weedwacker

[Ed Fenwick]

Does anyone know of a good battery operated weed whacker. It seems that the less expensive gas ones will give out within 2 years!

TKS

 

[Mark K 2]

Good bang for the buck. 40 volt for less than $100. I had a cheap Weedeater 12 volt and that thing lasted six years before I needed a new battery.... for your reference.

 

[swshawaii]

Problem with B&D is you need to buy their expensive AF-100 preloaded line spools. No other brand trimmer heads can be used with B&D.

 

[Todd Z]

Sad thing is my homelite weed wacker is over 14 years old.....



Still runs like new !!



Todd Z

 

[Richard L]

I have a John Deere gasoline Weed eater. It came with a brush blade and a string feed hub.



It ate more string than weeds, so I put on a universal string holder that uses short segments of very hard, thick cord. That worked much better, but still ate a lot of those string refills.



I have since switched to a new solid plastic 3 blade unit. It has three pivoting plastic/nylon blades with thin serrated metal blades sandwiched in the plastic so that only the edges of the metal blades stick out about 1/8 inch. I have had those blades on it for over 4 years now and they work as good as the day I put them on! I don't remember the brand or where I got them (I think it was at Home Depot) and the kit was about $15-$20. I think it came with a lifetime guarantee on the blades...if they ever break, they will replace them free.



The problem I found with many small, cheap rechargeable weed wackers is that they don't have the power to spin the metal or plastic blades. They can spin them fine until they blade meets some resistance, like thick grass or weeds and then they tend to stall out and you have to lift the weed wacker up and let it regain it's speed and momentum before attacking the weed again :angry: That's worse than having to constantly bump it on the ground to feed more line, or stopping to change or refill the spool.



...Rich

 

[H D]

Ryobi 40v is pretty strong.



Echo 58v approaches 2-cycle power, seriously. Echo also has a 5 year warranty and that includes the battery!

 

[Ed Fenwick]

Thanks guys, 'looks like the electric ones use an 0065 in. line. My yard takes a thicker one.

Ed

 

[H D]

The Echo 58v can use .080 or .095.

 

[H D]

Oh, and Ego 56v trimmers also use .095 line.

 

[swshawaii]

BTW, soaking the mono line in water overnight really works. It breaks much less, especially when edging and around fencing. Don't ask me how. LOL

 

[Ed Fenwick]

Good to know sws I'll give it a try

 

[Robert Howell]

Trick to making a gas powered weed eater live is to only use premium/non-ethanol gas. Ethanol is very hygroscopic and can hold 50 times more water than gasoline. In a 5% mixture that sits all winter this equals 5 times more water than the gasoline can hold in suspension once the ethanol evaporates off. The water then drops out of suspension and corrodes everything in the fuel system.

All gas powered tools last much longer if you keep the crappy corn fuel out of it.

 

[Gypsy me]

I'm thiniking about buying this one

 

[Gavin Allan]

Gas weedwhackers and other 2-stroke engines will last longer if you can feed them fresh ethanol-free premium gasoline and quality oil mix. Treat each can of gas with some Stabil, and never use it if it is more than three months old. It is essential to run them completely dry before storage too.



The gasoline these days is crap for 2-stroke engines. Mainly the ethanol is the big culprit, but the plastic carburetors and other el cheapo materials as to blame too. I am not surprised that Todd's older Homelite whacker is running great. They truly do not build them like they use too.



If you got to buy new, look at Stihl and Echo. They are about the best built for cheap units.