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Recommendations for battery strimmer

RogerS

RogerS

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To be wielded by my wife and so lightweight would be helpful. Length of charge not important as it's only going to be used for strimming in between some raised beds.

Auto-line feed important.
 
Roger, i know nowt about such things but on the basis that I have never had a bad but of kit from them, if it were me I would go for Stihl. Probably cheaper stuff out there but I doubt better quality.
You would need to check the manual to see if it has auto line feed.

Please report back as I envisage a future need.
 
I have the Makita 18V one. Simple, fairly light weight, does the job well enough for my small garden, and I already had the batteries and charger. Obviously it won't be such a good option if your existing cordless tools are a different colour.
 
I use a royobi one. Part of their system and also have a hedge trimmer.

Mainly because I already had a couple of their batteries. It has auto feed and is fairly light and well balanced.

I guess not much use to you as you’d need batteries as well which would push the price up?
 
Thanks chaps. Yes, batteries etc existing is a factor. I'm Milwaukee 18v but their strimmer is mucho-spondoolicks and probably too heavy for the missus
 
Andyp":nfskjrwq said:
Roger, i know nowt about such things but on the basis that I have never had a bad but of kit from them, if it were me I would go for Stihl. Probably cheaper stuff out there but I doubt better quality.
You would need to check the manual to see if it has auto line feed.

Please report back as I envisage a future need.
Click to expand...

I also know very little about such things, but I would avoid Stihl unless you're buying their "proper" expensive kit. I got salesman-ed about 8 or 9 years ago and was persuaded to buy a mains electric Stihl strimmer rather than going for a cheap brand (because the cheap ones would be a waste of money etc). The Stihl one was a pile of poo with bits of plastic that kept breaking off and the spline between the line feeder unit thing and the body was metal shaft into plastic housing (or the other way round, can't remember) and the plastic lasted less than a month. It went back, got repaired (or replaced: everything looked suspiciously clean on the repaired one), then lasted another month, at which point it went back and I demanded a refund which they grudgingly gave.

To be fair the service was reasonable, but the strimmer was utterly rubbish. I only used it for trimming round the edge of the (small) lawn and up the side of the (short) lane by the side of the house, so it was getting infrequent and light use.

I replaced it with a much cheaper one (can't remember the brand) from B&Q and it's lasted 8 or 9 years with no issues at all.

If I were buying a petrol chainsaw or maybe petrol strimmer, I'd definitely look at Stihl, but for lower end stuff I wouldn't touch them. I suspect they're like a lot of brands that have outsourced their lower end stuff to the far east and cost is far more important to quality.
 
Andyp":1aufyyfc said:
Roger, i know nowt about such things but on the basis that I have never had a bad but of kit from them, if it were me I would go for Stihl. Probably cheaper stuff out there but I doubt better quality.
You would need to check the manual to see if it has auto line feed.

Please report back as I envisage a future need.
Click to expand...
Another vote for Stihl. SWIMBO recently bought me the grass clipper + hedge clipper thingie which has been brilliant so far. 10.8v battery so one charge will last for ages.

Edit: none of yer cCc stuff either, this bit of kit says 'Made in Germany' writ big on the label - Rob
 
FIL has a works unit that he swears by. it's been through a lot. :lol:
 
they are quite correct. you don't use a strimmer on a thatcher.

you use a legget and shears. :oops:
 
OK

We have a Bosch 36 volt
A pro Stihl FSA85 (I think) battery one
A pro Stihl petrol strimmer

My wife will only use the small and light Bosch. I don't blame her. It is DIY and no professional gardener would use it, but it's not scary and the line comes on cheapish pre-loaded reels.

It is similar to this: https://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-advanc ... bare/401kt

It is super easy to use as the head rotates for horizontal and vertical use, but the battery only lasts about 30 minutes - not quite enough to do our edges. Of critical importance for the ladies (and me) is how easy it is to release the line and change the spool.

The FSA 85 takes 2mm green bump feed line. It's a good strimmer but heavier than she likes. I dislike the bump head spool with a passion as it breaks line (even wetted) easily. It also is much more aggressive and goggles are needed. Battery lasts a couple of hours and we have two as I have other gear in the range. With this one it will also do horizontal or vertical edging: you just rotate the handle. Good tool.

The petrol one is unusable for most women. Takes 2.5mm orange square line (or metal blades) and is a destructive beast. I use it with a harness and face mask. It's brutal in comparison with the others and will make short work of brambles, long grass, nettles etc in ditches. Also noisy. But starts first time every time and is fast.
 
PS have a look at Greenworks 40v. I have their small 40v chainsaw and a hedge trimmer using the same battery. Good battery life and my wife is happy with the weight of them. Quite a bit better than the cheap end of battery DIY.
 
Thanks Chaps. All good grist to the mill. Keep 'em coming.

I second Adrian's view of the petrol Stihl. We have one. Awesome.

I'd noticed the Worx as well.
 
We looked at two...A Cobra GT3024V and a Stihl FAS45.

My wife tried them out in the showrooms to see how they felt in her hands ....she also has arthritic hands. Out of the two, the Stihl was preferred but still felt uncomfortable to hold and use. So she's going to use shears as there's not that much to do.

So bottom line ? Leaving aside details such as whether or not a removable battery is important etc, my advice to anyone thinking about getting one is to try them out in the showrooms first to see which one is most comfortable for you.
 
I still use shears quite often for example trimming around trees where I am afraid the trimmer will cut the bark and when ICBA with the noise and hassle of getting the big tools out.
I look at my garden as a gym or sport. If I can work up a sweat doing something, then fine. No gym membership or sport club fees to pay. I was thinking this as I was earthing up my spuds. No dig method? Nah I’d rather have the exercise.

So as well as saving a few bob Roger and saving the planet my not buying more battery powered plastic, MrS will be getting some exercise too. Great.
 
Andyp":1kweizgf said:
....
So as well as saving a few bob Roger and saving the planet my not buying more battery powered plastic, MrS will be getting some exercise too. Great.
Click to expand...

No, Mrs S :lol: I don't do shears :D
 
Interestingly (?) we spent much of Friday at RGS Wisley. The gardens are looking spectacular and many areas have been brilliantly refreshed. I got talking to a gardening team on the main lawn near the Chinese pavilion, and they were edging with shears. They don't use strimmers (not allowed) because they tend to spray small stones, mulch and debris around. The shears they use have very deep blades, not like the typical DIY ones.

The teams that do the beds also do the edging. Mowing is a separate team.

Presumably they are sponsored by Felco as apprentices and new workers are all issued with Felco pruners and leather sheath. They pretty much all carry a long Niwaki knife (doubling as a weed extractor and narrow trowel) too.
 
I looked for Stihl last year but there was no stock at the time. I gave the garden a good talking to to try to stop i\tt growing but it ignored me. I looked at lots of reviews and in the end went for EGO. Them model I got came with a battery and charger.

It has auto line feed, powered and simple line reloading and I would buy again in an instant.

It's as powerful as my old petrol strimmer and I have only needed it on low power so far. The 'small' 2.5 amp hour battery i have rechareges in about 35 minutes and runs the strimmer no stop for about 40 minutes.

The whole thing is very well engineered.

Jeff
 
Jeff - how does the powered line reloading work? Sounds like a good idea.

One of the things I dislike about our Stihl gear as the bump line feed heads are not as reliable as I would like as the line is easily trapped inside.
 
Andyp":hew57fj4 said:
I still use shears quite often for example trimming around trees where I am afraid the trimmer will cut the bark
Click to expand...

This is what SWIMBO bought me a while back; brilliant for nibbling the grass around trees etc. It's also got a small hedge cutter which is also rather good - Rob
 
Oh yes. Forgot about that. My wife has one of those and her dad just bought her the mini chain saw version too. :o
 
Woodbloke":whscf9wp said:
Andyp":whscf9wp said:
I still use shears quite often for example trimming around trees where I am afraid the trimmer will cut the bark
Click to expand...

This is what SWIMBO bought me a while back; brilliant for nibbling the grass around trees etc. It's also got a small hedge cutter which is also rather good - Rob
Click to expand...

:text-bravo: :text-goodpost:
 
AJB Temple":1zer8l6k said:
Jeff - how does the powered line reloading work? Sounds like a good idea.

One of the things I dislike about our Stihl gear as the bump line feed heads are not as reliable as I would like as the line is easily trapped inside.
Click to expand...

Basically you cut a length of line about 5 or 6 meters, then you feed one end of the line in one of the holes and it appears on the other side. Then pull the threade end through so thereis a equal omount on either side. Then you press an enclosed button on then top of the head and the motor then winds the line in and you stop when you only have a few inches off line showing. Then you're set to go.

Jeff
 
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