Cordless power tools

[ven]

I went to corded after my gas powered weedeater died after 3 years and the one before it died after 7 years and then I came across a Black & Decker 20v weedeater and an upgraded (2 speed) model which IMO is good enough for 95% of what you need one for. 54V would be good if you have a very large area with very thick weeds otherwise a 4+A 18/20V battery model is fine IMO.

I had pretty good luck with my 2 stroke tools. I cant quite remember the brand, but they were basic run of the mill types. The hedge cutter died after around 8yrs of use. The strimmer just recent but after a year of fixing and not so smooth running. This lasted a good 15yrs(all bought at same time). Heck in that time i must have gone through 3 or more lawn mowers, that latter is 4 stroke and still going well after 3-4yrs. I did weigh up a few options, finally decided on the dewalt for ease and having the batteries/chargers . It will be quieter, more user friendly and it also gets more use out of my batteries at home. I am hoping the 18v is more than enough for my uses, time will tell but i am pretty confident. Also i will add it to my dewalt tools for 3yr warranty. Little peace of mind down the line, although it will never really be used in anger(lots of heavy use).

I had used corded years back, the biggest draw back for me is the inconvenience and wrapping up the cable. Hedge cutters wise.........i may have cut through the cable more than once . I thought i was aware and being cautious at the times!. I still have an extendable corded hedge cutter, pretty useful to. However with the extension, i do get an intermittent contact issue (stop/start) at times. The petrol hedge cutter i had a while back was quite heavy for wielding for over an hour or so.

If i had of gone 54v, it would have been mainly for the 54v and using the flexvolt. Thankfully my little common sense brain cell kicked in and over powered my many big kid want want want cells!

 

[kaichu dento]

I took the electric chainsaw over to my neighbor's yesterday. He wanted the dead Rhody branches removed. Had a closer look and decided to go home and grab the cordless sawzall. It's a much better tool for pruning. I was able to saw with one hand and hold the branch to keep it from falling with the other.

I've been doing a lot of pruning and small tree removal using my 20v Porter Cable sawzall and it sure is great not having to drag around a cord, which actually I would never do.

A few of the small trees have been up to 4", mostly maple, but also a couple of 15' locusts. My favorite part is filling in the hole when the tree has been completely removed, leaving no trace it was ever even there.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I had pretty good luck with my 2 stroke tools. I cant quite remember the brand, but they were basic run of the mill types. The hedge cutter died after around 8yrs of use. The strimmer just recent but after a year of fixing and not so smooth running. This lasted a good 15yrs(all bought at same time). Heck in that time i must have gone through 3 or more lawn mowers, that latter is 4 stroke and still going well after 3-4yrs. I did weigh up a few options, finally decided on the dewalt for ease and having the batteries/chargers . It will be quieter, more user friendly and it also gets more use out of my batteries at home. I am hoping the 18v is more than enough for my uses, time will tell but i am pretty confident. Also i will add it to my dewalt tools for 3yr warranty. Little peace of mind down the line, although it will never really be used in anger(lots of heavy use).

I had used corded years back, the biggest draw back for me is the inconvenience and wrapping up the cable. Hedge cutters wise.........i may have cut through the cable more than once . I thought i was aware and being cautious at the times!. I still have an extendable corded hedge cutter, pretty useful to. However with the extension, i do get an intermittent contact issue (stop/start) at times. The petrol hedge cutter i had a while back was quite heavy for wielding for over an hour or so.

If i had of gone 54v, it would have been mainly for the 54v and using the flexvolt. Thankfully my little common sense brain cell kicked in and over powered my many big kid want want want cells!

I too have a 49 foot cord from using it with a corded hedge trimmer, which is a major reason for using cordless hedge trimmers. I calculated that going to all cordless tools I saved about 15 minutes that I spent with managing cords and I did my yardwork once a week to about 20 times makes for about 300 minutes or 5 hours of my life back....lol.
I think as long as you use a dual layer battery (3Ah or greater) and your lawn isn't huge or overgrown you will probably be fine. The triple layer 54V battery is a lot heavier and probably not needed for a weedeater and the hedge trimmer unless you have a lot of hedges to do that need more than a maintenance trim shouldn't take a big amount of power either and having a smaller battery makes it a lot easier to wield less tiring. I wish I had got the B&D 20V chainsaw but at the time I was looking at them in a shop used I was short about $20 in my budget to get one. They had one years before other tool battery makers had them. It is sad that B&D yard tools were IMO the first complete tool line to offer such solutions and ended up crippling their tool line with cheaper and cheaper stuff and low capacity batteries while they other tool makers went to 5,6, and 9 and 12Ah batteries B&D only had 1.3 and 2Ah batteries available I'm using a PC 4A battery if it were not for the cross compatibility of the tool batteries (with a hack) my yard tools would be more frustrating needing 2-3 small 1 layer batteries to do my yard vs 1 to maybe a second battery for a few minutes a few times a year saves me a lot of time and frustration.
I'm still on the fence about battery mowers, I think that they are maturing well but possibly models in the next few years will perform even better. I recall one Craftsman electric mower that had slots for 2 40V batteries could use either of them (not both at once) I didn't have a lot of time on it as I was mowing my bosses yard with it and he didn't like the battery setup and took it back and bought a cheesy 24v SLA based mower which was smaller, less powerful and lighter such that it often seems to bounce around on the lawn and when it hit something the blade almost stopped dead on it at times it seemed.

 

[ven]

I think B&D did some clever marketing with dewalt, which then grew to quite a lot of choice in tools and battery capacities. You can still get 1.5a and 2a packs here in the UK. The B&D branded stuff maybe aimed more towards the DIY/hobby dudes.......dont know on that. Maybe as dewalt took off and became more popular, they decided to keep focusing more on that flavour.

 

[ven]

New toy arrived today

Very close to a 2 stroke, but dewalt pipped it! Mainly for convenience and having the batteries crying out to be used more!

Yes i used a dewalt tool, with milwaukee bits to put it together

Seems nicely made, does give confidence . Quite long too!!!! No shoulder strap or handle bars, so i can imagine with a larger battery on, maybe not ideal for an hours strimming. Will see how i get on, easy enough to attach a strap of sorts if needed. So initial impressions good, just registered it on my dewalt app for 3yr warranty. Once it gets some use, will report back, i am impressed with the beefy spool and design. Very trick and well designed/built. Much better than my 2 stroke one anyway(must be twice the size and a double cord). Clever way of winding, or simply tap to release more cord during use. Will admit i had to do a youtube to remove spool , 1st time i actually wound the cord back into the spool . No mention in instructions, so quick watch and using allen key(hex wrench), lock the metal ring and undo spool to remove, then fit guard with 4 self tappers. Which is a 2.5T and not supplied(in fairness you could use a large flat screw driver.......but still, just use same 4mm hex key size used on the grab bar).

 

[ven]

So no rain, why not! Had a good 20min+ of use out front and around pond. Seems low mode is enough although I did try the high for a bit. One bonus is not getting oil and fuel leaking on my clothes! Not to mention the exhaust fumes near my face. Pretty happy, if to find fault would be the large spool. It's a little too large and using off grass(drive way weeds) it's very easy to catch/scuff being more pronounced than I am use to. On grass it's less of an issue, if anything it stops you going too deep on the grass. Weight wise , although not too heavy, it can start to become a little heavy after 20mins or so. I started to feel a little fatigue in my left arm, but that is the arm I tore my bicep the other year. That's with a 5a battery, so bigger jobs a shoulder strap might be a good idea.

Quieter, smoother, much less vibration and no pollution. I was on the 2nd light of 3. So no idea how much strumming time left, I would think a 5a battery should be good for 40-60 mins though.

 

[DavisonDave]

I bought an Ego lawn mower today. I brought it home charged the battery and mowed. Including an area in back with real tall grass that didn't get mowed after my gas mower died the other day. I'm sold on it and already looking at other Ego toys.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Hi DD, Pictures or it didn't happen. :nana:

I bought an Ego lawn mower today. I brought it home charged the battery and mowed. Including an area in back with real tall grass that didn't get mowed after my gas mower died the other day. I'm sold on it and already looking at other Ego toys.

 

[ven]

Yep Dave you know the rules, pics or it's not true

 

[DavisonDave]

Hi DD, Pictures or it didn't happen. :nana:

Yep Dave you know the rules, pics or it's not true

[/URL]20200609_162630 by Dave1136, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Very cool Dave. I'm glad you like the mow. Thanks for sharing a picture. As you've probably guessed, we like to live vicariously.

 

[alpg88]

this weekend we had to cut up old plum tree, we used 16in electric chainsaw, the wood was so tough we dulled the chain pretty fast, the wood was darkish red color, we had the chain sharpened, but it got dull pretty fast again, what we end up using is diablo demolition blade with carbide tips, and a sawzall, and it still was no easy task,

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

alpg88, Please see post # 268 and 269.

 

[ven]

Looks a nice bit of kit that Dave, thanks for sharing. Are there other tools in that set(use same batteries).

alpg88, the little stump at the end of my garden eat through 2 chains. I have put them to one side, probably end up sending them off and get sharpened at some point. I have 3 chains left, one being used and 2 new ready to go. I figure getting 3 sharpened is a little less than 1 chain............But i was quite surprised how short lived they can be. Thankfully the hedge was no issue and the several hours of on/off cutting was all done on the 1 chain.

 

[ma tumba]

Is there a system that includes a pressure pump suitable for tires?

 

[DavisonDave]

Looks a nice bit of kit that Dave, thanks for sharing. Are there other tools in that set(use same batteries).

Yes. That is why I decided on it. I have a lot of yard so I wanted something more than a system that used power tool batteries. The mower is for trim work, under trees, between raised beds, etc.

They are 56 volt and have 2.5, 5 and 7.5 AH batteries.

The next things I plan on are a string trimmer. It uses a power head you can switch tools on it. I will also get the cultivator and edger attachment for it and also a leaf blower. I'll get more as the budget allows.

They have hedge trimmers, chain saws, pole saws, backpack for the batteries to keep the weight off the tool, power inverters, snow blower, etc.

 

[ven]

Just checked out UK side, some nice tools. :thumbsup:

 

[DavisonDave]

I went to the store today planning to get an Ego edger and trimmer. The ones I wanted were not in stock so I got a Ego leaf blower. I went with the 180 MPH 650 CFM one. It clears off the driveway fast.

[/URL]20200613_174911 by Dave1136, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[ven]

A beast!!!

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

I took-on replacing the trim in six bathrooms and two kitchens ....... so I rented this bad boy.

If I was a smart man, I woulda realized it was going to take me three days and the smart money would have been spent on purchasing one. Live and learn.