Gas Or Electric String Trimmers

I had been using my dad's gas powered trimmer to edge the lawn. There's tall grass and weed around trees, shrubs, bushes and other things around the yard where it is hard to get close to with the lawn mower.

It was such a frustrating experience. The gas trimmer was heavy, noisy and awkward. A dirty little "2 stroke" engine that burns a mixture of gasoline and oil -- real great to be breathing this exhaust, I'm sure!

I had problems starting it, then it didn't want to continue running. It probably needed a tune up, but I didn't like the looks of it.

The fuel lines connect at the top of the fuel tank, does it run on fumes? I really don't know much about engines, but something about the way it looked bothered me. The whole way the fuel lines were connected made me think that the engine was upside down.

I was already thinking that an electric trimmer would be better. The electric motor is lighter, and there's no exhaust to worry about. No chance of spilling gasoline, no mixing gas with oil, no fussing with air filters, and spark plugs.

A quick search online, and the Black & Decker NST2018 18-Volt Cordless Electric 12-Inch Grass Hog String Trimmer looked like my best choice, especially when it comes with two 18v batteries which are compatible with other Black & Decker products.

I don't know if these pictures are able to convey how big this yard is.

The front is about half an acre, the back two sections combined are a bit less than that. Along the road, there is a long section against the curb too narrow for even a push mower. With all the sand and road salts that build up from the road treatment and snow plows during the Winter, it's mostly weeds that grow there.

In the front there are plenty of trees, shrubs and ornamental plants including ever green bushes that line the driveway dividing it from the front yard. There is also a line of hedges along the front porch.

On one side of the house, there is a bench swing, flower garden and a walkway that leads to the main doorway. There's also a set of bulkhead doors that lead to the basement which are right next to the outside water faucet and electrical receptacle.

On the back side of the house, I'm mostly concerned with keeping things from growing up against the building, especially at the access to the oil tank in the basement.

On the other side, there is a deck and a liquid propane tank. It would also be nice to keep the path to the raspberry bushes clear.

In the section beyond the back yard, I just want to trim close to the raspberry and rose bushes so I don't need to get so close to the thorns while mowing.

30-day no-risk satisfaction guarantee?
I decided I had to try it!

The Black & Decker 18-Volt Cordless Electric Grass Hog String Trimmer comes with two rechargeable batteries, and as soon as it arrived, I charged both up.

Instead of the time I had been wasting just to start the old gas powered trimmer, I was able to just slip in a charged battery and get right to work.

This worked great. They say that the Grass Hog should be able to handle half an acre with two fully charged batteries, but I knew I had more area than that to cover. I did my trimming first, then started recharging the first battery as I used the second.

I used the first battery to do some touch up trimming after the mowing was finished. Since I hadn't trimmed all the spots that needed trimming in over a month, I was really hoping the two batteries would be enough for me to do all my trimming in one session next time.

The bottom line is I was able to get more done with my new Black & Decker Grass Hog Electric Trimmer.

• It is lighter, and does not need a shoulder strap (the 36v model does come with a shoulder strap).
• It started at the push of a button instead of "push this, pull that, move this then pull some more" (which is about what it took to start the gas powered one).
• My arms didn't ache when I finished.
• I didn't have to fill a gas tank, or prepare an oil/gas mixture for it.
• I didn't have to breathe the exhaust of a combustion engine.
• I wasn't deaf when I finished!

When looking at reviews for electric trimmers, I often saw people criticize them as not being powerful enough to tackle tall grass and weeds. This may be true of older electric trimmers, but I don't think it applies to the Black & Decker Cordless Electric Trimmers.

I have many areas where the grass and weeds grow pretty high and thick, so I took my new trimmer out and found a good size patch of the weeds known as "ten minute itch" to try it out on.

I didn't have any problem cutting through this patch of weeds.

Black & Decker Cordless Accessories