The Ryobi RLT30CES is a 30cc 2 stroke petrol strimmer which uses interchangeable Expand-It type attachment heads.
The heads can be strimmer, brushcutter, cultivator, hedge cutter, pruner, edger, fleximower, and extension piece.
The strimmer version is currently on offer for £100 including a free hedge cutter attachment worth £45.
It comes with a 2 year warranty.
The unit comes well packaged in a thick cardboard box.
Contents include the motor unit already mounted onto the shaft, a handle which required bolting on, two strimmer heads which require a shield attaching, a spark plug spanner, a bottle of synthetic 2-stroke oil, and instruction manuals/pictograms.
The attachment heads fix securely onto the shaft by means of a push-clip and tightening clamp. Once attached the strimmer has a good balance and is fairly light to use, though a shoulder strap would help to take weight when idling.
Before we get into the actual machine, let's talk safety.
Petrol strimmers are noisy, 110dB so ear protection is required.
Gloves are advisable. If strimming then a face shield is advisable.
The exhaust and part of the gears on the attachments can get warm/hot too.
The motor runs on a mixture of 50:1 petrol:oil if using synthetic oil.
It appears the Ryobi oil isn't commonly available so most people buy Stihl oil. It is also wise to add fuel stabiliser to the petrol as petrol goes off over a period of a few weeks and can cause gumming up of the fuel filter or 'varnishing' and hardening of the carburettor parts.
This will cause poor/non-starting and affect the smooth running.
The fuel tank, in the company literature on their website, is quoted as 0.6l, but in the manual and on the actual machine is 0.4l - so an error there. But this should give over half an hours use between refueling.
Starting from cold is simple. Fuel the machine. If neccessary press a primer button a few times, turn the on/off switch to on, set the roto-choke to full choke and pull the starter cord a few times until the motor coughs. Then set the roto-choke to half choke and pull starter. The unit should start after a couple of pulls. After a couple of minutes the choke can be set to 'run'. My machine starts from cold easily. Hot starting is also easy with it in 'run'.
The manual advises running the hedge cutter attachment and strimmer at full throttle. I found the strimmer cut down grass and tall thistle/nettles quite easily - best to work in stages on taller stuff and cut it down heightwise in sections or it can wrap round the strimmer head. The bump head feeds out extra strimmer line easily and effectively. There is a Pro-Cut head included which uses thicker filament line that is in short sections rather than autodispensed from a reel.
The hedge cutter attachment cuts through branches up to about 1cm
and, given the length of the shaft, is easy to get a good eye along the hedge to give an even finish. The hedge cutter blades need oiling with something like chainsaw oil to keep them in good condition.
If doing taller hedges from steps then the shaft type cutter are faster than standard trimmers as, due to the length of the shaft, there's less repositioning of the ladder.
I found that the balance of the shaft machine with the hedge cutter head was good, and a lot less fatiguing than a conventional trimmer.
The only drawback of the hedge cutter attachment is that it doesn't angle as some versions do, so not as versatile as it could have been.
After refueling I found the strimmer harder to start as it was neither hot nor cold after cooling for a while before adding more petrol. Probably a technique I haven't found yet. Re-priming certainly helped, Once fully cold the machine restarts easily.
If the unit floods then access to remove the spark plug is easy, though the spark plug cap is well protected in the casing and can easily be damaged if levered off by the top.
Minus points?
Definitely not the same quality as Stihl, but then only a quarter of the retail price.
When starting, the unit rests on the plastic fuel tank so this soon becomes scuffed - though it is pretty thick plastic. A metal bracket around this would have stopped the scuffing.
When using the machine lefthanded I find it very easy to knock the on/off switch on the shaft to 'off' on my hip.
There is a similar version, the RLT30-CESA 'Quick-fire' which doesn't have the hedge cutters included. I believe this Quickfire model helps starting (by injecting petrol into the air inlet during cold start?) - a trick used by some people to start normal 2 stroke machines is to spray a flammable aerosol into the air inlet. There is also an SESA version that has uprated engine parts.
Regarding carburettor adjustments, the manual only gives details of the idle speed screw accessible through the roto-choke dial. The carburettor appears to be a standard Zama style carb and has the usual High and Low adjusters visible should you wish to tinker with the actual fuel mix. Instructions are widely available for this.
Looking at Ryobi petrol kit in general, people do have trouble starting them. I'm wondering if they didn't use petrol stabiliser and gummed up the carb. It is also known that the carb diaphragm also ages with time and can need replacing.
Overall I find the strimmer and hedge cutter extremley well balanced, mostly easy to start, and produce a good result with less fatigue than conventionally held hedge cutters. It also frees you from electricity and means you can keep working in the rain.
It would be interesting to see what people think of the other Expand-It items. The extension pole will be handy for the tops of my hedges.
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October 23, 2011, 12:37