Cordless whipper snippers

[edddo]

My old Stihl whipper snipper died the other day and I couldnt be bothered spending any more time fiddling with old 2 stroke gear. As we now have free electricity courtesy of our solar panels and battery I thought I would try a cordless one. It needs to be good for about 30 minutes of medium duty work every week or so through spring...it needs to be able to handle long grass and weeds..so definitely not one of those $100 light duty things...lets say it needs to be medium duty.

Does anyone here have any experience with brands and models that are good or are to be avoided?

[POD]

Can't speak highly enough of the E-Go mower and chainsaw I bought last year, I haven't got the whipper snipper cos I have a petrol one that's still good, but they were promoting their self-loading whipper snipper pretty heavily about a year ago, you probably saw the ads with them jumping out of a plane and loading the line on the way down. Heaps of power at 56 volt, I think I'd buy their trimmer in a heartbeat when the Husky dies.

[Fattima]

I've got a DeWalt 54 volt one, really happy with it, not cheap but works well.

[AK83]

I (now)have an AEG 54 or 56v.
Huge thing it is, weighs nothing compared to the industrial monster it replaced.
Got it for dad, who was too old to pull start the old monster, only just a few years ago. He got too too old, and now no longer lives on the 1 3/4ac block.
He'd get about an hour per charge, but he found that he only had the energy to do 30min stints.
All up cost me about $600, but it didn't come as a kit .. had to buy the snipper, and then the battery/charger separately(@ the big B).

I've had it at my place now(barely used) for a couple years, used it a bit, absolutely rips my massively overgrown weeds/lawn/trees!
I'm hopeless at doing gardening stuff .. some parts of the grass up to chest height(kid U not!).
Currently it's at about waist, but have been doing a lot of building and stuff recently.
Mower just won't cut it(literally!) as it currently is.... so slash first, then mow .. I have too.

Too many advantages over a petrol(2 stoke) to begin. barely any noise, no mess.
Yeah they probably won't last the day for a pro like a ICE slasher, but who wants to be slashing grass for over an hour at any one time anyhow!

I know battery takes near on 4 hrs to take a full charge from no go on the machine(timed it) .. I reckon less if you don't drain it so far down.
The battery is very big, like a cartridge .. ~ 2lt bottle of milk size
Only complaint with the AEG, is that the battery(design) is annoying to remove from it's charger, gets really stiff, and the catch/latch seems to not fully open to allow it to remove easily.

[oka374]

I've got a Dewalt one which is buggered and hasn't even worn out the initial nylon supplied with the unit. Out of warranty so it is just hanging in the shed.
I suspect that it has overheated the motor due to damp grass blocking the mesh on the intake side, was only used on suburban type lawn edges and no long or thick grass so disappointed in its early demise as it worked quite well initially. Power was similar to an old 22cc Husqvarna when it was at full noise.

[Fatso]

i just use a Ryobi 18V along with all my other 18v Ryobei stuff , does all I want for light and medium work . [bigsmile1]

[Disco-tastic]

i just the Ryobi 18V along with all my other 18v Ryobei stuff , does all I want for light and medium work . [bigsmile1]I have one and you'll be disappointed if you have lots of grass longer than your pinky. It only accepts 1.6mm line (you can fit 2mm but it doesnt autofeed correctly) and takes a few goes to get through grass thats a couple inches long. Its fine for my house lawn, but if you've got a decent sized property go the bigger 50+ volt items for sure.

[101RRS]

I have one and you'll be disappointed if you have lots of grass longer than your pinky. It only accepts 1.6mm line (you can fit 2mm but it doesnt autofeed correctly)

My $100 Homelight Petrol trimmer stopped on the weekend after 10 years of perfect use and as I already have Ryobi gear I bought the base $99 ryobi snipper. I agree definitely light weight but OK for the house but not anything heavier duty.

It only has one cord instead of the usual two strings but the head rotates at a higher speed than the petrol so I guess that makes up for it.

Ryobi has obviously updated their specs as the one I bought runs 2mm line but must have a twist shape cross section.

These are OK but no use outside the house.

Garry

[Homestar]

i just use a Ryobi 18V along with all my other 18v Ryobei stuff , does all I want for light and medium work . [bigsmile1]

Yep, have one too and for my backyard it’s perfect


I have one and you'll be disappointed if you have lots of grass longer than your pinky. It only accepts 1.6mm line (you can fit 2mm but it doesnt autofeed correctly) and takes a few goes to get through grass thats a couple inches long. Its fine for my house lawn, but if you've got a decent sized property go the bigger 50+ volt items for sure.

There’s 2 different versions of the Ryobi one is ok, the other is very light on. Ok for a quick run around backyard edging when doing it regularly, agree wouldn’t ‘cut it’ for anything longer. 😉

[Disco-tastic]

Yep, have one too and for my backyard it’s perfect



There’s 2 different versions of the Ryobi one is ok, the other is very light on. Ok for a quick run around backyard edging when doing it regularly, agree wouldn’t ‘cut it’ for anything longer. [emoji6]Mines a number of years old now so sounds like the older one.

Dont get me wrong - its near perfect for what I want. Just struggles a bit doing the edges if I've left them for a month.

[rocket scientist]

I recently bought the Milwaukee power head primarily for the pole saw. Only an extra $80 for the brushcutter head as a kit. I use the Stihl around the farm for bigger jobs but the Milwaukee cuts just as well.
Had to mow a small lawn at our place in town, and the lawn mower wouldn't start. Used the Milwaukee . Did the whole lot on less than a full battery charge. I was impressed. Not having the noise is a bonus as well.

[disco gazza]

I will have to buy a whipper snipper soon, so the cordless one has me thinking it might be better than a petrol one.

My old ryobi was a bit hard to start some days and more times I gave up than used it.:censored:

So whats the general consensus on the better cordless whipper snippers and what to look for (battery).

TIA

DG

[AK83]

.....

So whats the general consensus on the better cordless whipper snippers and what to look for (battery).

.....

Budget?
If you can go with about $600, I highly recommend the AEG(it's 58v) at Bunnings.
If you don't like it, take it back too!
I'm sure you'll like the way it works tho.

I also had a Ryobi petrol(also got for dad) with electric start .. useless.
Useless for dad on his property, also couldn't cut the weeds that I get here at my place
my place is just a regular suburban home, but rarely maintained garden, other than roundup on almost everything!
Ryobi petrol went on the annual council collection, lasted less than about 2 years.

I also have a Ryobi one 18v (bro gave to me) .. don't really use it, but comes in handy for a couple of nooks.

[Ancient Mariner]

Happy with my 54v Dewalt, battery lasts longer than me[bigsad] but found the dewalt cord is crap and the 2mm stihl cord a better option

AM

[POD]

Think about what other tools you might want to buy later that can share a battery.

[Arapiles]

I have a Ryobi 18v single line one - I love it compared to my petrol Stihl, which was a POS. The issue with the Stihl was that I could never get it started, plus there was the mixing of oil and petrol and that 2 stroke noise and heat - with electric you drop in a battery and away you go. In the time it used to take me to get the Stihl going (and there were times when I just gave up) the Ryobi will have completed the trimming I need to do. But the Ryobi does get defeated by heavier grass etc. I did try cutter heads, but for the heavier stuff I now use a Honda ICE which is orders of magnitude better than the Stihl, but even compared to a really good ICE trimmer the electric ones are just that much less hassle and I’d guess that in a decade or so they’ll largely replace the smaller ICE trimmers. There’s a new brushless Ryobi 18v which is twice the price and which runs two lines and may be more effective, or maybe check out the 36v ones.

[disco gazza]

Anyone used the metabo whipper snipper?

Only reason I ask is that I use metabo cordless drills(18v), it will save me buying extra batteries/power supply.

DG

[350RRC]

Happy with my 54v Dewalt, battery lasts longer than me[bigsad] but found the dewalt cord is crap and the 2mm stihl cord a better option

AM

The cord is very important, regardless of i.c.e. or electro.

Couple of years ago I posted in a similar thread how much better the square section cord is, especially for woody weeds.

Aldi sometimes have square section cord .................. with a difference: it has a twist in it and is even better again.

DL

[edddo]

Ended up trying one of these

36V 2.6Ah Curved Shaft Line Trimmer Kit | Ryobi Tools (https://www.ryobi.com.au/outdoor/products/details/36v-2-6ah-curved-shaft-line-trimmer-kit-rlt36x26?list=current_category&list_name=brushcutters-line-trimmers)

Seems pretty good so far. Battery lasts about 20 minutes of hard work..which is enough for me with my tendonitis/carpal tunnel type pain in the left hand.

Got it at Bunnings for $260 - has a decent warranty - 3 yrs I think.

[DiscoMick]

We have that. It's fine for what it is.

[350RRC]

The cord is very important, regardless of i.c.e. or electro.

Couple of years ago I posted in a similar thread how much better the square section cord is, especially for woody weeds.

Aldi sometimes have square section cord .................. with a difference: it has a twist in it and is even better again.

DL

Something I noticed today using the twisted yellow Aldi cord up against rabbit mesh..........

it just seemed to brush off instead of getting cut to pieces.

I didn't push it too much but it was unexpected in a good way.

It also went straight through green acacia seedlings with trunks 10 to 15mm thick like they weren't there.

DL