Thanks for the mention of balance. That is the one thing that I had about my Troy Bilt 4 cycle (or any gas trimmer). I always hurt after using them. I live on a corner lot, so I have a lot of edging to do.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.
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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.