Ryobi RBC1020 1000W Electric Brush Cutter with, 20cm Blade

I have a large patch of brambles and long grass I trim occasionally, petrol strimmers are relatively difficult to maintain and operate and the usual Flymo and B&D electric strimmers are underpowered with the result that the line breaks frequently.The Ryobi is powerful and efficient , the top end motor unit makes it balanced and comfortable to use. The double nylon line manages the long grass and weeds very well. The brush cutter blade is very efficient for brambles but it is a slow process as the strimmer cannot be used with a sweeping mode (as grass cutting with the line) with the blade.I have also found that it is very important to take care to secure the mid joint on the drive shaft very firmly otherwise the machine can vibrate quite unpleasantly.Automatic line feed that works - this has still not been invented ! However, the Ryobi does have a sturdy line drum that is quite easy to advance incrementally by hand.Highly recommended for anyone with large areas of tough weeds or brambles to clear.

I have used professional petrol and electric brush cutters and strimmers from Stihl etc. and I think the RBC 1020 compares favorably.The 1000W motor runs smoothly and is not too noisy. The power of the motor is evident compared to lesser tools. I had a good area of garden scrub to clear and this thing was just unstoppable. It just sliced through everything cleanly and without fuss. Face and eye protection is essential of course, as with any brush cutter.The supplied strimmer head also works very well, blitzing long grass and tall weeds effortlessly.My only gripe is that the assembly of the split shaft was a nightmare. Perhaps I had an odd one that was made on a Friday but personally I put it down to bad design (of the split shaft joint - the design and construction overall is very good indeed).The lower part of the shaft was far too tight a fit into the upper part. I'm a fairly strong chap, but I could not force the shafts together with my bare hands. I had to resort to tools to slightly expand the upper shaft diameter and even then it required a large amount of force to mate the two shaft parts.The joint between the shafts is supposed to be secured with a screw clamp. Unfortunately when the shafts are finally joined, the diameter of the top shaft is such that you cannot get the screw in the screw clamp to thread properly as it is splayed at too much of an angle. The thread was rather rough on this piece too, which doesn't help.I ditched the supplied screw clamp and used two strong jubilee clips to reenforce the shaft joint instead. This worked well. One shouldn't have to resort to metal bashing to assemble a nice piece of kit like this though.If Ryobi made this item with a single shaft I would have bought that instead. I honestly can't see the point of split shafts (supposedly for convenience when transporting?).The only other niggle is that the power cord is BLACK flex. There is a long established convention that site/outdoor tools have bright orange/red flex for visibility/safety.So, fix the split shaft design and the flex colour, Ryobi, and it would be nearly perfect.Recommended with the above reservations.

I got this because I wanted a powerful strimmer, plus the hedgetrimmer attachment for some high hedges which I currently cut by teetering on the end of a stepladder. It is a lot more powerful than the average electric strimmer, a different league, really! The assembly instructions could be better, just don't rush it. It all seems quite solid, and I've had no problem with it being loose in the middle joint - the joint should click into place, then just tighten it up. I found the autofeed system to work well - just tap it on a piece of wood whilst its running, and it clicks out more line. No problem.It is also quite well balanced - I found it less tiring than my old Flymo, which was a normal strimmer with the motor in the head. Although the motor on the Ryobi is bigger and heavier, it is better balanced overall, because the motor balances out the cutting head, and the strap takes the weight. If you are looking for a small lightweight unit for occasional trimming, this might be overkill, otherwise it is great.

After 2 years of use (max 5 times) motor smelled of burning and stopped working. Took apart and the motor was well hot and bearings spilled out of the motor housing so totally unusable and unrepairable as well as out of warranty

Had two of these now. First one motor failed within a fairly short time. Was a mechanical failure resulting in damaged armature. Bought again as it is pretty much the only electric model available in the UK at such a high power rating. Tool works very well at it's job so hoping it was a one off failure.

Wanted a mains electric brush cutter and the choice wasn't wide, this or Bosch, and previous Bosch fell apart.The first one arrived in a taped together box that had obvious been returned previously. The unit was scratched but had never been used because one of the screws in the cutting head was badly bent and couldn't be removed. Immediately requested a replacement, it arrived with a good cutter head but with a faulty motor unit, the holes needed for attachment to the handle were missing.Eventually assembled a good unit which works very well, but does need careful assembly, though not difficult. It is long, so not always convenient if you have small gaps to get into, OK for large areas.Having been sent a faulty unit, Amazon added insult to injury by not offering a free return, cost me £16. Beware, unless they check this unit, it will be sent out to another customer who won't be able to use it, though I did include a note with the faults listed in the box.