Wanting to buy a light weight battery powered weed eater, to replace my Stihl gas weed eater.

There was a thred on these a while back, but I couldn't find it on the "search" thingie.

I'm getting older (67) and the gas one is just getting too hard for me to run.

If a battery model will run for a half hour before needing charged, that would be fine.

It would be break time for me then anyway.

What's a good quality, cheap,(about $100.) lightweight brand of string trimmer to get. ?

Thanks! Virgil B.

My wife likes her Black& Decker.

I bought a little Ryobi years ago at Home Depot or Lowe's can't remember exactly which. I think it was 18 volt and it ran right around a half hour. I'm thinking it was right around 75 bucks? After the battery died I bought a couple aftermarket on Amazon that worked well.

My GF is pretty petite so when I started dating her I gave her the Ryobi. It's small and light. Sounds like it might work for you. Sorry I can't give you a model or anything but if you do a search I'm sure you can find one or one similar.

Good luck finding a Stihl caliber replacement for $100. I just went with a Makita 36v whacker (2 batteries 18volt) 5amp hour batteries can run .105 line and works on our little farm. The big gas Stihl is still more powerful but the Makita is light, quiet & handy.

+1 on this weedeater.

The wife wanted one so we got that one and she has been happy with the way it works.

We did buy another battery because we also have one of their limb saws.

Battery trimmers come down to the quality of the battery. They all run great out of the box, but the test is in 2-3 years. Cheap ones won't hold a charge for very long.

The other consideration is what you are trimming. If you are used to the torque and power of a gas trimmer, be ready for a significant reduction with a battery trimmer. Battery trimmers are fine for grass growing up against the house or a planter, etc., but if you want to trim off 2-inch thick sod that is encroaching over your cement driveway, that probably isn't going to happen (where it did with a gas trimmer). But, you can always break out your old gas trimmer for the tough jobs.

That said, we have a Ryobi 18 volt lithium-ion model from Home Depot. For our tame, urban lawn, it's fine. We have about 15 minutes of trimming to do each time we mow, and it goes 2+ times without a charge. It's only a year old so I can't really comment on how the battery holds up in the longer run, but for now, it's working fine. I believe it cost about $120

IMHO battery weed eaters are now the way to go. Had a cheap Battery Troy-Bilt for 6-8 years that got cranky in its old age and was never as good as the DeWalt 20V I've had for over a year now. Except the DeWalt doesn't fit your price criteria. But I'm glad I spent the extra money and got something that really works well. Don't use it for more than 30-45 minutes at a time and it gets used multiple times before needing a charge. I have three 20v DeWalt batteries cause I have one of their 20V hand held spotlights so the trimmer & spotlight both have a battery plus one on the charger at all times. I recently turned 70 and that DeWalt trimmer puts my previous cheapo trimmer to shame.

Thanks guys!

Keep the ideas coming!

Heading to the hardware store this AM to check 'em out. They should have several brands mentioned to choose from.

Virgil B.

The good news: It is a great weed eater and the battery will last close to an hour.
The bad news: It doesn't cost $100. We got the weedeater and the blower for $350 at Lowes.

Had a Stihl gas, was a pain in the ass to start and keep running.
Bought a Dewalt battery trimmer. It’s great, runs at least a half hour. Don’t recall the cost.

Spend more, get the dewalt.

My son has the Ryobi edger, trimmer, shop vac, drills, blower, etc., all using the same batteries. He has 4 batteries and two chargers.

Having all those devices using the same batteries is pretty neat.

I have a Worx string trimmer and like it.

DF

I have a 18 volt B&D that was cheap and doesn't weigh much but it has just 10" cut swath. A fresh battery charge doesn't last very long either. 10 - 15 minutes tops of steady cutting and it's slowing down the last few minutes to where you aren't accomplishing much. It takes several hours to recharge too and doesn't hold a fresh full battery charge long even with no use either so best use it immediately after charging. The only thing it's been useful for is when visiting cemeteries trimming up around family graves.

If Dewalt uses the same charger that comes with their chainsaw, it will take an hour or more to recharge. Lowes' Kobalt 80v comes with a fast charger that will do it in 30 min.

"I'm getting older (67) and the gas one is just getting too hard for me to run."

Why is it too hard to run? I'm older than you (77) and my gas weed eater is easy to use. It starts on the 2nd pull after one pull with the choke on and it has a shoulder strap to support the weight. I thought about getting an electric weed eater but my yard is too big and I don't think it would have enough power. I also wondered how long the battery lasts and about how much it might cost to replace. My last gas weed eater lasted 18 years.

^^^^^^ This love mine but ran closer to $375 also bought a hedge trimmer it is amazing what that will cut!

I have a small Yard and a busted up Arm & Shoulder so I wanted something Light . I bought a Ryobi One + on Black Friday . It is super Light and works very well for me . Dirt Cheap ( can't remember exactly ) , but under 100 Bucks ) and even got a Leaf Blower with it . It looks kind of flimsy and plasticky but works better than I thought it would , and I would sure buy one again . Recharges pretty fast too , and lets out new line every time you let off on the go trigger .

The Kobalt 80v at Lowes, their top of the line weedeater, has as much power as a gasoline machine, believe me. I have gone in to a patch 200 feet long and 80 feet wide with briars 3 feet high. The Kobalt kicked ass, I could not believe how well it performed. Battery lasted a little over an hour.

For my little Stihl weedeater, I usually get 2 gallons of no ethanol marine gas and two bottles of Echo red armor mix oil which has stabilizers in it.......We are talking roughly $14 bucks worth of fuel. This is for a season's worth of use. I'm figuring I can go a decade for what a battery for one of those electric jobs will cost me. If the battery would last a decade that would not be a bad deal but it probably won't. Then you get to buy either a new battery or a whole new rig.

My Stihl is 8 or 10 years old and it still runs like new. I have had to put a $30 carb on it which was my fault for letting the gas gunk up in it before I went to non-ethanol and I did have a coil installed by the Stihl place....can't remember the bill for that.

Anyway, I'd get a small gas model with a shoulder strap and feed it good gas and good oil. Mine is a "homeowner level" machine and I use the heck out of it. I used to have a Stihl FS-250 which is a monster professional brushcutter/weedeater that a cretin stole from me. The little one cuts grass with a string just as well as it did.

I have an Echo weedeater that I bought 18 years ago. It set up in the tool shed, unused, for 8 years. I figured it was no good. But I put fresh gas in it and it cranked up on the second pull and ran like a top.
18 years old, and zero maintenance. Original spark plug. Unreal what a great machine it is.

Still, I like my new Kobalt pictured above, better. It is just as powerful and it is QUIET. Praise God for the quiet weedeater.

The great question for the Kobalt is, "How long will the battery last?"

I guess I better get one.

I used my daughter's Ego battery weed eater this weekend to clear some tall grass and weeds on her property this weekend, I was impressed with the 32V power and the line advance worked perfectly. My Ryobi while lighter doesn't have near the power and the line advance doesn't work worth chit.

"Battery lasted a little over an hour."

That's good but what I wanted to know is how many years does the battery pack last before it has to be replaced.

Safe bet is longevity to the Milwaukee there.

I'll grant that quiet would be worth a premium. My neighbor lady just got a Kobalt cordless weed eater. I'm guessing its probably the smaller one but she told me she can trim her yard on a charge.

Yeah, but Ryobi looks eager....

I've got a Toro cordless weed whacker that I bout 6 or 7 years ago. It's plenty powerful and the battery lasts longer than I do.

My only complaint with it is the cutting head is a bit on the light duty side. But it does what it's supposed to do.

Fine for the flower bed and a short driveway.

I returned one the same day I bought it and went back to a 2stroke.

I hear you. Good question and I can't answer.

EGO 56v is an awesome weed eater.

THIS

I got the same set up, best thing I ever did, didnt buy the kit they have now with the weed wacker and blower. Bought the weed wacker first for $159, blower came last year for $99. This way I got 2 batteries, an extra one cost like $150

Just put the ryobi in the yard and let her graze

Milwaukee 18 v big battery hasn’t had any issues. 10 times the black and decker my step daughter bought but not as powerful as a gas Stihl with that said i won’t go back to gas