Ryobi OLM1833B 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower (Body Only), Anthracite/Green

Well. On the whole I'm very, very impressed with this amazingly light little mower, which runs on the same battery system as a wide range of other tools (both indoor and outdoor). The mower is supplied without battery and charger - and these do add a good chunk to the cost - but we already owned several batteries and the fast charger for this series, so didn't need to buy anything new/extra in order to run this. The only assembly needed for this relates to attaching the three pieces of the handle, which is pretty straightforward. Although the diagrammatic instructions show fitting it, this came with the mulching plug pre-installed (needs to be removed before the grass collection bag can be used). The grass collection bag has a cloth base, so is collapsible for storage, whilst the handle of the mower can be folded by simply unscrewing the two large side screws. For storage purposes, this is great, taking a comparatively small amount of space whilst the grass collection bag is reasonably generous.This works well. It is unbelievably light compared to a petrol mower. More like pushing a lightweight stroller or a child's toy than a lawnmower (although there is a bit of vibration through the arms). My Dad at 72 hasn't used a mower on anything other than self-drive settings in years, but he loved this push mower: it's so light that pushing this is less effort than steering an SD petrol mower. No fumes. No need to faff about with engine oil. Comparatively, this is really quiet in use.We've only used this with 5.0ah batteries. When well-maintained, a fully charged battery is easily capable of coping with a couple of good sized lawns (over 2000' squared/ a good couple of hundred meters). If grass has started to get a bit out of hand, this still cuts well, but with the 5.0Ah battery you can hear it placing strain on the power supply and the battery drains significantly faster. The small size and light weight make this very easy to manoeuvre, and this goes in next to obstacles (such as trees, bird feeders, and lawn edges) really well.The only issue we've had with this relates to the cutting height adjustment 'lever'. This is wholly plastic, and works by means of pulling a plastic handle out, moving it side to side, and pushing it back in so that a little plastic peg slots in to one of 5 cutting height selection holes. The 5th hole - the one for the highest cut on grass - is not good. On this setting, the peg gets stuck. There doesn't seem to be sufficient space between the lever and the wheel to disengage this once it has been set to this height. The handle on the lever really strains and feels as though it might break, with no sign of dislodging the peg. I ended up using the end of a flat head screwdriver and poking this down the side of the hole selector to extract the peg without placing undue pressure on the handle. Will be avoiding this setting in future.On paper this mower isn't really suitable for our garden. We live out in the countryside and have a half acre plot - significantly more than the size for which this is recommended. However, our garden isn't all lawned over one area each at the back/front, but over seven separate 'zones'; is on a slope; and has walled areas and steps between every lawn. It's really a series of smaller lawns rather than a big one. Until now, we've used petrol rather than electric mowers - the cabling needed for electric models is completely impractical in a large, tiered garden that's prone to retaining water.Previously, it's been quite hard going lugging a mower round between walled areas, up and down steps. To make matters more interesting, our soil is clay: prone to cracking deeply and developing odd lumps and bumps in dry weather; and waterlogging, then remaining boggy, when it rains. That this is light has not been astonishing, but this mower has surprised by proving easier to use over lumps and bumps caused by cracking lawns and ants' nests (a constant battle in our garden!) than petrol mowers. The lighter weight doesn't do anything to help restructure the lawn, but does enable this to glide over obstacles, instead of struggling and even getting stranded on them. This has also proved more practical in some respects when it comes to our water-retaining soil: this is so light that it can be used pretty much as soon as the soil is OK to walk on, whereas heavier mowers can start to sink/dig in to the ground if it's not dried out below the surface. If we mow by using multiple batteries, or doing only a couple of lawns at a time, this lightweight battery mower works really well, even on a large garden.4.5/5

My trusty old wheel driven petrol lawnmower finally gave up this spring. My neighbour suggested a cordless electric and this was the obvious choice as I am a one plus user.I was pretty sceptical as I have a large, fairly rough plot on a hill. It is definitely cutting the grass not mowing the lawn.This looks and weighs as much as a Fisher Price toy lawnmower, but don't be fooled. The plastic is normal high quality Ryobi.The weight, or lack of it, is brilliant. Weirdly I can cut the grass with less effort and in less time than the old self propelled petrol mower. It is so easy to use that the grass is getting cut more often as a bonus.Only slight downside is the grass collection bag is not as big as the old mower, but that came as no surprise.A couple of the reviews here puzzle me. Height adjustment - sure it's slightly feeble, but not difficult and how often do you adjust it?As for the 'go' switch you just press the button in the middle and grab one of the levers. It is really handy being able to change to either the left or right lever as you go.Battery consumption is fine, I have a lot of grass, which takes about an hour to cut, and I use about one and a half 4 amp batteries.

If you need a cordless light lawnmower, then maybe the cordless ryobi 18v one is for you.In the box, you get the lawnmower, a grass collector, and the handle rail that needs to be assembled with four nuts.Note: This version of model DOES NOT come with any batteries. You will need either the 18v 3.3ah batteries, or the recommended 5ah batteries (18v). Again these are not included in the box.Assembly was simple, you just need to remove the packaging, check contents and build the handle. This requires four screws/nuts and is included in a paper packet. However in my box, one of the rail bolts was missing. The packet was not sealed and there was only 3 items in the packet for the upper rail assembly. Luckily these are universal bolts, so I was able to replace it myself.The build quality of the lawnmower is pretty much plastic all the way, with the exception of the handle and the motor/blade itself. Being cordless is probably its best attribute as no wires to get caught up in. You get three blade positiions as well, so you got 4 blade positions as well, so you can adjust the cutting length. You turn the unit on by engaging both handles and pressing the green button. There are no other functions beyond that.In terms of battery life, the 3.5ah battery at 18v lasts about 10 minutes and results in lower blade speed, so its not going to cut as fast as the 5ah battery which has a higher engine speed. The mower is fairly stable, easy to use and quite light. It will handle a straight lawn fairly well, but with wet edges it doesnt perform as good. This is more because of the weather during spring time. So you might still need a strimmer, even though it says you should not need one. The longer life battery at 18v (5ah) runs for much longer and seems to do a better job. Its super easy to use and has very simple controls. The grass box is also quite easy to fill and empty as well. For a basic cordless lawnmower it works on small gardens. If you want to get the best out of this mower, your going to need a minimum of two large batteries and 2 of the smaller ones. You can use the Ryobi strimmer ones too as they are universal across the range, but it simply lasts half the time and the strimmer batteries run slower.Pros: Easy to assemble, good for small lawns, works well with both types of ryobi batteries.Cons: No batteries included, could have included one to get you started.