Ryobi battery riding lawn mower

[KnarlyCarl]

Had seen this from an unreliable source before, but now I think we can safely say it's coming:

 

 

Just did a little poking around and can't seem to find much info, I believe that date meant to say  Spring 2017 LOL

..

 

[jeffmcmillan]

I'm wondering...more or less reliable than an ego mower duct taped to the bottom of one of these 

[Tools & Stuff]

So what batteries do these run on? Not tool batteries surely.

[JimboS1ice]

Internal batteries


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[CATERPILLAR]

6 hours ago, Tool Lover 69 said:

So what batteries do these run on? Not tool batteries surely.

They stuck a 9 ah Milwaukee under there enough power for a small city ??

[Claeg]

Not too crazy about the size at that price point, but I wonder where lawn mowers are headed.

 

You think cordless pressure washer would have come first.

[KnarlyCarl]

On 12/22/2016 at 1:07 PM, Claeg said:

Not too crazy about the size at that price point, but I wonder where lawn mowers are headed.

 

You think cordless pressure washer would have come first.

There are cordless pressure washers available already

[JimboS1ice]

3 hours ago, KnarlyCarl said:

There are cordless pressure washers available already

 

Made from a lesser popular brand if I'm not mistaken... I think Dan and Eric had it on the channel

[jtkendall]

I like the idea, but not the price. I can get a gas powered zero-turn for less than it from Toro, or a John Deere one for a little more. A John Deere in a similar style is a grand less, so they would have to drop the price to that level for me to even consider it. Their battery powered push mowers seem reasonably priced and I'll probably look into them come Spring since my mower is on it's last leg.

[Framer joe]

Looks badass....I love my ego cordless self propelled....and can't wait to try the ego snow blower

[jamis]

I know this is an old topic, but I bought one of these mowers in August and it is well worth the price.  I had to drive 45 miles to the nearest HD that had one on the floor to see what it was all about, but compared to the other small riders, it was worth the drive.  The design and engineering is stout and it cuts as well as the 21" Honda walk behind it replaced.  Compared to my neighbor's $3,400 42" Toro Timecutter, it was a steal.  After I had properly conditioned the batteries, I can mow for almost an hour and use less than 10% of the charge.  It costs me less than $0.06 worth of electricity to recharge the pack.  The pack consists of four 12 volt 75 Ah Sealed Lead Acid/Absorbent Glass Mat batteries in series and they should last between 5 and 10 years depending on usage.  The gas/oil/filters/belts/and engine maintenance savings will pay for a total battery replacement in about 4 years.  Oh yeah, it's really quiet.  They just brought out a front mounted snow plow attachment for this mower.   I made the tail gate to haul a trash can for yard work.

Edited January 7, 2019 by jamis
added image

[method]

That's cool! Never seen anything like it here, other than the husqvarna electric mower which looks like it has a tow pack full of batteries?

 

 

[jamis]

7 hours ago, method said:

That's cool! Never seen anything like it here, other than the husqvarna electric mower which looks like it has a tow pack full of batteries?

 

 

Yeah, the Husqi does tow it's battery pack behind it in an articulated design.  It's a 12 volt 100 Ah pack.  Here's where the Ryobi design comes up as an advantage.  The Husqi runs for an hour and costs about $5,000 US while the Ryobi design runs for 2 (or 2.5) hours on a charge and costs nearly half as much.  Actually the RM480 is the only electric rider on the market that sells for under $5,000 and runs for two or more hours.  The ones that do run longer are the Mean Green mowers and those have price tags way up there. 

[jamis]

Sorry, but I just discovered that I mis-spoke about the Husqi mower.  It,s a 36 volt 125 Ah pack and has a run time of 90 minutes.  Price is $4,000. Still a bunch more than the RM480s.  It also has a smaller deck width than the RM480.

[Jronman]

On 1/7/2019 at 9:31 AM, jamis said:

The ones that do run longer are the Mean Green mowers and those have price tags way up there. 

The Mean Green are expensive but you are getting Commercial rated products. You will probably pay around $15k to $20k for a base model zero turn mower. One of the starter kits which included a trailer and 3 mowers was nearly $60k or more. I think it is more geared towards the pro lawn care guy that is looking to convert from gas power to battery power but get the full setup all at once.

[jamis]

The neighbor two doors down took delivery of his RM480ex (100 Ahr model) today.  He also bought the newly announced 42" front mounted snow blade for it, but that won't be delivered for a few days yet.  

[Kayakerbob]

How do you “condition” these batteries?

[jamis]

4 hours ago, Kayakerbob said:

How do you “condition” these batteries?

Just wash them with bleach to get all of the pond scum off.  Sorry, couldn’t resist.  To finish SLA/AGM batteries, don’t discharge them more than 30% for the first 10 - 20 uses.  As they become conditioned, you will see fewer battery level bars turn off for a give time of usage until the usage stabilizes.  When I first started using my RM 480, 2 bars would turn off after about an hour of mowing.  Two bars is less than 30% of the total charge (each bar is 10%).  After a few mowings, only one bar would turn off.  Later, no bars would go out after mowing for nearly an hour.  It stabilized at that point and I considered that the batteries had been properly conditioned.  Take a look at the RM480 article at MyCountryAcre.com and visit BatteryUniversity.com for more information on SLA/AGM batteries.  Unfortunately, Ryobi doesn’t say anything about this in the Operator’s Manual and I’ve seen a few users complain about premature battery failure or shortened capacity life.  Don’f Forget to show us your snow blade when you get it.

[jamis]

Here's the most comprehensive article I've found on battery care for electric riding mowers.  Wish the manufacturer had put something like this in the owner's manual.

https://mycountryacre.com/5-ultimate-electric-riding-mower-battery-care-tips

[jamis]

kayakerbob plowed my drive and all of the sidewalks on the street today with his RM480ex and the new front mounted plow from HD.  Did a pretty good job and you didn’t hear him at all.  Good way to condition those new batteries,

[Kayakerbob]

Here is the snow plow,.it works great, but to keep it quiet (stealth mode), I inserted a 5/16” thick hard plastic in between the blade and their wear plate. Their wear plate is a 1/4” thick x 2” painted steel plate, and I figured that would make a lot of noise plowing early in the mornings, I haven’t woke up any neighbors yet! 

 

 

 

[Kayakerbob]

I have tied a 1/4” poly rope to handle,  other end loosely tied around steering column, with a big knot about 15” back from handle, to quickly grab rope. This is to keep you in your seat to lift plow, otherwise, you will be leaning over steering wheel, forcing you out of the seat, which unless in neutral or park, could cause u to press on accelerator causing injury or damage!

 

next will be a way to rotate blade from siting in seat, left , straight, right. Currently there is a 1/2” or so pin that drops down with hair pin clip to hold in place.

 

The Ryobi is so power full, that when doing sidewalks , if Blade is full of snow, it doesn’t Bogg down, it’s like the snow and plowed aren’t even there. Great set up ! 🎉🎉

[jamis]

Hi boys and girls.  Ryobi just added a third and fourth all electric riding lawn mowers.  This one is a 42" zero turn model.  75 Ahr. SLA/AGM batteries, but there is also a 100 Ahr model.  Same as the 75 Ahr unit, but with bigger batteries like the other two riders.  Large dollars, but the direction is there.  This one is based on the same electronics as the prior two electric mowers, so it should be good performer. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-42-in-75-Ah-Battery-Electric-Zero-Turn-Riding-Mower-RY48ZTR75/308040422

Edited February 22, 2019 by jamis
added information

[Kayakerbob]

What are suggested ways to clean mower deck, other than using hand (with key removed) ? I mulch, so probably more build up than side discharge or bagging?

[AlexJ]

I think this Ryobi rear engine mower is best choice if you have small narrow yard. I have read plenty of reviews like this. And mostly RM480E is chosen as best battery operated model for this purpose