Current favorite cordless yard tools for 2022?

My Ryobi 24v system I bought 6-years ago is driving me nuts. I've had nothing but trouble from both the batteries & chargers after the first couple years. My last functional battery is barely holding a charge now, so before spending $100-$150 on new batteries/charger I thought it was at least worth exploring what the latest greatest options are that you guys & gals like?

I'd be shopping for a leaf blower & string trimmer, each of which will get used as little as possible(because I berkeleying hate yard work with every ounce of my soul). I also have zero desire to own any gas-powered tools. 

Pete, if you're ever up the PA way surfing the spring/summer/fall, look me up. I have 3 acres of grass that gets cut/bagged weekly. 6 hours of seat time on the zero-turn and another 2 hours of walking around with the string trimmer. ITS FUN! Just in case you need any practice, I'll supply the tools & gas and of course cold beer and wood fired pizza when we get done. 
 

The offer is open to any of my GRM brothers, just in case you were feeling left out of the initial offer.

I have the Craftsman 60 volt trimmer, blower, and chainsaw. They are awesome. 

I have a 5 season old 40V Black and Decker LiIon that I used for 3/8 an acre with a lot of fences and building/driveway edging.  Battery  Still lasts longer then I need for a whole yard edge.  It's much better then the old 24V B&D it replaced.  I leave the battery on the charger plugged in exept over winter I pull the battery out of the charger a bit.  

I don't really like the autospool on it because it is proprietary and seems to use a larger then expected amount of string.  I reload them with generic string but it's still a bit annoying.  

I don't have experience with the rest of the ecosystems tools and don't know if a Today version is as good as the one I have.  

I'm all on on the EGO 56V system. Push mower, string trimmer, leaf blower, and chainsaw. Really good stuff.

Ryobi 40V lineup is pretty serious and continuing to rapidly grow. I'm severely biased because I design the walk behind mowers on that battery platform. The biggest win of the cordless stuff is the lack of noise and reciprocating vibrations when compared to gas engines.

The EGO stuff is really good but expensive and they are falling behind in a total yard maintenance and outdoor products offering.

Hart 40V at Walmart is pretty much Ryobi 40V with a slightly different look and sometimes price tag.

Back to say it looks like Craftsman has dropped the 60v line. 

A little digging shows they were made by MTD and are also sold under the Cub Cadet brand. 

My next purchase will probably be the mower. 

I've been very happy with my Kobalt/Greenworks 80v tools for handling jobs on my 3 acres over the last 6 years. They're equal power to any gas tools that I've ever used, just much more convenient.

I have the leaf blower, string trimmer, pole saw, 18" chainsaw and hedge trimmers. My only complaint lies with the proprietary chain on the pole saw which I have to order online. Other than that, they've been great.

We got my dad a Toro self-propelled mower last year...IIRC it was their 60V system.  He loves it. 

I would love a battery ride-on mower, but the ones sized for what I cut (about 2 acres) are $4k+.  I'm also not super excited about the design most of them employ, namely, having to swap out a half a dozen batteries.  When someone comes out with a rider mower that charges more like a Tesla, cuts at least a 48" swath, and costs <$3k, they will have my attention.

EDIT: that could be a pretty cool DIY project...I bet the pack from, say, a Prius would be a good size for the unit.  Start with a gas job with a blown engine, replace the engine with e-motors, mount the battery, figure out a rudimentary control system, done. 

I use the EGO trimmer and blower and have been really pleased. I had one cell die and replaced it for single digit dollars. Other than that it's pretty great.

EDIT: My next mower will be one of the roomba style ones. Electric, cheaper than a new rider, it mows all the time, and I never have to touch it. That's winning.

RacetruckRon said:

Ryobi 40V lineup is pretty serious and continuing to rapidly grow. I'm severely biased because I design the walk behind mowers on that battery platform. The biggest win of the cordless stuff is the lack of noise and reciprocating vibrations when compared to gas engines.

For me it's the reliability and lack of maintenance. No fiddling around with the choke, no mixing gas, no oil changes, no filters, no messing around with carbs. Push the button and it's on, every single time.

+1 on the EGO products (trimmers, backpack leaf blower, and chainsaw, here). The default trimmer battery (can be swapped for larger) lasts a little longer than I want it to, so I don't get a break quite as soon as I would like.

Do any of the battery powered options use the trimmerplus system?

The setup with one power head and then changeable accessories like string trimmer, hedge trimmer, pole saw.

I don't own anything cordless for they yard, yet, but Makita uses two of their 18v batteries to provide 36v power. That's convenient of you already have a collection of batteries as I do and have a relatively small yard.  They also have a new 40v battery system that you can double for 80v for even bigger tools. The Makita approach is that you can have an entire range of tools in either system. That way, you don't get stuck if you start with 18v, or you can start with 40v and not have to buy two different types of batteries. Interesting. 

Another brand to consider is Stihl. No personal experience with their battery line, but I love their gas stuff and would think hard about using anyone else if I went to battery for yard work. 

RevRico said:

Do any of the battery powered options use the trimmerplus system?

The setup with one power head and then changeable accessories like string trimmer, hedge trimmer, pole saw.

EGO does

https://egopowerplus.com/multi-head/

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

I have a brother in law that just left Stihl. He was one of their lead quality control engineers. Their electric lineup is one of the reasons he left. He was not impressed and the company had no interest in making it better. 

matthewmcl said:

RevRico said:

Do any of the battery powered options use the trimmerplus system?

The setup with one power head and then changeable accessories like string trimmer, hedge trimmer, pole saw.

EGO does

https://egopowerplus.com/multi-head/

So does the Kobalt system available at Lowe's.........because it's the EGO stuff in Blue instead of green. 

To the OP, as far as I know there isn't anything as powerful as the 80V line from EGO/Kobalt. And it's gotten much cheaper in the 4 years since I purchased mine. I actually just gave away the mower and the trimmer/edger combo to someone I work with. I refuse to deal with the people on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. I'd rather just throw stuff away.

We just pay someone to take care of it now. 10k sq ft corner lot with 2 sidewalks wasn't worth the amount of edging we had to do anymore. 

We got an EGO mower last year and it has been awesome so far.

Awesome, thanks everyone!

I have all EGO yard tools. They're great, but pricy.

Friends have the Ryobi 40v system, and for most jobs I can't tell much difference other than the price tag.

If you don't see yourself using it a ton, check Direct Tools Outlet (the factory Ryobi refurb store) for refurbished / factory blemished 40V tools, and compare the prices to Home Depot.

z31maniac said:

matthewmcl said:

RevRico said:

Do any of the battery powered options use the trimmerplus system?

The setup with one power head and then changeable accessories like string trimmer, hedge trimmer, pole saw.

EGO does

https://egopowerplus.com/multi-head/

So does the Kobalt system available at Lowe's.........because it's the EGO stuff in Blue instead of green. 

To the OP, as far as I know there isn't anything as powerful as the 80V line from EGO/Kobalt. And it's gotten much cheaper in the 4 years since I purchased mine. I actually just gave away the mower and the trimmer/edger combo to someone I work with. I refuse to deal with the people on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. I'd rather just throw stuff away.

We just pay someone to take care of it now. 10k sq ft corner lot with 2 sidewalks wasn't worth the amount of edging we had to do anymore. 

Ryobi Expand-it line and Milwaukee Quik-lok does this as well.

In reply to RacetruckRon :

True. But we used the 80V system for two years, I don't think we would have liked something with less power. 

In reply to z31maniac :

Ok there's a few things wrong with what you are saying in this thread.

1) Ego and Kobalt may be under the same corporate umbrella (Chervon) but the design and tooling used does not trickle down from Ego to Kobalt.  That's pretty apparent if you compare them closely and look at the internals.

2) Higher voltage does not mean more power. Take a look at the total watt hours of your battery packs your 80v 3ah pack has the same total energy storage as my 40V 6ah packs.  This does not necessarily mean higher discharge rates.  Anything lacking in voltage can easily be made up in cell choice and current.