Rechargeable Weed Trimmer

Does anybody have any information as to how good they are and which brand would be best?

I use a Black & Decker "Grass Hog" (Cordless string trimmer/edger) that I purchased at Home Depot in 2003. I've been using it ever since and I'm very pleased with it. It functions as both a trimmer and an edger. I have several island flower beds so I do lots of edging. I keep it on charge continuously during the growing season. It holds enough charge for my extensive use. (I've never run out of charge during use!) I only change spools once per season (very easy to change). I highly recommend it. No cords or gasoline to worry about!

Edited to say that it mounts very easily to the wall in your garage or wherever. Mine is mounted in the garage near an electric outlet so I can easily keep it charged.

This message was edited May 20, 2008 11:19 PM

I have the same one, mine must be a lemon! It is so hard to get the rechargeable part off the unit, takes 2 people, one to hold the weedeater and the other to push the tabs and pull it off! We recharge it constantly, but used it for the first time this year this past weekend, lasted for 10 minutes tops! We dont have exterior outlets, and a gas unit is to heavy for me so thought this would be perfect. It is almost worthless as all we are able to do is about a 20' line across the fence at a time before it has to be recharged for another 24 hours! Like I said, maybe I got a Lemon!!

Mine just sits in a chargeable bracket that I have mounted on the wall. It lifts right out. I spend 20-30 minutes trimming and edging each time and I've never run out of charge. It's a shame that yours doesn't work well for you. You should contact Black & Decker as your chargeable base must be defective. It also sounds like it doesn't fit your unit properly, hence the difficulty in removing it.

I may contact them. It isnt taking it out of the charger that is hard, it is getting it off the trimmer itself to put back on the charger. Think I will just hire someone to do my trimming!

My neighbor has the same one and LOVES hers. She also bought the hedge trimmer but said that one is only good for small jobs. I tried out her edger/trimmer and thought it worked well for power and it was lightweight. The only down side I thought was that the guard was so large it obstructed your view of what you were doing but I'm sure you get used to that. I'm going to buy one. I really dislike dealing with a 100' electric cord!

Once you start using the edger you will get accustomed to it. I find if I hold it at a certain angle I can see precisely where I'm cutting. If you trim along the sidewalk or driveway, it's easy to keep the metal guide against the edge of the cement for a clean cut.

Best of all -- no cords and no gasoline!

Thanks, all of you, for your helpful hints. I bought the Black and Decker unit which came with two rechargeable batteries, thus I always charge one, when the other is in use. This unit works great. thanks again.

Ah, good job. Me, I bought the Ryobi with the lithium charge. I got outvoted by my husband (who wanted neither) but since I'm not waiting for him to do the trimming I told him it's one or the other that I was buying one of them. I used it today and it seems to be the same in features as the B&D. Hope it lasts and I hope the lithium was worth the extra money - the Ryobi ran $40 but you buy the battery separate. Happy Trimming!

Dagmar and Medinac -- congrats to both of you on your purchases!