4 Cool New Outdoor Power Tools for 2018

April 2, 2018

4 Cool New Outdoor Power Tools for 2018

In March, See Jane Drill attended the Home Depot 2018 Outdoor Power Tool Event in Tampa, Florida, to learn all about the newest outdoor power tools, and the features they offer.

This year, all the great new tools that we saw offered one very important feature: convenience. And some of the convenience features that we saw were simply genius, taking some of the work out of ‘yard work’, and helping to make gardening fun again! It was hard to pick what we liked best, because we saw some many great things.

Nevertheless, here are our top 4 picks for best new outdoor power tools with greatest convenience features (and a few honorable mentions):

DeWalt 12-in. 20-Volt MAX XR Lithium-Ion Brushless Chainsaw. $199.00 You may not necessarily think of DeWalt when you think of outside power tools, but the nice thing about them is that DeWalt’s outdoor tools use the same batteries as their standard power tools. Having interchangeable batteries is a great feature! So, why did we pick the electric chain saw as one of our top 4 outside power tools? Well, if you need a chainsaw for heavy-duty jobs around your home and yard, but have been hesitant about handling one, this one would be a great choice. It is lightweight and easy to handle. It has a long operating time and motor life because of the lithium battery and brushless motor. There is no gas to mess around with or cord to get in the way of your work. This is simply a great, all-purpose chainsaw, that we love!

EGO 56-volt Lith-ion Cordless Electric 15″ Powerload String Trimmer with Carbon Fiber Shaft. $229.00 If your least favorite part of using a string trimmer is when it is time to replace the line, you will LOVE this trimmer! Ego is the first company to make a string trimmer where you can feed the line with just a press of a button, which also makes changing out the line a breeze You simply feed the string in, and then press a button to wind it into the tool in seconds. This is a real game changer for folks that don’t want to have to struggle with feeding and replacing the line. Also, because the trimmer is battery-operated, it works really well for large yards. There’s no need to mess around with an extension cord to trim the far reaches of your property. Huge “thumbs-up” from us here at See Jane Drill.

Ryobi 38″ Battery Electric Rear Engine Riding Lawn Mower. $2499.00 Yes, Ryobi has come up with a battery-operated riding mower! Imagine not having to deal with gas and fumes when you need to mow your lawn! This truly “green” solution for mowing large properties has a two-hour run time, enabling you to mow up to 2 acres on a single charge. It also has LED headlights, a phone charger and cruise control, making it the “green” standard in riding mowers. It doesn’t come cheaply, but when you consider that you wouldn’t have to buy gas for the mower, and you’re not contributing to air pollution, it may just be worth considering for folks that have large yards to mow on a regular basis.

John Deere 42 in. 20 HP V-Twin Gas Hydrostatic Lawn Tractor. $1899.00 Last, but certainly not least, is the John Deere Lawn tractor. It is a solid tool in and of itself, with the backup of the John Deere name behind it. But what we absolutely love about this lawn tractor is John Deere’s exclusive 30-second oil change feature. We had never seen anything like this on any vehicle or piece of equipment! It makes changing out the oil a breeze, and completely mess-free. There is simply no other “instant” oil change feature out there like this one, that we know of.

Honorable Mentions

As we mentioned earlier, there were a lot of excellent tools demonstrated at this event, and it was hard to narrow it down to our top 4. So, here are some honorable mentions!

Milwaukee M18 Fuel 100 MPH 450 CFM 18-Volt Lithium-ion Brushless Cordless Blower. $149.00 This is a fantastic blower for someone who has a lot of deciduous trees on their property, or, just a very large yard to clean up. It is powerful, and clears from up to 15′ away. It has a low-noise feature (30% less noise than gas blowers). The ambidextrous cruise control allows the operator to use the tool with either hand, which means you get less hand fatigue when you are using it.
Toro Recycler 22″ SmartStow PoweReverse Personal Pace Gas Walk Behind Mower. $449.00 This is a self-propelled mower that keeps up with your pace, instead of you needing to keep up with the machine’s pace. The other great thing about it is that is also self-propells in reverse, which makes it a dream to maneuver around obstacles. It’s as easy as pushing a vacuum cleaner!
Echo 2 Cycle 21.2 ccGas PAS Power Source $204.00 What is nice about the Echo system, which includes a gas power source and various attachments (sold separately), is that it is physically more compact than having a full set of outdoor power tools. So it is a great option for someone with limited storage space for tools, but a large yard to take care of.
Honda 2200-Watt Super Quiet Gasoline Powered Portable Inverter Generator. $999.00 This is a perfect first generator for any homeowner who experiences power outages from time to time. It is not just super-quiet, but also “super-portable”. At just 47 lbs, it is easy for any able-bodied person to carry around the house to plug into various appliances, TV’s, computers, and more. Depending upon what you are using it to power, it can run for 3.2 to 8.1 hours on a single tank of gasoline. And it is quiet! This is definitely a great tool for those who live in areas where storms are the norm.

Thank you to Home Depot for inviting us to the Outdoor Power Tool Event in Tampa, and thank you to our Patreons for your support, which helped us with the expenses of traveling to the event!

by See Jane Drill