Strimmers - which one to go for?
Discussion
I’m looking for some advice based on experiences, please.
I’m looking for a battery or electric strimmer.
In the past I have owned B&D, Bosch and Gardena versions. All of these have ended up at the local recycling centre over the years.
Why?
As soon as you touch the trigger the nylon cutter pings off and the auto feed mechs NEVER work.
It always seemed that as soon as the machine had to look at anything stronger than a blade of grass, the nylon cutter disappeared, leaving you on your knees to extract more from within the spool.
Please, fellow PHers, advise me on a half decent battery or electric strimmer that won’t make me pull out my already thinning hair!
I don’t have a massive garden.
The machine needs to be able to work with stone path edging and 6 fence posts.
It can’t be too much to ask, can it?
I’m looking for a battery or electric strimmer.
In the past I have owned B&D, Bosch and Gardena versions. All of these have ended up at the local recycling centre over the years.
Why?
As soon as you touch the trigger the nylon cutter pings off and the auto feed mechs NEVER work.
It always seemed that as soon as the machine had to look at anything stronger than a blade of grass, the nylon cutter disappeared, leaving you on your knees to extract more from within the spool.
Please, fellow PHers, advise me on a half decent battery or electric strimmer that won’t make me pull out my already thinning hair!
I don’t have a massive garden.
The machine needs to be able to work with stone path edging and 6 fence posts.
It can’t be too much to ask, can it?
Strimmer line is not all the same thickness, but obviously this is dictated by the machine. I would get one that takes a thicker line.
I have a petrol machine which does take a thicker line but when buying more I was advised by the shop to go for the Oregon line which is star shaped and seems to last longer.
I have just googled Oregon strimmer line and there are various colours different qualities. Might be worth investigating
I have a petrol machine which does take a thicker line but when buying more I was advised by the shop to go for the Oregon line which is star shaped and seems to last longer.
I have just googled Oregon strimmer line and there are various colours different qualities. Might be worth investigating
I’ve got a Stihl battery powered one. It’s definitely over kill but I wanted their battery powered hedge cutter so it worked out just as expensive to buy the strimmer unit without a battery.
It’s been faultless and very good with the auto feed mechanism. You base the base on the round while it’s spinning and more comes out
It’s been faultless and very good with the auto feed mechanism. You base the base on the round while it’s spinning and more comes out
TGCOTF-dewey said:
EGO 48v. Mine replaced a honda which was a pita. The ego is fantastic in every way. Good life, spool widget works well. And always ready to go.
So good I bought a second multi tool version with a selection of heads.
What he said. I have an EGO lawnmower too, it is superb.So good I bought a second multi tool version with a selection of heads.
I have quite a few Stihl machines. They are cheap as you only buy one! The ones I have are all petrol so I can’t say about the reliability of the battery ones. Still Autofeed does work perfectly in my hands.
EGO are nice machines and for detailed work the battery ones are probably a good bet.
EGO are nice machines and for detailed work the battery ones are probably a good bet.
As it happens my neighbour was telling me yesterday he needs a 'bush wacker' for his overgrown garden. I thought he was using the American term for strimmer. But nope he was on about those larger push type things!! I went straight to the garage and handed him my old Makita DUR364LZ that I modified with this head..............
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-111110-Aluminium-F...
He was blown away with how easy it dealt with the job and he told me last night he'd gone straight on the net and ordered this................
https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/makita-dur368ap...
and has vowed to ditch all of his Ryobi junk and get Makita
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-111110-Aluminium-F...
He was blown away with how easy it dealt with the job and he told me last night he'd gone straight on the net and ordered this................
https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/makita-dur368ap...
and has vowed to ditch all of his Ryobi junk and get Makita
I have a Husqvarna I'm really pleased with, don't recall the model number but I think it was about £250?. The batteries are huge and heavy, but they are 36v, available in a range of capacities - I went for 4.0Ah - with decent battery life and plenty of power to get through fairly tough stuff.
Best of all, none of the issues you describe - and which I had with the previous Stihl one. The Husqvarna has never required me to stop and manually pull more cord out, and best of all when the cord runs out you just detach the cassette on the head and replace it with a pre-wound replacement cassette (available in packs of three). You can also re-spool the cassette with fresh cord yourself, of course, but it's great not having to.
Best of all, none of the issues you describe - and which I had with the previous Stihl one. The Husqvarna has never required me to stop and manually pull more cord out, and best of all when the cord runs out you just detach the cassette on the head and replace it with a pre-wound replacement cassette (available in packs of three). You can also re-spool the cassette with fresh cord yourself, of course, but it's great not having to.
I got the gardena battery powered one but with blades. Little plastic replaceable blades. I bought a bag of about 1000 of the things for cheap on Ebay aswel. No stupid lines that I can never get to work either and it weighs as much as a 20p.
It's not some big bush cutter power house but it strims my little gardens grass without the hassle of changing lines.
It's not some big bush cutter power house but it strims my little gardens grass without the hassle of changing lines.
Edited by hotchy on Sunday 27th April 10:59
Bill said:
That's what I have on the bigger strimmer. Massive overkill for what the OP needs though.
"As soon as you touch the trigger the nylon cutter pings off and the auto feed mechs NEVER work.It always seemed that as soon as the machine had to look at anything stronger than a blade of grass, the nylon cutter disappeared, leaving you on your knees to extract more from within the spool."
Ticks all those boxes
Also takes lines down to 2.5mm for more 'delicate' work.
But IME the 18v Makita bump feed works perfectly.I've always found bump feeds on non-B&Q-grade kit works just fine. Mine's a Makita 36v, others are good too.
OP, you're running the strimmer(s) at high speed, when you bump it (in the right place)? I've seen lots of people bump them while stationary which results in a tangled broken mess.
OP, you're running the strimmer(s) at high speed, when you bump it (in the right place)? I've seen lots of people bump them while stationary which results in a tangled broken mess.
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