EGO ST1520E Trimmer
This morning, I put my money where my mouth is and bought one of these for my father.........................
https://egopowerplus.com.au/power-38cm-powerload-brushless-line-trimmer/
The ST1520E is offered in two forms, the 1520E-S Skin or the 1521E-B kit. In kit form, you get the machine, an entry level battery charger and a 2.5 ah battery. In this case, I went for the tool only.
Why The ST1520E?
There are a couple of key reasons why the ST1520E was selected from the wider range of EGO trimmers.
- The cheaper ST1420E looks like a toy and is too bulky around the throttle control. It also has a telescoping shaft, which just adds weight and would only be useful if you were short.
- The commercial grade STC3800 and STX4500 are not worth the premium for occasional usage patterns.
- The ST1620E was ruled out because it has what EGO calls "Line IQ", which is just a fancy name for automatic line feed. I hate auto-feed spools, they never release line when I want, so the machine is left revving its head off for far too long before it release line, and when it does, too much line is released and ends up whipping against the guard cutter. Bump feed is more reliable, more controllable.
- I also didn't want to go the combi power-head route either. The quick connection point adds weight and messes with the weight balance. Dad also has no need for a hedge trimmer, pole saw, slasher or edger.
So that left the ST1520E. The price point vs how often it will be used, the bump feed head and the overall balance of the machine is what makes it the sweet spot. Being second from base, that doesn't mean it's a bare bones model though.
A Closer Look -
First of all, it's important to highlight that these EGO trimmers are different from a traditional trimmer in that the (brushless) motor is mounted at the end of the shaft rather than the top. Without a battery installed, this makes the unit feel very unbalanced, a lead tipped arrow if you will. With a battery installed, suddenly the whole trimmer becomes almost perfectly balanced. The motors' location also eliminates a driveshaft, which reduces weight and driveline loss. That means more power and torque at the trimmer head.
A key feature of the ST1520E is what EGO calls "POWERLOAD™ Technology". At the press of a button, the unit will use the electric motor to wind in trimmer line. I don't know about others, but I find loading line into a trimmer head to be a tedious task, especially the older style heads that required you to remove the cap and spool. On this EGO, a length of line is fed into the head, then pulled through until equal amounts are on either side. You then press the button, and the motor will wind the line into the spool. This is basically an electric ECHO Speed Feed head.
The unit is supplied with line pre-installed, as well as a complimentary length included with the owner's manual. The ST1520E uses 2.4mm line, same as most mid-grade straight shaft trimmers.
Then there is the carbon fibre shaft. EGO says this shaft is "stronger than steel, lighter than aluminium" and that its "stronger than any other line trimmer shaft on the market today". How this translates in the real world remains to be seen, but I have to admit, the carbon fibre looks and feels very unique.
Battery consumption wise, EGO suggests up to 30-minutes of run time on the 2.5 ah battery. With the standard charger, expect a 50-minute recharge, that drops to 30-minutes with the Rapid Charger.
While it has a soft start feature, the throttle is not fully variable. Instead, the throttle acts as a switch between low (4000 rpm) and high speed (5800rpm). After a quick test run, I found it was hard to balance the throttle to remain on low speed, too little and the motor shuts off, too much and you trigger the high speed. With a petrol trimmer, the throttle is fully variable, which allows for finer control when trimming around delicate areas and vertical edging. Not ideal for my requirements, but for what it will be used for, I doubt it will matter.
You will also note the shaft is foldable. Now, EGO suggests this is to make the unit more compact for storage. However, once unfolded, the shaft is held in place with a T25 screw. No one is going to pull that out after every use, they should have used a captive knob like Stihl use. So, the split shaft thing is simply for easier packaging at the factory.
What you see here is the electric line running from the battery pack to the motor.
Like any battery powered tool when compared to petrol, the lack of noise during operation is very impressive. Not having to think about mixing fuels, and the lack of fuel related issues to worry about is the key reason why I chose to go battery here. Dad's not particularly patient with small engines, he's a pull the rope and send it type, which is not always how it works with 2-strokes.
This morning, I put my money where my mouth is and bought one of these for my father.........................
https://egopowerplus.com.au/power-38cm-powerload-brushless-line-trimmer/
The ST1520E is offered in two forms, the 1520E-S Skin or the 1521E-B kit. In kit form, you get the machine, an entry level battery charger and a 2.5 ah battery. In this case, I went for the tool only.
Why The ST1520E?
There are a couple of key reasons why the ST1520E was selected from the wider range of EGO trimmers.
- The cheaper ST1420E looks like a toy and is too bulky around the throttle control. It also has a telescoping shaft, which just adds weight and would only be useful if you were short.
- The commercial grade STC3800 and STX4500 are not worth the premium for occasional usage patterns.
- The ST1620E was ruled out because it has what EGO calls "Line IQ", which is just a fancy name for automatic line feed. I hate auto-feed spools, they never release line when I want, so the machine is left revving its head off for far too long before it release line, and when it does, too much line is released and ends up whipping against the guard cutter. Bump feed is more reliable, more controllable.
- I also didn't want to go the combi power-head route either. The quick connection point adds weight and messes with the weight balance. Dad also has no need for a hedge trimmer, pole saw, slasher or edger.
So that left the ST1520E. The price point vs how often it will be used, the bump feed head and the overall balance of the machine is what makes it the sweet spot. Being second from base, that doesn't mean it's a bare bones model though.
A Closer Look -
First of all, it's important to highlight that these EGO trimmers are different from a traditional trimmer in that the (brushless) motor is mounted at the end of the shaft rather than the top. Without a battery installed, this makes the unit feel very unbalanced, a lead tipped arrow if you will. With a battery installed, suddenly the whole trimmer becomes almost perfectly balanced. The motors' location also eliminates a driveshaft, which reduces weight and driveline loss. That means more power and torque at the trimmer head.
A key feature of the ST1520E is what EGO calls "POWERLOAD™ Technology". At the press of a button, the unit will use the electric motor to wind in trimmer line. I don't know about others, but I find loading line into a trimmer head to be a tedious task, especially the older style heads that required you to remove the cap and spool. On this EGO, a length of line is fed into the head, then pulled through until equal amounts are on either side. You then press the button, and the motor will wind the line into the spool. This is basically an electric ECHO Speed Feed head.
The unit is supplied with line pre-installed, as well as a complimentary length included with the owner's manual. The ST1520E uses 2.4mm line, same as most mid-grade straight shaft trimmers.
Then there is the carbon fibre shaft. EGO says this shaft is "stronger than steel, lighter than aluminium" and that its "stronger than any other line trimmer shaft on the market today". How this translates in the real world remains to be seen, but I have to admit, the carbon fibre looks and feels very unique.
Battery consumption wise, EGO suggests up to 30-minutes of run time on the 2.5 ah battery. With the standard charger, expect a 50-minute recharge, that drops to 30-minutes with the Rapid Charger.
While it has a soft start feature, the throttle is not fully variable. Instead, the throttle acts as a switch between low (4000 rpm) and high speed (5800rpm). After a quick test run, I found it was hard to balance the throttle to remain on low speed, too little and the motor shuts off, too much and you trigger the high speed. With a petrol trimmer, the throttle is fully variable, which allows for finer control when trimming around delicate areas and vertical edging. Not ideal for my requirements, but for what it will be used for, I doubt it will matter.
You will also note the shaft is foldable. Now, EGO suggests this is to make the unit more compact for storage. However, once unfolded, the shaft is held in place with a T25 screw. No one is going to pull that out after every use, they should have used a captive knob like Stihl use. So, the split shaft thing is simply for easier packaging at the factory.
What you see here is the electric line running from the battery pack to the motor.
Like any battery powered tool when compared to petrol, the lack of noise during operation is very impressive. Not having to think about mixing fuels, and the lack of fuel related issues to worry about is the key reason why I chose to go battery here. Dad's not particularly patient with small engines, he's a pull the rope and send it type, which is not always how it works with 2-strokes.
