I told you about my very positive experiences so far with the Ryobi RY40230 String Trimmer in my last post. I bought a RY40620 24″ 40 volt hedge trimmer at the same time because it made a lot of sense to me to buy the whole hedge trimmer kit from Home Depot for $169 vs. spending $129-149 for a spare battery alone.
The box arrived beat up with the battery missing. The unit was undamaged and when I called Home Depot’s customer support number they shipped me a replacement battery right away. I don’t know what happened but I used the battery from the string trimmer and ran the unit without any problem. I was impressed by their customer service – they could have run me in circles but instead moved quickly to do what I asked of them which was to simply send me the correct battery that was missing. No hassle at all. I appreciated that.
I also bought the unit because we previously had a Black & Decker Hedge Hog that did a great job but required an extension cord to work and I wanted to get out to our hedge rows to trim them vs. just the bushes by our house. I also wanted plenty of power because a lot of the branches were 1/2-3/4″ thick.
My experience with the 40 volt Ryobi unit is very good. It came fully assembled and has a ton of power. It’s a tad heavier due to the battery but is well balanced. It will chew through 1″ and even slight larger branches no problem.
One feature is that it can rotate the battery relative to the blade 90 degrees either left or right. I have not needed that feature but it does give you some additional clearance.I should have taken before and after photos. I am largely done here. The unit made very short work of this hedge. All of the branches were well under a 1/2″. When doing trimmer work, I have not drained a battery yet.You can see part of the far hedge row. If I could get a branch into a 1″ cutter slot, the hedge trimmer would cut it. It was pretty amazing. I used to do this manually with pruning snips and it took forever. With the Ryobi, I walked along while swinging the unit up and down in arcs and quickly cut back a ton of brush.This side too. You can’t tell all the brush I cut back here. This isn’t a traditional hedge – more like an overgrown part of our property between us and neighbors,
So, I’ve now used the unit probably 4-5 times to trim parts of the property and probably use it for about a 1/2 hour at a time. No problems – I do lubricate the bar with a spray dry Teflon lubricant just to help it out. Ryobi does not say this is required but I do it anyways.
I’m very impressed by this hedge trimmer and have no reservations recommending it.
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Getting ready for this season’s outdoor chores on our 1.5 acre property, I had some decisions to make. For the last two years I had been trying to live with an anemic 18 volt string trimmer that was way, way underpowered for what I needed. I bought it after an old Homelite my father-in-law bought be in 1998 finally gave up the ghost after years of repairs.
The 18 volt Ryobi trimmer simply lacks the power for big lawns where you need to trim around lots of trees, tough to cut areas, etc. It has a single line and you have to make real slow thin cuts to get the work done. With my old Homelite,I had about 30 minutes of work to do on average and living with the old 18 volt Ryobi, it took closer to an hours and two batteries. It did have two things going for it – it was quiet and I didn’t have to mess with 2-cycle gas. So with this current season fast approaching, I started reading up on what to get and it really amounted to my wanting a far more powerful electric trimmer.
Enter The Ryobi 40 Volt RY40230 Line Trimmer
I did quite a bit of reading and opted for the Ryobi RY40230 line trimmer for a number of reasons:
It was 40 volts and the motor had far more power based on all reviews
It was brushless meaning the motor design did not require spring loaded brushes to transfer electricity that wear out and brushless designs tend to have a lot of torque.
It was a Ryobi and it came with a 5 year warranty. Folks, I’ve had good luck with Ryobi battery operated tools.
It used 0.80 line with two strings protruding
Reviews were very favorable
For $199 it came with the trimmer, a 3.0AH battery and a charger
It was expandable – if you look at the Ryobi series of 18 volt and 40 volt tools, they are expanding rapidly. I needed a hedge trimmer also – they had one. I also wanted a light cultivator – they had an attachment that would swap right onto the base trummer.
I took a leap and bought both the edge trimmer and the hedge trimmer. I bought the hedge trimmer because it came with a 40volt battery and charger also. I knew I needed a second battery so rather than just buy a spare battery ($129-149 depending on the capacity) , I bought the whole hedge trimmer kit made way more financial sense (it was $169 with a 4.0Ah battery).
Here are the major parts from the string trimmer. Assembly went very smoothly. The first thing you should do is pull out the charger and start the battery charging while you assemble the rest.Here it is ready to go, It comes with line already installed in the head plus they give you some additional pre-cut pieces and a winding handle for loading the bobbin.Here’s a closer look at the business end.
The Test Bed
We have a small garden area that is fenced it. Cutting the grass in there just would kill the 18v Ryobi. This was my first test with the 40v model and as you can see – the grass was about 4-6″ high.
The 40v model would either cut this to my satisfaction or get returned.Boy, it kicked butt. I saw no power difference between the 40v Ryobi and my old Homelite from years ago. For all I could tell, it was just as strong or stronger. I could cut right into the tall grass and a nice regular pace. I was happy. This also meant buying the cultivator head was worth doing to tackle the old overgrown planting bed on the left.
Folks, this brushless trimmer is dong a great job. I’ve now used it for half the summer and have cut a ton of grass with it. I’d say I get 30-45 minutes from one battery but that depends on how thick the grass is and it’s a best guess also since I cut and move, cut and move, etc. I’m glad I have two batteries as I run one until it is drained and swap it for the other.
Next, let’s talk about the cultivator attachment they offer for it.
The Ryobi RYTIL66 Cultivator String Trimmer Attachment
A few weeks passed before I ordered the cultivator attachment from Home Depot. The string trimmer was doing great on our property so when it came time to tackle that garden bed, I drove over to Home Depot and picked the RYTIL66 attachment up. They do sell a dedicated 40 volt cultivator but since I already had the powerful brushless motor unit, it made more sense to just get the attachment.
When I first opened the box I thought assembly would take a lot longer than it actually did.
It looks daunting but the four steel tines (the wheels that cut into the earth) slide right on and are held in place with supplied cotters keys. The replacemnet handle goes in place of the plastic original. I like that handle so much I just leave it on the unit even when not cultivating.There is some kind of synthetic felt washer that goes between the tines. Note the holes in the axle, you can run 2 tines, 4 tines or whatever you want. I started with all four.All four tines installed.
To change heads, loosen the grey locking wing nut and push the silver detebt in. The head pulls right off. Put the new one on and tighten it down – done.
I’m getting started. The head uses a ton of power. I went through about one and a half 4.0ah batteries to do the area that was about 4’x18′ long and I tilled down about 3-4″Here’s what it looked like after about 30 minutes of work. It did the deepest tilling when I pulled the untit backward. I then went through and removed all the roots that it dug up with a rake. We now have tomatoes planted in there.Other than losing some paint on the tines, which is totally to be expected, the head and the motor held up just fine.I liked the handle so much that I use it when trimming too.
The cultivator rocks. Growing up my dad had a big heavy one from Simplicity. Due to its weight, it could really sink down in and tear up the soil. The Ryboi unit is relatively heavy but you still need to do some pushing and pulling to get it to work. It really did a good job given its weight, portability and that it attached to the existing line trimmer shaft and motor. I feel it was worth it and am glad I bought it.
The Bottom Line
The 40 volt string trimmer is totally worth it. The brushless model is considerably more expensive but it ought to last a lot longer and be more powerful. Now that I have used it for half the summer I can say it does a great job. I used the cultivator the one time but I used it hard for half an hour – even my wife was impressed. It’s stored in the shop for the next project.
I’ll post about the hedge trimmer next. It’s also done a very good job and held up well.
6/19/2020 Update: Everything is holding up fine. We used the cultivator head again this spring to till the garden. The trimmer head has gotten a heck of a work out last year and so far this year – no problems to report. One comment – I really like how easy it is to add string to the trimmer. It’s a well thought out design. This purchase has totally been worth it.
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I finally gave up trying to keep my old Ryobi 18 volt flashlights working or converting them to LED. Ryobi sells a 20 watt LED worklight, model # P721 that is really slick and uses their 18 volt batteries. I bought one at my local Home Depot and used it all summer while working on cars, plumbing and electrical work. I must say that I am impressed.
The light has two settings, low and high. When I was working in a room or under a car, the high setting was great. Inside a bathroom vanity it was way too bright and the low setting worked much better. They say the high setting is 2,400 lumen — let me tell you, it’s bright.
The problem I used to run into with incandescent bulbs is that the filament would burn out and I would need to install a new bulb. LED lights do not have that problem. Ryobi estimates the bulb will last 50,000 hours. To put that in perspective, if you ran the light for one year, it would run for 8,760 hours non-stop. Of course you would drain the battery over and over but the point is that it will be a long time before the LED gives out.
The legs are an interesting design and can hang on a two by lumber such as framing or a floor joist.
They claim 34 hours on one of the big Lithium Ion batteries and I suspect that is the low setting. When I was doing plumbing and electrical work at my mother-in-law’s house, I killed a big battery in less time than that on full power.
All in all, it is a great light. Since I have Ryobi tools and batteries, this purchase was a no-brainer and I plan to buy a second one for ever better coverage while working and the occasional power outage.
2/17/20 Update: Both lights are still going strong. I have used them a ton and it is so handy to have a ton of light available on demand. I still strongly recommend these.
5/30/2019 Update: I did buy a second one and these things are great. For example, I just used them the other night to light up an area outside where my wife and I were working. The batteries last a surprisingly long time on the lower power setting but I can’t tell you for sure how long. Also, that base is so well thought out. You can attach it to two-by lumber or even use the hook to dangle it – which I did from a rope.
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The one thing I notice about getting older is that I don’t have the strength to go lugging around as much as I used to not to mention I don’t have a ton of patience either. This issue affects me when it comes to portable compressors.
Because of Ronin’s Grips, I have a big stationary 60 gallon Ingersoll Rand compressor. To work on cars, I run 50-100 feet of 3/8″ air hose to where I am working and life is great, For years I had a portable two gallon compressor that required AC that I sold because it weighed quite a bit and needed an electrical cord.
Last Spring, I started hearing about various tool companies making cordless air compressors that could be used to run nailers, staplers or even inflate tires. That idea definitely caught my attention.
I then read about the Ryobi P739 1 gallon air compressor that uses their common 18 volt batteries. I have a ton of Ryobi tools and batteries so I bought one from www.homedepot.com with home delivery. Note, I specifically bought the model above – there are other previous models but I can’t speak to them. Also, the website will frequently sell different bundles (the unit with a charger and at least one battery) that you will probably not see in a store so at least check the website before you buy.
First off, this is not an inflator that puts out tiny amounts of air. This has a 1 gallon tank that is pressurized to 120 PSI and has an adjustable regulator.
This little compressor is meant for tools that have low air requirements or inflation as it does not put out a ton of air – 0.75 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) at 40 PSI or 0.5 SCFM at 90 PSI. Note, I am just going to write SCFM for the compressor because Ryobi says the above is a SCFM rating. CFM is different and click here if you want a pretty good explanation.
Once the tank is pressurized, you’ll have enough air to run a brad nailer, finish nailer or stapler. The question becomes how many nails can you drive before the compressor will need to kick on and refill the tank. The answer unfortunately is “it depends” because of the requirements of the tool. It will never put out enough air for tools that require a lot of air like ratchets, impact hammers, sanders, spray painters, etc. Don’t even consider it for those tools that say they require over 2 CFM. The Ryobi simply was not designed for those use cases and never claimed to be.
This little compressor will probably be great for 10-20 finish nails/staples and then need to run its compressor. If you try to use the tool too fast when it is trying to recharge the tank, odds are you will draw more air than the tool can deliver and the pressure will continue to drop. Remember – the compressor itself is small. When the tank pressure drops and the compressor kicks on, it will need time to recover.
You’ll notice I didn’t mention a framing nailer or even a roofing nailer. Odds are the compressor can do a few of those but it would never keep up. Portable job site compressors for nailers can deliver 3-5 SCFM @ 90PSI and keep up with even several nailers running. If you plan on some quick fix with just a few nails then sure, this would work.
What this little Ryobi brings to the table is portability. It is only about 14 pounds before you add the battery and tools. I use one of the big 4 amp hour Lithium Ion batteries on it and then keep a 25 foot Amflo line on it with Milton 1/4″ quick connect fittings.
I like the Amflo line as it is made from polyurethane and remains flexible even in cold weather plus it doesn’t leave scuff marks everywhere. The old rubber and PVC air hoses are big, bulky and really get stiff. The challenge is keeping all the Amflo hose on the unit when moving it around. Velcro really helps. I started with an oddball strap that I had laying around. It helped but I needed two more to really secure it and used a cool double sided “Velcro” tape that is out now.
I use a hook and loop tape that rocks. The brand name you know is “Velcro” but you will hear people generically refer to it as hook and loop. At any rate, this stuff has the hook one one side and the loop on the other – you cut off the roll whatever length you need and it is simply fantastic for managing cables, or in this case, keeping that Amflo hose on the holder. I use three pieces – on the two sides and one at the top – because most of the time I am using just a short section for topping off tires.
As mentioned in the past, I just use Milton fittings now. Harbor Freight, Home Depot and other discount brands have let me down one too many times including excessive air leaks with wear and even breaking.
One last small tip, use good Teflon tape. The stuff I am using right now is off Amazon and is way thicker than the cheapo stuff you often see.
I have a 16ga NuMax finish nailer and an 18ga Wen finish nailer that work just fine with this plus a Surebonder T-50 Stapler. I have others but these are the ones that I have used with the Ryobi and am happy. Again, I am not doing high volumes – more like small projects, repairs, etc.
It Rocks For Topping Off Tires
What I use the Ryobi for the most is to top off car and truck tires. It really makes this chore easy. Sure my big compressor is faster but to go around and add up to 5-10 PSI to a tire is easy with this. To give you an idea of size, the next photo shows the unit next to one of my Landcruiser’s good sized 275/70R16 tires.
I used to lug around a portable five gallon tank but it weighs a ton, is cumbersome and I might need to refill it several times before I get done. If I didn’t do that, I would have to pull the car around by my shop, hook up a line to reach it and then fill the tire – that can also be a headache unless the line is already hooked up.
What you see above is a Milton S-506 tire inflator that I keep on it. I have another in the garage that is beat to death but still working. It is so very, very handy to have the inflator and pressure gauge in one unit plus chuck heads at two angles for bikes, tractors, trailers, etc.
To give you an idea, I recently had to add about 2-4 PSI on each tire of my daughter’s 2002 Camry to get them up to 40 PSI. The regulator was set at 90 PSI and it had a freshly charged battery,
Part way into the first tire the compressor turned on and continued running as I did all four tires on the car. The battery’s LED charge indicator dropped one bar out of four. The compressor turned off maybe two minutes after I topped off the last tire.
In summary, I’ve been using this compressor for over two months mainly for topping off tires and that really puts some stress on the little unit. It seems to be holding up just fine. It gets lugged around my shop, the drive way in the trunks of cars and no problems. I can easily go out and check all our vehicle tires and top them off where they sit .
If you use Ryobi 18 volt tools, have the batteries and are in the market for a light duty portable compressor for the uses I outlined above, I’d recommend this one. If you use another brand of 18-20 volt tool, I bet your vendor is making a portable compressor as well that you might want to research.
5/21/2019 Update: This thing has been awesome. I use it at least once a week to top off tires and has been great. I’ve also used it a few times to run staplers and a finish nailer. I really like it. It definitely uses quite a bit of power so if you plan on using it a fair amount, I’d recommend at least 4.0Ah, or even better the new 9.0Ah, batteries you will be using the unit extensively. I always have several batteries with me too.
1/31/20 Update: Still going strong. I can’t begin to guess how many times I have used this to fill tires and no real problems so far. The one tip I would tell you is to not leave a battery in the unit. The battery slowly drains for some reason – it always has and I am not sure why since it has a mechanical on/off rocker switch. It’s not a big deal – I just unplug the battery after each use and then the battery lasts far longer. This little compressor is so handy that I have no qualms recommending it.
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Okay, some guys sneer at the Ryobi power tools but I have gotten my money’s worth from their 18 volt drills. I bought one of their 18 volt sets years ago and have two drills, an impact driver and a hammer drill that I use all the time. One drill has done 3-4 decks and the other at least two. I burned out one hammer drill a year ago and replaced it and the others are going strong.
Along with the tools came an 18 volt work light that I have used a ton especially while working on cars. I’ve replace the incandescent bulb probably at least three times over the years. As luck would have it, I dropped the light the other day and busted the bulb. Rather than buy another replacement bulb, I decided to move to an LED unit.
I did some digging and bought a Jomitop P13.5S from Amazon – two of them actually as I have two of the work lights. Now I wish I could say the upgrade went great but the resulting light is a weird crescent shape – even when it is just the LED by itself with no lens or reflector. Both LEDs did this.
I plan on returning these two units as defective and have ordered two more models from other sellers on Amazon. So, for now, pass on the Jomitop P13.5S model. I’ll post on what works later but wanted to get the honest review out.
I hope this helps you out!
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
