When we used it to trim weedy lawn grass patches and edge the curb and driveway, it made nice clean cuts and tracked well to make good straight edges. To keep the blade sharp during use, the edge must be continually honed with a whetstone that is often held in a water tight hip holster (included in the Lee Valley kit). Hold the string trimmer perpendicular to the lawn to keep the cut even. I was extremely skeptical. If the Ego ST1511T is not available, our next choice is the Ego ST1521S Power+ String Trimmer with Powerload. The shaft has a long reach that lets you access difficult areas. Best Battery-Powered String Trimmer Power Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series Carbon Fiber Shaft String Trimmer RY402110VNM In case you havent noticed, Ryobi has been absolutely unleashed in the lawn care department. I currently live in New Hampshire and have about 2 acres of mowable lawn. Power. We did look at a number of very light-duty trimmers ideal for smaller lawns. To earn a spot in our lineup, the lightweight 20V trimmers had to deliver a clean, crisp cut in the clean and weedy grass sections. The Ego ST1511Ts power and run time stand far above those of the other trimmers we looked at. The tool is amazingly lightweight for the amount of power it offers, but the weight is mostly balanced to the front of the handle, and having to manually counterbalance it while working fatigued our tester. Our string trimmer recommendations are for those who want a reliable, powerful tool to help with post-mow cleanup and weed clearing. But, again, the Ryobi isnt as effective on the thick stuff. The ST1511T 15-inch String Trimmer proved to be powerful, clean, and quiet. For our purposes, the functionality of a scythe lands somewhere between a lawn mower and a string trimmer. It offers the versatility of both trimmer and edger capabilities, folds neatly for storage, and shares its battery with dozens of compatible yard tools. Harry Sawyers, the editor of this guide and a former pro landscaper, has tested many of the trimmers at his Los Angeles property, which is too steep to mow in many places. The peening aspect is probably the thing that makes it the least accessible for regular people, said Miller. I can also do the cutting in the early morning, when Id never dare take out a string trimmer. Accepting RYOBI expand-it universal brand fit attachments, this string trimmer offers versatile operating function, allowing you to save time, space and money. The Ego is a dual-line unit, meaning that two strings extend from the cutting head. It wasnt the lightest trimmer we tried, but its excellent balance and handle adjustments made it one of the simplest to swing around and maneuver in tight spots. Ryobi P2030 18V ONE+10" String Trimmer battery and charger kit. The Greenworks Pro 80V Cordless String Trimmer is a quality trimmer that adapts for a variety of other functions with attachments such as a brush cutter. The trimmer has two speeds and a variable-speed trigger. Noise Winner: Tie. The adjustable trimmer head and upper handle let users customize the working angle, but the process of doing so proved clunky: The user must reach down and turn a rather stiff knob at the connection point between the shaft and cutting head to unlock and relock the angle for each adjustment. If noise reduction is important to you, a cordless string trimmer is your obvious choice. Scything was never done by a lone individual. No mixing of gas and oil. The 2Ah battery provides up to 45 minutes of runtime and recharges in just 30 minutes. The light weight of just 5.7 pounds makes this trimmer easy to handle without causing arm and shoulder fatigue. What impressed us the most about the Worx: its ergonomics. The Worx is much smaller than our other picks, and it cant handle thick weeds or extended trimming sessions. The Worx does have some downsides that are worth noting. It also has only two speeds and no true variable-speed trigger. Its an excellent candidate to replace gas equipment for medium to large landscapes, though the price may be too high for budget buyers. In all, we found this affordable tool a solid pick for small obstacle-free landscapes. We compiled tips from five compost experts to get you started. We liked that the Worx maintained its quiet operation through the start-up and into regular use. We really liked the easy adjustable feature on the trimmer head: A twist lock holds it in just the right position, up to 90 degrees, for a customized working angle for users of different heights. On other models, you can modify for user height only by adjusting the secondary handle on the shaft (if it has one, which many do not). Get the WORX GT 3.0 20V PowerShare Cordless Trimmer on Amazon or at Tractor Supply Co. However, light-duty trimmers may have issues with very dense weed growth. The Ego ST1502-SA Power+ String Trimmer, the Ryobi RY40220 40V-X Expand-It String Trimmer, and the Black+Decker LST136 40V Max String Trimmer were all previous picks, but they have since been discontinued and replaced with new models. When I would normally switch over to a brush cutter is when I retire the scythe. If you really get into it, you can then start looking into a more polished wooden model. Some come with clips for shoulder straps, which is a nice touch. But on the Ryobi, the motor is up by the handle. The Worx is powered by a 20-volt battery and has no problem with grass, but during our testing it struggled with thicker, stalkier weeds. Straight shaft trimmers often accommodate interchangeable tools, such as a tree trimmer head, which can be swapped out depending on the task at hand. With most other trimmers, the entire trimmer head needs to be disassembled and the new line manually wound onto the spool (which is always a tedious process). The ST1511T 15-inch String Trimmer proved to be powerful, clean, and quiet. But it was the quietest tool we tested, with a hair-dryer-like hum that sounded more pleasant than the whine of its competitors. The gauge can be .043 or .050. The brush cutter worked as advertised too. Note: STIHL recommends use of fuel with no more than 10% ethanol content. WebOur electric and battery-powered trimmers are exceptionally lightweight and can get the job done with little noise and zero exhaust emissions. Comfort and balance: Trimmers, in an ergonomic sense, are little more than a long pole with a weight on each end. We also used many of them to clear a Los Angeles hillside, which was covered with 3-foot-tall grasses, saplings, and nettlesome thistles. While plenty of string trimmers also function as edgers, we found this model to have the best dual-function design. All of this cutting ability is harnessed with a smooth, variable-speed trigger, which makes delicate work just as easy as brute-force clear-cutting. Still, when it came to regular trimmingeven in heavier weed areasthis trimmer had little problem on multiple hilly properties in Los Angeles in spring 2020. Using a scythe is a unique and meditative experience that offers both physical and mental benefits. If youre dealing with more rough material, you do probably have to get your arms into it more and it will be more tiring. But he said it should be accessible to most people. Weve tested string trimmers on weedy lots and steep hills, and we once flattened 12,598 square feet of an overgrown field. This RYOBI 2-cycle gas straight shaft string trimmer features a full crank engine that creates 2x longer life. It comes with a 2.0 Ah battery, which in our tests gave us a bit over 20 minutes of cutting time. But the motor is slow to get to full speed, resulting in an extremely loud slapping sound as the auto-feed line hits against the cutter. This is another model that comes with a rotating handle and the design team kept the HedgeSweep bar to help clear branches as you trim. Theyre typically sold piecemeal, so the all-in-one kits like the Lee Valley are rare. With a long, straight shaft and high-power cutting head, this 10.4-pound trimmer feels like a pro-quality tool. Those with a small yard may find this lightweight string trimmer an excellent option. For a time, he used one to harvest his own grains, which he then made into bread that he sold at a farmers market. It was well balanced and articulate while trimming around shrubs and between obstacles. If youre someone who is constantly looking for a different way and dont mind being seen as a little odd, we recommend the Lee Valley Traditional Austrian Scythe Set. This model, the latest in a long line of successful Ego trimmers, distinguishes itself with an easily adjustable telescoping shaft and a quick adjustment for the secondary handle. Now you have a string trimmer on wheels, so its a little easier to maintain a consistent height above ground level. These yard-care tools spin a cutting head loaded with nylon string (instead of a fixed blade) to cleanly trim the grass at the edge of a lawn or mow down weedy areas. Along with battery type, consider how much operating power the battery has, which is measured in volts. At Home Depot, this trimmer boasts an average 4.2-star rating over close to 700 reviews. EGO Power+ has made a name for itself in the outdoor power equipment category by building an affordable battery-powered tool line that competes favorably against old-fashioned 2-cycle gas powered equipment. The ST1511T 15-inch String Trimmer proved to be powerful, clean, and quiet. We also recommend Ian Millers book, The Scything Handbook, for those who are just beginning their scything life. Note: STIHL recommends use of fuel with no more than 10% ethanol content. Its certainly more effort than using a string trimmer, but dont forget that those can get heavy after a while. 2023 Wirecutter, Inc., A New York Times Company. If youre doing it really well, its not super physically demanding, Miller told us. Its easy to see how much of a charge is left in the Ryobi.
The good news is that its easy to hear the motor bog down when its struggling. We recommend using ear protection no matter which string trimmer you use. Even among battery models there are variations, with some better suited to different-size yards, users, and budgets. Best Battery-Powered String Trimmer Power Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series Carbon Fiber Shaft String Trimmer RY402110VNM In case you havent noticed, Ryobi has been absolutely unleashed in the lawn care department. *At the time of publishing, the price was $240. But charge time is a different story. Two 20-volt lithium-ion batteries are included. American scythes are heavier and have a curved handlewe weighed each and found a 2-pound difference. I used to use a string trimmer and it would blow the grass, weeds, and stalks all over the place, leaving a total mess. Its not going to replace either one, but it can play an excellent complementary role. Other trimmers bound themselves up in the tall grass or (when faced with a dense patch) pushed the grass over rather than cutting it. Another ergonomic element that weve come to appreciate out of Ego trimmers is that the forearm of the rear hand cradles right into the rear end of the trimmer, just above the battery. The P2030 is very inexpensive, but we think the Worx is worth the extra investment. The following battery-powered string trimmers are at the top of their class. The Best Weed Eater Heads to Repair Your Tool, Large debris guard doesnt fit well into tight spaces, Lag time between triggering and full power, Adjustable speed feature difficult to use. With an Austrian scythe, like the one we recommend, sharpening is really a two-part process: honing and peening. The Lee Valley Traditional Austrian Scythe Set is the best all-inclusive way to get going with scything. Considering all that power, youd expect this trimmer to be noisy. And the Ryobi couldnt sever the Japanese knotweed stalks as efficiently as the Egos.

A final touch that we appreciated was the little flower guard that sticks out at the front of the trimmer. Its also heavier and much louder, and it doesnt have the ergonomic ease of the telescoping shaft or on-the-fly handle adjustment. If youre looking for a trimmer that can double as an all-purpose lawn tool, we also like the Ryobi RY40270 40V Brushless Expand-It String Trimmer. During testing, we paid attention to overall ease of use, balance, ergonomics, handling, and noise. Using a scythe is physical work, but with proper technique, it might not be as vigorous as you think. If you get maybe a group of three people who are into it together you can mow a whole area one day, then someone else has their area you can mow the next day.. Yes, a scythe. If you do get stranded with an empty battery, the Egos charger can deliver a full battery in about 40 minutes. Its 22-inch double-sided blades slice cleanly through branches up to 3/4-inch thick, as well as large hedges and other shrubs. The heavy battery weighs the machine down toward the rear, but the included adjustable shoulder strap makes operation comfortable. And it has provided us with a deep knowledge of the various manufacturers and their reputations for quality, availability, and customer service. Aside from its power, run time, and control, this tools ergonomics are among the best we tested. Sharpening a long scythe blade with a grinder isnt necessarily easier than peening, but if youd rather go that route and dont mind adding a few pounds to your load, an American scythe is worth looking into. For most users, a string trimmer with a Li-ion battery will be the best choice. But to reap the benefits of a scythe, the blade needs to be very sharp and keeping it that way is another skill that should be learned. WebThis gas trimmer is lightweight, produces low levels of noise and emissions and has minimal vibration for user comfort. 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