Battery powered Weed whacker

JohnR66 · Apr 30, 2013

I used to have an electric (plug in) Weed Eater brand string trimmer that bit the dust. The string feed never worked well as I had to open the string holder and get the string going again once or twice during use

. I see these battery powered jobs.

Keep in mind I have a small .23 acre lot and string trim probably 4 or five times a season so I don't need an industrial strength trimmer. I saw a Riobi 24 volt trimmer for around $80 and a $30-some volt for around $100. I'm looking for any feedback on these battery powered trimmers.

Chauncey Gardiner · Apr 30, 2013

Sorry JohnR66,

I've only used gas units. Perhaps Amazon would be a good source for feed-back.

~ Chance

Flying Turtle · Apr 30, 2013

If you want electric I'd stay with the plug-in. I used and abused one for years at my old house. I've also watched both my next door neighbors give up on battery powered mowers and get gas ones. My guess is a battery trimmer wouldn't be much better.

I just bought my second gas trimmer (Toro), after wearing out a Ryobi that lasted at least twelve years. As long as you can get them to run gas models are so much easier than messing with an extension cord.

Geoff

bshanahan14rulz · Apr 30, 2013

I saw some Li-Ion packs in the Wallyworld clearance aisle some months ago. Was thinking about seeing what cells they used, but it was some brand I didn't quite recognize, so I figured probably nothing too special. Let us know if you get one, I'm in a somewhat similar situation, but would be switching from paying someone to mow my "yard" to mowing it myself using weed whacker.

DaveG · Apr 30, 2013

I have the Riobi 18-volt trimmer, it has worked well for me all last year.I dont have to do the north fourty,just around the house and back yard.Its the model that you can use the same battery pack for other Riobi tools.I use the Li-Ion battery pack with it.

Norm · Apr 30, 2013

Similar experience to Dave my Ryobi one + 18V is quite old it originally came with the old Ni-cad packs, I bought the new Li-ion packs and it has improved its performance greatly.

We use it to maintain the grass edges on two smaller home uits.

Norm

JohnR66 · May 1, 2013

bshanahan14rulz said:
I saw some Li-Ion packs in the Wallyworld clearance aisle some months ago. Was thinking about seeing what cells they used, but it was some brand I didn't quite recognize, so I figured probably nothing too special. Let us know if you get one, I'm in a somewhat similar situation, but would be switching from paying someone to mow my "yard" to mowing it myself using weed whacker.

Will do. It may be awhile.

Mowing yard with a weed whacker?

idleprocess · May 1, 2013

I recently purchased the Ryobi 40V li-ion trimmer and am fairly satisfied with it. I live in the suburbs on a small lot and it's plenty adequate so far. Intended market seems to be folks such as myself living on a half-acre or less that regularly mow/trim. I bought it in anticipation of obtaining the li-ion push mower if the trimmer works out - only my gas lawn mower fired right up without complaint this year, so its replacement might have to wait. Home depot is selling it for $150 right now - a $20 price drop from last year.

The Good

I've never run it the battery down to lower than two LED's, including the start of the season when I had to excavate a lot of dirt establishing the edge along the sidewalk and had to beat back a good deal of ivy growth along the perimeter of the back yard
It balances OK in the hands
It has more than enough power to get the job done - battery is rated at 95W-H or about 4x the capacity of the compact 18V batteries standard with the ONE+ tools
I've found that the variable throttle is surprisingly useful
A bit quieter than even a corded electric trimmer

The Bad

The guard is immense - makes it difficult to work to the right side
The trim head itself is higher-profile than it needs to be, resulting in contact with the ground when attacking seams on driveways/sidewalks, etc
Included string is not terribly robust and pre-wound replacement spools are rather expensive - remains to be see how well it works when re-wound with more robust string
The, uhm, "deadman switch" will be aggravating for some
Motor seems prone to overheating if the tiny vent holes in the housing get clogged
I can't work quite as fast as I would with the previous electric trimmer, but the time saved not messing with the cord is worth it

The Ugly

String auto-advance is not all that great (thankfully there's a simple manual advance button on the trim head)
It's marginal as an edger - lacks a guide to hook the curb and the wheel is kind of iffy so you'll likely find yourself looking down the plane of attack to edge correctly ... wear safety glasses (curiously, Ryobi would love for you to buy their edger attachment)

I read good things about the 24V trimmer, but it's an oddball - Ryobi makes no other 24V tools.

The standard 18V packs are pretty small - 24 to 28W-H - making me doubt their ability to truly get the job done. I have Ryobi's 18V blower (more of an air sweeper) and it has trouble operating for more than 15 minutes without shutting down. One could always swap packs, but that's a bit of a momentum-killer when you're edging. One could also buy the double-capacity 18V pack, but for that much premium you could just get the 40V trimmer with the option of using other 40V outdoor tools...

yuandrew · May 1, 2013

I've seen one by CORE Outdoor Power at a lawnmower shop a block from where I work (B&M Pro Turf in Anaheim) It uses a pretty neat brushless motor which supposedly could go head to head with commercial grade 2-stroke gas trimmers like Echo or Sthil

Only played with it briefly in the shop though; the trigger is just on/off but there's also a rocker switch on top of the handle for high speed and/or low speed with more torque delivered.

http://www.coreoutdoorpower.com/

Poppy · May 2, 2013

I had a ( IIRC a black and decker) with a SLA battery. The charger puts out 13 volts, so I guess it was a 12 volt battery. I only had to do 100 linear feet with it and it worked out ok. It may have been able to do 200 feet, but at the end of that, the battery would be pretty weak. I have a plug in electric, that is so far heads and tails above the battery unit, that I gave the battery unit away, when I sold the house that I used it for.

flashfan · May 2, 2013

I've had the Ryobi 24-volt lithium-ion weed trimmer for about a year now. Really wanted the 40-volt model, but it had just been introduced, so was not yet in the stores. Couldn't wait, so picked up the 24-volt, and it has performed well enough. (note: I did have to return the first unit--the plastic screw/mounting tabs broke off. Luckily it was within the warranty period, so I was able to get an immediate exchange.)

I haven't used any other weed trimmers, so can't compare performance, but here are my observations:
*runtime is short, so I picked up an extra battery which helps, but a third battery would probably be "ideal" for my use
*cuts okay, but as idleprocess noted above, the string isn't very robust, and replacements are expensive (I saw the 40-volt recently at the store, and was surprised that it didn't use a larger/better string for better cutting ability).
*with so much of the device made of plastic (plus having had to return the first unit), I feel it necessary to "baby" the tool a bit.

I also have the Ryobi "One+" 18-volt hedge trimmer and pruner, and they have worked well. Looking at the small chain saw that uses the same battery, but am wondering if an 18-volt unit can provide enough power and run time.

sawlight · May 2, 2013

My neighbor bought a Black and Decker cordless two years ago, he loves it on his 1/3rd acre lot. Been thinking about getting one myself to be honest!

thinker · May 11, 2013

flashfan said:
I've had the Ryobi 24-volt lithium-ion weed trimmer for about a year now. Really wanted the 40-volt model, but it had just been introduced, so was not yet in the stores. Couldn't wait, so picked up the 24-volt, and it has performed well enough. (note: I did have to return the first unit--the plastic screw/mounting tabs broke off. Luckily it was within the warranty period, so I was able to get an immediate exchange.)

I haven't used any other weed trimmers, so can't compare performance, but here are my observations:
*runtime is short, so I picked up an extra battery which helps, but a third battery would probably be "ideal" for my use
*cuts okay, but as idleprocess noted above, the string isn't very robust, and replacements are expensive (I saw the 40-volt recently at the store, and was surprised that it didn't use a larger/better string for better cutting ability).
*with so much of the device made of plastic (plus having had to return the first unit), I feel it necessary to "baby" the tool a bit.

I also have the Ryobi "One+" 18-volt hedge trimmer and pruner, and they have worked well. Looking at the small chain saw that uses the same battery, but am wondering if an 18-volt unit can provide enough power and run time.

I would be very skeptical about a practical battery-powered chain saw. Maybe if you were only cutting a few small branches, it might be ok. I've cut down trees and large branches with bow saws, electric (corded) chain saws, and gas-powered saws. It takes a lot of energy. I can't imagine a battery would last long under that type of load. Think about how much sawdust a battery-powered drill could make before running low. Compare that to the volume and rate of chips from a chain saw - huge difference.

idleprocess · May 12, 2013

thinker said:
I would be very skeptical about a practical battery-powered chain saw. Maybe if you were only cutting a few small branches, it might be ok. I've cut down trees and large branches with bow saws, electric (corded) chain saws, and gas-powered saws. It takes a lot of energy. I can't imagine a battery would last long under that type of load. Think about how much sawdust a battery-powered drill could make before running low. Compare that to the volume and rate of chips from a chain saw - huge difference.

The blade is very short on the 18V model - 10" - and it turns the chain quite slowly from what I've read. The intended use is for occasional branch trimming by a homeowner or other tasks a bit too large for a set of lopers but not quite large enough for a larger, more powerful chainsaw. You probably won't cut down trees of any significant size with it.

Reviews I'm glancing at suggest its main deficiencies - other than the obviously short runtime and limited capabilities - revolve around some mechanical design issues such as chain tension. Although I am getting the distinct impression that a corded electric chainsaw is going to be a better option for most homeowners that occasionally need to cut branches and the like.

Chrontius · Apr 6, 2014

Just got a Ryobi One+ hybrid trimmer, and I'm rather impressed with it.

I'd still prefer one of their 40 volt models, but this thing can go pretty far on one battery.

Battery powered Weed whacker

JohnR66

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Flying Turtle

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