Cordless Weed Eater Experience?

Need to get a weed eater/string trimmer and need something without a cord because I've got a big yard. I wanted to avoid gasoline engines if I could, but that leaves only the battery powered ones. Any experience with them? Is it a waste of money?

 

What's the matter with a Gas one??? If you have a big yard, I'd imagine that battery will drain on you pretty dang quick.

 

I have one of the 18v Ryobi +ONE battery powerd ones and it works great, granted you arent going to be cutting anything serious down with it but for tall grass and weeds it does the job just fine

 

That was actually the one I was looking at, HomeDepot carries them for about $120. It's mainly going to be used for the fence line and around some trees in the back yard, nothing major. I also need to replace my old cordless drill, and the Ryobi drill that uses the same battery looks to be pretty nice, so I'd basically have 3 batteries for the 2 tools.
How much useful life do you get from 1 charge?
and how long does it take to re-charge?

 

I second the gas notion...I have always used Stihl trimmers/edgers/hedgetrimmers. Great stuff, and lasted forever with a LOT of commercial mowing abuse.

 

I used the 18v Black and Decker trimmer. Average sized suburban yard and one battery lasted plenty long enough. Trimmed around the house, both sides of backyard privacy fence, and around the deck and edged the front driveway and sidewalk.



Then I moved and we don't have grass here.

 

I bought a cordless one a one a couple of years ago. It was great at the beginning however after a couple of years one battery will barely get the front yard done, and I have to use a backup battery now just to finish the backyard. If or rather when I replace this one it will be with a gas powered.

 

I use to sell the batery powered ones at lowes, I would pretty much never recomend them to customers unless they had a "Zero lot" home. You said you have a bigger yard, I would go with a gas for sure. I have two gas weedeaters. a 60 dollar one from home depot and a really nice stihl brand one. well the cheap one doesnt get used any more

the stihl one has a clutch thing inside it, once you let off the gas the trimmer head stops spinning, kind of a nice feature for when I walk through the garage from the front to the back yard

 

Spend a little extra money and buy gas. Don't waste your time with that electric crap.

Also don't waste your time with that curved shaft crap too. Buy a decent straight shaft trimmer and you won't be disappointed. its way easier to edge with a straight shaft trimmer.

One of my neighbor's uses all electric crap including a lawnmower and its funny watching him mow getting the cord tangled around things. I cant wait till about a month from now when bermuda is so thick that his electric mower won't be able to cut through it. He just moved in and has never mowed grass before and thought electric would be the way to go. Maybe I will sell him my spare gas mower

btw its a trimmer not a weed eater ...thanks to weed-eater's marketing that term has become the norm.

 

How big a yard / where are your outlets? If you can reach with a 50' -75' extension cord, I'd go that route. As powerful, one third the cost. I'm a fan of Ryobi 1...in 2-3 years when your batteries no longer hold a good charge, the batteries are cheap to replace, often by buying another tool

If you do need gas, I vote Stihl too...or at least don't cheap out. The higher price buys a decent engine that will hold up and start much longer.

 

agreed. I have had my ryobi for about 4 years and its about to shit the bed. It will soon be replaced with a stihl FS90

 

x2

 

Gas all the way! Cordless trimmers are junk. Stihl or Echo are the best. My Dad has an Echo that is over 20 yrs old and still runs great. I can't get more than 4 or 5 yrs. out of the cheaper brands. Straight shaft is the easiest to use and more durable.

 

Get at Stihl, you won't be disapointed. It will last a lot longer than the crap you can get at the big box stores.
http://www.stihlusa.com/

 

We have both..... The gas one for major jobs and edging. The chordless one gets used after every mow to clean things up / quick jobs. I have to charge the batteries almost every time because if I don't, it starts to die when I start use it again the next time.

Other than that...I love the chordless. It's light weight and you can whip around the yard with it. The gas powered is 'old reliable' and heavy duty for those bigger heavier jobs.

 

INVEST is a quality unit, not the home depot/Lowes crap.
Highly recommendgoing to a professional lawn shop and spending a little extra cash on the professional gas units. It will last forever.
spend the money today instead of having to rebuy and rebuy

 

i have an older Echo SRM2601 and a somewhat newer Husqvarna 323L. both have been excellent. the Echo is more for brush cutting and has a saw blade, and i use the Husqy for trimming...the "L" series Husqvarnas are super light...you can literally use it w/one hand. all i have ever done to either is a plug change every couple years.

electric trimmers have potential...but won't be practical until new battery technologies arrive.

go with gasoline power. if noise is an issue, i believe some of the manufacturers offer "quiet" models...but honestly the string spinning & cutting makes more noise than my Husqy's motor does.

 

thats the one I have! it cuts like a dream

 

As homeowner I can't stress enough to invest in good equipment.
Not only will it go a better job but 10 years from now you'll be saying, Damn please die so I can buy a new one.
The tough sell is the wife. Why spent $300 to $400 on a weed whackers.
We have 3 Home Lite POS weed whackers in our garge. They are best at taking up room and getting in the way.
Now when I mention buying a decent one I get, we have 3 of them already.
We had a cheap crapsman lawnmover for 3 years.
I went out and bought a $600 honda lawnmower, she nearly KILLED me. That was 11 years ago. it took 6 pulls to get it started this year.
Since then one or two pull and the baby is purring.
She cuts the grass so every year I make a snide remark about the lawnmower, she casts the evil eye at me

 

Exactly..not mention when you buy from the local dealer..you will get more support for repairs, parts, etc should that piece of equipment break than you will ever get from HD or lowes. Basically you won't get any help from lowes or HD other than..."send it back to the manufacturer" or they will let you return/exchange within 30 days of purchase.