OREGON CORDLESS  ST275-A6 Review

Introduction – The Oregon ST275 AX is a dual line cordless string trimmer. It features a loop handle and a straight shaft.  Backed by a 40 Volt battery, the ST275 means business.

Electric over Gas? – The biggest concern most people have over making the switch from electric to gas is power.   With today’s advanced battery technology, power is not really an issue.  And as batteries get better and come down in price, reliability increases and having a spare becomes less of an issue. The real benefit to switching to an electric powerplant over a fossil fuel power plant comes down to the fuel.  Keep your battery charged (ideally indoors, your hot garage is not doing any favors to keeping a big battery charged), and that’s pretty much it.  With a 2 stroke or a 4stroke engine, you have to buy proper gasoline, stabilize that gasoline in the gas canister, mix motor oil with the fuel, make sure that the fuel lines do not rut, nor befoul the carburetor.  And that’s even before you get it started.  That can be a hassle, and keeping it running in the heat is another problem.  Finally the vibration, noise, and fumes aren’t much fun to deal with either.

The Oregon ST275 AX eliminates all of that fuss and still gets the job done.

But how well?

Specs –  Right out of the box, you get a shaft, plastic guard, and a handle.  The 4.0 Ah model comes in around ~300, the smaller battery 2.4 Ah is around 250, and without a battery is close to 180.  By simple subtraction the batteries are not cheap.  This 4.0 should run for 45 minutes, which is enough for most lawns. The line is a nice .08″ with the bump head able to run up to a .095″ line.

Assembly – Putting the Oregon ST275 AX is very simple. Connect the handle to shaft and then plastic guard to the lower mount and you’re done.  With a bit of charge you’re ready to go.

Operation

Starting and Power Control  – It’s a button.  It starts when you press it.  That’s the power of going electric.

Vegetation Strength – We got differing reports.  The Oregon could take down horehound weeds but struggled with tall St. Augustine grass.

horehound

staugustine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally, most users said the unit had plenty of power.  So much so that a couple of users wanted a larger debris guard.

Bump Head –  There are two sorts of line feeds in string trimmers, an automatic feed and a bump head feed.  The ST-275 uses a bump head.  By all accounts the bump head works well and delivers additional line on demand as the job progresses.  As we discussed in our buying guide to string trimmers, bump heads typically are better than automatic feeds.

Ergonomics – A typical complaint for most electric weed eaters is that they are heavy and unbalanced.  That is not the case case with the Oregon unit.  It’s been reported as well balanced.  With a straight shaft and loop handle it should be easy to manage.

Edging – The ST-275 has a nifty U-shaped feature that makes it very easy to edge.  We hope that more trimmers adopt this.

Run Time – The company advertises 45 minutes and most users find that under normal conditions the 4.0 AH battery keeps the trimmer running for 45 minutes. That’s pretty good battery life.  And if your yard or job is big, the battery reportedly charges quickly, sometimes in only 2 hours to recharge.

Another good sign about this unit is that like a gas tank, the battery tells you how much charge you have left.  That’s very useful.

After Market Care – With respect to what happens after the purchase and you actually try it yourself, the warranty is a decent 1 year.  But there are mixed reports on initial support.

Conclusion – Overall we definitely like the Oregon ST275-A6.   Definitely a good replacement for an aging gas unit, or a great addition to a person new to lawn care.

Makita XRU07Z Cordless String Trimmer Review


Introduction The Makita XRU07Z is a new model from the Makita family.  As cordless trimmers go, this has most of features you’re looking for.  As well as the drawbacks that are common to this breed of weed wacker.  The main draw here is that you can add two batteries to get 36V of power in this baby, and those same batteries can power your other tools as well.

 

 

Why Electric?  It is a simple question really.  If you are concerned

  • No More Gas Engines
  • No carburetors being gummed up because there is ethanol in the gas
  • No rotting fuel lines because of ethanol
  • No oil mixing with motor oil and fuel stabilizer
  • No Hard starts
  • No noise and vibration

Specs  – Right out of the box the Makita is a good machine.  A nice straight shaft that can reach in a lot of places is coupled with a nice loop handle.  The debris shield is a decent size.  The line is 0.08″.  The bump head is present, and that can be replaced with any other applicable tool.  What it does not include are two batteries.  That means it makes more sense to add this cordless trimmer to your Makita tool family.

Assembly – The assembly of the unit is pretty simple.  Rather than the typical Phillips head, everything connects with hex head screws.

Operation 

Starting – Unlike a gas trimmer, cordless trimmers start at the push of a button.  The key here is to have a fully charged battery.

Ergonomics – No one would describe this trimmer as light weight.  With both batteries plus its 14.65 lb shipping weight, taking care of your lawn might take some out of you.  The equivalent gas trimmer is lighter.  The Makita does not shift with a strap.

Weight issues aside, the Makita is as quiet as you would expect a cordless trimmer to be.  There is little vibration.

Trimming – Doing the actual work is why you buy the trimmer in the first place.  It has enough power for a decent size lawn, but it is definitely not commercial grade, nor will it replace your brush cutter.  Some users were able to handle a 1/4 acre with it.

Run Time – Most users with average use were able to get 1 hour from the Makita, with a 60 minute to 90 minute recharge.

After Purchase Care – Our research found that Makita was fairly responsive with any post sale issues.  But when a machine fails, it’s hard to be happy.

Conclusion

What we do not like about the Makita is the 1) weight, 2) having to buy two batteries, 3) having to buy a charger.  That being said, we do like that the battery system is ideal for connecting with all of the other tools in our shed. So that defrays some of the cost.   With respect to weight, it would be fairly easy to get a harness to fit.  On the other hand, it should ship with a harness like the better cordless trimmers that we have reviewed.  All in all this is not a bad choice, but there are better ones to choose.

GreenWorks GST80320  80V Review

Introduction

The Greenworks GST80320 80V is a serious weed whacker.  With the power equivalent of a 32 Cubic Centimeter gas powered string trimmer, the 80320 packs quite a punch without all the hassle of a gas trimmer

Why Electric?

  • no noise or heavy vibration
  • no fumes
  • no mixing fuel or carburetor issues
  • no starting issues
  • no spark plug

The 80320 is cordless, so you do not need to worry about tangling the wires as you work your way around the your front and back yard.   Enough dilly dallying, let’s get to to it.

Specs

Right of the box you get a handsome straight shaft electric weed eater.  It has loop handle, debris guard and 16″ cutting head.   The head takes attachments from other manufacturers, though not all.  At the time of this writing, apparently Echo Tools did not fit.  Poulan Pro, Ryobi, and Trimmer Plus did fit.

It also comes with a harness, and you will need it, because the battery makes this trimmer quite heavy.

What it does not come with are the battery and the charger.   By it’s lonesome, the Greenworks tips the scale at 14.7 lbs.  When you add the battery, that only increases the weight.   Still, after you understand the potential of the 80320, you will see that the weight is a great trade off.

Operation

Assembly – Once you make heads and tails of the manual, you just need a Phillips head screw driver.  It is pretty straight forward.

Starting – Charge the battery, either a 2 AH or 4AH and slap it in.  No priming the pump, the adjusting the idle, no pulling so hard that you strip the gears in the pulley.  Just pull the trigger and it gets going.   Some users felt that it should get going a little faster.

Ergonomics and Creature Features – Once it starts, you’re off to the races. In comparison to a gas trimmer, this is like a tiptoeing through Librarian’s Hansen’s hallway.  It’s very quiet.  You also do not have the to worry about the vibration of a gas engine sputtering next to your elbow.

No noise, and not a lot of vibration in comparison to the gas versions.  What you do notice is the weight of the battery.  The unit ships with a harness that should take some of the load off.  Ideally the weight of the battery will come down in a few years as technology progresses.

 

Trimming – With the unit, the good folks at GreenWorks included a 0.08 line.  Some users moved to the 0.095 that fits nicely.  Not a lot of complaints about threading and rethreading the unit.  That’s always a good thing to not see.

The line cuts through pretty much what it was designed for.  If you want to tackle a bramble or a brush, you should change the bump head to a grass blade or a brush cutter blade.

When it is time for new line, the bump head works reliably.

Users have handled lots as small as 800 square feet to 1 acre (with a second battery)

 

Run Time – For the smaller battery (2 aH) users have been getting between 30-45 minutes.  For the larger battery (4 aH), 60-90 minutes.  Anything longer than that would require a second battery.

After Purchase Care and Maintenance – Like all lithium batteries, it’s a good idea to take it out of the charger after it has reached 100%.   When parts did not ship right, or were missing, most users found that GreenWorks stood behind their products, and were able to send out replacements quickly.

Conclusion

There is not too much downside to the 80320.  The main issue is that it is heavy, but that’s part of the trade off with a gas trimmer. (Something about energy density my professor told me once)

Aside from the weight issues, the 80320 is a good bet.

GreenWorks 2100202 Review

Electric String Trimmers have advanced significantly over the years.  The Green Works 2100202 14″ inch Electric String Trimmer is one of the most popular models available. 

Is it right for you?  Can it handle your lawn?  Will it be powerful enough?

Why switch from gas to electric? 

  1. No more mixing motor oil and fuel
  2. No more adjusting the idle
  3. No more worrying about bad carburetors or fouled fuel lines
  4. No more looking for 100% gasoline
  5. No more fumes

The list goes on an and on.  Just think, never having to pull another cord, just pulling a trigger.

Specs

Let’s look at the specs.   The 2100202 fits a 40 Volt 20 Ampere Hour battery and a 40 Volt 40 Ampere Hour Battery.  Unsurprisingly the 40 aH ways more than the 20 aH battery.   The Digimax has a straight shaft, a healthy debris shield, and a “D” loop handle.  And the reviews let us know that the Digimax can accept other attachments from other manufacturers.

Operation

Assembly – Right out of the box, the Digimax is easy to assembly.  Some users did not get all of the parts they needed, so be sure to check the box for everything.  Customer service from Green Works get good marks when it comes to sending parts that were supposed to be in the box.

Starting – Unlike the gas trimmers, all you need to do is put in the battery and get it started.  Restarting is the same.

Cutting – The most surprising thing about the Digimax is the power.  Some users were able to clear blackberry brambles by changing the bump head string trimmer to a brush cutter blade.   For standard weed whacking,  the line feed is generally good.  The bump head works as advertised.

Run Time – Depending on whether you use the “turbo” feature or you have heavy grasses and weeds to get through, most 40 aH users are able to get an hour of out of the unit.  Recharging the battery is pretty straight forward, however one has to let the battery cool down in order for it to take a full charge.  That also means you can’t let it charge up in a hot garage either.

Ergonomics – The unit ships with a harness.  It’s set up like a brush cutter with it’s straight shaft, but the length and the D loop handle are not the best set up for weed whacking.  The real problem is the heavy battery.  Many users found the Digimax to be quite heavy.  The harness is necessary to use it properly.

Concerns – Our first big concern for every electric weed eater is power.  For the most part the Digimax 2100202 meets our needs.  In terms of design, the sounds and trigger mechanisms could be tweaked to be louder and bigger for easier use.  After purchase care was one of our concerns,

Conclusion

Overall we’re big fans of the 2100202.  Green Works did a great job with this unit.  And with the swappable power system and the trimmer often sold in a package that includes an edger, blower, and other lawn goodies, the 2100202 is a good bet.