Cordless yard tool rant.

[Thumper68]

Sorry guys, I don't rant often (seems the older I get the more often, now get off my grass )

Anyhow a couple of years back I picked up a Ryobi 24v string trimmer for around the house, paid $79 or something like that. It was highly rated and honestly worked well for the small amount of trimming that we need to do around here.

I picked the cordless so that it was easy for the wife and kids to use, now the Fing battery won't take a charge, so I figure that I would get a new battery the trimmer is fine.

They want $119+tax for the battery and I can now get the battery, trimmer and charger for $69+tax. Hell they will even ship it to me for free from HD.

Is it just me or does this make no sense what so ever?

 

[Flat-rate]

Batteries Plus should be able to rebuild your old pack for way less and with better batteries.

 

[gdocktor3]

Shoot, if you're willing to spend the money, just buy a whole new setup. Why not. You got your money's worth out of the first one if you had it a few years.

 

[jd_1138]

Yeah it's nuts. You'd think they'd at least make the battery cost about 70% or so of the cost of a new trimmer/battery/charger, then there'd be incentive to buy the battery (and they can make a profit off of it) instead of buying a whole new package. This just leads to all the **** being produced and thrown away. Most items are not made with a practical way to replace parts on them -- unlike the old days.

I bought an el cheapo Homelite 2 stroke gas whacker 3 years ago for $70. I keep fresh gas in it (which takes care of 99% of small engine problems) and a Weed Warrior head on it (no string to mess with). Never had a problem, and it's easy to start.

 

[Greg85mcss]

Last summer my dad gave me his old mc culloch 2 stroke that hadn't been used for about 20 years. $5 fuel line & primer bulb kit it runs like new. I'd still like a cordless though for ease of use


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[AE2]

See if harbor freight has a 24v battery you can cannibalize for the internals and wire them into your case.

 

[Rickster]

Sometimes the replacement batteries are more expensive because they're higher amp power.

 

[1950mercury]

See if harbor freight has a 24v battery you can cannibalize for the internals and wire them into your case.

Than throw it in the garbage when it don't work. Waist of time

 

[Fixin'Stuff]

Than throw it in the garbage when it don't work. Waist of time

That doesn't match my experience. I did this with an old B&D 18v FireStorm set. Harbor Freight sells 2 different 18 volt battery packs. I chose the one with the higher amp hour rating. Pulled the packs apart and put the HF batteries in my B&D case. That was at least a year ago and the battery pack is performing better than the B&D branded set that I bought the first time the packs died. (While swapping the batteries, I found that the replacement B&D packs had 1/4-inch plastic spacers at the bottom of the pack so they could use smaller, less expensive batteries.)

Here's a vid showing how to do it:

 

[KRB52]

Traditional cordless. Batteries are usually easy to recharge and last a lifetime. They also build forearm strength and character.

 

[DougMN]

Traditional cordless. Batteries are usually easy to recharge and last a lifetime. They also build forearm strength and character.

The blister machine.

 

[kd3pc]

The blister machine.

correction: The callus builder

 

[TK-421]

That's the way it is for every cordless tool I've ever seen. That's why when my old Ryobi NiCd batteries crapped out, I just gave my tools to someone who needed them, and bought all new tools.

 

[Packard V8]

Don't get me started on chargers. I'm now on my third Ryobi 40-volt charger.

jack vines

 

[928'er]

The blister machine.

Nah, the "blister machine" is the long handled cutter with the angled head used for cutting tobacco. Cut the stalk off at the base and drop the plant to the side.

Those things will raise blisters in minutes and go on to wear holes in the palms of both hands in a manner of hours. Gloves or no gloves.

Ah yes, the joys of being a child laborer....

 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I had a cordless trimmer as well. I could get through about 1/2 the yard without it needing to be recharged. Could never finish a job. Then I went and bought a cheapo corded one. 7amps! Dealing with the cord ***** but this thing will cut through anything with no trouble whatsoever.

 

[HomeTheaterMan]

This has been my luck with pretty much anything cordless. I've had cordless drills, cordless lawn equipment, etc. The batteries always seem to be dead when I need them, or die when I'm using them, and in a few years the batteries always seem to need replacement which often costs more than the initial item.

This is why I stick with my gas yard equipment, air tools, etc.

 

[Boilerhouse]

I have a 2010 YardMaster weed whacker that suddenly died. I took it apart and discovered a wire sheared off from just inside the motor, with no proper access to repair. I phoned YardWorks about a replacement motor and they told me parts are no longer available as the model is considered obsolete. Having nothing to loose, I thought of a fix that just might work, and indeed, it did. In the meantime, I had traced the motor model to Alibaba, where I could buy it for just $3.50....providing I bought 3000 of them!

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Friend of mine bought a set of dewalt 20v tools also bought the three year warranty with it. So before the three year warrenty is up something is always worn out. He just takes the whole set back to lowes and they replace the whole set. Pays for another $30 dollar warrenty and he is good for another three years.

Hey it's their rules, he figures he is just playing by them.

Glen

 

[Gila Monster]

Ryobi has crappy batteries, at least in my experience. Doubt I will ever buy another.

Bought a lithium battery drill and only used it a handful of times. The batteries are done one day, won't accept a charge, etc. read up that it's a pretty common problem and it's now basically worthless . Whereas I have a Bosch and Dewalt that seem to go forever

Ryobi are junky tools in general, might as well buy harbor freight if your after a cheap, disposable power tool

 

[electroman187]

I had a Ryobi Li-ion battery stop taking a charge a couple of years ago. It happened due to the individual cells becoming unbalanced and the safety circuits disconnect the cells from the battery terminals. I opened the battery and found the unbalanced cell(lowest voltage) with a multimeter. Then I connected that cell in parallel to another cell in order to charge it a little bit so that it was no longer at a low charge state. I put it back together and then it took a charge! I've been using that battery for a couple of years now with no more problems.

 

[CJM8515]

Hence why ryobi is cheap stuff. I have had several cordless tools over the years, makita, porter cable and now milwaukee. All of them havent had an issue. The batteries on the makita finally gave up after ten years (ni-cad 9.6v old school setup btw). But the porter cable li-ons are fine and I used them to death. The milwaukee I bought because the porter cables are just really old and obsolete really.

Heck I still have my snap on CT6850 from years ago and it still works great. I had 2 of my 4 batteries redone by batteries plus because the gun was beat to hell and back and the batt finally gave up. NIMH now and no issues.

I never trust those cordless yard string trimmers. Why bother when a 2 stroke gas string trimmer is both repairable and if cared for wont break down?

 

[ajchien]

If you're going to buy a new ryobi, instead of the 24v platform, consider going with the 18v platform. You'll have much more flexibility and choices in the future.

 

[firebox40dash5]

Never had Li-Ion Ryobi, but I had Nicad/Nimh and I'll echo all the negative comments on it. Stuff was weak from jump street, and the batteries were toast after about 6 months of pretty regular use. Junk to the power of **** IMO.

On top of Ah ratings, it wouldn't surprise me a whole bunch if the kit batteries were made with crappier cells than others... although I wasn't about to throw good money after bad testing it.