Ryobi RLM36X46L50HI / RLM36X46L50HID

Useless warranty – My Ryobi lawn mower is only 3 years old, it suddenly won't start one day. I've been told it is out of warranty and that it's not worth servicing. So I've basically spent $629 for a lawn mower that has lasted 3 years. Not to mention I've purchased extra batteries. Very unimpressed.  Show details

Not powerful enough – Very poor power. Struggles with more than a lawn trim. Battery lasts about half the time mentioned, and then must cool fully to charge. Light and easy to maneuver, but only fit for very small yards with fine grass. Would be appropriate for twice weekly mowers or townhouses. Or buy 4 batteries.  Show details

Excellent Does what it claims – I am a 78 year old pensioner with 360M2 of lawn to mow. Mostly sloping. having two worn out shoulders from 45 years of Boiler Making pull starting a mower was no longer an option. The Ryobi has proved to be my best option. Much lighter, no pull start, no petrol, no oil to check. My observation is this mower is for lawn maintenance, not scrub… Read more

bashing. Used as such you should be delighted. In mulch mode it cuts the clippings very finely if you keep a sharp edge on the blades.No doubt the design engineers have had to balance between performance and results. I have found if you have the skill you can "tweek" it further by lowering the blade set by 15mm. This allows the machine to be set a notch higher and the under frame does not drag on the grass as much. If I need to go scrub bashing I pull out my 62 year old Victa Special "Toe Cutter". Steel Caps essential. Happy mowing. DD.

Light Domestic Use - Happy So Far! – Swapped my 30 year old Masport for the bigger of the Ryobi battery powered mowers because I was tired of difficulties starting, repairs, cleaning, noise, etc. Getting the old motor mower out was always an effort, heavy, and needed trips to get fuel, etc etc. All the things the Ryobi is not. It stays under the bench in my workshop; I get out and… Read more

mow at a moment's notice; my wife loves it; and with the battery out I can lift it with 3 fingers! It mows my lawn with ease - I feel though that it doesn't have the same torque as the old Masport. After two months of mowing I have never got passed two dots on the battery indicator; plenty of reserve battery there!

Good points: ease of handling and starting/stopping, quiet - about 70-75 db (motor mowers are 90 db plus) and mows much the same as the motor mower.

But I am yet to try it on really thick high grass/bush! And I haven't given it much of a workout in wet grass.

Bad points: Being plastic you must treat it with respect - don't leave it out in the sun, brush it down after use - lots of fiddly nooks and crannies under it where dust accumalates (don't use water!), bumping up against rocks will scratch or break the plastic (put some gaffer tape on the outside edge where you will rub up against garden boundaries.

Finally: At $660 I reckon that it is overpriced; being plastic and the feel of it tells me that it won't last 20 years.

February 2018: Bit of an update - still happy with it for all the reasons above, and ....my 8 year old granddaughter mowed a little, under supervision of course, to prove how easy it is to use. Still keeping an eye on the plastic bits that I feel just won't last. We'll see.

January 2019: More update, Still going well. With all the rain this year and growth - It did struggle a little with damp and/or long grass - as I thought it might. Plastic bits holding up well - nothing to report there. Battery holding charge with no issues. During the grass growing season I leave it on charge to use whenever... So we're now into 2 and bit years of use and it's been good. I can't give you the cost of charging the battery, but I am certain that I would have have saved on fuel... say $40. I still feel that the original purchase price was high, but I reckon that is continuing to be offset by the ease of use. And then there's no more contribution to environmental pollution...

I do the mowing at our house and LOVE my Ryobi mower! – First off, I'm a woman so anything I write from this point is from that standpoint. My husband doesn't enjoy mowing so I got to choose which mower I wanted. I am very particular about my lawn and spent hours picking weeds out of it and fertilizing it. ...probably a bit of a nutter but whatever. I have a couple of other Ryobi battery tools an… Read more

like that the batteries switch between the tools. I've got the whipper snipper, drill, router and now the lawnmower.

We are located on a slope and this mower is light enough for me to lift and carry over our terraced lawn. (I remove the battery first because that is pretty heavy).

Easy to raise and lower the blades. Easy SO easy to start. Press two buttons! Works every time. No mucking about with petrol. ...no stinky fingers!

I probably don't "maintain" it as such. There's not anything that needs to be done. I suppose at some point I'll need to replace or sharpen the blades but I can't see that happening for a long while.

Anyway, as a woman who loves her lawn, this was my top pick. I have loved anything Ryobi have produced as far at the battery operated gear goes.

I thought it was my fault – Cuts out every few minutes. I thought I was relaxing my grip so I put a clamp on the switch. Made no difference because it cut out again in two minutes. This is my second one. Bunnings swapped the first one for another new one but both do exactly the same thing.  Show details

Dose the job – Purchased the ryobi 36v after 8 years of successful use from Victor Enviromower. Wanted an mulching option.wide cut path is great and edge cutting is good. The manual is somewhat useless too many pictures and no description to explain. The only criticism l have is the handle operation buttons, l seem to have issues with the mower stopping,user interface, l would prefer an bar or lever to activate the mower.  Show details

Very happy so far – I have just purchased and used this mower today. Im very happy so far. Its light and easy to manouver and a lot quieter than my old mower which still runs after 30 years. I was concerned that i would run out of power so i bought the one with the 5 amp hr battery. It cut with ease and i still have plenty of battery life left after id finished cutting my medium sized block. Well done Ryobi.  Show details

I'm a convert – My old Victa 2-stroke died, after 20 years. I had a go at fixing it, but after 20 years I thought its maybe time for a new one. I was tossing up between this one and the Victa 82V 1200W, which looked a lot sturdier & better made - in the end I went with the Ryobi 36V Brushless kit with the 5Ah battery & fast charger. Why? Its about 10kg… Read more

lighter (I need to lift it up some stairs) & there's a lot more "skins" in the Ryobi 36V range than the Victa. It was also $200 cheaper. So I've just done my first mow & I'm happy to say I reckon I made the right choice! Here's some thoughts:

Pros:

- very light (~18kg with the battery), I can lift it up the stairs with one hand

- quiet! Its still noisy when going, but a LOT less noisy than either my old 2-stroke or the 4-stroke Honda that I borrowed. I didn't need to wear my ear muffs - probably should've, but it wasn't uncomfortable without them.

- easy to start: put the battery in, put the key in, hold the start button & press one of the "dead man" switches (see below)

- cuts well. 800W motor is plenty powerful - I was "renovating" the lawn so cutting down on the lowest level, after running around at the 2nd lowest to start with. Old 2-stroke would bog fairly often doing this. The Ryobi almost bogged once or twice, but a quick tip backwards got it going again. Dig bog once, but easy to restart. Cut up some sticks no problem.

- cleaner. Doesn't throw grass sideways like my old one did, so I didn't have to run around with the blower afterwards. Also, I didn't have to take the washing down (this is a MASSIVE benefit when you have young kids!)

- hybrid hard-top / fabric catcher didn't let out any dust / fine grass like the old hard catcher did (I was a bit skeptical about the mesh fabric but all good)

- 115m2 yard pus another 6m2 nature strip mowed: filled up half a 240L Sulo bin, battery still says its half full. Apparently its 75mins to recharge from empty, so maybe half-an-hour to recharge from half if necessary? I needed a rest anyway at this point (was a hot day).

- Folds up pretty well, & with the hybrid catcher together it takes up a bit less space in the garage than the old one.

- No buzzing sensation in the hands/wrists after mowing - there's still a little bit of vibration, but its hardly noticeable.

- It can get a lot closer to edges than my old one (great for my yard as I have lots of angles)

- Brushless motor, so should last OK.

Cons:

- Instruction manual is light-on for detail. Only pictures, no words.

- Almost broke one of the plastic clips (that holds the handles in position) while assembling, as wasn't watching closely enough. Bent it back enough to crack it, but it still works ok.

- Could have some more height adjustments, like other people have posted. Only has 5 settings. 1 will scalp the lawn. Not a massive deal, I'm thinking a normal mow will be on the mid "3" setting.

- Starting: doesn't want to start on any height setting other than "5" (the highest). That took a couple of minutes trouble shooting. Means that you have to start it, hold on to one of the switches on the handle then bend down to change the height setting. OK for me (I'm average height), probably not so easy for someone short. Try it out in the shop first if you're worried about it.

- For some reason, grass catcher doesn't seem to be very efficient once it's about half-full. You'll notice it leaving clippings behind once it gets to this point, which on my old one was a sure sign it was full. So I emptied it on half-full a couple of times. Otherwise it picks up everything OK.

- Not sure about the longevity of the plastic cutting deck. After one mow the edges have taken a bit of a hiding. Might've been better if they put metal strips down the sides.

- Long. The cutting deck is a bit further back from the nose than the old Victa. There's one or 2 narrow sections where I used to drop the front wheels over the garden edge to get the cutting deck right up close. Can't do that with the Ryobi as the deck is too far back. Otherwise its no drama.

- Being all plastic, not sure about its longevity, although apparently it has a 6year warranty if you register it online. Brushless motors are pretty robust also.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Its much easier to operate than a petrol one, much lighter & quieter. Not having the fumes means I can run around under the washing with no dramas. Might just have to replace my line trimmer & blower vac now!!

If I have any major dramas with it, I'll come back & update.

Great mower, haven’t used enough but so far so good – The mower makes little noise, lasts for so long and the cutting results are great. It works just as good if not better than my old Victa mower. It’s super light, it’s so easy to manoeuvre. It’s easy to clean and to maintain. I would recommend this mower to anyone unless obviously your yard is huge but even then this battery would probably last the distance.  Show details

Love this mower! – This mower is perfect for our villa! We have approx 150 sq meters of lawn, after 20mins of mowing through very long grass only a quarter of the battery had been drained! It is very light and easy to maneouver yet had enough power to cut through very long grass which had been left neglected for a few months! Highly recommend this mower as a great alternative to the heavy petrol types!  Show details

I live in a block of units so a noisy petrol powered mower was not an option – I had to get a new (electric ) mower after my old (and very faithful) flymo gave up the ghost and went to mower heaven. Ended up purchasing this particular electrical mower and was pleasantly surprised by how far electrical recharging products have come. (My old flymo was plug in only) I have a reasonable sized block (around 900 squares) and do… Read more

not have any issues cutting the grass with one battery on full load (I bought two) it is also a very quiet machine, (which is essential considering i live in a group of 12 strata units and excessive noise is not tolerated well) so turning it on at 6am on a Sunday morning, hasn't been an issue. It is also very light and easy to push around which is most helpful. Finally it cuts the grass really well, and has a number of levels you can set the grass to be cut at. A really good and well designed product overall. Would highly recommend.

Good for short grass – I bought from Bunnings RLM36X46L50HID on 2013 only $399 including 36V/5Ah battery dan charger kit. It's till running perfect. the battery last 1 hour on short grass at big back yard + front 20mt long nature strip. It'd be difficult on longer grass, the motor seemed slow down. No complaint with the price, as the normal price would be $649.  Show details

A great mower to replace a 30year old petrol Morrison – I purchased the Ryobi battery mower from Bunnings after 30 years of happy mowing with a Morrison petrol mower. In the end the old mower was hard to start and I was often exhausted just starting it. I live in a suburban block with 2 flat lawn areas of approximately 50 square metres in total area. My rear lawn is buffalo with a mixture of kikuyu and… Read more ·  1

buffalo on the nature strip. I’ve used the Ryobi for 6 months now and have been very happy with the mower.

Pros:

• The Ryobi is light in weight and easy to push. Through longer grass a little more effort is required so I don’t let the lawn get too long. This would apply to any mower.

• The light weight also makes it easy to move up the steepish slope between my front and rear lawns.

• The Ryobi is very easy to start and uses a 2 button system so it can’t be started accidently.

• The power button works well although on occasions when pressure is released slightly the mower stops and needs restarting. No great hassle!

• I’m no longer exhausted after lawn mowing due to the easy start and the Ryobi’s light weight.

• Multiple power buttons on the handle are useful when cutting close to a wall.

• The Ryobi cuts close to walls on either side of the mower.

• I always use the Ryobi in mulching mode and it cuts and spreads cutting (they can’t be seen) perfectly.

• The mulching block is easy to remove and refit.

• I was surprised that the mulching block contained a small amount of clippings after each cut. As stated above the mulching block is easy to remove, empty and then refit.

• The battery so far is excellent. After a cut there is half charge remaining. Without recharging it, the battery shows ¾ battery charge for the next cut weeks later. I usually charge it after a second cut but have got 3 cuts on occasions.

• Others have mentioned that the battery is hard to remove. However once you know where the clip is, for me it’s not a big issue.

• The Ryobi has one speed but will speed up when it encounters a longer section of grass. It mulches those longer grass areas as well as the other lawn areas.

• The handle can be extended for taller users. This presents a minor annoyance in that the power cable from the motor to the handle is loopy when set to my shorter height. The cable could get caught on objects or bushes if you weren’t careful. I’ve not had that problem but a user would need to be aware of this fact.

• The mower folds up to a very small footprint and is easy to store.

• The handle located over the motor is very convenient when I lift the mower in its folded position.

Cons

• The only real annoyance I have is with the height adjustment. On my lawn I would like a setting between 2 and 3. The height adjustment is easy and positive to use, it’s just that I would have liked more height adjustments closer together like my old Morrison.

Other

• A minor annoyance. At first I found that unfolding and clipping the handles together a little tricky. Now that I’ve worked out how they clip together I’m getting better at it.

Conclusion

First I had to decide whether to stick with a heavier petrol mower or go for a battery model. After much study and reading of other Productreview.com.au reviews I chose the Ryobi. I’m very happy that I made that decision, as its many pros far outweigh the cons for my situation.

Brilliant... exceeded expectations – Bought this after the petrol one died & after researching online (I'm an engineer). Bought the Ryobi & very happy. It is brilliant... brilliant... brilliant. Lawn was tall with about 4 inches needing to be cut off. Set mower on highest setting. Started mower & pushed off. It cut magnificently, no blockage at catcher, lawn was a bit wet… Read more

damp & the mower just powered through.

Where the lawn is thicker, the mower actually adds power & you can hear it pick up speed. I believe this is only for the 36v brushless motor.

I can mow 100m2 of lawn (buffalo) & the battery still has 50% charge left.

Very highly recommended.

Ryobi Battery Mower Worst Design of a Mower I have ever seen – Battery operation is fine, preferable to the old zip-pull even, but the body carriage sits way too low making it impossible to push on a setting lower than 3 & the catcher sits up at the back, dropping the clippings straight back out on to the ground. Great Workout though!  Show details

Very happy with cut & battery life, and kids can now do the mowing – I've had the brushless version for a few months now, and I can easily mow our back yard and trim the edges with the line trimmer using one 5Ah battery. It easily cuts multiple different grass types including the thicker couch lawn and buffalo. I haven't yet used the catcher as the mulcher works fine. The mower is not as solid as a metal… Read more

machine, but because it's light, easy to start and stops automatically I'm happy to let the kids use it. I've read reviews from many people claiming poor battery life - it's important to ensure these lithium batteries never overheat; that kills them quickly. Don't leave them in the sun, let them cool before charging and store them in a cool place. Also try not to fully discharge them if possible (although you would assume they have protection to prevent that from happening).

Great product – Initially the battery was a dud. Bunnings replaced the battery no questions. The second battery lasted only just under 12 mths, bunnings also replaced it no questions. I've now got 2 spare batteries (bought at other times) as I have other 36v products from ryobi, people should pay attention to the storage requirements for batteries. This mower is… Read more

great, a bit expensive but most new tech. is anyway. But it's paid itself off easily with no fuel/maintenance/mess and getting it in and out of the ute is easy with the unit being so light weight

Cuts great, ery happy so far – very happy with performance. easy to set up out of the box. grass catcher is easy to attach. The mower is quiet, so do not need ear protection, just safety boots and glasses. However, at $650 I do expect sustained long term performance, so will have to use it for 12 months and report back.  Show details

Good Product – I used this product review to make an informed decision about purchasing a mower so it is only fair that after six months of using my new mower I should write my own review. I bought the Ryobi 36v RLM36X46L50HI. In a word FANTASTIC !!! I have a small lawn, about 200 sq metres in total front and back and I can get two mows out of the battery. I… Read more

aso bought the 36v Ryobi blower vac and that is heavy on battery life, so if I want to use both appliances on the same day a battery recharge is required.

Best thing about the mower is it's light weight. I seem the be able to whip around the lawn in half the time it took with the petrol mower. Next I love how i just get it out of the shed, switch it on and start mowing. No pouring petrol. No tearing my shoulder off trying to start it. No broken toe from kicking the mower when it won't start...and no going to buy petrol from the servo. I always worry about transporting petrol in a can in the car. Had to drive with one hand on the petrol can incase it fell over driving around corners. Anyway no more of that stuff

Probably the only negative comment I could make is the design of the Ryobi handles. They tend to get caught in shrubs that over hang the lawn.

So yeah, I am very happy with my new mower, mowing lawns is a pleasure again. I have solar panels on the roof so recharging the battery is free.

Good investment – Alot of these reviews are not based off the model that was initially reviewed. After reluctantly spending a hefty $650 at Bunnings ( only hardware store in the NT) on this product, with the sales staff seemingly sending me to the door instead of purchasing this product ( I guess Bunnings employees are not paid on commission), I can honestly say… Read more

that I am glad I bought this very pricey piece of Chinese plastic.

the brushless motor is extremely quiet. My wife could talk to me from the front porch in a normal voice whilst I was mowing the front yard. Through thick grass, the motor picks up speed and will be louder, but the sound is actually not too big of a deal, and puts the motor to a bigger test, which is surprisingly satisfying.

Setting it up was just a few tightening knobs and clips for the handle and that was it. The mulching plug comes pre-installed, and everything was very self explanatory for someone who can assemble a children's toy. The only initial concern I had with the product was the plastic clips and knobs for the handle, which seemed a little flimsy. Bunnings from my experience, has always done a full replacement for tools that snapped due to plastics, but I'm hoping this will never occur.

Battery life with the 5AH battery and brushless model seemed to be sufficient for a suburban yard. 15 minutes (on and off) of mowing was approximately 1/4 of the battery, and 60 minutes of continuous mowing isn't entirely out of the spectrum for a single battery which is a huge bonus because my full yard would take about 50 minutes using the catcher. With this mower being so quiet however, I plan to make use of the mulching mode and mow more frequently early in the morning or in the late evening, making the mowing alot quicker.

Apart from the plastic clips and knobs, the only other concern I had with this mower after removing it from the box was the sheer length of the mower. This mower is quite long, even without the catcher. The catcher also sits really far back compared to most petrol mowers. It has not been an issue as of yet, but it is the only other problem with this mower i could foresee.

In conclusion, the mower runs great. Really quiet, easy to use for any ages, has a 2 year warranty ( some people in other states can get the full 5 year warranty) quite a bit lighter to push than a petrol mower and can mow a standard suburban lawn on 1 charge.

However, the cheap plastic parts, made in china tag, and long body of this mower could detract people from purchasing this product.

I spent $650 on a battery powered mower made in china with a family of 5 on a 400m^2 lawn, on a single salary and I am still happy with my purchase.... So that should be saying something. There are other battery lawn mowers out there that can do the same job, and possibly cheaper, but some places just can't acquire these brands or prices, and this is a good alternative.

Not a bad mower – Firstly, not sure if this is the write tag to put the review under. The model I bought was: RLM36X46L50Hi from Bunnings. It is their 36v - 5amp mower. My old Victa petrol mower finallly refuse to start after 10 years of solid performance. I decided to get an electric because the place I moved to had small lawns and involved areas which needed… Read more

to lift the damn thing. And heck, I can't be bother carrying fuel from the petrol station.

My heart was set on Ryobi 36v mower, but I was also torn after seeing the victa 80v powerhouse for the same price! Given the victa was 9kg heavier, I ended up going with the Ryobi. What really decided for me was when Bunnings threw in a second (2.6amp though) battery during some promotion.

I only ever used the thing once and here are my initial thoughts:

- A lot louder than I expected. After reading pages and pages of review, my expectation was it would be quiet enough for me to still talk to someone without raising my voice. It is not. It is probably quieter than petrol. But it is still pretty loud in my opinion.

- Still pretty heavy. Everyone was going about how light these electric mower were, I was expecting I could lift it with one hand. No you can't. it is probably almost as heavy as my old mower to be honest. In fact, I suspect the VICTA 80v would be about same weight as my old mower now I know how 18kg mower feels.

- Instruction booklet are like all power tool manuals very basic, and crap. Took me a while to work out how to turn it on. Yes...i blame it on the pictures.

- The Battery took a while to charge about one hour.

- Once started, I had it set to "3" for the height. Unfortunately I struggle to push through the grass on the setting. I had to do it on "4" first then "3" again. Perhaps I let my lawn grew too high. I did recall my petrol mower almost cut out on it if I pushed it too fast at a similar height.

- Having to hold down a button to mow. I hate it. It actually quiet tiring on my palms not being able to let go or hold on to the handle in a relax manner.

Okay...I started off with the annoying stuff first. Other than that, it is a pretty good mower.

it does what it was suppose to do without a hitch. There was no cut out, or issues in my first outing. At the end of mowing my back lawn (haven't done the side/front yet), i still have a full battery which is pretty good. It is a small lawn but still ain't bad. Lawn size?? hm, probably 7m x 4m. Done in about 15minutes.

In hindsight? I probably would still got this mower, because despite all of the above it is some what quieter and lighter than petrol. The single battery should last me the entire mow.

PERFECT MOWER ,NO HASSLES – Model has brushless motor,great torque,the motor speeds up automatically when grass gets tough.Good value spending extra to get brushless motor.Model has 5amp battery,enough to do medium size lawn 3 times between charging.Has never stalled,even when mowing grass very short.Can not comment on battery life,have only had mower for three months,but to get best battery life you need to recharge before battery gets too low.