I just bought a cordless string trimmer. That would seem like a stupid move, but I had my reasons. The Echo trimmer I have, I bought for very heavy stuff, and though it pretty much sucks, it does do the rough brush decently enough.
I became fed up with getting it started to maintain my lawn, however. It is a bear to get going, it leaks all it's fuel out overnight. Before you suggest I fix it, know that I have. Many times. I don't know what the heck is the issue, something must porous some where. I've replaced everything on it.
Well, I needed a new trimmer that wouldn't be so damn wasteful. I've been using shears instead of the Echo, and you can imagine how annoying that was.
So, knowing that my lawn didn't require too much of a trimmer, I went out looking for cordless models. As expected most of them just felt like junk.
I found one, however that was different. Lowes had it. It is branded as a Troy-Bilt, but I don't know who makes it. Either way, it was of significantly higher quality than all the others. It is made in China, but all of them are, unfortunately. I suppose one could call it the best of the worst.
It uses a 20v Li-ion battery pack, which charges in around 4 hours from dead. The pack has a battery life indicator button and a few LEDs on the back, to see how much juice you have left. That sounds like a gimmick, but if it proves to be accurate, I expect it will come in handy. The lithium battery prevents memory development to a large extent, and also ensures full power delivery right up until the moment it tanks.
It uses an automatic feed, single line cartridge, which I'm told can be manually reloaded, but I haven't tried yet. It comes with .060 line, but it is supposed to accept up to .080.
Surprisingly, it seemed to have just as much grunt as most home-oriented gas-powered trimmers. I mean, it's not going to out-cut a Stihl, and you aren't putting a circular blade on it any time soon, but I didn't find anything I couldn't cut with it. I didn't feel as if I was limited in any way over the Echo when it is running. I didn't have to take any extra care at all, actually, I just went about trimming my lawn.
When I was done with that, I went into some heavy brush that I hadn't bothered with in months. As long as it isn't a sapling, or other woody-barked brush, the bugger will eat right through it. Heavy grass, weeds, whatever. The thick stuff might take a couple of bites to eat through, but it will do it.
I also found, due to the lack of a hot engine, and partially due to the excellent balance of the unit, that I could extend one arm out and hold it, sweeping behind dense bushes and things without actually having to crawl back there.
About the time I was really starting to play with it, I realized that I hadn't run the battery down yet. I had forgotten that I was using a cordless trimmer.
Guys, I think they might have finally cracked it. I think someone has finally figured out how to build a cordless trimmer that actually works. Landscaping crews won't be using it any time soon, but I think it will be fine for around the house for most people, and even for more strenuous work at homes with tougher than average plants to deal with.
I expect the battery will probably hold for 30-45 minutes or so, it is difficult to tell. I think I was out for 15-20 minutes, but I can't be sure. As strange as this sounds, one of my faults is a complete lack of a functional sense of time. Either way, the indicator suggested that I had only used 1/4 of it's reserve. I'll find out in the future, as I didn't have much to do today.
I'll also test to see if it can manage edging gardens. I think I may need the .080 line to do that, but we will see. Even if it just can't do that, it is a hell of a machine so far.
If the performance holds up over the long run, I'll be happy with it for around the house, and perhaps even more.
The bugger isn't cheap, but it sure does seem to work. We will see how it does in the future.
Cheers,
Kennith
I became fed up with getting it started to maintain my lawn, however. It is a bear to get going, it leaks all it's fuel out overnight. Before you suggest I fix it, know that I have. Many times. I don't know what the heck is the issue, something must porous some where. I've replaced everything on it.
Well, I needed a new trimmer that wouldn't be so damn wasteful. I've been using shears instead of the Echo, and you can imagine how annoying that was.
So, knowing that my lawn didn't require too much of a trimmer, I went out looking for cordless models. As expected most of them just felt like junk.
I found one, however that was different. Lowes had it. It is branded as a Troy-Bilt, but I don't know who makes it. Either way, it was of significantly higher quality than all the others. It is made in China, but all of them are, unfortunately. I suppose one could call it the best of the worst.
It uses a 20v Li-ion battery pack, which charges in around 4 hours from dead. The pack has a battery life indicator button and a few LEDs on the back, to see how much juice you have left. That sounds like a gimmick, but if it proves to be accurate, I expect it will come in handy. The lithium battery prevents memory development to a large extent, and also ensures full power delivery right up until the moment it tanks.
It uses an automatic feed, single line cartridge, which I'm told can be manually reloaded, but I haven't tried yet. It comes with .060 line, but it is supposed to accept up to .080.
Surprisingly, it seemed to have just as much grunt as most home-oriented gas-powered trimmers. I mean, it's not going to out-cut a Stihl, and you aren't putting a circular blade on it any time soon, but I didn't find anything I couldn't cut with it. I didn't feel as if I was limited in any way over the Echo when it is running. I didn't have to take any extra care at all, actually, I just went about trimming my lawn.
When I was done with that, I went into some heavy brush that I hadn't bothered with in months. As long as it isn't a sapling, or other woody-barked brush, the bugger will eat right through it. Heavy grass, weeds, whatever. The thick stuff might take a couple of bites to eat through, but it will do it.
I also found, due to the lack of a hot engine, and partially due to the excellent balance of the unit, that I could extend one arm out and hold it, sweeping behind dense bushes and things without actually having to crawl back there.
About the time I was really starting to play with it, I realized that I hadn't run the battery down yet. I had forgotten that I was using a cordless trimmer.
Guys, I think they might have finally cracked it. I think someone has finally figured out how to build a cordless trimmer that actually works. Landscaping crews won't be using it any time soon, but I think it will be fine for around the house for most people, and even for more strenuous work at homes with tougher than average plants to deal with.
I expect the battery will probably hold for 30-45 minutes or so, it is difficult to tell. I think I was out for 15-20 minutes, but I can't be sure. As strange as this sounds, one of my faults is a complete lack of a functional sense of time. Either way, the indicator suggested that I had only used 1/4 of it's reserve. I'll find out in the future, as I didn't have much to do today.
I'll also test to see if it can manage edging gardens. I think I may need the .080 line to do that, but we will see. Even if it just can't do that, it is a hell of a machine so far.
If the performance holds up over the long run, I'll be happy with it for around the house, and perhaps even more.
The bugger isn't cheap, but it sure does seem to work. We will see how it does in the future.
Cheers,
Kennith
