Battery powered trimmer

[829]

I am not a professional lawn care guy, just a home owner tired of sucking up lawn trimmer smoke and going deaf.

I am looking for a reliable battery powered lawn trimmer, can anyone point me in the direction of a decent machine? They are all about the same price in the store ><$20 difference. I have not picked one up that is anymore heavy than my trusty old 2-cycle. I am mostly concerned with battery death.

Thank you in advance.

[jsw2008]

Some of my family members have Black and Decker cordless trimmers and as far as battery powered stuff goes I guess they're not too bad. They don't seem very powerful though. I think it may take you twice as long to trim your yard than with your gas powered one.

[829]

My mom has a B&D and only gets about 20 minutes.

[jtf40]

I am not a professional lawn care guy, just a home owner tired of sucking up lawn trimmer smoke and going deaf.

I am looking for a reliable battery powered lawn trimmer, can anyone point me in the direction of a decent machine? They are all about the same price in the store ><$20 difference. I have not picked one up that is anymore heavy than my trusty old 2-cycle. I am mostly concerned with battery death.

Thank you in advance.

Get some ear plugs and some Opti2 2-stroke oil - SMOKELESS.....:usflag:

[LarryF]

I am not a professional lawn care guy, just a home owner tired of sucking up lawn trimmer smoke and going deaf.



Would you ID that monster please? And is it a 50/1 gas/oil mixture? I have not noticed either of those problems with mine, so that's why I ask. I was a little reluctant to fire mine up yesterday since it was Mother's day and didn't want to upset the neighbors. But heavy rain was being forecast (we sure got it today) and I wanted to get the the string trimming over with. No one seemed to even notice the noise.

[829]

Get some ear plugs and some Opti2 2-stroke oil - SMOKELESS.....:usflag:


Tried ear plugs, they hurt my ears when unrolling and I would still smell the combustion.


Would you ID that monster please? And is it a 50/1 gas/oil mixture? I have not noticed either of those problems with mine, so that's why I ask. I was a little reluctant to fire mine up yesterday since it was Mother's day and didn't want to upset the neighbors. But heavy rain was being forecast (we sure got it today) and I wanted to get the the string trimming over with. No one seemed to even notice the noise.

I do not have the model off the top of my head, but it is an 8 years old homelite.

[LarryF]

I do not have the model off the top of my head, but it is an 8 years old homelite.

Thanks. Some of the old Homelites were cheaply built and required a lot of oil per gallon of gas. The gas/oil ratio might have been somewhere between 32/1 and 25/1 which naturally causes a lot of smoke. The mufflers they used weren't very effective either. I had one and didn't like it for not only the objections you stated but because it was hard to start and not too dependable at continuing to run. So I bought a Stihl, which seemed to be highly rated by the pros on this forum and it made a world of difference. The string advance on it is much better than that of the Homelite, which is another big benefit. It was pricey compared to the Homelite, but well worth it to me.

Unless you have a very small amount of trimming to do, I suspect you won't be too happy with a battery-powered machine that may require recharging before you are finished with what you are working on. Before you go in that direction, why don't you demo some of the highly recommended gas trimmers such as Stihl, Redmax or Shindaiwa? You may find they are much quieter and not as smoky as your Homelite. I didn't get the top-of-the-line Stihl, by the way. Mine's an FS-45.

[829]

Thank you all for the replies.

My heart is set on a battery powered machine, but I will go to my local stihl and at least give them the once over.

[LarryF]

Thank you all for the replies.

My heart is set on a battery powered machine, but I will go to my local stihl and at least give them the once over.

Well, if it's an affair of the heart, I guess there's little point in providing a counter argument.

I just used my Stihl again this morning and while thinking of your post, I focused on the smoke and noise. There was no visible smoke, and the noise was negligible at slow speed which is how I usually run it. Even at wide open speed which does little more for me than use up a lot more trimmer line, the noise isn't very objectionable. Another nice feature of these new Stihl trimmers is the ease of loading new string. I hadn't paid any attention to that when I bought mine, but I sure appreciate that aspect every time I do have to do a string reload. I suggest you ask the dealer for a demo of that as well.

By the way, I found the Owner's Manual for my old Homelite. It used a gas/oil mix of 16/1 or greater than a factor of 3 more oil than the Stihl. No wonder it smoked heavily. But it's probably a lot older than yours. Good luck!

[44DCNF]

I feel you would be converted were you to use a commercial trimmer, instead of that homelite, but if you are dead set on battery here is one I have seen on TV. I know nothing about it, but it does look like it might be a suitable unit if the charge time is adequate for you.Worx GT (http://www.worxgt.com/)

This is probably the wrong place to search for advice on a battery operated trimmer though. You are asking people who have to use commercial and heavy duty equipment for advice on an item which would not perform in a capacity required by us. My advice is to go and try a commercial unit before spending the money on a battery operated trimmer. The difference in ease of use will amaze you. If you want comfortable ear protection use Howard Leight Multi Max, as they are tapered and can be used in small or large ears depending on the orientation. For a drastic reduction in the smoke and smell, use Amsoil or Opti2. Check out that worx unit though, you may find it sufficient. At first I think I was getting you confused with another who inquired about a battery operated trimmer for use on a two acre lot.

[All_Toro_4ME]

Hey 829. I read your thread and saw where you are looking for a battery powered trimmer. Most on here have suggested a comm trimmer of some sort which is fine, but you might take a look at the Neuton Mower. It is maintenance free and has a trimmer attachment that hooks onto the front. Its really easy to use and very light. When you're using it, it sounds like a large fan. Not very noisy at all, and if the 1st battery goes down you can always drop in the second battery if you chose to buy an extra one. Each battery lasts around an hour. Here's a link if you want to check them out. http://www.neutonpower.com/

[DiyDave]

I got to thinking this spring (talk about smoke!), and came up with this idea last weekend. I mounted a 12 volt rechargeable cordless B&D trimmer on my dixie chopper that I use commercially. Before the laughter starts, hear me out. In areas that are far away from the truck, I use this little trimmer to trim around an isolated tree or septic pipe, and I don't have to walk back to the truck to get the Stihl. This saves me lots of steps, and considerable time. I still use the big trimmer for large areas, and for the majority of the trimming(edging, blowing, tilling, hedge trimming, Hey, its the Kombi system), but the little 9" trimmer fits on the operator's platform well (its only about 4' long), and it only cost me $60.00 at wallyworld. The reason I chose 12 volt, is i cut the charging cord off the transformer, and wired it direct to the mower's battery, so it also recharges while you are mowing!:laugh::laugh:

[dagrel42]

I just have the 18 volt black and decker cordless trimmer and while doing research to see if they might have a lithium battery replacement, came across another model of black and decker cordless trimmer which uses nicad batteries and is supposed to rival the abilities of a gas trimmer. Go to amazon.com and look at black and decker trimmers. This model retails for $299 and appears more similar in build to gas trimmers with a battery inserted on the end. Could not find in the reviews as to how long the battery would last. I know the 18 volt batteries in my b&d trimmer last only about 10-15 minutes and do allow fairly decent light to moderate trimming. I was hoping someone would be utilizing lithium ion batteries at this juncture. Hope this helps.

[dagrel42]

The black and decker trimmer I mentioned above is listed under "36 volt black and decker trimmer".

[DiyDave]

My $60 wonder failed today. I was mowing along, hit some mud with the Dixie Chopper, some of it was flung onto the handle of the weedwacker. That little bit of mud stuck the switch in the on position. When i went to use it at the end of the road, today, the b*stard stuck in the on position. After I finished what I had to do, I took the weedwacker into the garage, still running, removed approximately 10 torx screws, split the handle in half, and pulled a wire off the battery to shut it down. Tomorrow a real switch goes into it, not the bs microswitch that was defeated by a little mud. By god I'll make it work to spite the engineers!:nono:

[829]

I opted for the $100 B&D 18v at Home depot. It came with 2 batteries.

[heybruck34]

DIY Dave- what a cool idea... to me- this is the best part of lawnsite- the creative time saving ideas you pick up from other members.

I agree with the previous comment about "if your heart is set on a batter powered trimmer no counterpoint is relevant". Unless you have a very small amount of trimming to do, a battery powered unit will probably be inadequate. Basing a purchasing decision off an old inferior piece of equipment and using that equipment as the standard is not a fair comparison.

The new quality units are much quieter and more powerful with less emissions than their older bretheren, much less the homeowner variety (homelite, weedeater...etc).

Do yourself a favor and check out the local lawnmower shop and like everything- TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.

[hairyauman]

My Worx GT (http://www.worxyardtools.com/garden-tools/cordless-grass-trimmer.html) goes about an hour or so of hard trimming. I enjoy it and would recommend it for someone looking for one. I mean, hell, it's a cordless trimmer not a heart transplant ;)

[44DCNF]

Does anyone remember what was maybe one of the first home owner style golf club type trimmers that B&D came out with. Corded of course and it had a little metal blade about four or five inches long? LOL. That Works looks well built.

[Daner]

They caught my eye as well...I watched someone trim with a cordless and i could not believe my eyes...dont know what make It was...but It looked like It was kickin a$$
I would like to see Dewalt come up with a cordless design... lets face It alot of lawns Don't need all that power and WEIGHT that we carry around.

Daner

[All_Toro_4ME]

I would like to see Dewalt come up with a cordless design...

Me too. But put stronger, more powerful batteries in them so they last longer between charges.