That Time We Talked About Ryobi Backpack Sprayer

This is episode number 105 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Craig Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner Show. We're glad that you could join us for this next expedition into your homeownership journey.

Yes, um, expeditions can be both travel and cars.

That's right, and you just got one, didn't you?

No, I did not.

Oh, it wasn't expedition, it was excursion.

I just got a brand new 16-year-old Ford Excursion. Yes, I did. And let me tell you, man, that thing is sweet. Yeah, I am, I am loving it.

Yeah, you're gonna be the, the party bus for a while.

Yeah, I mean, you can comfortably seat 8 adults in that thing. Well, that's in the seats.

I mean, you still got some space in the back too. I mean, you can— oh yeah, you can roll a couple around back there as well.

Yeah, so like if you got rid of one of your children and we decided to go like to Florida, right, we could put all our stuff back there and all the people. Oh, and we would—

wilderness.

We could. Yes, we absolutely. Now we would have to figure out which one of your kids we don't want because there's only 8 seats, not 9. But man, Yeah, man, I gotta— we started talking about this a little bit back on the episode, uh, which one was it? The credit repair episode. Yeah, we started talking about it a little bit, and I kinda put the brakes on that whole thing for a while, and I kinda came back to it, and here I am, man. So yeah, it's awesome.

I can't believe I just let you use the brakes pun.

Do you really let me do anything? I may take it out in the editing.

That's right.

Unacceptable.

Yeah, we don't allow puns.

Yeah, what are you gonna do? Well, hey, before we get too far, I wanna go ahead and do something. We promised our listeners that we were going to promote something that we just got recently.

Well, this is really exclusively for the YouTubers.

Yeah, specifically for them, because you're gonna have to be able to watch this in order to see what's going on, but we got a new friend. Yeah, I like new friends.

New friends are cool.

New friend, his name is Lorne Fox, and he does these really cool, uh, signs. And, uh, here's our new one, um, that he's done for us. It's, it's made with a CNC machine. It's wood.

I assume it's made with a CNC.

I don't know how else you would do it.

I don't know. But yeah, I don't think he's giving up his trade secrets because he, I mean, knocked it out of the park with that one.

He sure did. It's, um, it's really cool, man. So we're gonna, we're gonna hang this up in the Homeowner Show studio.

Yeah, I think it's gonna go right there on that, on that lovely gray wall. Yeah. never get to see.

Well, you're gonna see it at some point because if we're putting that thing up on the wall, it's gonna get in a shot at some point.

Yeah.

So, yeah, cool.

Yeah. So something else cool that's been going on is, you know, we, we've, we've broken through some barriers in the, in the homeowner show here. And yeah, part of that is we've been, we've been, uh, conversing with other podcasters.

Yeah.

Um, mostly because I feel like we've, we've, we've had enough episodes and we've, we've garnered enough stature now that we're worthy to enter the realm of actual podcasters.

People actually look at us and say, oh, you're an actual podcast.

Yeah, you're not just faking anymore.

You've had 100 episodes? That means you're actually on the scene.

That's right.

I don't know what scene it is, but we're there.

We're there.

Yeah.

We're on it. So some folks that we just met recently are Ashley and Susanna over at Your Home Story Podcast. It's a very similar podcast to what we do. Uh, except it's a couple of lovely ladies, uh, talking about a lot of DIY and home decorating stuff, and they do a really, really good job. So if you're thinking to yourself, you know what, I could really use more homeowner show type of content in my life, we've already found it for you.

Yeah. And, and I'll tell you, like, I, I'm— I know that you and I are both podcast listeners. Yes. And once you kind of find a genre of things that you like, I find that it's always fun to find new things that kind of feed into that as well. Yeah.

And, and, you know, who knows, maybe in the future we'll— they'll jump on our show, maybe we'll jump on their show and, you know, do, do some guest spots.

That'd be great.

And, and talk about, you know, podcasting and stuff that— other stuff that they actually probably know about that we probably don't know about.

Yeah. They probably actually know what they're talking about.

They probably actually know what they're talking about.

And we just bring people on our show that know what they're talking about.

Yep.

That's very different.

It's a very different strategy. It's a bold strategy.

Well, hey, so we've, we've put out 105 episodes of content at this point, so we're fooling somebody.

That's right. We've never offered to fool anybody.

That's true.

We've been very upfront with our ignorance.

With our ignorance, with our, you know, ugly looks.

That's right.

I mean, all of the things. We're honest, if nothing else.

Someone a while back said that we should do us, and we are— that's what we're doing.

Well, we are nothing but us. They said, you do you, and I said, okay, that I know how to do. There's very few places in Allow me to do it. Yeah, so this is it.

So well, if you get the chance, Ashley and Susanna are doing their thing over on Your Home Story Podcast. So tune in, give them a listen, leave them a review, let them know you're out there. I know they'd love to hear from you, especially from you lovely Homeowner Show crowd people.

That's right.

So cool. So today we haven't done one of these in a while.

No.

So but we're actually doing a product review.

It's been it's been a while. I don't even remember what our oh I mean the last time we kind of got into this kind. kind of conversation was right before we hit 100, where we kind of talked about power tools.

Yeah, we did. And I think we even like dipped our toe a little bit into this particular tool that we're going to be talking about.

We did.

Um, but it's an interesting one because there's really only— and okay, let me back this up. There's only 2 legitimate ones on the market. There are other ones on the market, um, that are out there, and I'll even name some of them because I've used, I've used the brands. Just seeing if they're any good, and they're not. Um, but I'm a big tester. I mean, like, if it's out there and it, and, you know, it says it'll perform, I'm willing to give it a go.

Well, and this one specifically ties directly into your business.

It does.

And so you're having to use this day in, day out. This isn't just something kind of a DIYer type of thing. This is your, your livelihood, um, that you're, you're putting everything on the line with this deal.

Well, and that's why we're testing it, and we've tested it extensively at this point. We just got one because we didn't want to invest in the line until we knew it was going to be viable. That can be tricky with this brand, even though I like this brand. Let's just peel the Band-Aid off. What we're talking about today— you keep teasing it! There's no need to tease this!

They literally read it in the title.

In the title. You guys know.

If you can read, you already know what it is.

What we're talking about is the Ryobi 4-gallon backpack sprayer.

OK.

And I have to be very specific when I say that, because Ryobi also has a 1-gallon battery-operated sprayer and a 2-gallon battery-operated sprayer, which operate with different canisters, different platforms, even different handles.

OK, so do you think that those are differently— I'm not sure that's a word.

Differently?

Differently? Is that a word? It is.

Are they differently?

Yes. Are they differently—

The grammar grammar police is gonna come for us. Well, maybe for you.

I'm not wrong here. Differently, like, you know, like I did that differently than you. Okay, that's a word.

Maybe it was just weird the way you used it.

Wait, probably because I didn't ever finish my, my thought process. Okay, are, are they, um, are they kind of promoting that to different people? So for example, like if, if it's a 1-gallon or even a 2-gallon, so at my house I have a 2-gallon sprayer, right, that I use for weeds and you know, things like that. So do you think that the 4-gallon kind of steps it up to a whole new level and maybe it is more for people that are doing commercial types of things?

The, the only reason I think no is because it's operating on their 18-volt line.

Okay.

I think if they were trying to promote it more for more commercial use, which I don't think has ever been Ryobi's direction, I think it's mostly directed at, you know, residential homeowners and things like that for their— for the tool line. That being said, they have some new and interesting tools that makes me think that maybe they're going in a different direction. But most of those are hanging out like, like they have like some PEX crimpers and PVC cutters and grease guns and caulk guns that are all operated on the 18-volt line that are not your typical homeowner tools that you're going to be using day in and day out.

Right.

Whereas like a drill, a saw, different things like that, that, that's more up their alley. But All that to say, there— it's not— and I forget what the voltage is on their bigger batteries that they're using their lawn equipment for.

Most of them are 40-volt.

Is it 40-volt? Okay.

I think it's a 40-volt.

Um, so it's not a 40-volt, which, I mean, to a certain degree would make sense for what we use it for.

Yeah.

Um, so, and I'm actually waiting. We, uh, I had a message from somebody that said that they were in development at Ryobi because of a post I made in a Facebook group somewhere about this episode. Um, someone reached out to me and said, hey, we work in development at Ryobi, we'd really like to talk to you about this. And I'm still waiting to hear from you development people. Um, would love to talk to you. I have some ideas for you. Yeah, um, I have some thoughts. Um, but, uh, yeah, so this, this backpack— so I don't— I think they're pushing it towards the homeowner still. Okay, um, but why would a homeowner need a 4-gallon

At least around here, I know yards tend to be a little bit bigger than most other suburban areas.

That's true.

Depending on the kind of fence that you have, I know a lot of people that live on golf courses have metal fences. If they want to do weed control chemically with a backpack sprayer or something like that, they're going to need more than 2 gallons.

I guess if you're going to have a backpack, what's the point in putting 2 gallons back there?

That was actually what I was going to say. The 1-gallon and the 2-gallon actually They have a backpack, uh, accessory that you can buy. So rather than just having to hold it in your hand, you can shoulder strap it and, and use it that way, which makes total sense because you're not having to pump it.

Yeah, and, and honestly, I mean, those things get heavy.

Sure.

I mean, 2 gallons, I mean, you're talking 16 pounds, you know.

I don't know what it is exactly.

Well, typically a gallon of water is 8 pounds.

Is it?

So, so yeah, you're talking 16 pounds. I mean, that's not Lightweight. If you're— I mean, think about the amount of space you're gonna be covering in 2 gallons worth of spray, right? Um, I mean, that's a decent amount to hold on to, right?

So, and like, I'll tell you, I'll tell everybody out there why we went this way, because the only other person out there right now that's making what I consider to be a viable backpack sprayer is Milwaukee.

Well, and we know based on what we've talked about in this show before that Milwaukee makes a very good product.

They, they make a real good product. Um, I, I will, I haven't used the Milwaukee. I've watched lots and lots of videos about the Milwaukee, and the reason we decided to start testing the Ryobi is I could really not see a performance difference between the two based on the videos.

Yeah.

Um, and I, I, so, and just based off of Milwaukee's 18-volt, Ryobi's 18-volt, I don't see how one is gonna is going to be able to outperform the other.

Well, I guess the only difference is if their, uh, function changes, like whether it's a nozzle or just way, you know, maybe, maybe the grip on something or the way the backpack fits, or just kind of some nuances that make it different. But beyond that—

Yeah, and I, I will say the, the, the Milwaukee does have different materials that it uses for the handle. Okay, that being said, One of the reasons we started looking into the smaller sprayers for Ryobi is because it looks like the handles and the spray nozzles on the smaller sprayers are actually a better material than they are for the backpack sprayer. And so if they are interchangeable, it would be worth us investing in those smaller sprayers just to get those compatible spray nozzles for the backpack.

OK.

Because it could potentially actually make it perform better.

Are— so you're saying they do have different nozzles and they should be interchangeable?

They should be. So, I, I mean, now, and, and the backpack itself actually comes with 3 or 4 different spray nozzle tips.

Okay.

Um, and now they're all, they're all plastic.

Um, can you, can you order replacements of those?

You can, yeah.

Okay, so if you can order replacements, you would think that you'd be able to order replacements for the Lower-end model or the 1-gallon?

I would think so.

So maybe you just buy new nozzles.

Well, and my experience has been with these, these sprayers in the back, in the backpack line, most of those are universal as to the size of the— what do you call it— where they screw on.

Oh yeah. What do you call that? It's—

who knows— the screwy-onny thing.

Well, it's—

I don't care.

It's kind of like a bolt.

Yeah, it's where the nozzle screws onto the handle.

Yeah.

So whatever that thing's called, that's the bolty screwy thing. Yeah, that one. I know exactly what you're talking about. So, and we've looked into some different handles as well.

Okay.

Because there's, there's actually like some pistol grip handles that are a little bit more functional for us. Um, and, and some of these other ones that they've come out with, they just, they tend to break really easy. And so if you can get like a metal one, That it'll last a little bit longer.

Well, and I would imagine, like, uh, you talked about a pistol grip, for example, like that would be more comfortable.

Oh, for sure.

Just, just the way you have to hold your hand versus some of those where you have to like grip 'em and yeah. And, and squeeze.

Um, there's advantage to the advantages to those as well. Um, but for sure the pistol grip would be a lot, a lot easier. And like when we use a big commercial sprayer, we almost always opt for the pistol grip.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, nozzle. Uh, it's just, it's just easier to use.

Sure.

So all that to say that there's some pluses and some minuses. So you let me know which way you want to go first.

Let's talk about— I always like talking about the positive first. So let's go positive.

Okay, so big positive is it's a big capacity tank. Most backpack sprayers are around 3 to 3.5 gallons. This one's a full 4. Yeah, so you can put a lot more product in there than you normally would. It makes it a little bit heavier, Uh, but it actually sits on the back really, really nice.

Okay. Does it have a, uh, like a belt?

It does not have a belt.

Okay.

Um, but it doesn't feel like it needs one either.

Okay. It sits—

I don't know, there's not really like a— I don't know how to describe it.

Right.

Um, traditionally we use steel products.

Yes.

And let me just right off the bat, the steel performs better.

Okay.

Like, but I've never I've never, ever, ever, ever— and I've tried out lots and lots and lots of backpacks— I've never found one to perform like Steel. And it's, it's their SG20. Um, and honestly, the design of it is basically like a Super Soaker. You have a chemical tank and then you have a pressure tank.

Okay.

And you pressurize the pressure tank and you can feel it in the handle as you get it. And I can shoot that thing 20, 25 feet in the air.

Goodness gracious.

And it just, it just puts out product really, really nice. I've not found one to perform As well as that, including this one.

Okay.

Um, so, um, and I can talk about some of the other brands, but the steel is also very long, and so it sits low on the back and it's, it's not very comfortable.

Okay.

This Ryobi, man, like, it has a mesh back and padding at the base, and it, it just feels better on the body. And so, like, if you're going to be using it a lot, Or if you're going to be carrying it for any amount of time, you want something that feels a little bit more comfortable. And it actually feels more expensive than any other backpack that I've put on. So it feels really, really nice. It has a good back feel to it. Um, so that, that's really nice. Uh, the battery that comes with it— so we bought the one that came with the battery and the charger, um, and the battery is a 2 amp-hour

battery.

Okay, so you're getting out of that, you're, you're getting what, like 25, 30 minutes out of it?

Uh, no, I'm definitely getting more than that out of it.

More than that? Really?

So what they have said, and we haven't put the timer on it, but we've tried to put it to the limit, is that it will run 40 gallons of material.

40?

That's what it says.

So if that's the case, I mean, you're, you're, I mean, you're going from house to house to house in your business, right? But I mean, goodness gracious, I mean, that's at least a day's worth, isn't it?

Right. And so to, to put it in In perspective, whenever we stop the truck for, for our business, we're putting about 3 gallons of product out at each house.

Okay.

So, and in a day, our, our techs will run through, you know, 8 to 12 stops. And so at, at 3 gallons, you know, we're not, we're not hitting 40 gallons, but none of our, none of the people that have tested this backpack have had to recharge the battery.

Wow.

In a day.

And that's, that's really impressive, uh, because one of, one of the things you would wind up having to do is just either carry multiple batteries, which you're probably gonna need to carry one just in case. But yeah, but then you got to wind up thinking about, okay, do I need to put a power inverter in my vehicle so that I can charge these things? You know, what do I do? I mean, I'm looking here on Ryobi's, uh, well, on the Home Depot website because that's where you buy most Ryobi products. Um, yeah, you can get a 4 amp-hour battery for $100, right? Which is also kind of some pluses about these.

I think they have a 6 amp as well.

They may. I haven't seen it yet. But, um, but yeah, I mean, $100 for, for a 4 amp-hour battery, I mean, that would get you closer to 2 days even. That's impressive.

Yeah, well, and so one of the, one of the reasons this one will work is because We use, uh, Ram trucks.

Yeah.

And all the new Ram trucks actually come with a power inverter in the front seat.

Perfect.

And so you're— you can charge the battery in the front seat. You can plug the charger in and it just charges the battery. It's no big deal.

Yeah. And, and, you know, a lot of times with these rapid chargers, you could probably get it charged up between calls.

Yeah.

Or at least close to it. Easy.

Yeah. So, but like I said, I mean, like, we've— we've— what we've done is we've We've kept the backup backpack just in case the battery goes dead, but we've tried to push the battery, you know, as far as we can.

Yeah.

Um, and it's, it's performed well and it's, it's their smallest battery. Um, which, and, but like for their smallest battery, it, it does the job.

Yeah.

I mean, like for, for what we need it to do, it does the job. So I, I guarantee you it would, it would last as long as you need it to at your home.

Sure.

I mean, I, I can't imagine a homeowner needing 40 gallons of material.

Oh, you, you're gonna have to have some land.

I mean, I guess maybe if you're like fertilizing, liquid fertilizing, I, I, I could maybe, but like—

But who does liquid fertilizing? I mean, I get, I mean, if you're doing that much product, you're gonna recognize it's a whole lot cheaper to buy.

Oh, sure.

The solid fertilizer than the liquid stuff.

Which they also just came out with a, uh, 18-volt broadcaster.

Are you kidding me?

Yeah.

Just take my money, Ryobi. Take my money.

It's, it's handheld. It's not a push, but like—

That's fine. Like, I mean, I mean, even, even with the push stuff, I mean, that I'm guaranteed that it's smaller than my broadcast spreader in, in size. I was thinking just the other day, I'm like, this stupid thing, I use it like 4 times a year, if that. It's taking up so much room in my garage. Then that thing would be so much smaller, just set up on a shelf or something, you know. I've got already got plenty of batteries. Yeah, I'm just— oh my goodness.

It's, it— I think it's pretty cheap too. I think it was like $40 or something like that.

See, it's shows like this, Craig, that make me need a second job. Yeah, so that I can buy all the toys that I want.

Dude, the, uh, so I mean, since we're talking about the other one, they have an inflator now.

Oh yeah.

Like, you can like inflate a tire.

Sure.

And it's the 18-volt inflator.

Man.

I think it's $26.

You've got to be joking me.

I'm not.

I mean, well, okay, here's a question. I got big tires on that excursion.

I don't know how long it would take.

I need to go get that 6 amp-hour battery.

I can tell you the exact thought process in my brain. That $26 is worth me not having to go get the air compressor to blow up the basketball every time.

Absolutely.

Just so I don't have to hear that stupid— I had to turn this stupid thing on to inflate a basketball. Or a bicycle tire or whatever.

Yeah, I mean, or heaven forbid I've got to like pump something. Yeah, right.

Like, okay, so they have a whole separate one just for that. Uh, they got a— it's— they call it their power inflator. Dude, I've been neck deep in Ryobi because we, we've really been trying to make the decision as to what tools to put in our tech's trucks. And so like, if this backpack battery-operated sprayer works, it's like, well, we kind of have to go that route because then they have the batteries that they need to do the drill and the saw and everything else that they need in the truck too. And so like, then they'll just have the batteries backed up.

Yeah.

For the sprayer.

Well, you know, that's, that's a real interesting point because, um, one of the reasons that I put the kibosh on the Excursion to begin with is because I had— was replacing the windshield. This is a whole story that I'm not going to get into, but I was replacing the windshield on my pickup that I was selling, and I wound up having a problem, and I just got really fed up. But the guy that owned the company came out to my house and fixed the problem. And he had his, his truck open, and I could see he had a— he had a Ryobi charging, a Milwaukee charging, and a DeWalt charging. He had—

That's like my nightmare.

Yeah, he had 3 different batteries. And he was telling me like, you know, I did this and this and this, and I found out that this one works best for this and that for that. And I'm like, man, it would be so much smarter For you to find a line that really works and just, just go with it. And there is not— we've already discussed this on episode number 99— there is not a battery system that rivals the number of products that Ryobi has.

Yeah, they just—

they're— it's not out there. And they continue to develop more and more and more. And, and these batteries are— we've already talked about it— they're way more powerful than a gas engine or, you know, anything like that.

Yeah, well, and, and so I think we were talking about the— we were talking about the bad stuff.

Yeah, we're definitely—

We're talking about the good stuff or the bad stuff?

Good stuff. We're definitely off topic for a minute.

And so here's, here's another good thing about it. Okay. And this is, this is actually one of the other reasons we decided is it's $149.

What? I think that Milwaukee's way more than that.

Milwaukee without the battery is $299. With the battery, it's $399.

Goodness gracious.

And so it's like, there's no way it can perform $150 or $200, $250 more than this.

No. Okay, well, let me ask you this. You said it won't, it won't spray as far as your steel, right?

Okay, so we, we can get into that in a minute.

Okay, I'm just wondering if that would make a difference. It can.

It can spray as far. The distance isn't the issue.

Okay.

Okay.

We'll get into that. I was just wondering, like, at what point would something be worth that much more? But it doesn't sound like there's probably a scenario for you that it makes sense.

I can't, I can't foresee. I mean, like, I'm willing to give it a go, Milwaukee.

Like, send one to us.

Send me one. I'll test it out. And I'll give my honest honest feedback. I just can't see it performing that much better.

Yeah.

And here's the other thing is like, I already know that I can get a steel for $129.

Yeah.

But I've got to pump that.

You got to hand pump it.

And so like, I already have a better pump, a better product at a cheaper price.

Right.

It's just a convenience issue. It's, I mean, it's a safety issue. It's all sorts of different issues are at play is why we're, why we're checking this thing out. So So that's probably all the good stuff about it.

Well, but okay, let's talk about price for just a minute though.

Yeah.

Because not only is that a good price for a product, but you know that their batteries are cheaper.

Yes.

The batteries, for the long haul, you're going to spend less money on equally good batteries. I mean, the batteries, I mean, we can talk about this at some point if we want to, but the amount of performance difference that you're gonna get out of an 18-volt Ryobi versus an 18-volt Milwaukee just for this specific purpose, it'd be very similar, I would imagine. I mean, you're still putting the same number of volts through it, right? The amp hours may be different, but it's still the same voltage.

Well, and even if it— like, even if it's like a longevity issue, I mean, like, I'm not great at math, but, but like, you know, like a $50 battery versus like— I don't know how much Milwaukee battery— I assume they're like $100.

They're $100 more for the battery with the product, right?

So, so I imagine about $100. I mean, so like, let's say it lasts half as long. Well, I mean, it's— I'm still going to be spending the same amount of money.

Yeah.

But like, I'm still willing to roll the dice and say that the cheaper one lasts longer at this point.

Yeah.

So it's just, you know, and if I have multiple batteries, like, there's less of an opportunity for one to— anyway.

Well, you would— your likelihood of being stranded on the job without a battery, right, is way less.

Well, because like, you know, just budgetary restraints, I'm not gonna have as many batteries.

Sure.

From, from the other brand. So, and, and if, if it feels like we're picking on Milwaukee, we are a little bit.

Yeah.

Because they're the only other ones that make a battery-operated backpack sprayer that's legitimate.

Right.

I'm looking at you, Chapin.

Well, and, and we've, we've said on another episode, we love Milwaukee.

Yeah.

This is nothing against them. It's just that your products are a lot more expensive, Milwaukee. Yeah, sorry.

Yeah, and I was, I was actually on, on one of these, uh, these DIY Facebook groups, and, and some— there was a lady on there that posted a picture of a Chapin battery-operated, uh, backpack, and she goes, can somebody tell me like why I shouldn't buy this? Because it's on clearance at Walmart. And I was looking at the packaging, I was like, one, it's a Chapin.

Yeah.

Two, it says that it's using a Black Decker battery. And three, it's on clearance, right? They don't sell things cheap because they think they're great, right? They sell things cheap because they need it out the door and they want some sucker to take it off their hands.

That's right.

And I've used the regular hand pump Chapin backpacks and they're terrible.

There you go, enough said.

I've used multiple variations of it. They're the worst.

All right, so let's move on. We've talked about some pretty good things about it, so What are some of the cons?

Well, real quick, one last good thing.

Okay, good.

It actually has a larger opening than any other backpack I've used.

You mean, you mean for you to pour your product into?

Yeah, and to pour water into, which is good because typically what you do is you put your, you put your product in first, or you put like a, a base level amount of water in, then you add your product, and then you pour water in on top of that in order to—

otherwise Bubbles up, right?

Depending on the product you're using, it can do that. Okay. Um, the, the issue that you worry about is when it's kind of narrow and shallow is it usually has— and this one does— it has a screen at the top in order to keep debris from getting into the, into the tank.

Okay.

So that your pump doesn't get clogged and all that kind of— because it's, it's— you're going to get debris just because you're mixing chemicals and things like that there anyway, but your concern is splashback. And so with a wider mouth and a little bit deeper net, you're not having as much splashback when you're adding water to the product.

Sure.

Which is safer.

Yeah.

Um, and the— some of these, some of these lids that they put on these backpacks, you kind of have to like grab them like a giant pickle jar in order to—

You got to use 2 hands.

Yeah. So this one actually has a handle. on the top, which is so that you can kind of grab it and twist it.

Okay.

And it also doubles as a snap hold for the wand.

Oh, perfect.

So, and then it actually has 2 places where you can snap the wand into place, but the top one actually grabs it a little bit better. It's a good design, but also at the same time, if it's riding around the back of the truck, it has the potential to like hit something and break. So we tend not to use that one. But if you're just storing it on a shelf in your house, it's gonna be great.

Yeah, um, that's probably one of the most annoying things about most every sprayer that I've ever had. It's like, what do you do with the wand? Like, it just— that hose is rubber and it just kind of like—

It dangles and it gets hung on stuff. Yeah, no, it's the worst. So if you got something to snap it to— and so they have one on the side so you can stand it up. That's for our purposes, that's a little bit better. Yeah, but the one on the lid definitely secures it better. Okay, snaps it a little bit harder. in place.

Cool.

Um, so that's, that's most of the good stuff, uh, that, that I, that I came across. And, and keep in mind, when I say bad stuff, it's just not that it's bad, it just doesn't perform like other products would that do it better.

Yeah.

So, and, and really my, my main booger with this thing is it just doesn't put out Um, the level of product that I'm used to with a steel.

Okay, what, what do you mean specifically?

So we, we like to put down a heavy band and, and like know that when we are putting product, we're actually getting like good coverage over that area.

Yeah.

So like if me or any of my guys have to like double back over an area, it's, it's wasting, you know, it's, it's cutting into our efficiency.

Yeah.

On count time. Um, and you know, anybody that runs a business knows that efficiency is a huge aspect to your, your business being successful, right? And so anything that like takes away from that is, is, it's just difficult.

Yeah.

Um, so this one just doesn't put out the level of product. Like, it's still, it's, it's good, it's putting out a good amount of product, but because of the fan tips that it uses, it's not an equal proportion of product. And so like, like if I take my steel and I go up to the side of your house where your foundation is and I pull that handle, I know that that spot that I've, I've set my fan tip to, I'm gonna get complete coverage of that area, right? This one, I, I get good coverage, but like I can still see dry spots. So, and, and dry spots to me mean vulnerability.

Mm-hmm.

And so that's just not a good thing. And so like like we kind of have to like are doubling back a little bit in order to get the right— all— but still, it, it's still performing. Let me put it this way, this backpack is still performing better than a traditional pump-up Chapin from Home Depot. Like, it's just way better.

Yeah.

And so it's still putting out a good amount of product. It's, it's still— so you, you kind of have to like go back and forth between, you know, am I doubling back? Is that as much energy as I would have to be exerting to pump this thing up?

I would guess the answer is no, it's not.

Yeah.

And we're also talking about, like, when we— when you're talking about the steel, you're talking about, like, super top of the line.

Yeah.

You've, you've gone through a lot of these and you've determined, in your mind at least, that that steel, nothing is better than that.

Yeah.

And, and while it's manual it still is the absolute best. So we're, we're comparing a product to what you've already said is the best. Yeah.

So, well, and at some point we probably need to do an episode on this. There was, I think it was like 6 or 7 years ago, they completely redid the design on their backpack and it was a complete disaster.

Really?

I mean, people were like writing them ugly, ugly letters. Wow. There was hate mail. And like, I still have one of them.

Really?

Yeah, we need to bring it in here and take a peek at it.

OK.

I mean, it was the worst.

Some person who's never used a backpack sprayer designed it.

Yes, that's exactly what it— I mean, some guy that was like, you know what? Things just need to look more like spaceships. That's who designed this thing.

We need an aerodynamic backpack.

I was like, I don't need it to look cool. I need it to work.

Yes.

And they opted for cool.

Poor choice.

And it wasn't even cool.

Wow. Yeah, well, okay, well, let me ask you this question. Um, so we— when you and I were talking about this offline at one point, that Milwaukee has— you can buy just a, a reservoir for it, right? Like, they have separate reservoirs.

Separate reservoirs. Yeah, but, but And different kinds of reservoirs too now.

Okay, so that's definitely a plus for them. Oh yeah, but I assume Ryobi does not have that.

No. Okay, that is an option though in their smaller sprayers. Okay, the 1-gallon and 2-gallon, you can buy separate tanks for those.

Okay.

Um, so yeah, I mean, and honestly, we like— we don't, we don't mix out our products too much, but when we do, we flush the tank. I mean, like, it's not, it's not difficult.

Sure. So, so it's not— you don't find that you're losing anything with that?

No, not at all. Um, other, other bad thing is where the battery goes on this thing is kind of awkward. But looking at the Milwaukee, where the battery goes on, that's kind of awkward too. Okay, this one's just extra awkward because it looks like a nose coming off the back of the, the, the tank.

Okay, so it kind of, it kind of fits directly into the back.

It did. What, what— and I think that would be fine, but what they did, and I don't know I guess maybe they were trying to protect the battery. It has like a weird plastic covering that you have to undo and unsnap in order to put the battery in.

Yeah.

Um, and it's not watertight, so I don't know, like, I mean, I guess it would protect it from water, like if it was like hit through it, it wouldn't get as much water on it.

Sure.

Um, and it has to be, they designed it to be really big Because they wanted to be able to fit that 6 amp-hour battery in there, right? Um, if you opted to upgrade.

So if you've got that 2 amp-hour in there, it looks like there's a lot of wasted space.

There's a lot of room. You could fit a whole other battery in there.

That's, that's actually where we store our batteries.

So interesting. Yeah. And then the, uh, the, the handle and the, this, the spray wand itself are, you know, Obviously economical. I mean, they're plastic.

Sure.

There's not any metal on them. Um, even though they are plastic, they still feel pretty sturdy. But like, just from my own experience, like, I know it's not going to last long.

Yeah.

I mean, those things get tossed around the back of a truck, they get pulled out. I mean, they're constantly in and out, in and out. And that plastic can sometimes get hung up in the back of a truck, hung up on a shelf, and they just snap.

Yeah.

And you know, once they snap, I mean, like, you can't, you can't do anything because you typically don't backup parts.

Sure.

For that. So you like, you're looking around for like another sprayer to like Frankenstein.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and that typically never goes well. Um, yeah.

So are, do you know, are there replacement parts for that available readily?

I haven't gone looking for them. Okay. Um, but I would imagine they are.

Yeah. I mean, you would, you would think that something's gotta be available for that kind of thing, especially.

Well, and I mean, here's, here's a good tip for folks out there. I mean, like if, if that ever does happen to you, Um, usually you can go to like a lawnmower repair shop. Um, and I think like the usual ones around here are called, um, Outdoor Equipment. Outdoor Equipment.

Yeah, something like that.

Yeah. Any, any place that sells like B&G products or commercial mowers, things like that. Those guys are usually happy to help residential homeowners.

Mm-hmm.

If you bring your equipment in there, if something's wrong with it, and, and they can usually fix it for a pretty inexpensive price.

Sure.

I've actually taken my sprayers in before, uh, cuz like my, my Stihls actually have a warranty on them. And so like if parts go out on 'em, I can just take 'em in and they'll fix 'em.

Yeah.

Um, and so they, those guys are really good about keeping parts and pieces.

Mm-hmm.

To get your equipment back up and running, especially sprayers, cuz they carry like gaskets and handles and wands and spray, you know, fans and all, all that kind of stuff. And so like even if you just want a different option, you can go in and say like, hey, do you, do you guys have like a, a replacement for this wand in case it ever breaks? And you can usually pick it up for like $10 to $12.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, they're not— especially the plastic ones, they're just not expensive. You want to go metal, it's going to be a little pricier.

Sure. Well, and I would, I would just think that for most people, what you're telling me is that this is a really good product. I mean—

Oh yeah.

You're using this in a commercial setting.

Yes.

And it is intended probably— it's probably, you know, kind of geared toward the residential person, someone who's using it. And if you're, if you're using it you know, a few times a year, maybe even— goodness, let's say you went crazy, you used it once every other month, or maybe even maybe every once every month just to kill weeds or whatever. Like, the likelihood of that plastic wand really breaking on you, unless you're, you know, just kind of negligent with it or you throw it around or whatever, if you're rough on your tools— yeah, um, it's probably gonna do the job. What do you think?

Oh yeah, well, and like, at the end of the day, like, if you use a backpack sprayer on a regular basis, one of the things that you should you should know if you don't know already is the thing that's more than likely going to break on that is the pump shaft.

Oh, okay.

It gets knocked off-kilter. There's multiple gaskets and it's actually a kind of an intricate little system that at least on the Stihls and some of the other ones that part of the reason the Stihl is because it actually has sustained pressure for longer than any other backpack sprayer out there.

Okay.

So whereas the Ryobi, I mean, has constant pressure.

Constant.

And because it operates off of an electronic pump, there's not that shaft that's necessary. And so like, it's less likely to break.

Yeah, because you— I mean, that— I mean, from what I know, just because I've— you've been over my house using it, it kind of comes around your side and it's kind of good. It's got to be about your arm length, right? And so because of that, you've got that thing protruding all the time. So if you take that thing off and you trip over it, or you just, you know, trying to get in the truck and it catches on something, Well, that part actually doesn't usually break because that, at least on mine, that one's metal. OK, so it's not the shaft you're talking about.

I'm talking about the pump shaft.

Oh, OK.

So the actual innards of the backpack that actually build the pressure for the liquid. But yeah, I mean, like, that thing does get hung up on stuff, and it makes it awkward to put in the truck. That is actually a plus for the Ryobi. It takes up a lot less space in the truck bed because it doesn't have that handle. But the pump shaft, actually, because of the gaskets and the shaft, and you have to— like— anyway, it, it, it's kind of comp— there's actually like ball bearings in there that you have to sometimes remove in order to like get back pressure flowing again.

That sounds complicated.

It's complicated. Um, it, it just— it may not be working well. Yeah. So it—

whereas the Ryobi isn't going to have that.

It's not going to have that problem because it doesn't have that, right?

That's just completely obsolete in that, right?

That— so it negates that even being an issue, which is the most expensive thing to get fixed on the backpack sprayer.

So, and I mean, it's one of those deals where like, I would assume that as long as you maintain your, your products, you're probably not gonna have any issues with things breaking. But if it does, yeah, I mean, it's $140, right? I mean, you're not paying the, the $300 for the other product that's out there. Yeah, that's their rival, so to speak.

Well, and With my steels, I will typically get 2 years out of them before they're no good anymore.

Okay.

And then we go buy new ones. Yeah. I'm gonna be interested to see, because this is the only thing that we haven't really checked out with it, is how long is it gonna last? Because if it goes longer than 2 years, I'm gonna be impressed.

Sure. Um, yeah, but I, I would think that you're talking about efficiency. Like, I, I understand the whole, you know, going back if you have to respray over something, but But I mean, your fatigue level is much different whenever you're, you know, not having to pump all the time.

Yeah, it is awkward though when you're used to like having to constantly do that. You know, you're like, what do I do with this hand now?

Oh, I can actually review other products while I'm working the job.

I could be on the phone and free to punch hippies, whatever.

Yeah, I'm sure you come across a lot of those.

Yeah, and they need punching.

They do.

So every time. No, not because they've done anything bad, you know.

But you're a hippie.

It's it's part of becoming a man.

Oh man!

Square punch in the jaw. That's what you.

Speaking of hitting people.

Yeah.

Um, your mom's really uh. We we yeah.

Are you gonna? Are you gonna? Because if you bring it up, then we have to show people. Well, I don't have a—

I don't have a copy, but, uh, you know, we talked about fanny packs, right? And we talked about that one thing we know is that if you're wearing a fanny pack, then you're not gonna win a boxing match. That was your, your statement.

Yeah.

And, uh, well, let's just say this: your mom's not someone to mess with. And I knew that, and I know that.

Yeah, you, you— but I experienced it firsthand now.

But I messed with her.

You messed with her.

Yeah, I made a comment. It was funny.

Yeah.

It was a funny comment.

It was a funny comment. I will give you that. But it was— I didn't like it.

It was directly shot over the bow to your mom and it landed, but she retaliated as I expected she would.

Yeah, in kind.

Yeah, she definitely did. By the way, I found more pictures today. So she shows up yesterday And, and she has these pictures of me, uh-huh, um, with a fanny pack on that she's superimposed onto this picture, right? And, and the— it's a black and white picture, uh-huh, and the fanny pack is pink, uh-huh, which, I mean, who—

It wasn't just pink.

No, it was huge.

It was pink.

And it was pink and a unicorn. And it had a unicorn on it.

That's right.

Yeah. And she, I mean, she went to some She went to some effort to make this happen.

Yeah.

And then she posted them everywhere. Like, they were all over the building that we were in. Like, they were on my vehicle. And then this morning, I, I, or I guess it was this afternoon, I walk into my office, I'm like, there's, there's a picture in my office. And then there's one that she had shoved under the door. They were absolutely everywhere. And so talking about people that need punching, Like we were talking about people, you know, wear funny fanny packs and need to be punched.

Yeah.

So I guess I need to be punched right now.

Yeah, you kind of did.

I kind of did need to be punched. Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm not even going to say on the air what I said. It was funny though. I'll just put it that way.

Didn't she get some to your kids too?

Oh yeah. Like, yeah, yeah. She even handed a couple to my kids in a, in a sneaky way. And they were like, Daddy, is this you? Of course it's me. But they're like, they're like, this is funny. You know, I was like, it is funny, it is funny, it really is.

But so now we'll have to share with the, uh, all the Homeowner Show folks the, uh, the lovely, uh, Kevin fanny pack photo.

Hey, you know what? I have no shame.

You have no shame?

No.

Okay.

No, I, I honestly thought it was—

I, I intentionally didn't share it with folks because I was like, I don't know if he's gonna be in on—

no, I mean, things I just don't, and I just kind of roll with the punches. When I get punched, I just roll.

I just roll. What else you gonna do? You're wearing a fanny pack.

Exactly, exactly. It's like, you know, this morning, I, you know, I think you— maybe it was yesterday morning anyway. What? Yeah, I guess it was this morning. You posted something about a bow on— oh yeah, I said, could we just put a bow on it too? And, and so you posted a picture of me with a bow on it, and I said, listen, Listen, I would never ever wear a bow that's that small. That is a small bow.

What I mean, like, if the people ask, I'll deliver. I mean, like, just put a bow on him. Okay.

Yeah, it happened. It happened. Which, it's fine. Whatever. We are way, way off topic.

Yeah, that's okay.

What else do we need to talk about in relation to the backpack sprayer that we haven't talked about.

If you want a battery-operated backpack sprayer, this is a great option.

Okay.

And I really can't— I mean, like, again, Milwaukee, if you want me to test it, I'll test it.

Sure. But I'm not gonna go buy it for $300 when I can buy this one for half that and know that it works pretty well.

Well, I mean, like, if I go get it, I'm gonna be paying $400 because I don't have a Milwaukee battery.

You gotta have that.

So, um, yeah, I'm not, I'm not willing to spend $400 to test out a backpack sprayer that may or may not work that well. I don't know, right? Like, I haven't tested it. I've seen some videos on it. It seems to perform pretty well. Yeah, it seems to perform about the same level as the Ryobi.

So what's the point in trying to go buy one of those whenever what you've got seems to be doing the job?

I could see me trying it out if I was already invested in that Milwaukee line. Yeah, and I'm not invested in the Ryobi line yet. Yeah, um, but it's— they're making a strong case for themselves.

Yeah, but see, the thing is, I am. Yeah, I'm already invested in that line. I, I invested in that line, actually, I had some buddies, um, that invested in that line for me. I think I've talked about that before. They, back when I got married, they bought me a bunch of Ryobi products and I've got, man, I got dozens of tools.

Well, and, and I'll also say this, I actually reached out to DeWalt.

Hmm.

Because I was actually really hopeful that maybe they were developing a backpack sprayer.

Yeah.

Because I, I am very, very much much in love with their concept right now.

Yeah.

I, I think the whole FlexVolt thing is brilliant.

Yeah, it is.

Um, and I, I actually heard back from them.

Oh, you did?

Yeah. And they, they said that they are not planning, they do not have one in development and do not plan on having one in development.

Wow. Wow. Yeah.

And I was like, golly. And like, and like they just came out with some other new tools recently that I'm like, ah, those are really cool.

Yeah.

Um, some of their compact brushless stuff, man. Mm-hmm. Like I, I really like their— anyway, I like a lot of the stuff they're doing right now. I thought the FlexVolt though, man, is just such a smart— it's so smart.

Yeah, it's smart.

I wish, I wish other tools would— I wish, I actually wish Ryobi had done that.

Yeah, I mean, well, it, it's one of those deals where it's like, you know, they're, they're basically saying, look, all of our tools can use the same battery.

Mm-hmm.

And we understand that not all our tools require the same voltage. So we're gonna make it compatible with both. Yeah, and that's, that's unusual. I mean, we— it's no secret on here that, that I'm a huge fan, and you are too, of the EGO products. Yeah, it's a 56-volt battery, it's large, but you would never use that on a drill. You would never put that on there, right? But man, DeWalt's figured it out. That's awesome.

They, they are bringing out some smaller power tools that are, that are taking advantage of the 60-volt though. Yeah, they have a power— they have a circular saw that uses the 60-volt, and oh, it's such a cool— I mean, like, it's a fantastic looking saw.

I bet it is.

Um, it's, it's— I think it's like a $400 saw.

Wow, that's impressive.

But I mean, like, it's, it's— I mean, check it out, go look it up. It's—

is it, is it the plunge saw? No, it's just a regular circular saw.

It's a regular circular saw.

Interesting.

I mean, I say regular circular saw, it's obviously a lot more powerful than— sure, a lot of the other, uh, battery-operated ones.

Well, and, and I'll tell you that up until something like that, I, I have a corded circular saw and you just can't get most batteries to do what that'll do. But it sounds like they may have figured it out.

They may have. So we, DeWalt, we, we'd be happy to test that one out for you as well.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Send it over.

So man, we managed to do close to an hour on a backpack sprayer by one brand. I mean, we, we, we dipped our toe in some other areas, but yeah. We— I think we're good.

I think we're good too. Thank you guys for downloading today's episode, and if you've not already done it, please go and rate and review us on iTunes. That would be fantastic. Send us some love, download other episodes, and subscribe to our channel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel because, uh, we're still trying to pump out good, good quality.

Yeah, we're sending you guys a video.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think that's it. Craig, you got anything else?

I should.

But you don't.

I don't.

All right, well guys, thanks for downloading today's episode. Again, I said it twice.

That's fine.

We're glad that you did, and we're here every Tuesday. So until next time, we'll see you later.

See ya.