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Strimmers

My OH has an electric strimmer, but after a few failures he has decided to invest in a cordless version - any recommendations or suggestions appreciated.
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  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I have a cheap, cordless strimmer from Lidl, lightweight, manoueverable, rechargeable battery and uses small click on plastic blades - packs of replacement blades available online. It’s great for edges, arkward spaces and small grassy areas. My ex-neighbour, a tiny lady of a certain age, used a petrol one (think it was Stihl), with gauntlets, face guard the lot. She found it easy to use, but I’m with pansyface on the usefulness of strong young men with professional strimmers for large areas, we employed two to initially clear our 3 acre overgrown steeply terraced and wooded plot.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Thanks for your helpful input Nollie and pansyface.   We are weighing up the pros and cons and the more information we can gather the easier it will be for us to make a decision.  We have a rough small lawn, the edging to a driveway and the edges to a larger lawn that all need attention - oh and around the veg patch - quite a lot in fact. 
  • ShepsSheps Posts: 2,236
    I have one of these, DG    https://www.blackanddecker.co.uk/en-gb/products/garden-tools/strimmers/28cm-18v-20ah-lithiumion-strimmer-grass-trimmer/stc1820

    It does the job very well, though I only have to do about 75ft each time I cut the grass.

    I think I paid about £70 for it and it has been faultless, the strimmer line lasts for ages as it's auto-feed and doesn't keep snapping like on the cheaper, corded ones.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I'm on my second one. The first one I got was a fairly cheap one. The strimmer was fine but the battery didn't last - when it was new I'd get maybe 20 minutes from it but after a year of using it regularly, it was down to maybe 5 minutes.

    So I got a new one with a much better battery (and a shoulder strap). It's much lighter than OH's petrol one, which I just can't deal with. This battery has about 2 hours life and I know I can buy batteries separately.

    My advice therefore is get the best battery you can afford - in my case the battery cost £50 - roughly the same as the trimmer itself.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Thanks for your helpful input Sheps and raisingirl - it is always good to ask for advice especially as there are so many brands and styles on the market these days. We are seriously considering the Black & Decker which is the same make as our previous strimmer which did last quite a few years but is now past the repairable stage.
  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    I have a corded Black & Decker but recently purchased a MacAllister cordless one from Screwfix at less than £50. It is incredibly light, I would say lighter than the B&D and has a very good battery life. It only has a single cutting cord whereas the B&D has two. It also doesn’t have the accuracy (or maybe it’s just me) of the B&D for cutting lawn border edges when flipping the head to cut in a vertical fashion. The B&D has an ‘arrow’ to help alignment for this task whereas the MacAllister doesn’t but if you want a very lightweight tool with good battery life then I can happily recommend this one, especially if on a budget. I mostly use it on the grass verges on the outside of our fences which makes life so much easier than long extension leads. 
  • glasgowdanglasgowdan Posts: 632
    How much do you wajt to spend? EGO battery tools get good reviews
  • stuart.dotstuart.dot Posts: 127
    I just bought a Bosch corded from Screwfix for £21 ish. A big improvement on the old B&D's line feed system. Can't fault it for my plot.
  • Thanks Stuart - we would prefer a cordless strimmer this time around and we are prepared to pay up to £100 baring in mind that we don't have the choice of shops here that most of you have. So far the B&D is coming out tops for us, but any more input would be of interest to us.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    I'd go with the strong young man anyday!!  B)
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
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