I have a ton of Milwaukee stuff for that reason, but my garage is slowly becoming a Ryobi showroom. I have, IIRC, the 40v lawnmower, 40v leaf blower, 18v string trimmer, 18v sawzall, 18v dust buster*, 18v hot glue gun, 18v brad nailer and 18v multitool.
*That dust buster, as nice as it is (works well, uses batteries I already have) is ungodly loud. I’m not joking or exaggerating when I say it’s louder than the leaf blower.
I did an experiment over the last month or so to see how much I could cut without charging the battery on my person-propelled Ego mower. I did my yard 2.5 times with one 5Ah battery. So the conclusion is that if I see a good deal on an Ego string trimmer or blower, but without the battery, I should get them because I’ll be able to mow and still have plenty of battery left for trimming and cleaning up.
My one big complaint is that as far as I can tell there is no way to know how much charge is left in the battery. My mower only has one light that is either green or red (maybe amber, too?), but it stayed green as I was cutting, then I paused for a moment, went to turn the mower back on, and the light turned red and wouldn’t spin up the blades. Then the light started flashing green. It clearly wanted to tell me something…
Charging and finishing wasn’t bad. I put the battery on the fast charger, went and did my trimming with my corded trimmer, then 20 minutes later I put the battery back in the mower, and finished.
Batteries are the Ink Cartridges of the electric tool world!
Yeah - same battery works for all tools, but the large one is a tad heavy/cumbersome for the hand tools. We bought a smaller battery/charger for the blower/trimmer. We have the $/space.
I’ve kinda wondered about the charge notification - because it LOOKS like it should give some notice, but I’ve never seen it. Maybe I should read the manual! 
2 of my kids also have the same EGO self propelled as I. Not a problem among us over some 5+ cumulative years.
My EGO battery has a circular light display that shows power remaining. IIRC, there are 5 segments to the display. They go out as the battery is depleted.
This is on the self propelled mower.
Oh come on, admit it, you started this thread to show off that yard. It’s OK, I’d do it too if that was my yard.
If anyone’s thinking of getting the 40V Ryobi, might want to check your local Home Despot because I just picked one up for $250. I’ve got crazy mutant papyrus grass from hell waist high all over the side yard so tomorrow when the battery’s all charged we’ll just see how it does compared to the ancient Black & Decker (which does still work but needs sharpening and the battery’s getting a bit weaky) on a major jungle plot. It’s certainly a LOT lighter than the B&D for sure.
No, no, no, you’re totally wrong! The yard is a complete mess.
I started the thread to show off the view from the yard.
My battery has the circular light, but it is only ever all green. I don’t remember if it was all red when I ran the battery down. The lights are off unless I press the button on the battery.
The charger has a five segment thing that looks like it should be a battery gauge, but it just flashes them all in sequence as it’s charging, and then when it’s done they’re all lit.
Leaf blower, string trimmer, circular saw, and impact driver here. When I bought my battery-powered, 60V Greenworks mower a couple of years ago, I didn’t know that I’d be creating a Ryobi showroom in my garage, otherwise I might’ve bought their mower as well…though I got a great deal.
I’ll agree with all the advocates in the thread on the battery-powered mowers…not having to worry about it starting at the beginning of the season, being able to turn it on/off easily for a moment, light weight, etc. My house sits on about 1/3 of an acre, scrubby and somewhat hilly, and the battery easily lasts long enough.
The 40V leaf-blower is also a monster (though note, Ryobi also sells a crappy one, so be careful)…it has a button for higher power (“turbo” of all names) when needed.
I take down some trees every year with a Poulan 18" gas chain saw, and I’m contemplating switching to battery, because the Poulan is a pain in the ass.
It’s batteries all the way down here.
I’m now looking at a Ryobi hedge trimmer (to add to the mower, leaf blower, and string trimmer) because although I have a corded electric one, the shrubs around the house we’re living in now are nowhere near as close to an outlet as the ones in our previous houses.
I forgot to mention that here in Massachusetts there is a program that gives rebates for buyers of electric lawn tools. So for the $880 I spent on the first three items, I’m getting $175 back. And I’ll probably get $50 back on the $200 hedge trimmer.
It is big, and I’m not kidding when I say the dust buster is louder. Big enough that I find myself switching hands because my shoulder gets tired after a while. For that reason, I bought the 18v string trimmer because I didn’t feel like manipulating anything heavier than that around fences, the mailbox, edging etc.
Also, I forgot, I have the small (10"?) 18v chainsaw. I’m not taking down trees, but I get a ton of branches in my yard after any kind of wind or rain and the sawzall just takes too long to deal with them.
A year or two ago I had a multiday power outage and picked up one of their 40vdc to 120vac inverters to keep a few small things powered up.
I’ve almost bought their hedge trimmer a few times, but it seems too heavy for me to hold, at shoulder height, in an outstretched arm, for any length of time. My electric one is pretty lightweight and I use it, at the very most, twice a year for about a half hour, so it’s not a big deal to drag the cord out.
I didn’t see that when I wrote my post. If you can, try to find one at a store to pick up and make sure it’s not overly heavy, especially once it has a battery on it (if there isn’t a dummy battery already installed for that reason). IIRC, most of the stores around here had them attached to the shelf so you couldn’t pick them up more than an inch or two.
Is this the one that you have? You note that Ryobi sells a crappy version as well.
I’ve been following this thread with interest. My current gas lawn mower needs replaced and, with barely 1/5 total acres (minus the house) to mow an electric seems the way to go. I’d like to get one that has a battery that can be used with a string trimmer and blower as I need to get those as well. But I don’t want to buy junk.
In the old movie, “Maximum Overdrive”, where aliens managed to turn all our machines against us, there was a self-propelled lawn mower running amok and chewing up everyone it could find. So, just in case, you should get the user-propelled mower.
Damn - shoulda bought stock in Ryobi!
I can’t speak to the other brands mentioned here, but as for Ryobi, you can do that.
They have a 40v mower, blower and trimmer. However, if you have or plan to have any 18v tools, I’d suggest at least looking at the 18v trimmer. I feel like that would be heavy and hard to work with.
Another nice thing about the mower is that it has a ‘stowed’ position where the handle folds and the entire thing stands up. I underestimated how nice it would be to fold it up like this and shove it against a wall, behind some other stuff during winter instead of tripping over it for 5 months out of the year when I’m not using it.
I know there’s plenty if ICE mowers that do this too, but it’s nice not to have to worry about gas or oil leaking all over out and making a mess or leaking somewhere in the engine and causing a problem in the spring.
Same goes for doing anything under the deck (cleaning, blade change etc). You can flip it over and not have to worry about gas pouring all over the mower, your driveway, the grass etc.
Sorry, I should have been clearer, the crappy one is the 18V Ryobi (at least based on YouTube reviews, where reviewers say it is apparently best-suited for grass on pavement and dry leaves on lovely, manicured lawns).
I have the 550 CFM blower; the link you show is for the 300 CFM, and that one also seems to be pretty good…I ended up with the 550 because the price difference was really small when we shopped at Home Depot. There are 300 CFM reviews on YouTube you might want to check out.
Well dang, I was unaware of this when I bought the leaf blower. I just spent some time online trying to recreate the receipt, but no luck. Good to know, though!
The difference between the 18V and the top 40V hedge trimmer is a little more than 1.5 lbs. That may make a difference over the course of an hour or two’s work.
But I think I’d prefer to use the same batteries across all my tools, unless I decide to get some tools that are only 18V.
