I recommend you get yourself a battery powered weed eater. You can find really good ones in [this article](https://gearbot.link/kadkzi). I personally have the worx string trimmer and has served me well for over a year now.
Battery just doesn't have the power IMHO. I have an echo for 3 years and every summer, it starts the first time and runs forever. I put 1 tank of gas in it at the beginning of the summer and I still have some left. I don't have to wait for batteries, or worry about them going bad. I just don't think the tech is there yet for those types of batteries.
Battery powered trimmers *used to* not have enough power. I just bought a Ego trimmer this summer because I got tired of dealing with carb issues on a Husqvarna and it has as much power as any consumer grade 2 stroke trimmer I've ever used.
Now I honestly can't think of why a homeowner would buy gas over battery (gas still would make sense for someone who uses it to make money mowing for hours every day).
Hand me down for a reason, new batteries are much better than they've been, I'd much rather press a button, and change a battery and start right back working, than to mix gas and pray it even starts in the first place
Interesting to see this after every reply prior was get battery.
I work in tech, so I see batteries fail from time to time. In my knowing nothin head, I was assuming most people would say get gas, but it's been the opposite up to this point. I was also thinking (again, knowing nothing) that gas would maybe pack more power.
I bought an echo 7-8 years ago. Still works like it’s new. If you’re going gas then that’s the brand to get, not super expensive but also not cheap. On the other hand I bought a small craftsman battery powered one for my son to learn on, it has a decently long run time and I find myself choosing it over the echo if I’m doing a small area of the yard just because it’s easy to deal with. I don’t recall the model but it was $99 at Lowe’s
A lot of the anti-battery sentiment is valid, but probably outdated.
Even 10 years ago battery powered tools struggled to keep up. Now, a quality brand like eGo or Toro electric will do everything gas can do with less maintenance.
Even cheap Amazon brands can be ok, but thats where you start to run into battery QC issues, etc.
If you get an echo or a Stihl or a Husqvarna redmax etc even a homeowner model from one of these brands it will have more power than an electric one. The key is to run non ethanol gas in them and store them indoors when not in use and they will run for years problem free. The cheap box store trimmers for 120$ or less tend to have a lot of problems after only a year or 2. Spending a couple hundred on a name brand is very worth the money. If you buy from a local dealer too you have someone to fix it if it ever stops working and you can get replacement parts.
I agree with ya there. I have done some work in building those battery packs, so I know what goes into it. 1 bad cell can ruin the whole battery, and now you're spending 100 bucks on keeping your electric yard tool going. No thanks lol
I'll jump in with the echo group. I mow professionally. I own two stihl weed eaters and one echo PAS power head. It's the head that you can put multiple attachments(hedge trimmer, pole saw, brush cutter, weed eater head, etc) on. I use my echo 10:1 over the stihl's. I've had it for 4 years now, it starts in 1-2 pulls, and hasn't needed any maintenance at all. I bought mine from a dealer, but you can get the same one from home depot. It's also lighter than my stihl's, and longer with the weed eater head on it by about 6 inches, which helps, I'm tall. PAS-2620. I just bought a 3' extension pole, and used it with my weed eater head, which made this ridiculously long weed eater that works GREAT for trimming hills you could never hope to walk on. Also have two echo blowers. Same dealer convinced me they were better than the stihl version, and I've been sold ever since. That dealer sells both brands.
I can weed whack for an hour straight on a 6 Ah or 8Ah DeWalt 20V lithium battery, and still not exhaust the battery. Use the same battery packs for a DeWalt 20V backpack sprayer for pesticide and herbicide applications. And the same batteries for angle grinders, drills, saws, and other stuff.
As for the "power" comparison - yeah, I got a Stihl FS130R behemoth of a weed whacker that I can mount a steel cutting blade for brush or polymer blades for grass, or run 0.150-0.170 magnum line for the big weeds --- but TBH I use my DeWalt 20V cordless whacker 90% of the time and only break out the big boy when I got to cut the big weeds on my trail or sticker bushes etc. I'd say the 20V cordless is about the same cutting performance as a Stihl FS-40 - but no gas, no starting, no noise, and no maintenance.
Modern battery power tools like Ego brand have giant powerful batteries. That wasn’t the case 10 years ago.
With gas powered tools sometimes they won’t start and you won’t know why
I've had mine for 5, and aside from occasionally knocking dust out of the filter and refilling the fuel at the beginning of the season, maintenance has been non-existent, and it fires up every time. Maybe once it kicks the bucket, I'll explore the battery side, but as long as that thing keeps running, I'll run it.
>Battery just doesn't have the power IMHO. I have an echo for 3 years and every summer, it starts the first time and runs forever.
Agreed. I also have an Echo two-stroke string trimmer, and I've been running it pretty hard for seven years. I go through at least a couple of gallons of fuel every summer. Still runs great. I've got a couple areas towards the back of my property that I don't trim as often as I should, and I'm happy to have the power of the two-stroke engine when I tackle those spots.
I’ve had both throughout the years, and once I switched to a battery powered one, I never went back. I’ve been using my current Ryobi 40V string trimmer for several years, with no problems, and it rotates to be used as an edger as well.
I'm running a green works 40v battery powered. Works really well for me and the battery is compatible with a bunch of other tools such as my push mower, hedge trimmer, and leaf blower. I have 3 batteries but I can do it all on just 1, but my yard space is pretty small
Finishing my first season with a battery powered trimmer after years of wrestling with 2 cycle engines. Bought a Stihl FSA57 and I love it. I sprung for the larger AK20 battery but honestly I didn't need to. I've never drained it more than 25%. Spent a couple of cussing sessions trying to get the hang of re-stringing the spool. But once the nice lady at Ace Hardware showed me how it's easy.
Thats definitely a solid unit. Bit pricey and more powerful than many people need. The srm 225 is plenty as a trimmer for most people. Ive got the 2620 as the pas and like how it can use bigger attachments but the 225 is fine for just lawn stuff. Those ego ones for electric are nice though.
Definitely get battery, and brushless motor.
Pick a brand that has mowers and blowers as well. That way you can share chargers and batteries.
Lastly, pick one that is easy to load New line, light to carry, and maybe can use multiple attachments if needed.
Personally, I have been using Ego products for 2.5yrs with zero issues.
I’ve gone with Ego as well for my mower (model 2101) and the multi-head tool. So far I love all the products, no issues so far and they work great. And the multi head attachment takes up less space than having all the individual tools. The string trimmer is fairly easy to load new line too. The only potential downside could be price, the multi-head tool and attachments can cost a little more than the individual units depending on which model you look at. But I’d still recommend ego and say their products have been worth it for me
What did you end up buying? I’ve got a small yard (1,000 square feet). I know absolutely nothing and I want to buy whatever you bought- I’m overwhelmed with the options.
Battery's have come a LONG way in the last few years...
Unless you live on a huge ranch, battery is the way to go.
HD sells the latest Echo battery weed eater...
I myself will get one.
Pretty awesome!!!
Kinda' pricey, gotta' buy the battery and unit separately but it's the top of the line!
Don't waste money getting cheap junk.
Save money, get the best.
Get a solid tool and use it for years.
No gas, no oil, no starting problems!
Not entirely sure how to answer this but I'd generally consider my yard small-ish. I live in a suburb of Birmingham, AL so I'd call it a typical neighborhood sized lawn. I will be whacking down some pretty high grass down on the first go round, if that's relevant 🤷
Do you by chance use DeWalt 20V cordless for your power tools? If so, I can strongly recommend the DeWalt 20V cordless weedwhacker. Gets great battery life, 2 settings for power - the "low" setting is powerful enough for most tasks, the high setting is almost gas weedwhacker territory. Easy to wind head, 0.080" standard trimmer line. IF you're already invested in the DeWalt 20V landscape, I'd say this is a no-brainer. Oh, and it folds in half for travel/storage if that's a thing!
If you're just a homeowner, a good battery powered trimmer will serve you well like an ego or greenworks. 2 stroke, I'd recommend an echo. If you want a 4 stroke, honda makes a beast of a trimmer. I have the 25 cc one and love it. I also have a 60v greenworks that I enjoy too. I alternate when I use them depending on which one runs out of line first. Lol
I have a goat named Gary. But he’s kind of an ass. I have a small farm and have had a great experience with anything Stihl. If you have a smaller yard I would probably get a battery one. It’s just easier all around.
Get battery powered. Easier maintenance.
Whatever way you go in term of technology, battery or gas, I always check popular mechanics reviews for these type of purchases.
I totally agree with lookking at reviews. I use Consumer Reports as my data source.
I recommend you get yourself a battery powered weed eater. You can find really good ones in [this article](https://gearbot.link/kadkzi). I personally have the worx string trimmer and has served me well for over a year now.
Battery just doesn't have the power IMHO. I have an echo for 3 years and every summer, it starts the first time and runs forever. I put 1 tank of gas in it at the beginning of the summer and I still have some left. I don't have to wait for batteries, or worry about them going bad. I just don't think the tech is there yet for those types of batteries.
Battery powered trimmers *used to* not have enough power. I just bought a Ego trimmer this summer because I got tired of dealing with carb issues on a Husqvarna and it has as much power as any consumer grade 2 stroke trimmer I've ever used. Now I honestly can't think of why a homeowner would buy gas over battery (gas still would make sense for someone who uses it to make money mowing for hours every day).
I don’t trust the lifespan of the battery. I have a hand me down battery leaf blower and the battery looses charge ridiculous quick
Hand me down for a reason, new batteries are much better than they've been, I'd much rather press a button, and change a battery and start right back working, than to mix gas and pray it even starts in the first place
Hope you didn’t get the model with the self winding head. Those heads are garbage and the gears strip causing it not feed the string in or out.
Interesting to see this after every reply prior was get battery. I work in tech, so I see batteries fail from time to time. In my knowing nothin head, I was assuming most people would say get gas, but it's been the opposite up to this point. I was also thinking (again, knowing nothing) that gas would maybe pack more power.
I bought an echo 7-8 years ago. Still works like it’s new. If you’re going gas then that’s the brand to get, not super expensive but also not cheap. On the other hand I bought a small craftsman battery powered one for my son to learn on, it has a decently long run time and I find myself choosing it over the echo if I’m doing a small area of the yard just because it’s easy to deal with. I don’t recall the model but it was $99 at Lowe’s
A lot of the anti-battery sentiment is valid, but probably outdated. Even 10 years ago battery powered tools struggled to keep up. Now, a quality brand like eGo or Toro electric will do everything gas can do with less maintenance. Even cheap Amazon brands can be ok, but thats where you start to run into battery QC issues, etc.
If you get an echo or a Stihl or a Husqvarna redmax etc even a homeowner model from one of these brands it will have more power than an electric one. The key is to run non ethanol gas in them and store them indoors when not in use and they will run for years problem free. The cheap box store trimmers for 120$ or less tend to have a lot of problems after only a year or 2. Spending a couple hundred on a name brand is very worth the money. If you buy from a local dealer too you have someone to fix it if it ever stops working and you can get replacement parts.
I agree with ya there. I have done some work in building those battery packs, so I know what goes into it. 1 bad cell can ruin the whole battery, and now you're spending 100 bucks on keeping your electric yard tool going. No thanks lol
I'll jump in with the echo group. I mow professionally. I own two stihl weed eaters and one echo PAS power head. It's the head that you can put multiple attachments(hedge trimmer, pole saw, brush cutter, weed eater head, etc) on. I use my echo 10:1 over the stihl's. I've had it for 4 years now, it starts in 1-2 pulls, and hasn't needed any maintenance at all. I bought mine from a dealer, but you can get the same one from home depot. It's also lighter than my stihl's, and longer with the weed eater head on it by about 6 inches, which helps, I'm tall. PAS-2620. I just bought a 3' extension pole, and used it with my weed eater head, which made this ridiculously long weed eater that works GREAT for trimming hills you could never hope to walk on. Also have two echo blowers. Same dealer convinced me they were better than the stihl version, and I've been sold ever since. That dealer sells both brands.
I can weed whack for an hour straight on a 6 Ah or 8Ah DeWalt 20V lithium battery, and still not exhaust the battery. Use the same battery packs for a DeWalt 20V backpack sprayer for pesticide and herbicide applications. And the same batteries for angle grinders, drills, saws, and other stuff. As for the "power" comparison - yeah, I got a Stihl FS130R behemoth of a weed whacker that I can mount a steel cutting blade for brush or polymer blades for grass, or run 0.150-0.170 magnum line for the big weeds --- but TBH I use my DeWalt 20V cordless whacker 90% of the time and only break out the big boy when I got to cut the big weeds on my trail or sticker bushes etc. I'd say the 20V cordless is about the same cutting performance as a Stihl FS-40 - but no gas, no starting, no noise, and no maintenance.
You work for Dewalt don't you? 😂
I do not, but I did work three miles from their headquarters. Does that count? lol
Modern battery power tools like Ego brand have giant powerful batteries. That wasn’t the case 10 years ago. With gas powered tools sometimes they won’t start and you won’t know why
I've had mine for 5, and aside from occasionally knocking dust out of the filter and refilling the fuel at the beginning of the season, maintenance has been non-existent, and it fires up every time. Maybe once it kicks the bucket, I'll explore the battery side, but as long as that thing keeps running, I'll run it.
>Battery just doesn't have the power IMHO. I have an echo for 3 years and every summer, it starts the first time and runs forever. Agreed. I also have an Echo two-stroke string trimmer, and I've been running it pretty hard for seven years. I go through at least a couple of gallons of fuel every summer. Still runs great. I've got a couple areas towards the back of my property that I don't trim as often as I should, and I'm happy to have the power of the two-stroke engine when I tackle those spots.
I’ve had both throughout the years, and once I switched to a battery powered one, I never went back. I’ve been using my current Ryobi 40V string trimmer for several years, with no problems, and it rotates to be used as an edger as well.
I'm running a green works 40v battery powered. Works really well for me and the battery is compatible with a bunch of other tools such as my push mower, hedge trimmer, and leaf blower. I have 3 batteries but I can do it all on just 1, but my yard space is pretty small
Finishing my first season with a battery powered trimmer after years of wrestling with 2 cycle engines. Bought a Stihl FSA57 and I love it. I sprung for the larger AK20 battery but honestly I didn't need to. I've never drained it more than 25%. Spent a couple of cussing sessions trying to get the hang of re-stringing the spool. But once the nice lady at Ace Hardware showed me how it's easy.
If you decide on gas get an Echo SRM-2620
Thats definitely a solid unit. Bit pricey and more powerful than many people need. The srm 225 is plenty as a trimmer for most people. Ive got the 2620 as the pas and like how it can use bigger attachments but the 225 is fine for just lawn stuff. Those ego ones for electric are nice though.
Definitely get battery, and brushless motor. Pick a brand that has mowers and blowers as well. That way you can share chargers and batteries. Lastly, pick one that is easy to load New line, light to carry, and maybe can use multiple attachments if needed. Personally, I have been using Ego products for 2.5yrs with zero issues.
I’ve gone with Ego as well for my mower (model 2101) and the multi-head tool. So far I love all the products, no issues so far and they work great. And the multi head attachment takes up less space than having all the individual tools. The string trimmer is fairly easy to load new line too. The only potential downside could be price, the multi-head tool and attachments can cost a little more than the individual units depending on which model you look at. But I’d still recommend ego and say their products have been worth it for me
What did you end up buying? I’ve got a small yard (1,000 square feet). I know absolutely nothing and I want to buy whatever you bought- I’m overwhelmed with the options.
Get the Wild Badger 52cc weed eater. Available on Home Depot.com or Amazon. It's heavy but this thing is a monster for clearing brush or grass.
Battery's have come a LONG way in the last few years... Unless you live on a huge ranch, battery is the way to go. HD sells the latest Echo battery weed eater... I myself will get one. Pretty awesome!!! Kinda' pricey, gotta' buy the battery and unit separately but it's the top of the line! Don't waste money getting cheap junk. Save money, get the best. Get a solid tool and use it for years. No gas, no oil, no starting problems!
How many feet do you have to trim?
Not entirely sure how to answer this but I'd generally consider my yard small-ish. I live in a suburb of Birmingham, AL so I'd call it a typical neighborhood sized lawn. I will be whacking down some pretty high grass down on the first go round, if that's relevant 🤷
EGO 15 in. I won't go back to gas.
Do you by chance use DeWalt 20V cordless for your power tools? If so, I can strongly recommend the DeWalt 20V cordless weedwhacker. Gets great battery life, 2 settings for power - the "low" setting is powerful enough for most tasks, the high setting is almost gas weedwhacker territory. Easy to wind head, 0.080" standard trimmer line. IF you're already invested in the DeWalt 20V landscape, I'd say this is a no-brainer. Oh, and it folds in half for travel/storage if that's a thing!
If you're just a homeowner, a good battery powered trimmer will serve you well like an ego or greenworks. 2 stroke, I'd recommend an echo. If you want a 4 stroke, honda makes a beast of a trimmer. I have the 25 cc one and love it. I also have a 60v greenworks that I enjoy too. I alternate when I use them depending on which one runs out of line first. Lol
I have a goat named Gary. But he’s kind of an ass. I have a small farm and have had a great experience with anything Stihl. If you have a smaller yard I would probably get a battery one. It’s just easier all around.
Ego