Many have read the other thread where I posted asking about cordless string trimmers and I thank all who participated.
As expected, most reviews and most ideas folks have on the cordless are on the models that were prior to this year's output. The most hated thing has been the lack of power and low battery time. So here is my take so far.
Both my wife and I have used it so far but not a lot. It will be getting some good workouts soon though. We've used it for nearly an hour and there is still plenty of battery left so we do not yet know how long we can use it before it needs recharging. One thing is that you can vary the power and that alone will extend the life of the battery.
As for power, it has surprised me. Today I cut several young oak trees that were up to about 8" high. Also cut several blackberry briars and some young witch hazel. Several weeds even including velvet leaf and wild carrot and there is not problem cutting any of this stuff. If cutting just grass it does not need much speed but when cutting the heavy stuff I did run it on full power.
Wishlist was correct when he cautioned me about my wife using it because it does seem to get heavy quite quickly but that also might be because I had the handle placed wrong. I slid it up a bit after I stopped today so we'll see how that goes. My wife used it after I did and she said it was no problem at all. I will make an attempt to find the harness I have for our big weed whacker. Have not used that thing for several years now so will have to do some digging to find it.
That is the only con I have for this unit. I think they should have included a harness rather than just hanging onto it bare handed. A simple harness would not add much to the cost.
Speaking of cost, we paid $149 at Home Cheapo. The list price on them is $169. So far they have been hard to find but the fellow at HD told me they got in a couple dozen units and this is at one of the smaller stores.
Overall, so far I am pleased. I am especially thrilled that I no longer have to pull that starter rope! That gets old fast.
As expected, most reviews and most ideas folks have on the cordless are on the models that were prior to this year's output. The most hated thing has been the lack of power and low battery time. So here is my take so far.
Both my wife and I have used it so far but not a lot. It will be getting some good workouts soon though. We've used it for nearly an hour and there is still plenty of battery left so we do not yet know how long we can use it before it needs recharging. One thing is that you can vary the power and that alone will extend the life of the battery.
As for power, it has surprised me. Today I cut several young oak trees that were up to about 8" high. Also cut several blackberry briars and some young witch hazel. Several weeds even including velvet leaf and wild carrot and there is not problem cutting any of this stuff. If cutting just grass it does not need much speed but when cutting the heavy stuff I did run it on full power.
Wishlist was correct when he cautioned me about my wife using it because it does seem to get heavy quite quickly but that also might be because I had the handle placed wrong. I slid it up a bit after I stopped today so we'll see how that goes. My wife used it after I did and she said it was no problem at all. I will make an attempt to find the harness I have for our big weed whacker. Have not used that thing for several years now so will have to do some digging to find it.
That is the only con I have for this unit. I think they should have included a harness rather than just hanging onto it bare handed. A simple harness would not add much to the cost.
Speaking of cost, we paid $149 at Home Cheapo. The list price on them is $169. So far they have been hard to find but the fellow at HD told me they got in a couple dozen units and this is at one of the smaller stores.
Overall, so far I am pleased. I am especially thrilled that I no longer have to pull that starter rope! That gets old fast.
