Ryobi Days
8So back in April I had a discussion with @tinamarie1974 and @chienfou about Ryobi batteries (I have a new-to-me battery powered little Ryobi lawnmower.) I misplaced the battery, then found it, but decided I should get more to swap out since one isn’t powerful enough to do my whole yard without recharging it.
I went online to Home Despot and it just happens to be “Ryobi Days” so I was able to get 2 sets of batteries BOGO! Woohoo!
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The little lawnmower is really impressing me, too - it’s only 13" wide but it powers through my tall weeds almost as well as my big old diehard corded electric Black & Decker.
Sweet…going to home depot dot com now…
@tinamarie1974
Did you get anything?
@Kyeh I DID. I was wanting to get a different trimmer anyway, so now I added the blower for free with batteries!!
What all did you get?
Cool! I got that same battery pack that you got, plus some extra batteries:

@tinamarie1974
And now I’m wondering why I didn’t try to just get two of the pack you got, to have an extra charger? I mean, maybe you have to get something different but it didn’t occur to me to try getting two of the same thing. Oh well. I already have chargers from the weed wacker and the lawnmower so I guess that’s enough.
@Kyeh i am sure you will be fine. I already have two or three chargers and three or four batteries. That said, extra does not hurt
my ryobi stuff is in the 40V family. i find when i start to need a new battery, i just buy another tool with a battery. it seems to be much more cost effective.
i just got a new weed whacker, so much nicer than ‘last decade’s model’.
just checked $189 for a battery, or $149 for the weed eater with a battery. go figure!
/image crazy math

/giphy crazy math

/youtube crazy math
/eightball crazy math?
Don’t count on it
@Yoda_Daenerys
!
That is crazy! But
At some point, if you keep acquiring more capabilities with shared batteries across the tools, you reach a stage of adaptation to a cordless tool ecosystem where it becomes difficult to justify buying Yet Another unit that includes a charger and a battery (or several). The Big Bag Of Batteries is, in itself, a chore to keep at RTU charge levels. I’ve even gotten to the point where I don’t charge a battery with two or more bars showing (out of four) because I’ve got so much surplus capacity.
And yes, mine are Ryobi, of the 18V persuasion.
@werehatrack I have a couple of Skil tools that I like (bought on @narfcake’s recommendation
) and then the Ryobi garden stuff; the weed wacker because it was on sale and seemed kind of light, and the mower because it was in an online auction; just lucky that they’re the same brand. I guess I could keep the “house tools” Skil and the “yard tools” Ryobi. I think I like having 2 options because I can take advantage of different sales, maybe.
@Kyeh @werehatrack My yard tools are Black and Decker, house/garage tools are Skil. Except that I got adapters for the Black and Decker batteries to go onto my old 18V Porter Cable tools, so the yard tool batteries can go into the garage tools too.
Also the wet/dry vac is a Greenworks 40V and indoor vac is a Dyson 21.6V.
@narfcake @werehatrack Oh, yeah - I now have a Shark cordless vacuum thanks to Meh, so that’s a 3rd battery type.
Does Ryobi make a good drill? I am really digging their lithium battery and not having to charge a drill a day in advance in order to use it.
@njfan Multiple good drills. It just depends in what you want to do. The brushless compact HP is excellent if you want small physical size for intermittent medium- torque tasks, and the bruskless HP hammer drill rocks where size is less critical. The kit drills in the multi-tool sets are mostly not shabby.
@njfan I would say yes. Used them to bulid a deck a few years ago and had no issues.
@tinamarie1974 @werehatrack thank you both. I may pick one up on your recommendations.
@njfan A drill that gets the job done, doesn’t eat batteries, has good torque when it’s needed, yes. But the construction feels less than stellar. They’re not high quality. I wouldn’t guarantee that it would work in a high tempo construction type environment. But for someone who uses a drill every once in a while around the house, it’s a fantastic, low cost option.
My first drill was a Makita and I can’t use anything else now. The quality is top of the line and the feel when you pull the trigger is perfect. If you are going to be using it every day I would absolutely go with something higher end. Ryobi is to Makita what a metal folding chair is to a La-z-boy.
@njfan @Willijs3
I think that’s a bit of a stretch. I had a Makita for a few years until I went to get a new battery for it and found that the F#$^$#s had changed the battery design and I couldn’t find one. (this was probably 25 years ago.)
I am still using the original (refurb I might add) blue Ryobi one plus drill that came with the starter kit I bought about 20 years ago. The Ni-Cad batteries are long gone, but the Lithiums are exactly the same design and therefore still fit that drill. It has been my go to drill for all that time, though I now have a second (green) one that I bought since it was a bit smaller and therefore useful in tight cabinet-building spaces. While I am not (currently) using my Ryobi tools in a professional capacity, I would say they are more akin to a comparison between a Yeti Cooler and an Orca. I have used them to build the better part of 1200 sq feet of additions to my house, multiple decks, a pool house, shops, and tons of assorted projects around the house over the years. They are not Dewalts, but they are still pretty damn good for the “prosumer” market.
Of course, as with any opinion, YMMV.