Ryobi One+ Battery Terminal Covers Caps

I bought 10 number Ryobi One+ Battery Terminal Covers caps protector prevents short circuits, they are the same colour as the Ryobi tools and much better than my solution that was cut down loo rolls

3D printed with high quality PLA (plastic) and are friction fit.

The Ryobi 18V ONE+ RY18SCA-0 Cordless Secateurs

 

The Ryobi 18V ONE+ RY18SCA-0 Cordless Secateurs are ideal for fast and effortless pruning around the garden. Despite their compact size, they deliver powerful cutting performance to maintain shrubs and small branches.

The chrome-plated SK5 hardened steel bypass blades provide smooth, clean cuts up to 25mm. This promotes healthy plant growth while reducing strain on your hands with a simple trigger-operated design.

• Chrome-plated SK5 blades – delivers clean cuts for healthy plant growth
• High cutting capacity – cuts branches up to 25mm thick
• Fast cycle time – completes a cut in 2.5 seconds for efficiency
• Trigger operation – reduces muscle fatigue compared to manual pruners
• High endurance – makes up to 2,000 cuts on a single charge of a 2Ah Battery

This was one of my recent three Ryobi purchases, when they were doing the buy a tool and get a Free Storage Box or Bag. I went for the 19-inch Toolbox that the Secateurs fit into just nicely. The Tool box retails at £39.99

As regular reader of manvslug.uk know I have a face for radio, so I have found a review of the Ryobi 18V ONE+ RY18SCA-0 Cordless Secateurs by a man that appears to have nearly the same amount of Ryobi Kit as my good self. 

As I have an auto immune disease and arthritis in all my joints especially my hands, as he says in the video "I can honestly see why so many people describe these as a game changer" 

The brambles were 20 - 25mm diameter and the Ryobi Secateurs made light work of the them cutting them into short lengths and dropping into the trug lined with a plastic rubbish bag.

I have cleared the brambles that are growing to the rear and end of Bed 3 and can now get around the back of bed 3 to clear the cat poop that accumulated before I got the debris netting in place  

As soon as these arrive , I can hydrate them and get the topping mix made to complete and top up all three beds ready for planting.  

Mini Chain Saw / Pruning Saw

I picked up this mini Bamsa chainsaw when it was on offer on Amazon for £39.99. a little time ago

It's Lightweight and manoeuvrable, with a cutting chain as good as any full-size chainsaw. Quick and easy to set up and use. It is supplied in a case which keeps all of the bits together, the kit includes all of the adjustment tools necessary, a comprehensive instruction manual and even a small tube of chainsaw oil.

I've used it quite often now and I love it. Its awesome. I'm looking forward to attacking the rest of the plum tree with it over the Winter months.

Then I receive an email about a New Ryobi Pruning Saw. 

Now I'm a bit of a Ryobi man and have a lot of their tools but what would anyone buy this when it does not come with the case, twin batteries, extra chain oil and tools to adjust. Plus you only get free delivery on orders of £100 or over.

It's about time Ryobi UK got their act together and started to sell and prices comparable with the rest of the world.  

More Ventilation

 

Using my new Ryobi Jig saw I cut the shed timber behind the weather louvers  

Using my new Ryobi Jig saw I cut the shed timber behind the weather louvers  

Moving Bulbs & Rhubarb Bed 3

A very foggy start to a 8 degree C morning on the allotment, when I arrived Andy was already removing the weeds from bed 13 Bless him. I jumped onto getting the infrastructure for Rhubarb Bed 3 in place. So good to see the new tenants clearing their plot, and our fire chief John was as always happy to help with the burning of the debris. I have high hopes for the new plot holders of Plot 14.

The security guard complete with his dew covered cob webs looked on as I worked on the Path and Rhubarb Bed 3

I spent most of the morning working on the path between Rhubarb Bed 2 and what will be Rhubarb Bed 3. So much Couch Grass and Bind Weed was removed

I noticed something move out the corner of my eye and the security guard wasn't the only thing watching me this morning.

Once I had got half a forks depth past the edge of the path between Rhubarb Bed 2 and 3 I levelled and removed two square buckets of good top soil laid weed membrane, then filled with woodchips from the pile in the corner of plot. Compacted with the flat of the rake then carried on with the digging and weeding of the paths and Rhubarb Bed 3

Every fork load of soil brought up a clump of couch grass and bindweed roots and in all today I have removed about four rubber trug loads of weeds from and area 1.2m x 1.2m or 4ft x 4ft.

Andy and I removed the top of the blue barrel with the circular saw and turner it upside down near to The Dalek Army on Plot 1

The top of the blue barrel made a perfect fitting lid to the cut down carrot water butt and will mean I will not have to leave it covered with the Dalek which can be moved in with the rest of his mates on plot 1

Made to measure!

Andy cleared the weeds off this bed and removed a staggering amount of169 bulbs, that are to be moved to a new home. The blue hoops were straightening out and have been put in and around the leaf bin to assist them in forming the shape I need for cages in spring 2022. The level of the leaves has dropped dramatically over the week.

Andy cleared the front of the plot and trimmed back the overhanging brambles and hawthorn then using the drill and 3" 75mm PowerPlanter started planting the bulbs for a some early colour and food for the bees on the plot.

Man (Andy) kneeling on the old boys (my) kneeling stool ,and machine, Ryobi Drill and 3" 75mm Power Planter in perfect Harmony. There are so many bulbs left and I have 100 daffs in the shed, that I will need to get down to the allotment this week to get them in the ground as they are wanting to grow.

Then it was time to go home so I laid the weed membrane back down gathered the tools and Andy and I left the plot for the day. I have to say I enjoy the company on the plot when my Son-In-Law comes to help me, and I also get more completed in a morning.

Leaf Bins and Carrot Barrel

Good visit to the allotment this morning after a couple of weeks away due to weather and family birthdays. Weather mild and the sun came out for a little bit.

The leaf bin was looking a little low and as I was waiting for one of the new plot holders to turn up and collect her key, and Andy had not turned up, so I decided to start collecting the leaves in the car park, four barrow loads later Andy turned up with his van and four barrel loads of leaves for me!

We compacted the leaf bin and filled it back up again, and filled the bread basket leaf bin well above the top level.

Take & Add Photo next visit

Andy and I emptied one of the leaf bins up against the wall which had beautiful leaf mould in it and filled it up again.

Take & Add Photo next visit

Area behind Rhubarb bed 1 cleared covered with cardboard and weed membrane which was cut with the Ryobi Soldering iron then four barrow loads of wood chips were obtained from the car park heap, leveled and compacted in the area.

The Ryobi Soldering iron is a great little tool, it heats up so quickly and cut / welds the weed membrane so that it does not fray. I also used the soldering iron to melt drainage holes around the bottom of the cut down water butt. 

Cut down Water Butt/Barrel for growing Buggs Bunny carrots in 2022 located behind Rhubarb Bed 1

Sand from the soft bricks placed in cut down water butt. I have a couple more buckets of sand to go into the butt on another visit.

Darker green Dalek placed over the Carrot growing, sand filled water butt to keep out the rain and the foxes etc.

So Bed 3 is now clear of the soft bricks and the flower buckets of sand and the Carrot Growing sand butt is on it's way to being ready for next year. 
Andy was good company as always and quite frankly got on with stuff whilst I spend a little time with the two new plot holders, and the family and partner who popped down to see the plot about half an hour before we were going home for lunch at 12:45. Todays plot time went way too fast, but because of the dark mornings I'm not getting down the the allootment quite as early as I was in the summer.

Hose Trenching & Bed Frame Cutting

 

I used the two foot long 3" diameter power planter to drill a number of holes in the ground from the corner of the water tank and tap cutting across the main path at an angle to the corner of my plot.

I fixed the hose and then cable tied the hose to the pipe supplying the water to the tank and tap so that when it's unattached it will not flop down and get lost in the long grass that grows around the tank . The trench was cleaned out . bottomed out with a trowel and the hose dropped inside the trench.

The hose was pressurised so that it didn't get squashed during the backfilling process and gradually the hose was buried in the bottom of the 75mm shallow trench.

My trusty Ryobi drill and 75mm (3") by 600mm or 2 foot long Power Planter auger which made light work of doing this and saved me having to bed down or get down using the shorter bit that I also have. If you ever get a Power Planter make sure you have a drill with the stabilising handle.

The soil was brushed back into the trench and then I used the hose to wash the remainder of the excavated soil back into the trench. The water will assist in reconsolidating the soil around the hose, which was still pressurised. I will scatter some grass seed and some compost over the trench to heal the scar I have made in the main path and within a few months no one will know the hose is there.

Tulips giving a flash of colour and a source of pollen for the bees that are now awake and out and about. Many of the daffs have come up blind and I have no idea why?

I moved the painted timbers for SFG Bed 2 and placed on SFG Bed 1 and then proceeded to cut the timbers for SFG Bed 3. There are nail plates that need removing and the timbers need de nailing and then painting but at least they are now cut to size. The timbers stacked at the rear left are for the solar tunnel/ Superdome bed.

Yep one timber is deeper than the rest but I will just loose that in the ground when I assemble and install. The timber stacked up to the side of SFG Bed 1 is mainly scaffold boards and are thus 38mm and not 50mm thick but will do for small beds in the corner of the plot.

Malling Juno (early) Raspberries from D.T. Brown showing signs of growth and life.

View looking down plot 1 the timber that was over the beds on the left has now been sorted into those required for the solar tent bed which will be 3.2m the length of my longest timbers x 0.9m. Its amazing how much growth the green manure has made in the last week. I really need to cut and drop within the next 7 - 10 days before it goes to seed.

It's nice seeing the vision in my mind gradually becoming a reality. many bees and wasps drinking from the water held by the yellow tarps as it was quite warm on the plot today.

Scaffold Poles in The Raspberry Beds

I arrived at the allotment at 7:30 after clearing the ice off the windscreen, it was 9C when I went to bed at around 11pm I was not expecting frost and I had not covered the chitting spuds in the Space Saver Greenhouse. Note to self check those little dudes out!

There was a mist over the plot and a file on one of the plot was still smouldering and the smoke was hitting the mist and with the sun coming up over the buildings on the boundary it looked just like a graveyard scene from an old horror movie.

Frost was on everything including the green manure. It looks as if the plot fox is now bedding down of an evening on this bed looking at the recess that has been getting more consolidated over the last week.

Painting and doing anything to the cut timbers for the beds was out of the question until the sun had thawed them, so I started off by doing a little more digging of the square foot garden bed.

As I started working my way back I looked at the materials stored in this corner and thought, I may as well clear some of this out of the way, so the long timbers were moved to behind the Dalek army and the scaffold poles that were under the yellow tarp were moved out which distracted me from digging and weeding.

I had noticed a few visits ago that some weeds were starting to grow in the raspberry beds and now I had scaffold pole out and exposed I popped to the car and got my Ryobi drill and long Power Planter Auger and set about drilling some 600mm deep holes in the ends of the beds and installing the scaffold tube standards. (A standard is the term for a vertical tube)

The 600mm x 600mm Rhubarb beds were relocated on the 4th Raspberry beds, which as yet don't have any Raspberry plants in and holes in the ground, sorta 75mm diameter and round were drilled or angered out using the Power Planter and Ryobi Drill

I have to say that I love the Power Planter range of Augers. The one in the photo is the 3"x 24 Extended length Bulb & Bedding Plant Auger

I'm going to move the bulbs in the green to along the path between plot 1 and Plot 2 and the smaller Power Planter bits like the 207 and 307 Models are ideal for that. I also have to form a trench from the corner of the plot to the tap and water butt which I will use the Power Planter 312 deep cultivating bit for.

I weeded the Raspberry beds and then made a couple of trips to the wood chip heap in the drop off and pick up area and cover the beds in about 25mm of the the pine woodchip mulch.

I was going to move the paving slabs that have been stacked wither side of the shed door, but they are 400mm square and not 450mm like the rest of the slabs on the main path on plot 1. There were two 600mm square slabs that I have placed at the corner of the shed that infill that area a little too well and I need to move the slabs under the extension to the shed about 5mm for a perfect fit.

The slabs need some levelling bit it looks as if I will use them for a small paved area in front of the shed and as a secondary link to the main path to the allotment entrance. Bottom line is I need to keep an eye out on freecycle for some more 450mm or 600mm slabs so that I can have a paved path from the entrance. I may have to steal some slabs from secondary paths on plot 1A to achieve that faster and then replace.

Ryobi Heat Gun R18HG

The R18HG-0 Cordless Heat gun is capable of heating to 470 degrees centigrade in under 10 seconds making it the ideal tool for a variety of DIY tasks including paint removal (small areas), copper bending or tube shrinking. The built-in LED work light can illuminate any work area to enable the user to operate the tool in low lit conditions.

The Heat gun also comes with a concentrator nozzle for direct heating, ideal for paint removal and a reflector nozzle for redirecting the heat, ideal for applications such as wire shrinking or bending pipes.

As part of the Ryobi ONE+ cordless platform it shares battery compatibility with over 125 tools for the home and garden

This is a bare unit - batteries and charger are not included (available to buy separately) Below is a list of all the Ryobi Resellers and the price found during a web site search, with the lowest price with vat and before P&P being £69.94 from SGS Engineering .

£ 79.92 Amazon

.            B&Q

£ 69.95 CBS Power Tools

             CPC

.            Halfords

.            Homebase

             Littlewoods

.            Machine Mart

.            Power Tool Mate

£ 70.95 Tooled Up

              Very

£ 69.94 SGS Engineering

Interesting and worrying that B&Q, CPC, Halfords, Homebase, Littlewoods, Machine Mart, Power Tool Mate & Very are not carrying this One+ Tool

Prices below including P&P that kick in at various values per company

£ 79.92 Amazon P&P Free for Prime Members

£ 77.19 CBS Power Tools = £69.95 £5.95+vat (£7.24) shipping and handling

£ 74.90 Tooled Up = £ 70.95 + 3.95 P&P

£ 69.94 SGS Engineering P&P Free on orders Over £50

A £9.98 nearly £10 difference in price just by shopping around.

Ryobi USA v UK

Now if you have been reading the posts over the last week you would have seen how important it is to shop around and in some cases ensure you buy enough or at a value that gets you in the free P&P zone.

Ryobi RLM18X33H50 18V ONE+ Cordless 33cm Lawnmower Starter Kit (1 x 5.0Ah)
Highest Price £229.95 Tooled Up and Lowest price £189.58 CPC = £40.37 Difference

Ryobi R18SW3-0 18V ONE+ Cordless Debris Sweeper

Highest Price £179.96 CPC and Lowest price £155.95 SBS = £20.03 Difference

Ryobi The R18USB-0 Charger includes 2 charging ports, 1x 1.0A and 1x 2.1A

Highest Price £31.99 Littlewoods and Lowest price £23.93 CPC = £8.06 Difference  

Having looked at the availability of Ryobi One+ equipment in the UK and joining a few Ryobi User groups one finds out just how the users in the UK are fundamentally being ripped off.

Saw this on one of the UK Resellers web sites 

A Message from Ryobi 

As one of the world's largest and most innovative power tool manufacturers, RYOBI® power tools specializes in making pro-featured power tools truly affordable. That's why RYOBI® is the brand of choice for millions of homeowners, woodworkers, hobbyists and craftspeople

If you are looking for low cost and reliable DIY garden and power tools, then the Ryobi UK brand could just be what you are looking for. Their comprehensive range of easy to use garden tools includes: electric, cordless and petrol Brush Cutters, Strimmers, Chainsaws, Lawnmowers, Hedge Trimmers, Pole Prunners, Shredders and Blower Vacs.

Ryobi are not lacking in range and innovation in the power tool department either, with their comprehensive range of Percussion Drills, Hammer Drills, Drill/Drivers, Angle Drills, Impact Wrenches, Reciprocating Saws, Jigsaws, Circular Saws, Table Saws, Planers, Grinders, Sanders, Multi-tools and much more to choose from

One gets the feeling they aren't in touch with the UK user base or what they are selling their equipment for in the UK v USA and the rest of the world

Ryobi USB Charger

I found Ryobi TV on YouTube and looked to see what new video’s and products they were showing and found Ryobi R18USB-0 18V ONE+ USB Charger (Zero Tool)

The R18USB-0 Charger includes 2 charging ports, 1x 1.0A and 1x 2.1A, both of which can detect the accepted charge rate of your devices for rapid and flexible charging. When paired with a RB18L50 5.0Ah Lithium+ battery the charger can hold as much as 6 full phone charges.

This charger is ideal for charging any USB devices outside, on the go or when camping. For me it’s ideal when I’m on the allotment and the mobile needs a boost or perhaps I could use it to work the mini USB Fridge I have in the shed.

£ 24.99 Amazon

.            B&Q

£ 20.95 CBS Power Tools

£ 23.93 CPC

.            Halfords

.            Homebase

£ 31.99 Littlewoods

.            Machine Mart

.            Power Tool Mate

£ 21.95 Tooled Up

£ 24.99 Very

£ 20.94 SGS Engineering

So a price Range of between £20.94 with the lowest cost from SGS Engineering  and the Highest no surprise Littlewoods at £31.99 that’s £11.05 difference

It’s significant that B&Q, Homebase and Halfords are not stocking these tools, and over the last year I’ve seen that these outlets have been reducing their holdings of Ryobi One Tools.

The market blarb from Ryobi states “Power over 100 different tools with the same battery with the One+ system from Ryobi. One battery fits all power tools for your home and garden.” But you cant get them all from DIY outlets in the UK unlike Home Depot in Canada & the USA 

Looking at the main Ryobi web site there are 85 Bare Tools, 35 Starter Kits and 12 Batteries and Chargers which adds up to 132 products, so yes 100+ however in the UK

B&Q now only stock 28 One+ Products

Homebase only stock 50 One+ Products

Halfords only stock 33 One+ Products

So basically, you can’t always walk into a UK national DIY Store and select what you want from the Over 100+ Different One+ range because they just don’t stock them. So the alternative is buying over the internet, or phone and having the items delivered.

Amazon Prime member get free delivery

Littlewoods – Standard Delivery FREE but not really as £11.04 dearer than lowest price found

CBS Power Tools There is a standard £5.95 + vat (£7.24) shipping and handling charge on UK mainland orders under £100

CPC Free Delivery on good over £8 +vat (£9.60)

Tooled-up £3.95 for this item

Very selling at £24.99 only has free delivery on items over £25 and £2 on orders under £25

SGS Engineering Free Over £50 and £6.99 Next Working Day

So let’s see what adding Delivery does to the prices from the various outlets that’s actually see this item

£ 24.99 + FREE P&P Amazon

£ 28.19 = £ 20.95 + £7.24 CBS Power Tools

£ 23.93 + FREE CPC

£ 31.99 + FREE Littlewoods

£ 25.90 = £ 21.95 + £3.95 Tooled Up

£ 26.99 + £ 24.99 + £2 Very

£ 27.95 = £ 20.94 + £6.99 SGS Engineering

Cost Range now £23.93 - £31.99 with Littlewoods still the dearest after adding P&P

So to get the very best deal wait until you want over £50 of Ryobi Tools and buy for £20.94 from SGS Power Tools with free delivery or if you just want the USB Charger now and can't possibly wait for find a second tool to buy it's £23.95 from CPC. 

If Ryobi UK, SGS or CPC feel like they would like to send me a Free one to play with and review then don't be shy always happy to play with and review DIY Tools and Gardening equipment.