one at the consignment shop, and if I can get it cheap enough, it'll be a decent trial without a huge monetary outlay. I could use it for the easy parts, and use gas for the rugged sections if electric won't cut it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

For regular power tools I have all Ryobi and no issues with that brand. For lawn and garden stuff I went Greenworks 80v. Their stuff is also built similar to gas. Metal deck for mower, metal auger and body for snowblower etc. Ryobi also has the 40v platform so I had considered that but either way I was buying new batteries so went with Greenworks. I have the lawnmower, snow blower, electric snow shovel, leaf blower, weed whacker, and earth auger.

The key with any electric tool is to have spare batteries though. When I'm bucking firewood with the chainsaw I can go through the battery fairly quick so I have a lot to switch between and always have one on the charger. I tend to get overheated and tired out and take a break before running out of batteries.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

The one I'm looking at now that's 21" pops had asked for comes with 2 6ah 40v batteries IIRC. The prices is significantly higher. I think $650 instead of the $500 I was originally looking at. With the rebate and hopefully getting my brother and sister to chip in that would go easier on the wallet.

 

[lxskllr]

Does 1" really make that much difference on a small yard? I guess he wants what he wants, reasonable or not, and his perceived happiness has value, but I'd have a hard time paying that much more for 1".

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Does 1" really make that much difference on a small yard? I guess he wants what he wants, reasonable or not, and his perceived happiness has value, but I'd have a hard time paying that much more for 1".

haha idk man. might as well take the opportunity to get him something he wants.

 

[jmagg]

Batterys are to home care equipment as proprietary ink carts are to printers . They got ya. Good for drills on light duty and maybe weed wackers. Not being able to finish a task and waiting for a battery to charge is bane. Its another money grab, hope the tool outlasts the outlay of expensive backup batts, and chargers.

 

[nakedfrog]

Batterys are to home care equipment as proprietary ink carts are to printers . They got ya. Good for drills on light duty and maybe weed wackers. Not being able to finish a task and waiting for a battery to charge is bane. Its another money grab, hope the tool outlasts the outlay of expensive backup batts, and chargers.

I'm still on the same batteries I got in 2017 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I do keep them inside the house, so they're not subject to summer/winter temperature swings. Yeah, maybe not a good fit if you have over 2/3 of an acre to deal with.

 

[nisryus]

The battery we have has been the original one.. so thats like 4 years now. Still good.

Sometimes we don't rake so the wife would just mow over small sticks and tree stuffs. She said she would hear the blade hit but thats about it. No issue what so ever.

Now, one problem is when the grass got wet, then the mower really struggle.

And we also have never sharpen the blade.

 

[cavemanmoron]

I have a Ryobi 40v walk behind mower, for about 6 years now, it came with One 6amp hour battery,
I also bought a Ryobi 40v leaf blower that came with a smaller battery, and they interchange.
Only maintenance I have done to the mower is washed the deck a couple times, and retightened the torx head screws
that hold the handles near the back wheels, about once a year.
I have used the leaf back a couple times, but its easier to just use the mower as a mulcher!!
I would buy one again.