40V HP Brushless 18 in. Battery Powered Rear Tine Tiller with (4) 6.0 Ah Batteries and Charger

It took about an hour of high-speed run time to till the 40’ x 40’ garden. Real world use, each battery powered the tiller on high (tilling and propulsion) for approx. 10mins I’m very pleased at the battery run time and power (torque) of this tiller. I would use it again and recommend its use to others. My wife ran it for about 20 mins and found it very easy to operate and understand. Overall, this thing worked great!

Both sides shear pins broken after 20mins of use.

All I can say is WOW!!! This thing is a BEAST! Plenty of power and is so much quicker to start and easier to use than my Craftsman rear tine that this replaced! I was a bit skeptical of switching to battery on a piece of equipment like this, but this has definitely changed my mind. It came with 4 batteries and a dual charger, which provided me more than enough runtime for my projects and it feels like it is built to last!

I picked up this tiller yesterday at Home Depot and Thought it should wait until today to try it after I mowed the lawn. It turns out the tiller broke on the first try on the right hand side of the tiller bolt. I’m surprised it didn’t fly off. The thing didn’t last 2 minutes before it snapped. So dangerous! These bolts are cheaply made and although I have hard soil, I thought I might give it a try. Don’t be mislead. This is a cheap product and steep product. Will never buy again.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I just returned this to the retailer. It worked great the first couple of hours, tine pins sheared the next day. Pins were replaced and the entire tine shaft broke the next day. Hardware doesn't seem to be up to spec for the power this has. Sure wish it was ready for retail because it definitely did a good job.

Third use tine shaft broke at shear pin hole. Ryobi support chat not functional. This does a great job but the engineering doesn't appear to be up to the motors power. I'll check with home depot if I can return assembled and used.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This thing work just as good if not better then gas ones the same size.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Just got this . Cannot believe the power this has . Very quiet and packed with all it takes to do the job and more. Easy to control too.

Being female, retired, 5’2”, reasonably fit and having owned and operated a garden services business for over 10 yrs I had occasion to use a couple different rototillers – gas operated, rear and front tine models as well as cordless cultivators in renovating/rejuvenating vegetable and flower gardens, rototilling in new garden areas and tilling in landscape areas for installation of shrubs, trees, hardscape and lawn islands/berms. All I can say is if we had this Ryobi tiller 15 years ago, our jobs would have been much easier and a breeze to load onto a trailer and move around job site. From unboxing to test, assembly took me just under 2 hrs. I took my time but struggled with what should have been a 5 minute job that took nearly a half an hour – I found attaching the dirt flap to be tedious and unnecessarily cumbersome. Each of the other assembly steps were easy – follow the user manual instructions and quick start assembly diagrams. My review is based on a landscape project – a shallow landscape berm to address surface water drainage issues and improve curb appeal. I spent the time to remove the grass with a string trimmer exposing the bare soil. I then made multiple passes in 4 strips the length of the berm with the goal of lifting the clay layer to the surface to marry with top soil to be added on top forming the raised portion of the berm. This step is important because it stabilizes the berm structure and avoids erosion causing the berm to sink and exposing the top roots of the shrubbery planted. You can’t simply dump a bunch of dirt down and expect it to stay put. Below are pics of various stages of the project. Edging, landscape cloth and gravel mulch still need to be done but already you can see the improvement to my front entry landscape. I did experience a battery popping up shutting the tiller down when I hit a patch of hard compacted soil. I just opened the battery case and push it down and off you go. It’s a safety feature should you run into hard pan soil like me or hit a root or a rock. It’s a nice safety feature – you won’t pull your arms out of joint like with some gas operated models. And if the impact is great enough to damage tines, gearbox or even the motor, a second safety feature kicks in with sheer pins designed to break. It’s an engineering safety feature, not a failure of the machine. Be happy when a sheer pin breaks, you didn’t trash your tiller. The 13-1/2in tires are rugged with deep treads for great traction. With 3 level handle adjustments lets you customize the tiller for comfort. The front ballast tank can hold sand, rocks or pieces of lead - any weight that helps to balance the tiller when lifting the handle and tines off the ground to transport and initial tilling. Typical to most rear tine tillers the depth bar allows you to choose till depth – pull the bar up and the tines dig deeper. I’ve always made it a practice to take multiple shallower swaths on deep till jobs rather than trying to get there with one pass. And removing surface vegetative growth with a string trimmer helps to get there faster. Takes more time but you get a much better till. The two pair of 2X40V 6Ah batteries provide more than enough power and with the rapid dual port charger, it’s a matter of an hour or so to fully recharge the two battery pair so you’ll have continuous battery power for any job. I found the power to be equal to gas powered units I’ve used, especially breaking new ground with thick matted grass roots. The power doesn’t back off when you hit tough ground. I really like the whole unit tines over the traditional bolo tines. You cannot switch tine rotation like some gas operated tillers allow. My test project I did manage to kick up a 7x5 inch rock – I think granite. The sheer pin didn’t break probably because the condition of the soil was easily workable. Even though it’s a powerful piece of equipment with big torque sufficient to easily chew up the ground, this machine handles well even for me a smaller woman – but it’s still a tiller – not the easiest machines to maneuver. The construction of the tiller parts are all steel – quality for a long lasting machine. Controls are straight forward and simple. T the “Transport” feature disengages the tines making it possible to drive the unit to/from your project area. Like your riding mower, after a few uses, you’ll settle in on a comfortable speeds for different jobs - using the controls will come second nature. Overall I’m really impressed with the performance of the Ryobi cordless rear tine tiller. It’s powerful, beefy yet very easy to handle - and hey, no gas, oil/filter changes, exhaust fumes – just simple batteries that quickly charge. Depending on the tilling job, the batteries will likely last through the project and even beyond. The Whisper Series adds a bonus feature of quiet operation. I’m so happy to not have to wear ear protection. If you’re accustomed to gas powered tillers, you won’t find deficiencies with this machine and if you have no experience with tillers you’ll find this machine easy to operate. Everything about this machine is quality, power and strength. Based on my landscape project and from experience with tillers, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Ryobi Rear Tine tiller and being cordless makes it a game changer.

I like the amount of power from this tiller. The battery life is more than expected. The problem is the pin that holds the blades in place. One sheared off after a couple hours use. The other is bent. Now I have to find bolts that may work instead.