Customer Reviews

Ryobi 510R 4-Cycle Yard & Garden Cultivator

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The 4 cycle engine is a great feature of this tiller. It is easy to start and runs well. The tines are stronger than other small tillers and perform well for things like weeding and easy cultivation. The only feature I don't like is the way the handles are made to fold in half supposedly to save storage room. Other than that, I consider this a good product.

I ordered this on 3/26 and it arrived 4/4. Very good with the free shipping! Asssembly took only 20 minutes and the instructions were specific, although written for several different models. I ran the engine with no load for a few minutes, rev'ing up and down, then got to work. The tiller was easy to run in compacted garden soil and chopped up the spring weeds with no problem. I tilled an area about 25'x10' in 30 minutes and the area is now ready to rake and seed. Two passes are required to get to the max depth but the machine is so light that the second pass pulling backwards is not difficult but do watch for obstacles behind you. The only minus is the wheel assembly wingnuts (off to the hdwe store to get several sets) as they loosened with the vibration. Wear ear protection!!!

This little tiller is an excellent product. It is everything advertised and more. The only "assembly" required was to unfold the handles and tighten the thumb knobs that were already in place. Excellent instructions. In less than 15 minutes I was putting the little digger to the test which it passed with flying colors. I put it into a raised bed garden that had not been tilled in nearly four years. I let it crawl ahead then drew it backward and in one pass it completely mulched the weeds and matted grass that had accumulated. I am still in awe. It is amazingly quiet. I hope it stays that way. Someone else said it could use more weight. I think more weight would negate the great handling and flexibility of this little tiller. I wish my garden was bigger because this thing is fun to use.

Noisy little thing. It's not for major cultivating, but for a home garden or yard project, it's perfect. It uses almost no gas and runs clean. It's light and small. It has some trouble with medium size stones- they sometimes jam the tines. More power would be nice too, but for the price it's fine. Don your hearing protection. Cute little engine. I thought it was fun.

This tiller is exactly what I wanted to work my tomato garden at home. It is smaller and lighter than the monster I rented the last two years. It should pay for itself in a couple of years.

I was highly skeptical of how useful a small tiller like this would be. I figured at best it would be handy for tilling small garden plots with soft soil and at worst it would get sent back for a refund. I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by the utility of this small tiller.

Assembly was a cinch and my first test tilling went so well I decided to try my luck on some hard clay in my lawn that I had intended to rent a full-size tiller to tackle. The 410R bit right in and cut down 2-3 inches without much problem. I ended up using the mini-tiller for my whole lawn restoration with excellent results. And it is small and convenient enough to fire up for very small jobs, like 2' x 2' patches of lawn that need to be replanted. Much easier than a shovel and rake for small areas.

However, make no mistake - despite its diminutive size, this tiller is quite a handful to use. Getting it to bite into clay requires a good deal of "body english" - sideways and backward dragging leading the operator to feel like they've been wrestling a small motorcycle for a few hours. Ear protection is non-optional - this thing is loud!

The only major gripe I have is I wish the unit were heavier. It tends to "jump" off rocks and roots and need to be corralled by the operator. I believe it would be easier to use and control with additonal weight.

Started easy, plowed through sandy soil easily. Would like to see a little more weight so it doesn't bounce as much. Wouldn't recommend for heavy soil or clay. Overall a good value.

The ryobi 510R 4-cycle yard & Garden Cultivator did not work for me. I started the tiller and it ran for about 5 minutes and it locked up and would not run. The local authorized service dealer repaired it but it took over a month to get parts.Then I tried it again and it ran maybe 10 minutes this time before it locked up again,same as before.Now its in the shop again and the dealer says he ordered the parts 3 months ago and has not receive the parts as of today.So I don't rate this tiller at all.You have heard about the LEMON, well I got one. the number to contact Ryobi is a joke,you never talk to anyone before they disconnect.

When I was reviewing this tiller before purchase, the reviews seemed to have conflicting information. However, there was enough positives, along with free shipping that I went ahead and ordered one. So far it's been a great little tiller. It starts and runs great and does what it's supposed to do. Contrary to some reviewer's opinions, I find that it's quiet - in fact my neighbor's first comment was "Gee.. that's really quiet". OSHA might disagree, but I don't feel that hearing protection is necessary. As someone pointed out, the current picture featured above is different than the actual unit - it is. The actual unit has a longer shaft between the engine and the tines - similar to the Ryobi 410 / 2-cycle unit. Speaking of that - it's great not to have to mix the oil & gas!
The tines will stop when you encounter the right size rock and it jams between the tine and the hood. This is pretty typical of any tiller that I've used.
It is small and will not till a large area very fast, but it does a nice job and sure beats shoveling!

This is a nice little tiller. Very good for clearing small gardens. It seems powerful enough, durable, and I haven't had any trouble starting it. It did a fine (but slow) job of tearing up the old sod so that I could plant a wildflower garden.

Only two issues that I can think of. The first is that the cotter pins on the tiller blades are on the inside, between the two wheels. Other mini-tillers that I've seen have their cotter pins on the outside. This would make it much easier to remove the blades to clear out rocks and/or weeds -- something that you have to do fairly often. If the cotter pins were more easily accessible, I'd give this tiller a "5".

The other thing is that there don't seem to be any other accessories available for this tiller -- e.g. aerators or dethatchers.