Yard tools advice

[Beatledawg]

Question for you guys. Getting a tad old to keep jerking a cord on gas powder yard tools and am looking to get a battery powered weed eater. Any suggestions, advice? I need for it to be powerful enough to cut some pencil size growth and a battery that won't croak after 15 minutes. Will probably get two batteries when trying to trim the drive (1/4 mile). 

So oh ye do it yourselfers let me know you thoughts please. I'd appreciate it. thanks in advance.

[Creed]

I have an Ego weedeater that works well. You may want to step up to a Stihl.

[dncdawg]

I've had the Ryobi. Probably stay away from those. The battery life is okay, but for me, the battery failure rate is terrible. They're covered by a warranty, but dealing with that is a pain in the ass. For me, it's the high demand attachments that have been a problem for those batteries (blade edger and hedge trimmer). Also, make sure you get something with the higher gauge string. The Ryobi only uses the smaller stuff and it is a huge pain in the ass to load.

I recently bought a Greenworks from Costco. It's more of a pro-style string trimmer. Battery life is great and it uses the higher gauge string. It's also easy to reload. I bought the blade edger attachment, but haven't used that yet. Weight is about the same as a gas model. Stihl makes battery operated models now. I haven't used them, but I'd consider them based on the reputation of their gas products, their warranty, and their customer service alone. Plus, Ace is easier to deal with than Home Depot. Probably not as economical...

[Smokindawg]

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/...lsrc=aw.ds

[McDonoughDawg]

IF you go Ryobi, make sure you go 40 volt...I have a few of them and haven't had any issues...edger, week eater, hedge trimmer and a blower...

[RockmartDawg]

I use EGO battery-powered tools, although I don't have their weedeater. I do have a mower, a blower, and hedge trimmers, and am pleased with them all. I am pretty sure you can get an EGO weedeater that provides for using attachments so that you can also use the same engine as an edger... not sure what else, if anything else.

I'm not a global warming hand wringer. I, like you, just got tired of pulling the rope over and over and over and over. I also like the mower being MUCH quieter. I put on over-the-ear headphones and can hear music, sermon audio, just perfectly and I don't have to turn it up to blasting to override the engine noise.

[Sugarhilldawg]

we use 40v Ryobi also, have just about every attachment you can buy. we have 6 spare batteries and only 1 was defective which Ryobi replaced without question. as far a s battery life goes you get what you pay for, a 2 amp/hour battery is around $100 and will last 20-20 minutes, a 6 a/h battery lasts around an hour but costs $200

[samjo]

Just to add to the discussion....I also have 1/4 mile long driveway. I use an Echo, 58 volt string trimmer and it does a good job. Plenty of power, and I can go up the driveway, and back to the house on one charge.

I been pretty happy with it.

[dncdawg]

IF you go Ryobi, make sure you go 40 volt...I have a few of them and haven't had any issues...edger, week eater, hedge trimmer and a blower...

That's the set I invested in.  Over the course of about the first four years, I had 4 battery failures either while using the hedge trimmer, the pole saw, or the blade edger.  The batteries still work but they only give one speed...high.  Once I learned what caused it, I only use those batteries in those high resistance tools.

The first pole saw I bought was defective.  The damn chain spun backwards.  You should have seen me gnawing away with it on this damn tree branch before I realized what it was doing.

The 80v greenworks string trimmer that I got is miles above the ryobi 40 volt.  The only thing that is really different for me is that the hub is much thicker, so the cutting area is farther from the ground.  Sometimes I have to tilt it to cut at the length I need to cut.  Also, line is bump feed instead of the auto feed on the ryobi.  I think I like the bump feed better.  When I first got the ryobi, I had to rewind the line to get the auto feed to work.  Rewinding that thing absolutely sucks too.  Without fail, it runs out right as I start using it.

[viper2369]

IF you go Ryobi, make sure you go 40 volt...I have a few of them and haven't had any issues...edger, week eater, hedge trimmer and a blower...

That's the set I invested in.  Over the course of about the first four years, I had 4 battery failures either while using the hedge trimmer, the pole saw, or the blade edger.  The batteries still work but they only give one speed...high.  Once I learned what caused it, I only use those batteries in those high resistance tools.

The first pole saw I bought was defective.  The damn chain spun backwards.  You should have seen me gnawing away with it on this damn tree branch before I realized what it was doing.

The 80v greenworks string trimmer that I got is miles above the ryobi 40 volt.  The only thing that is really different for me is that the hub is much thicker, so the cutting area is farther from the ground.  Sometimes I have to tilt it to cut at the length I need to cut.  Also, line is bump feed instead of the auto feed on the ryobi.  I think I like the bump feed better.  When I first got the ryobi, I had to rewind the line to get the auto feed to work.  Rewinding that thing absolutely sucks too.  Without fail, it runs out right as I start using it.

Which string trimmer do you have?  The one I have is the easiest I've ever used.  There's a hole that goes all the way through the middle, you line it up, get both sides around the same length and then wind it up.   That's it, takes about 1 minute. 

But as other's have said, have had the 40V for a few years now and no issues.  It usually takes about 1 battery charge to edge my driveway, sidewalk, then weed eat around the house, and use the same battery to blow of the driveway and sidewalk.

[dncdawg]

IF you go Ryobi, make sure you go 40 volt...I have a few of them and haven't had any issues...edger, week eater, hedge trimmer and a blower...

That's the set I invested in.  Over the course of about the first four years, I had 4 battery failures either while using the hedge trimmer, the pole saw, or the blade edger.  The batteries still work but they only give one speed...high.  Once I learned what caused it, I only use those batteries in those high resistance tools.

The first pole saw I bought was defective.  The damn chain spun backwards.  You should have seen me gnawing away with it on this damn tree branch before I realized what it was doing.

The 80v greenworks string trimmer that I got is miles above the ryobi 40 volt.  The only thing that is really different for me is that the hub is much thicker, so the cutting area is farther from the ground.  Sometimes I have to tilt it to cut at the length I need to cut.  Also, line is bump feed instead of the auto feed on the ryobi.  I think I like the bump feed better.  When I first got the ryobi, I had to rewind the line to get the auto feed to work.  Rewinding that thing absolutely sucks too.  Without fail, it runs out right as I start using it.

Which string trimmer do you have?  The one I have is the easiest I've ever used.  There's a hole that goes all the way through the middle, you line it up, get both sides around the same length and then wind it up.   That's it, takes about 1 minute. 

But as other's have said, have had the 40V for a few years now and no issues.  It usually takes about 1 battery charge to edge my driveway, sidewalk, then weed eat around the house, and use the same battery to blow of the driveway and sidewalk.

I guess they've updated it since I got mine.  I have the 40v system.  They only had one 40v model string trimmer when I bought it and you have to manually wind the string and it only has one line hole and only uses the .065 line. I bought my first one more than 10 years ago. I bought the same model when I bought a new house about 10 years ago, so an update is very likely.

[viper2369]

IF you go Ryobi, make sure you go 40 volt...I have a few of them and haven't had any issues...edger, week eater, hedge trimmer and a blower...

That's the set I invested in.  Over the course of about the first four years, I had 4 battery failures either while using the hedge trimmer, the pole saw, or the blade edger.  The batteries still work but they only give one speed...high.  Once I learned what caused it, I only use those batteries in those high resistance tools.

The first pole saw I bought was defective.  The damn chain spun backwards.  You should have seen me gnawing away with it on this damn tree branch before I realized what it was doing.

The 80v greenworks string trimmer that I got is miles above the ryobi 40 volt.  The only thing that is really different for me is that the hub is much thicker, so the cutting area is farther from the ground.  Sometimes I have to tilt it to cut at the length I need to cut.  Also, line is bump feed instead of the auto feed on the ryobi.  I think I like the bump feed better.  When I first got the ryobi, I had to rewind the line to get the auto feed to work.  Rewinding that thing absolutely sucks too.  Without fail, it runs out right as I start using it.

Which string trimmer do you have?  The one I have is the easiest I've ever used.  There's a hole that goes all the way through the middle, you line it up, get both sides around the same length and then wind it up.   That's it, takes about 1 minute. 

But as other's have said, have had the 40V for a few years now and no issues.  It usually takes about 1 battery charge to edge my driveway, sidewalk, then weed eat around the house, and use the same battery to blow of the driveway and sidewalk.

I guess they've updated it since I got mine.  I have the 40v system.  They only had one 40v model string trimmer when I bought it and you have to manually wind the string and it only has one line hole and only uses the .065 line.  I bought my first one more than 10 years ago.  I bought the same model when I bought a new house about 10 years ago, so an update is very likely.

Gotcha.  The one I have actually came with a "tool" you could use and makes it easier.  I've misplaced it somewhere, but it's easy enough to just do it by hand. 

I don't have too much to trim so I just got the expand-it version where I can change it from edger to trimmer.  I later bought a blower that came with the battery.  It was like $130 with the battery, so it was the better deal to give me an extra battery. 

All that said, I do try and take care of them.  I don't leave them out in the sun when I sit it down, always make sure to put it in the garage.  And I don't just leave them on the charger once they are charged.  Sometimes over night maybe, as I forgot to disconnect it.  I know they are supposed to be able to "cut themselves off" when they are fully charged, I just ain't trusting that.

[LandDawg]

I have the Ryobi 40V tools also. I used the 20” mower at the cabin and can could everything on one charge. I just got the 450 blower and it’s wicked. Blow the chrome off a trailer hitch. I hand the sprayer for Roundup and it needs a little more ump but works fine. The 16” chain is amazing. Sho is nice to not have to f with the gas, oil, cranking, etc.