The tools that I have are all two stroke versions so regular maintenance isn't costly. As long as I add good oil and a fuel stabilizer I don't seem to have any issues at all. Maybe a spark plug every now and then and to clean the air filter but that's it for me. The maintenance comes into play when you leave gas in the tank to go bad, but this is where the fuel stabilizer comes into play. The tools all have pretty small tanks and run for quite a while on a tank of gas. So a few gallons of gas a year vs batteries for every tool that'll probably last two to three years whether I use them a lot or only a small amount. I do know that the batteries are expensive as they can approach the couple hundred dollar mark for replacement batteries for some of the tools. I'm not using them for a business though so I'm probably going through a few gallons or gas a year or less if even that much and they'll likely last me just about forever. I would think in my case the gas option would be cheaper for me but this might not be the case for everyone. The major advantage that I would see is that the motor noise is reduced significantly with the battery powered versions. If that's not an issue then it would probably depend on your use as to which option would be better.
Is Battery power taking over the lawn/garden business?
- Thread starter Toothpick
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The tools that I have are all two stroke versions so regular maintenance isn't costly. As long as I add good oil and a fuel stabilizer I don't seem to have any issues at all. Maybe a spark plug every now and then and to clean the air filter but that's it for me. The maintenance comes into play when you leave gas in the tank to go bad, but this is where the fuel stabilizer comes into play. The tools all have pretty small tanks and run for quite a while on a tank of gas. So a few gallons of gas a year vs batteries for every tool that'll probably last two to three years whether I use them a lot or only a small amount. I do know that the batteries are expensive as they can approach the couple hundred dollar mark for replacement batteries for some of the tools. I'm not using them for a business though so I'm probably going through a few gallons or gas a year or less if even that much and they'll likely last me just about forever. I would think in my case the gas option would be cheaper for me but this might not be the case for everyone. The major advantage that I would see is that the motor noise is reduced significantly with the battery powered versions. If that's not an issue then it would probably depend on your use as to which option would be better.
Then you have to figure in whether you have solar panels (hoping to do that in the next few years- if still legal).
For a homeowner who uses these tools a few times per year, the battery powered versions are likely to be cost effective. For those who use the tools commercially gas powered versions rule. What is interesting though is that in the construction trades, battery powered drills, nut drivers, tack drivers, etc. have taken over for all but the most demanding of tasks.
That's because the batteries eliminate cables, which are a trip hazard, to say nothing of having to gather them up all the time. Further, the costs of battery replacement, etc. is built into the contract bids, so the Contractor is no longer paying that cost themselves (in the end).
How has your Greenworks set, especially the trimmer, held up so far? I may go today and buy the Greenworks 60v trimmer. I gave up trying to get my old Homelite 2 stroke going yesterday. It still wouldnt start after resetting the carb, twice. The airbox is held together with a nylon tie. The gas tank is missing a line grommet and leaks and I've had enough of it. It was used when I got it in 1987 so it doesnt owe me a thing lol.
I inherited an 18 volt Ryobi trimmer from my daughter last year and it performs as good as a lot of gas powered trimmers I have used. it is light, quiet and I use it most of the time now. I still have my Troy Bilt 4-stroke trimmer with the hedge trimmer attachment and use it for heavy duty work but the battery powered trimmer is what I use around the yard most of the time.
I went and bought this Greenworks 60v string trimmer. My Homelite is a curved shaft. This 60v is a straight shaft and its quite a bit longer and, I think, heavier and a bit more awkward to use but I'm sure I'll get use to it.
I charged it until it showed 4 bars but the charger was still blinking so not quite fully charged, then did front and back yards, edged the sidewalk and had 3 bars left so it has plenty of charge for what I need from it.
Its has two speeds and a variable speed trigger thats a bit sensitive. I only used it on low speed and even then at the lowest rpm I could manage for everything except edging. It cuts really well. I have three nylon serrated blades on my Homelite and I rarely needed to use it above idle. I think this 60v trimmer cuts better but there is no idle speed so I always need to use the trigger, the safety is a bit of a PITA because of that. I almost always used my Homelite one handed. I can use this 60v one handed but its a lot more difficult to control because you always have to use the trigger.
No smoke, little noise and because of the weight it has the momentum to easily swing through heavy tall grass and weeds. I just hope it lasts. The line that came with it is braided nylon and seems pretty tough. Nice machine.
I charged it until it showed 4 bars but the charger was still blinking so not quite fully charged, then did front and back yards, edged the sidewalk and had 3 bars left so it has plenty of charge for what I need from it.
Its has two speeds and a variable speed trigger thats a bit sensitive. I only used it on low speed and even then at the lowest rpm I could manage for everything except edging. It cuts really well. I have three nylon serrated blades on my Homelite and I rarely needed to use it above idle. I think this 60v trimmer cuts better but there is no idle speed so I always need to use the trigger, the safety is a bit of a PITA because of that. I almost always used my Homelite one handed. I can use this 60v one handed but its a lot more difficult to control because you always have to use the trigger.
No smoke, little noise and because of the weight it has the momentum to easily swing through heavy tall grass and weeds. I just hope it lasts. The line that came with it is braided nylon and seems pretty tough. Nice machine.
So far so good. No complaints. I see you already got the bigger one, I think it should hold up well for you. I don't see myself ever going back to gas.
As a retired employee of a large Ace Hardware store, which became the largest dealer of Stihl equipment in our state, the remarks in this thread interest me. I supervised the outdoor power area for over twenty years, and witnessed numerous changes, one of the most profound being the advent of cordless lawn and garden tools, which for at least a decade have eaten away at market share of electric and gas-powered garden tools. Sales of cordless at our store grew by double-digit percentile increases for several years, which was profound because of the vast number of gas tools which left our store. And this shift will continue. Cordless offers light weight, quiet operation, no issues with starting, no fuel/oil needed, no emissions, and satisfactory performance. Until recently, one of the few drawbacks of cordless was performance under tough operating conditions. The manufacturers of cordless equipment have made significant inroads in the heavy duty performance area, which will further erode sales of gas powered tools. At a Stihl marketing meeting years ago, their sales manager remarked that cordless tools would pull at least half of their sales volume by 2022. The several dozen of us in attendance couldn't believe what we heard. Well, it will happen, for Stihl has a remarkable line-up of cordless tools, and the strength of the world's largest selling brand of hand-held power equipment will drive that. Others have done well, Black&Decker/Dewalt, ECO and Greenworks are examples, What do I own for handheld equipment? Well it's all cordless, a Stihl grass trimmer, a Stihl blower, a Black&Decker chain saw and hedge trimmer. Someday will be all Stihl I assume. From my time running a power equipment dealership, the manufacturer that built my faith in them the most is Stihl. Without a doubt, the best of the bunch from manufacturing of product, end user how-to-use, warranty performance, and parts and service after the sale.
Well, last week was 15 years with my current employer. As my anniversary award, I took the 10" Black & Decker 20V chainsaw. Arrived yesterday so, after putting some oil into it after work, I am going to give it a quick workout.
Last month I bought the Stihl Model 57 trimmer and model 57 blower. Stihl has 3 sizes of consumer battery powered units and two sizes of commercial battery powered units. The 57 are the largest of the three consumer units and they have plenty of oomph for maintaining a normal to large lawn in the burbs.
I don't think I'd use them commercially for large jobs, but they're not made for that. The Model 57 is made for Mike & Carol Brady. The Model 56 for Ward & June Cleaver, and the Model 45 for Felix Unger. Lol. The battery is lithium and seems to charge fast and deliver power right up till it goes dead. With two batteries, one person can work more or less constantly doing normal lawn maintenance. Prior to owning them I had the largest Stihl gas trimmer which was crazy powerful and could be used with a sawblade (?!) and a commercial Stihl gas blower. They were great, but when I owned them I had a chunk of land bordering a forest. Now I have a quarter acre bordering a common-space. Right tool for the job and all that.
I sometimes miss the brutal horsepower of the large Stihl gas units, but what I DON'T miss is having to hunt down sources of ethanol-free gas, periodically running out of 2 cycle oil (or spilling it), annual maintenance, not being able to work because the motor is flooded or vapor-locked or the plug needs a bit of the ol' "Who's your daddy" with a brass brush and for some reason you can't find the special-sized socket because the last time you used it you put it in a special place where you'd never forget it... and then promptly forgot where that was. Getting old and forgetful is a b*tch ;-) I also don't miss the shed smelling like gasoline. The charger is a smart trickle-charger so you just leave the battery in it. You pop the battery in and start working. Zero fiddly B.S. That's the best part.
I don't think I'd use them commercially for large jobs, but they're not made for that. The Model 57 is made for Mike & Carol Brady. The Model 56 for Ward & June Cleaver, and the Model 45 for Felix Unger. Lol. The battery is lithium and seems to charge fast and deliver power right up till it goes dead. With two batteries, one person can work more or less constantly doing normal lawn maintenance. Prior to owning them I had the largest Stihl gas trimmer which was crazy powerful and could be used with a sawblade (?!) and a commercial Stihl gas blower. They were great, but when I owned them I had a chunk of land bordering a forest. Now I have a quarter acre bordering a common-space. Right tool for the job and all that.
I sometimes miss the brutal horsepower of the large Stihl gas units, but what I DON'T miss is having to hunt down sources of ethanol-free gas, periodically running out of 2 cycle oil (or spilling it), annual maintenance, not being able to work because the motor is flooded or vapor-locked or the plug needs a bit of the ol' "Who's your daddy" with a brass brush and for some reason you can't find the special-sized socket because the last time you used it you put it in a special place where you'd never forget it... and then promptly forgot where that was. Getting old and forgetful is a b*tch ;-) I also don't miss the shed smelling like gasoline. The charger is a smart trickle-charger so you just leave the battery in it. You pop the battery in and start working. Zero fiddly B.S. That's the best part.
It seems a pretty robust tool, even for commercial use. I think its overkill for most homeowners and I really dont think I needed a trimmer this powerful. That said, I decided on the 60v system because if it is as good as I think it is and the battery holds up I'll be expanding, first and likely soon, to a blower and then the 21" self propelled mower and maybe even the 20" snow blower, with a gas snowblower and mower in backup.
I've been impressed with lithium ion batteries so far in drills, drivers and flashlights but those have all been using 18650 cells, not 26650 cells. I believe the higher amp hour batteries in these larger tools to be 26650 cells but I could be wrong.
My little Stihl MS170 wont need replacing anytime soon. Its a battle scarred old war horse that doesnt weigh much more than a 5ah lithium battery.
Really beginning to mull over making the switch. The main reason that I want to switch is because of sound levels. I find it annoying to wear ear plugs in 100 degree weather.
I've been thinking I may go to a battery push mower when my 20 year old walmart mower finally goes. The body is getting pretty bad and the handle has been patched back on a few times, but the motor still runs strong and usually doesn't take much to get it going even after sitting for months in the winter. Snow blower sound interesting too. I didn't think they would have enough power, but my local hardware store used one all last winter to clear their walks and the guys there said they loved it. I can't remember what brand or voltage it was though.
I've got the EGO backpack blower. The biggest obstacle is that it lasts about 20 minutes on a full charge. It does have more power than a lot of the gas-powered units. Power isn't an issue, worktime is. You don't want to buy a second battery for this thing. It takes a second mortgage on the house! That's the main problem with battery-powered tools. The biggest problem with gas-powered tools is the winter layoff and then attempting to get them running again in the spring.It does make one wish we still had non-ethanol gas.
The trimmer I bought is very quiet, especially at lower speeds. All you hear is the sound of the cord in the air. At higher speeds it gets pretty loud, but no where near as loud as a gas trimmer and the motors are on the head, not beside your elbow or shoulder. Because of that, with the battery at the other end, the balance is pretty neutral.
If all I wanted was a trimmer, I would have bought the same one a friend did for $120 on sale. Its because of using his that I decided to change to battery machines. It does all he needs around his front and back yards without any trouble and would have done me too, but he has no plans to expand his tool line.
This trimmer/blower combo is on sale here now too and if I had any 18v Makita cordless tools I would have bought it.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/makita-/1001526671
It takes me 20 minutes to cut my front, back and side lawns. I have a 6.5HP self propelled Yardworks thats been 100% trouble free for 10 years or more. My problem is, my grass is thick and I dont cut it that short. It can stall my 6.5HP now on the first cut of the year. Theres no way a cordless elec. would do it, even with two batteries I dont think. After that initial first cut though I think one would do very well. Especially later in the summer when its hotter and drier and the yards just need a clean up. The lighter and easier to use cordless I think will do great but they arent cheap at ~$700CAD taxes in!
I stopped at the Toro dealer last year just before the winter season was starting and he had the new Toro single stage cordless blowers in stock, but they were brand new on the market and untested. When I was doing commercial snow removal we used Toro single stage blowers, and the 2 strokes reigned supreme over the 4 strokes, but, we were also blowing sometimes very heavy wet snow, snorkel deep. I'll stop in again later this year and see if any of the commercial crews have tested the cordless blowers but I'm betting they wont be up to that kind of duty.
I came across this vid yesterday and the 60v Greenworks seems to do pretty well with fairly heavy snow to 6 inches deep and from the way its throwing it, used properly, it will likely go through a lot more but I havent looked into any breaking yet. The machine below sure seems like a well working machine to me.
Like @vacman said above though, it all hangs on the batteries. Replacement batteries are expensive. When I first started with lithium batteries I bought a Bosch 18v drill/impact set 5 or 6 years ago. At that time, those batteries were rated for 4000 charging cycles. From dead flat to fully charged is one charging cycle. From 1/2 to full charge twice, is a full charging cycle. I've used both of those tools heavily since I've had them and the batteries are still trouble free and far more powerful than my old 18v DeWalt NiCad set they replaced because of battery failure. Lithium ion batteries are a whole new world compared to the older NiCads.
I think some companies are more in the battery business than the tool business. Because of that when I buy a leaf blower, I'll buy it on sale with another 60v battery and another charger. That way I get a spare battery and charger for around the same price as buying the tool only. The Greenworks 60v leaf blower is $249.99CAD + tax, with battery and charger. The blower, tool only and only available from Greenworks, comes to $203CAD with free shipping. The extra battery and spare charger only costs ~$50. That cheap battery insurance.
The Greenworks 60v 2Ah battery is $180CAD. Over 5 years thats $36 a year. Adding in the cost of string for my trimmer it might cost me $50 a year to use it and it will be used a lot. That $50 buys me less noise, less smell and, likely, easier use all without needing a trip to the gas station and a drive across town to buy Stihl 2 stroke oil for mixing the fuel. Not to mention I wont need to change my clothes because they smell like 2 stroke exhaust lol. $50 a year is a small price to pay in the grande scheme of things.
Electric a whole different ballgame though and I question just how much of the electric stuff is really Stihl and just how much is whatever they can get made in China and slap the Stihl name on it.
I looked at a small electric Stihl leaf blower and its pretty awful. It has an integrated battery, so you have to finish what you are doing on 1 charge and cant just have 2 batteries and swap them out. Also, it only runs for 10 minutes on a charge.
IMO, when you are talking electric, its probably all the same thing with different colored plastic and different brand names on it.
Id personally go with whatever is the cheapest because it all the same thing anyways but the design of that Stihl leaf blower is just bad.
FWIW, Im on my 2nd year with my little Ryobi One+ trimmer and its still going strong. I use mine from April-November about once a week and it takes me about 15 minutes to do all the trimming I need. I can usually do it in a little over 1 battery charge. If Im doing light trimming and just getting where I can get with the mower, it wont even use a full charge of 1 battery. If Im doing heavier trimming, it will use just over 1 full battery charge.
Im pretty happy with it and certainly dont miss my gas powered yard equipment. Im actually now looking at buying a cordless leaf blower for blowing grass clipping off the walkway and for doing leaves in the fall. Id looked at a small Stihl but the intergrated battery and 10 minutes run time per charge really turned me off on it. I may just pick up a Ryobi One+ leaf blower because it would use the same batteries that my trimmer does.
Im pretty happy with it and certainly dont miss my gas powered yard equipment. Im actually now looking at buying a cordless leaf blower for blowing grass clipping off the walkway and for doing leaves in the fall. Id looked at a small Stihl but the intergrated battery and 10 minutes run time per charge really turned me off on it. I may just pick up a Ryobi One+ leaf blower because it would use the same batteries that my trimmer does.
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