Battery powered trimmer recommendations?

[RSKY]

I am looking for a battery powered trimmer for my 72-year old sister. She is a farm lady that is very active and tough as nails. But she just cannot start her gas powered trimmers any more.

Looking at Kobalt (Lowes), Stihl, DeWalt, etc.. She already has the Kobalt 40-v leaf blower and two batteries and is leaning toward this. Or the 80-v Kobalt.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

RSKY

 

[Bill Groom]

I bought the 58v Echo with speed feed head, and love it. But if she already has a series with spare batteries, I would go that route.

 

[RalphVa]

We've the 40v Kobalt. It takes the 2aH batteries. Takes 0.065" string. Easy to rewind but tends to bind up at times in the middle because of the crook placed in the line where it is anchored. There's a button to push, and you can pull on the ends to get it out of the bind.

Needs a sling. Don't remember whether it came with it or not. It's long and can get heavy.

Ralph

 

[RBLapham]

I bought the 56v Ego just because of the ease of loading the string. Have used it for about a year and finally had to recharge the battery I do not use it a lot. Haven't replaced the string yet but it is real simple. I got the manual load and not the power load for the string - the power load is a lot more $$ for a couple seconds task a year. Love the trimmer but is slightly heavy for this 77 year old.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/EGO-15-...ttery-and-Charger-Included-ST1502SA/307717166

 

[TractorGuy]

On my first season with a 20V Dewalt. So far I like it fine. Has all the power I could need from a hand held and with only one 20V battery it is lighter than the higher volt alternatives. Still getting use to the counter clockwise rotation. My 30 year old Homelite it replaced turned clockwise so I am conditioned to that rotation. The string path is also shorter so I did a little grinding on the cutter tab so I could flip it and get a little more string out. So far the bump feed has worked flawlessly but i have less than 20 hours on it. I have only run 3 tank loads of 5AH battery through it and when the battery is done so am I. The Homelite was a ST275 straight shaft and I can honestly say this 20V Dewalt will cut anything it could.

If I need more power I have an ancient Craftsman push trimmer with a B&S engine that starts on the third pull when cold and the first every time after. Uses .155 fixed sections of line and mows like a mini bushhog. Bought it back in the 80s and just recently did my first repair on it. Had to replace the cable you pull to engage the string for $15. It's even got the original belt on it.

 

[bullbreaker]

Echo CDST-58V2AH 58V Cordless String Trimmer w/ 2Ah Battery and Charger ($229.)


only drawback might be too heavy for some senior citizens ..................

 

[nybirdman]

I purchased(after a lot of research ) an Echo chain saw with the idea a trimmer would be next.Happy with the chain saw for sure.As some one suggested, if you already have one battery system it makes sense to stick with it.
The higher end Stihl's are nice the cheaper ones not so much.

 

[caver]

I bought an Ego trimmer sold at Home Despot and it works quite well.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've had a variety of gas string trimmers over the years and really liked Echo, but when it finally died on my last year, I decided to give cordless a try. I am a big fan of Makita cordless tools and leaned towards Makita for my trimmer choice. Amazon had a deal with 4 batteries and a duel battery charger with their string trimmer that was basically the cost of the batteries with the trimmer and charger added for free. It takes two batteries and so far, I've never run out of power with just the two batteries when doing my yard.

What has surprised me about switching to cordless is how quite it is, and how I still have that moment of hesitation about using it becase I go through the start up process in my head after all those years of dealing with gasoline powered trimmers. After that momentary pause, I'm then relieved to know that all I have to do it put two fresh batteries on it and get to work. The ease of using it is night and day better then any gas trimmer that I've ever owned.

I don't know who the best brand is, but I have had enough cordless tools to see how they change battery stiles, or voltage in their current line, and the older model batteries become harder to find. Makita has commmitted to their 18 volt line that they use in all their newest models. Instead of creating another battery, they just doubled the number of batteries they use for their bigger tools. I believe that Makita will continue to do this, and I will always have batteries to run my tools.

 

[cdaigle430]

I have the Ryobi 40v for 5 years now-love it! Have all the attachments and the latest being the pole saw. I would go with what she already has or buy one that is Expand It qualified-later you can add stuff to it or, if the motor goes bad easily replace it with any brand that supports Expand It Attachments.

I think the Kobalt is Expand it compatable so if she already has a battery setup then stick with it

 

[TractorGuy]

My daughter had and killed a Makita and could not get factory service on it. Just saying.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I love my Oregon, but if one already has a battery system for other tools, that's a no-brainer.

 

[polo1665]

Another vote for EGO here. Not that I have a tremendous amount of cordless trimmer experience. We bought the EGO string trimmer and blower last year. I'd say I like them pretty good so far. Plenty of power around the yard.

Had one of those WORX GT string trimmers before it. It was just ok, not real good for any heavy trimming. Ended up giving it to my stepdaughter, seems to work well for her.

 

[Bird]

Since I've not owned, or used, any of the other brands, I can't give a valid comparison, but as others have said, I own an EGO lawn mower, string trimmer, and blower. Very happy with all three.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Milwaukee 18 volt FUEL will do what others require 36 or however many volts to get the job done and if you have a problem , send it back , they pay the shipping both ways and within about 10 days either a new tool or yours is repaired. I can't say enough about them after using them at work I had to have a set, because we are very hard on them at work. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[bunyip]

my other half couldn't start the trimmer and we got a battery unit, lacked the grunt for cutting thick stemmed weeds so got her a soft start stihl petrol trimmer, very easy to start as you don't have to pull fast, it just loads and releases, so impressed I bought my self a chainsaw with the same function.

 

[BrkMstr]

Another vote for the Milwaukee 18 - it easily does everything my gas unit did, charge lasts for three or four complete trims - I also purchased the extension and the saw attachments, it works as good as the trimmer makes cutting the dead limbs easy - just picked up their new blower, first use showed I will not longer need my gas unit - obviously it makes the decision a lot easier when you have several of their 18V tools already - like Lineman, I've had excellent results with all my Milwaukee tools........

 

[TheMan419]

I just bought a dewalt string trimmer. I have used it precisely once. No it is not as powerful as my gas trimmer. But it is so much lighter and quieter. It has high and low power modes. In high power I trimmed for about 45 min. The battery still had some juice in it.

Next round I will use low power and see where we get. Main task is trimming around fence posts on the horse pasture.

 

[TractorGuy]

I just bought a dewalt string trimmer. I have used it precisely once. No it is not as powerful as my gas trimmer. But it is so much lighter and quieter. It has high and low power modes. In high power I trimmed for about 45 min. The battery still had some juice in it.

Next round I will use low power and see where we get. Main task is trimming around fence posts on the horse pasture.

I run my 20V on the low setting and feather the speed control so it doesn't even run wide open at that. Took it out in the back flower bed where I usually use my push trimmer and it cut ALL but one thorny vine with a 1/4" stem. I don't know what kind of gas trimmer you were using but I don't want to be hanging on to one that cuts bigger stuff than the DeWalt will cut. That's what they make 4 stroke push models for.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've soured on Milwaukee since a battery went bad well within the warranty...

I sent it in and was told it had been water damaged... well I do use it outside and was finishing a job when it started to rain...

After warranty denied I asked for the battery back and learned it had been disposed of...