GeekDad Review: Ryobi 18V One+ Battery-Powered 16-Inch Lawnmower

Since 2015-the year I reviewed it-I’ve been cutting our lawn using a Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel Push Mower. I still love the silent and precise operation, but I’m less thrilled with the effort required these days. Our grass seems thicker than ever and I’m not getting any younger. And although I have teenagers in the house who theoretically handle lawn cutting duty, they have never clicked with the push reel mower. Probably they don’t want to click. Anyway, two issues converged at the end of spring: I began looking around at powered lawnmowers, and I was starting a construction project and needed to replace some aging batteries for my Ryobi power tools.

I ended up buying a Ryobi 18V One+ 16-inch lawnmower. It was a decent price (MSRP is $299), but that includes a pair of 4.0 Ah Ryobi One+ Lithium batteries, which usually go for around $100. A classic two birds with one stone situation.

Grass Cutting

I’ve been really happy with the Ryobi mower’s grass cutting capability. It has a 16-inch blade, which is considerably wider than the Neuton battery-powered mower I had years ago. It also has more power, slicing through (and mulching) everything, including sections of incredibly thick grass that have been the norm during a spring and early summer that have been non-stop alternating…