Ryobi 80V battery platform adds a 30-inch self-propelled lawn mower
At the Gear Expo (formerly GIE) in Louisville, Kentucky, we got to see a wide variety of the latest OPEs from some big name brands. Among them was Ryobi, which showed the latest addition to its 80V lawn care line. The Ryobi RYPM8010 80V 30-Inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower offers some major upgrades to the brand's walk-behind lawn mowers.
Ryobi 80V Self-Propelled Lawn Mower: A Big Deal
This mower is Ryobi's first 80V walk-behind mower. So far, the 80V system consists of three ride-on mowers. Adding a 30-inch walk-behind mower gives these tools a more flexible tool, continuing to run on the same battery.
Ryobi 80V Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Battery
The 10Ah 80V suitcase-style battery offers more capacity (720Wh) than what Ryobi can deliver with the 40V slide-on battery packs it uses on its other mowers. In fact, you can expect up to 90 minutes of runtime on a full charge. That's 20 minutes more than their next highest capacity model, the Whisper Series 21-inch CrossCut mower.
Blade Design and Cutting Width
Ryobi designed this mower to provide a powerful cut thanks to its multiple crosscutting blades. It features four blades—two sets of two stacked blades that overlap slightly. Essentially, you get a pair of smaller CrossCut stacked blades. The side-by-side stack design allows for better cut quality than using individual, higher quality blades.
Another really important thing is that it gives this mower a total cutting width of 30 inches . That's a huge amount of cutting capacity for an electric walk-behind lawn mower. In fact, the only battery-powered walk-behind mower we know of at the time of this writing is the Greenworks Commercial 82V 30-Inch Mower, which was also announced at this year's Equip Expo.
Covering and Bagging
Whether you plan to mulch or bag, Ryobi makes it easy. To select a mode or switch between modes, simply turn the lever on top of the deck and the door moves to open or block access to the rear bagger. This way, you avoid the complications of dealing with (and potentially misplacing) removable mulch plugs.
Cutting height adjustment and storage
The Ryobi uses a single-lever cutting height adjustment system that makes it easy to raise or lower the blade. It simplifies the adjustments needed to achieve the perfect cutting height. The double locking side rails also make it a stable setup, providing a nice even cut without the need for separate levers on each wheel.
When you're done mowing, the handle of the Ryobi 80V Self-Propelled Lawn Mower folds down completely for compact storage. To enable this feature, simply pull up on the handle release lever and push the handle down onto the mower body.
Additional features
- Single point height adjustment
- Integrated mulch plug – just flip a lever!
Ryobi RYPM8010 80V Self Propelled Lawn Mower Price
The Ryobi RYPM8010 lawn mower will include an 80V 10Ah battery and an 80V super charger. While there isn't any public pricing information yet, we'll know more before it launches in 2023. Like all Ryobi products, it will be available exclusively at The Home Depot.
The mower will be manufactured at Ryobi's Anderson, South Carolina facility, making it the first 80V product to be manufactured in the US using global materials.
final thoughts
Ryobi has entered an interesting position with its 80V product line. On the one hand, homeowners with 1/2-acre to 1-acre lawns may find a 30-inch walk-behind mower more affordable and/or advantageous than a ride-on mower. On the other hand, most professional crews have a walker that can access areas that their larger riders cannot, such as a fenced lawn. In classic Ryobi style, the team is carving out a prosumer category between the residential and commercial lawn care sectors. Don't be surprised if you start to see Ryobi battery-powered equipment gaining traction with value-conscious professionals as they switch from gas to battery power.
Kenny Koehler, Managing Editor, Pro Tool Reviews
Specification
- Model: RYPM8010
- Cutting width: 30 inches
- Maximum run time: 90 minutes
- Voltage: 80V