What To Consider Before Buying Ryobi's 18V Dethatcher/Aerator

It's not unusual for a homeowner's garage to be filled with lawn tools, including the perfect mower for your grass type, weed trimmers, edgers, and, for those really serious about their lawns, a dethatcher/aerator. Dethatching is done after mowing and before overseeding, reseeding, and fertilizing, allowing sunlight and water better access to the depths of your lawn. Aerating is also beneficial, letting oxygen, moisture, and fertilizer penetrate your lawn more easily, though the best time to aerate depends on two crucial factors – your lawn's grass type and the growing season.

If you're seeing signs it may be time to dethatch and aerate your lawn (and you have the financial means to purchase a tool that can do something about it), you might consider the Ryobi 18V One+ brushless dethatcher/aerator. To run this sleek tool, you need two 18V One+ batteries, which are included in the otherwise hefty $429 price tag, along with an 18V One+ charger.

A convenient push-button start makes this Ryobi easy for anyone to use, and it doesn't require any gas or oil refills, as it's entirely battery-powered. The dethatcher is adjustable for four different height positions, so it's versatile for different grass heights. It features a 16-blade scarifying reel that should swiftly handle layers of moss and thatch, and switching to the aerator reel should be quick and easy, especially with its 13"-14" clearing path. The tool is easily storable, as well, thanks to convenient folding handles that make it easy to fit in smaller spaces.

As of this writing, Ryobi's 18V One+ dethatcher/aerator has a 4.5-star rating and 80 reviews on the company's website. More than 90% of the reviews gave this dethatcher at least 4 stars. Elmacho gave it 5 stars, writing that they trust the Ryobi brand and have several other Ryobi tools, including a lawn mower, a hedge trimmer and edger, and more. MikeMikeMike, another happy reviewer, wrote, "Awesome! I didn't realize how much dead grass used this. Battery life was good. I saved so much time with the cordless feature. The power was also better than my previous corded product. "

Fuzz2 praised the easy use and reported that the Ryobi dethatcher is the easiest to use over others they have owned; while they mentioned that the tool is expensive, they thought that it was worth every penny. LenHay81 bought the product to remove all the thatch in his yard and was thrilled with the result. He went on to say that it worked as described, and he got four bags of thatch picked up from his backyard alone.

The very few negative reviews include one user who received a battery that didn't charge, while another user complained that it was hard to push through the grass. Sslnight wrote one of three 1-star reviews, titled "It's cool but not $400 cool," and meticulously detailed problems they had with the Ryobi, from difficult switching reels to lower battery life than advertised.

However, these unhappy reviews were addressed by the Ryobi team, who asked buyers to email them so they could remedy the situation. Despite the handful of critical reviews, the overall consensus among the majority of customers was that the Ryobi 18V dethatcher/aerator is definitely worth having in your tool shed and will do a great job, at least if you can afford it.