Ryobi 18V Cordless Garden Hoe: How Much Does It Cost & What Can It Do?

Garden hoes have been around for millennia. That's not an exaggeration either; we have surviving antique hoes that are roughly 4,000 years old, and many believe that these tools go back to the very beginning of agriculture. For something that so many have used for so long, it may seem a little silly to get one that's battery-operated, but that is, in fact, one of the more niche tools produced by Ryobi. After all, hoes in the modern era are used for small gardens and can be easily picked up at your local hardware store for roughly $25 or so. The Ryobi 18V ONE+ Garden Hoe sells for $149, and that's before the cost of the battery and charger. Why would someone need this?

What this battery-powered tool has going for it is removing much of the arduous manual labor involved in hoeing. You turn the tool on and hold it steady, and it does all of the soil cultivating, weed removal, and crop harvesting without you needing to put all your effort into a gardening practice that can be really hard on someone's back, arms, legs, and more. 

For those already with compromised body parts who may have given up gardening, the Ryobi Garden Hoe may help you get back out there by easing some of your burden. It also weighs just 6.9 pounds, so it's quite user friendly, especially if you're working for a long time. Plus, it significantly increases the speed in which the cultivating gets done, as the oscillating blade can make 350 OPM — oscillations per minute. With this battery-powered garden hoe, Ryobi is offering a way to efficiently execute your work in the garden.

It's important to take a look at what the actual customers of the Ryobi Garden Hoe think of it. The garden hoe has received extremely good reviews and ratings on both Ryobi's own website and The Home Depot, the major authorized dealer of Ryobi tools. 

Those rating it on Ryobi's site have given it an overall average rating of 4.6 out of five stars, and the kit that includes an 18V 2.0 Ah battery and a charger, which costs $199, bumps that average up to 4.8 stars. It features numerous reviews from customers of an older age, or ones that have certain bodily limitations heavily praising the hoe for them being able to effectively and enjoyably garden without the normal physical toll it normally would create.

Customers from The Home Depot are similarly effusive in their praise, with its overall rating average being 4.4 out of five stars. Here, you see a good deal of spotlighting for how much of a time-saver it is, as the battery-powered oscillations pick up the pace. Plenty of customers also praise the tool's battery life, but it depends on the battery size. Some were perfectly content with the standard 18V 2 Ah battery, but others wished they had a 4 Ah or higher battery to use. Well, if you already have other highly-rated tools in the Ryobi 18V ONE+ battery system, you could always use those batteries instead of the one that comes in the kit if they have higher amp-hours. If you have the right battery for your typical needs, then customers think you'll pretty pretty satisfied with the Ryobi Garden Hoe.