Ryobi’s 38 Inch Rear Engine Riding Lawn Mower Claims Power and Performance

First of all, let me say I have been looking at this mower since it came out at the big box home store over a year ago. I just couldn’t see paying over $2800 (including tax) for it. About 2 months ago, I saw one sitting out front of said big box home store in the clearance section. Stopped to take a look. It looked like new, and said “refurbished” on it, although they didn’t know what was fixed. It only had one hour on it. One. The price was $2000. I thought about it for a while, and I decided that as I’ve been wanting this for a while, I would never get a better price than this, so I bought it. I’ve now had it about 6 weeks, and it now has 6 hours on it. I can give a pretty good real life review of what’s good, and what’s not so good, about this mower. First thing you notice about it, it just LOOKS cool. Like a go cart with a mower deck. When I first got it home, it was almost 8:30 pm, so almost dark here in NC. I used it, with the headlights, to cut my entire yard. The headlights are pretty good, much better than my Husqvarna riding mower. Was able to easily cut the yard without hitting anything. Nice job on the lights. Now I’ll say what I like about the mower in general. First, no maintenance. I cut my yard, and then blow it off (you DON’T want to rinse off an electric mower) with a great, long high pressure air gun that I bought off of Amazon. Does really well keeping it clean. It also has a TON of torque. I weigh 250 lb, and it pulls me easily, even out of small ditches. Impressive. I have the mulch plug installed on mine, and one thing I REALLY love is I’m completely clean after mowing. After I used the Husqvarna, I was COVERED in dust and dirt. VERY happy about that. The motors that drive the blades seem to have good torque as well, although not quite as much as the Husq, I have to slow down a little in thick grass or one motor will stop. I’ve adjusted to this, and the cut is actually pretty good looking and even. Yes, the blades are thinner than normal, and I assume this is so if you hit something, the blade will bend and not break the electric motor. I think that’s the smart thing to do. I did buy extra blades, just in case. I also like the digital battery gauge, tells you the state of charge and how many hours it’s been on. Works well. I keep this plugged in after every use as recommended, but it looks like I could probably cut my yard 4 times on one charge if I wanted. Not bad at all. It is a heavy mower, but I think that also helps with the torque, as it keeps the wheels from spinning. The batteries are a big part of that weight. 4 big deep cycle batteries. I hope they last a while! The steering is good, like a go cart, and although it’s no zero turn, it turns nice and tight. You can also press a button that allows you to mow in reverse. It beeps when in reverse. Makes you feel important. Now the things I don’t particularly like, and they may improve these in the next generation. The ride is VERY bumpy. My yard is pretty flat, but it has some big tree roots and holes in the yard. The seat doesn’t hold you very well, you feel like you may slip out. The seat could have more suspension to soften the ride out even a little. The cutting height lever is at an awkward angle to me. When I have to reach to raise the deck for an obstacle, it’s just awkward. The gas pedal seems to be a little tall, so pressing it you have to kind of move your foot along it to keep pressing it. Awkward. The thing I probably dislike the most is the forward/reverse switch. It’s a toggle switch, and every time you use it you have to stop, look for it, and press it. And then do it all again when changing to go the other way. You can and I have) easily hit the blade disengage switch if you don’t look when you use it. It would be much better the have a forward and reverse pedal, like on a gas mower. Overall, I can live with the things I don’t like. I actually don’t dread cutting grass with this like I did with my gas mower. So here’s the bottom line, at least to me. Is it worth $2800? Oh heck no. It was even a little overpriced for me at $2000, but I knew I would never get it cheaper. But……and this is a big but……it will ALL depend on how reliable this mower is and for how long. With this newer technology, we have no idea how long the batteries or the motors will last. They say the batteries should last about 5 years, and will cost about $600 to replace. Ouch. I hope they get cheaper by then. And if the motors mess up? We have no idea how much they will cost of if we can even GET them. So only time will tell if this mower is worth it. Right now though, I’m digging it. I just hope it lasts for a while. So is it worth $2800 to you? Only you can decide that. I hope my review helps.