Ryobi Days

@Kyeh I didn’t get far in my yard with my black and decker

@Rakaim Mine does the job, but it’s heavy and noisy and dragging the cord around trying not to mow over it has always been a real chore. My neighbor has a battery-powered B&D that seems better, but he was envious when he saw my little Ryobi!

I splurged on Ego. Very good performance to go with the crazy price tag. Very happy overall but there’s definitely sticker shock involved.

@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?

@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

@Yoda_Daenerys
That is crazy! But !

was the $189 battery similar capacity to the one included with the $149 tool? I’d guess not, but I’ve definitely been wrong before.

the model is very much “buy a tool and battery bundle” vs. just mix and match batteries and tools. Kind of annoying when they market things as “all our tools work with all our batteries”. I’m specifically thinking of ego there, but that’s the general idea with all of them.

@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.

@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

Ryobi is to Makita what a metal folding chair is to a La-z-boy.

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.

@chienfou @njfan @Willijs3 I would concur with that for the most part. I consider the difference between the two to be more of a quality comparison between Craftsman and Snap-on. Whiel a lot of professionals actually do get the job done with Craftsman, there is a very loyal following for Snap-on that is not just a matter of prestige. I have, and I use, both of them. But unlike Snap-on versus Craftsman, there is not the tremendous gulf in difference of price between Makita and Ryobi. Yes, Makita tends to run about double the price of a Ryobi on sale. But if you are going to use it every day, all day, that price difference is easy to justify. I don’t use cordless tools that much, so I’ve got Ryobi. And I have to tell you, theur high performance, high torque half-inch impact is an absolute beast. I have yet to encounter a fastener that it could not loosen or break.

a couple thoughts here…

1. Craftsman - what @werehatrack says is true of craftsman from 20+ years ago. The hand tools they sell today under that name are not of the same quality, at least not all of them. Hint: check out Tekton for a replacement for what you used to get from craftsman.

2. As others have mentioned, Ryobi is definitely a budget brand. Not top shelf. Exactly how good or bad they are is up to debate but everyone can agree they are budget. If you can afford it, go with a better brand and it should last longer. However, for typical homeowner use, the Ryobi will work fine.

3. Someone mentioned above that they never bother replacing batteries - just get a new tool. I think that has been a reasonable strategy up until maybe 5 years ago. The batteries and therefore the tools kept getting better, so it didn’t make sense to replace with old tech. I even trashed a very nice makita drill for this reason. Nowadays though, the battery performance is really quite good on an absolute scale - so the tools work well enough for most uses. Therefore, A quality tool that is gonna last will be worth a battery replacement.

@G1 …Selling replacement brushes? Why would they do that? It interferes with drill sales.

@danpritts @G1 what is a brushless drill? Isn’t a drill a drill? If I were every to get married, I hope the wife will know the answers to these kind of questions.

@njfan
The brushless part refers to the electric motor construction. As such, brushless motors are newer technology, run better, last longer, run more efficiently, are generally smaller… and cost more.
Ryobi now has basically a couple of lines for their tools, brushed and brushless. All things being equal (or, catching the right sale event) go for the brushless.

@chienfou
/giphy thank you, you’re awesome.

VAN MURALS! GROUND SQUIRRELS! SPIT CURLS! AWESOME!

@njfan
not really… I’m just a font of marginally useful information…