Common Problems With Ryobi Lawn Mowers (According To Users)

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The entire reason you buy a lawn mower, whether from Ryobi or any of the other major brands, is because you want a convenient tool that can quickly and easily whip your lawn into shape. Unfortunately, purchasing this kind of medium-duty equipment comes with a sort of unspoken contract: you get your convenient grass-cutter, but in exchange, you occasionally have to engage in some unpaid tech support work.

While Ryobi's lawn mowers are generally well-liked by users, indicated by fairly high ratings at Home Depot, no mechanical device is without its occasional hiccup, and those mowers are no exception. Users on social platforms like Reddit have reported certain subsets of issues with their Ryobi mowers somewhat regularly, and while these problems aren't anything horrible, they can be frustrating and persistent enough to warrant a warning. 

For more information on how we found these issues, check our methodology at the bottom of the page.

The entire functionality of a lawnmower is contingent upon the device actually mowing the lawn. If your Ryobi lawn mower is not powering up and cutting grass, it's less of a lawn mower and more of a badly-designed shopping cart.

Multiple users on the Ryobi subreddit report that, while using either 18V or 40V Ryobi lawn mowers, the device suddenly cuts out entirely. One user said that they can get maybe 2-10 seconds of forward movement before their mower just stops completely. Another user's mower seemed to fail completely and wouldn't start back up, no matter how they adjusted the components or batteries.

For this issue, Ryobi recommends ensuring your mower's batteries are fully charged and that the blades are in good condition. It also advises clearing your lawn of any large debris like sticks or rocks, as attempting to run over these can cause a mower to cut out. On the user side, another Reddit user recommended double-checking all of the mower's components and attachments, such as the bag, mulcher, battery compartment lid, and safety key. If any component of the mower isn't completely seated and locked in, a small, occasionally fussy sensor will prevent the device from activating.

The Ryobi 40V mower comes with a catcher bag, which is designed to suck up and hold all the loose grass clippings the mower makes and save you the effort of cleaning it all up post-mow. Unfortunately, it seems this catcher mechanism is another common sticking point for users.

Ryobi subreddit users report that their Ryobi mowers aren't properly picking up and holding cut grass. One user claimed to have mowed their entire lawn, and yet the catcher bag remained completely empty. Another user expressed concern about the lack of suction picking up grass, resulting in an uneven lawn.

Ryobi's troubleshooting tips for this problem include checking the mower for blockages, particularly within the chute between the mower deck and the catcher. If you take the batteries out and remove the safety key, then check inside that chute, you'll often find some kind of blockage preventing airflow, like clumps of dirt or mud. Ryobi recommends not using the mower in wet or overgrown conditions to prevent this from happening. User advice is largely the same, though one user also recommends cleaning the bottom of the mower with a stiff brush and dry lubricant just to ensure no gunk builds up.

It can be extremely frustrating to have your Ryobi mower's functionality impacted by some random, mysterious happenstance. By that same token, it can also be somewhat comforting to know you're not the only one putting up with it. To ensure the preceding issues were valid, we checked for common complaints with Ryobi mowers on the Ryobi subreddit and checked those against the common issues cited on Ryobi's own support page.