Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[Snow and Rocks]

eltax91 said:

I have the DeWalt XR cordless garden strimmer as it’s the battery system I have.

It’s decent but the spool is crap and I have to constantly stop to manually feed out the line. The auto feed just doesn’t function as it should.

Does anyone know if you can buy a solid blade for it instead?

My folks have the same machine and, while I don't particularly rate the strimmer, the auto feed seems to work fine.

Are you trying it with the machine at full speed? You need to be give it a decent whack down onto a firm surface.

[dickymint]

eltax91 said:

I have the DeWalt XR cordless garden strimmer as it’s the battery system I have.

It’s decent but the spool is crap and I have to constantly stop to manually feed out the line. The auto feed just doesn’t function as it should.

Does anyone know if you can buy a solid blade for it instead?

I have a round saw blade that was recommended on here for my Makita. It works well but I had to work out a bodge to fit it on my particular model. For everyday use this will tick all your boxes I think. So fast to change and lasts for ages. Just carry a couple of spare lengths in your pocket.
Again I'll say, you need a twin battery strimmer for power and preferably another pair on charge....unless you like to take regular coffee breaks

[Chucklehead]

cml24 said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

It really is!

I might get the matching strimmer...

I've got both and concur. The strimmer is excellent, but the hedge trimmer is surprisingly good. Not sure how the strimmer would do with really thick stuff, but i only use it to trim the grass edges.

[cml24]

Chucklehead said:

cml24 said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

It really is!

I might get the matching strimmer...

I've got both and concur. The strimmer is excellent, but the hedge trimmer is surprisingly good. Not sure how the strimmer would do with really thick stuff, but i only use it to trim the grass edges.

What is the difference between all the various strimmers they offer? They seem to be called, string trimmer, line cutter, brush cutter...?

[loudlashadjuster]

cml24 said:

Chucklehead said:

cml24 said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

It really is!

I might get the matching strimmer...

I've got both and concur. The strimmer is excellent, but the hedge trimmer is surprisingly good. Not sure how the strimmer would do with really thick stuff, but i only use it to trim the grass edges.

What is the difference between all the various strimmers they offer? They seem to be called, string trimmer, line cutter, brush cutter...?

I've got what is probably the most basic non-brushless (brushed ) 18 V model (DUR181 I think) and it's great for normal garden tidy-up, but is obviously not going to be able to cut down small bushes like a petrol one might.

Some of the other 18 V ones have bigger cutting diameters but I'm not sure how well a single battery would cope with that, even brushless. I'd be tempted to go for a dual-battery if you expect to be attacking thicker undergrowth or have large areas to do.

[Huntsman]

Zumbruk said:

oblio said:

LeadFarmer said:

bennno said:

dickymint said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

I was amazed at the thickness it will cut. I zip tie the safety lever for that extra one handed reach when up the ladder doing the tops

And tank tape it on a broom handle for even more reach?

And put a stool on the top rung of the ladder for extra height, standing on one leg, tiptoes.

...and this works best on a wet and windy day too.

Have a couple of pints first, to steady your nerve.

Tee total.

I'm a riot at parties!

[Huntsman]

loudlashadjuster said:

cml24 said:

Chucklehead said:

cml24 said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

It really is!

I might get the matching strimmer...

I've got both and concur. The strimmer is excellent, but the hedge trimmer is surprisingly good. Not sure how the strimmer would do with really thick stuff, but i only use it to trim the grass edges.

What is the difference between all the various strimmers they offer? They seem to be called, string trimmer, line cutter, brush cutter...?

I've got what is probably the most basic non-brushless (brushed ) 18 V model (DUR181 I think) and it's great for normal garden tidy-up, but is obviously not going to be able to cut down small bushes like a petrol one might.

Some of the other 18 V ones have bigger cutting diameters but I'm not sure how well a single battery would cope with that, even brushless. I'd be tempted to go for a dual-battery if you expect to be attacking thicker undergrowth or have large areas to do.

We've got quite a big wild garden out the back, for strimming I'm sticking with the mighty Stihl 2str wailing banshee.

[Chris Type R]

I've recently bought a drill attachment 61cm post hole auger. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QWJ2GYY/

It's either going to prove very useful, or snap a wrist. Some trial holes in clean soil went okay.

[Doofus]

Having seen it on this thread, I thought "That's cheap for Wera".



Turns out that it's cheap because it's bloody miniscule!

Thanks to this thread I now have a child's shovel, a child's mattock, a child's crowbar and now a child's socket and driver set.

I'm not coming here anymore...

[Trustmeimadoctor]

How much? It's not child size it's just compact

The mini ratchet is amazing imho

[Doofus]

[thebraketester]

Doofus said:

Having seen it on this thread, I thought "That's cheap for Wera".



Turns out that it's cheap because it's bloody miniscule!

Thanks to this thread I now have a child's shovel, a child's mattock, a child's crowbar and now a child's socket and driver set.

I'm not coming here anymore...

I mean i know this thread is titled "TOOLS YOU WISH YOU'D BOUGHT SOONER..."..... but not THAT long ago.

[David A]

Chucklehead said:

cml24 said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

It really is!

I might get the matching strimmer...

I've got both and concur. The strimmer is excellent, but the hedge trimmer is surprisingly good. Not sure how the strimmer would do with really thick stuff, but i only use it to trim the grass edges.

The makita twin 18v chainsaw is excellent too. Only crack out the big petrol Husqvarna for really big jobs now.

You’d best get to screwfix too and get the drill, charger and twin 5ah battery deal too

[psi310398]

Doofus said:

These were in the advent calendar one year. They are great!

[Doofus]

psi310398 said:

Doofus said:

These were in the advent calendar one year. They are great!

Well now that I know they're edible, I'm less disappointed.

Edited by Doofus on Wednesday 1st June 21:14

[gazapc]

Perhaps one for the cycle forum, but what torque wrench for bicycles? My 3/8ths torque wrench goes down to 20 N/m so is way too big. Or do I just buy a few pre-set tools? Not looking too spend mega money....

[Flibble]

I have a 1/4" torque wrench I got on amazon, goes to 3 Nm.

[Sway]

gazapc said:

Perhaps one for the cycle forum, but what torque wrench for bicycles? My 3/8ths torque wrench goes down to 20 N/m so is way too big. Or do I just buy a few pre-set tools? Not looking too spend mega money....

Qualified by the fact I worked as a bike shop mechanic in my youth...

I wouldn't bother. At that torque level, any shifts in calibration will have as much effect on outcome as learning what the common torque ratings feel like.

For me, 6N/m is a 'gentle finger squeeze' on a standard Allen key. Very little on a bike needs any form of 'proper' tightening.

[S6PNJ]

gazapc said:

Perhaps one for the cycle forum, but what torque wrench for bicycles? My 3/8ths torque wrench goes down to 20 N/m so is way too big. Or do I just buy a few pre-set tools? Not looking too spend mega money....

Notwithstanding what Sway wrote (I've never worked in a bike shop) - I bought one of these - https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/lifeline-essen... been happy with it so far and have used it on more than just my bike(s).

[dickymint]

dickymint said:

cml24 said:

Huntsman said:

My Makita LXT hedge trimmer arrived, its bloody brilliant!

It really is!

I might get the matching strimmer...

Also worth every penny but make sure you get a twin battery version. I have a patch of rough ground left to do so i'll take a short video later of what it can tackle with just one set of 5A batteries.

...................