Review: Ryobi Hybrid 18-Volt Weed Eater

Say goodbye to gas and cords forever ... unless the battery dies. Yes, this is a review for the ONE+ 18-Volt Lithium Hybrid Cordless or Electric String Trimmer/Edger, but let's just call it a weed eater.  After calling some landscaping companies and exploring other economical lawn care options, we decided to man-up and purchase a weed eater. Because our yard isn't large, we wanted something light-weight and inexpensive. Most gas weed eaters are long and heavy (that's what she said), so we started researching battery-powered tools.

That's when we found the Ryobi Hybrid 18-Volt Weed Eater/Trimmer/Edger or whatever it's called. Seriously though, can tools have more concise names, please?

Reliability: It's been 6 months and everything is working fine. The battery lasts for an entire trim (about .25 acres) and hasn't lost any juice. It charges in less than an hour. And guess what, even if it does run out, this little dandy doubles as an electric tool. Plug it in, plug it in! Oops, wrong tagline, different product.

Ease of Use: OK, we have some issues with it here. First, the edger option isn't great, but we don't use it to edge much. It's the stock string that sucks. It's too thin and the auto-feed doesn't work well. As a result, the string sucks into the spool and gets lost. It's an easy fix, however. Just get some thicker gauge string, viola!

Overall, we like it! In fact, we just ordered the Ryobi 18-Volt Hedger. Stay tuned for that review. As far as the weed eater: 4 out of 5 stars.

-Scratch