Cordless grass/string trimmer?

[jnes1]

Do Not Buy This (XT287SM1)


I bought this kit at home depot today and returned it same day. If you have ever used a gas string trimmer or decent corded (plug in) one you will notice immediately how underpowered the string trimmer is on a full battery and on the highest speed setting.

The string trimmer is painfully slow and weak. I felt embarrassed using it. It struggles to cut things. The blower was solid. The weight and appearance of both was great but the total lack of power for the string trimmer was unforgivable.

 

[uncwstudent]

Thanks for the heads up. I thought about buying the Makita string trimmer and decided to hold onto my Milwaukee. Glad I did

 

[paulsomlo]

Do Not Buy This


I bought this kit at home depot today and returned it same day. If you have ever used a gas string trimmer or decent corded (plug in) one you will notice immediately how underpowered the string trimmer is on a full battery and on the highest speed setting.

The string trimmer is painfully slow and weak. I felt embarrassed using it. It struggles to cut things. The blower was solid. The weight and appearance of both was great but the total lack of power for the string trimmer was unforgivable.

I have that same kit and I'm amazed at how powerful both the string trimmer and the blower are. I've cut down an entire backyard that was overgrown with a foot of grass, didn't even use a whole battery. And it weighs next to nothing.

 

[fordgasm]

I use a brushless Ryobi and it’s been great.

 

[engineer2]

Please describe what happened with your Makita items. You might have been better off with the 36V system depending on your lot size,

 

[webscrounger]

Brands already mentioned are all good. Whichever platform you already have, favor or can afford. I replaced my old Ryobi gas trimmer with the Milwaukee M18 String trimmer and couldn't be happier. I've used it as a trimmer and with the extension and chainsaw attachments also. All work excellent. Expensive - normally yes. But if you get it all on sale it can be affordable. As mentioned, string heads can be finicky. I replaced the head with a ‘Grass Gator 3600 Weed I Light Duty Bladed Replacement Head’. Works great on grass and no there's no time wasted on string issues. Cuts through heavy grass and weeds as well.​

sss

 

[Citation]

My Black & Decker 20v trimmer has been going strong since 2018, honestly it's lasting longer than I thought it would. If I bought a new one today it would be Ryobi for the same reasons stated above.

I've had two B&D trimmers, the older 18V NiCad and a newer 20V LiIon. The NiCad seemed to be stronger but the batteries have died (they are almost 10 years old now). I like that my particular model has a wheel so you can roll it as you edge the sidewalk. I picked it up new for something stupid cheap like $20 with batteries.

I like that it's cheap, light and sufficient for my trimming needs. Also the blower and 5 1/4" circular saw that use the same batteries were under $100 for the pair. So I'm less than $150 for three tools I use quite a bit.

It's not without downsides. If you've ever used a good trimmer you will know this one is very low power. Also the thin string used in the low end models gets consumed quickly. The auto advancing heads are also marginal. I would rather have a bump head.

If your trimming is light then I can easily recommend the B&D as cheap and sufficient. If you aren't as cheap as I am a higher end model would be good. Like NHDave I would also consider the Ryobi models simply because the other tools in the same battery family are better (but not as cheap).

 

[yamaha0343]

I am in need of a cordless string trimmer. I have Bosch 18v batteries, but they don't seem to have a string trimmer. What other brand is good? (well made, reliable) I only need about 30 minutes of use at a time, but I also have a bad back, so weight is important.

Yellow, Red, and Blue all have good offerings, pick the one that has a tool lineup you like.

 

[CJ7VFR]

One thing that can vastly improve a cordless trimmers cutting ability is to use the largest diameter cutting string the cutting head can take, and to also use a string that has some sort of ridges or raised areas along the length of the string, instead of just plain old round string.

Every trimmer I have ever used, whether it be a gas or cordless trimmer, I have made sure I replace whatever sting came with it with .095 diameter string that has the raised ridges along its length. The larger diameter string gives it more momentum for cutting as it spins around, and the ridges act like blades to help cut thru more things than just plain old grass.

As a side note, I just purchased a Ryobi Brushless 18V trimmer, that comes with the ability to change out the trimmer head with other things. I have a Husqvarna gas powered string trimmer that can take different attachments like my leaf sucker with a bag, an eight inch pole saw, a blower, a hedge trimmer and a small cultivator.

I have tried all of these attachments with the new Ryobi trimmer, but a few of them, like the cultivator, don't work really great as the 18V batteries don't have the power to run it very well.

But overall, the new Ryobi trimmer works great for what I bought it for, and that is to weedwack the grass around my property that the lawn mower can't reach when I don't have enough gas for the Husqvarna trimmer. As a reference, my property is 1 acre with a split rail fence all round it, sidewalks, some bushes, a patio, a shed, a garden and 13 trees to trim around, and I can do that with one 6ah battery, or two 4ah batteries, with about half the power left on the second one.

The Ryobi trimmer is almost 6 feet long, so it works great for me as I am 6 feet tall. The handle is adjustable, so you can move it about a foot up or down to fit you. My wife (who is 5 feet, 3 inches tall) can even use this thing if we put the handle down to the lowest spot. And it is a lot lighter than the gas powered one. I would say by almost half as much, which makes it easier to use even with a large battery on the end of it.

Here is the one I just bought. It came with a 4ah battery. I have a few other Ryobi 18V tools, so I have a bunch of batteries to use.

Jim

 

[tclark]

Bought an Ego a few months ago for my 3/4-ish acre yard; have yet to need to recharge it after using 4-5x. It works pretty well; I like the variable speed.

 

[HenryAZ]

I have been quite pleased with the Makita cordless I bought (XRU23SM1). It is light weight, and perfect for the amount of trimming I do (~116 ft. around a 35 ft. grass circle). I did replace the head with an Echo SpeedFeed. That required a bit of machining as the threads on the head shaft of the Makita are not full length, and the head needs to snug up to the plate. So I popped the Echo into my Grizzly small mill/drill and drilled out enough clearance in the internal threads to pass over the unthreaded part of the Makita's shaft. The Echo SpeedFeed with .095 string is the shiznitz. Plus the Echo takes 20 ft. of string, vs 13 ft. for the stock Makita head.

 

[acer66]

I did not read all the responses and I have a 40v ryobi which should have died years ago the way I use it but it keeps running.

But it is the one with switchable attachments and not the regular trimmer because I use a blade quite often.

No problem with the performance and I am very happy with it.

One thing I would think about is do you want a new battery platform strictly for outdoor tools or maybe also for tools.

I was in the same boat like the op and had only Bosch tools but I first bought Ryobi 40v strictly for outdoor and then Dewalt sneaked in and now I have a mixture of Dewalt and Bosch hand tools too.

 

[rsanter]

Dewalt with the 5ah battery kicks ****