lithium battery cordless tools

[tonycarguy]

Does anyone have experience with cordless garden tools that run on Li-ion batteries? Hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, etc. How powerful are they compared to low-end gas models?

They go for about $150 (gas models are $225-250). I'm wondering which to get

 

[Donald]

I have a small shrub (like a small hedge) trimmer that is fine for what it is that is LiIon. But its not powerful even freshly charged to trim older growth, like a plug-in hedge trimmer is.

 

[wallyuwl]

Battery powered are fine for your average lawn. If you have thick weeds, tall grass, etc. then go with gas. We have a Worx trimmer/edger and like it. We have the 20 volt we got a few months ago from Lowes. The one usually on tv is 18. They also make a 24 volt.

 

[JHZR2]

No way Id use a battery to power continuous on stuff. There is a compromise in battery design for power OR energy.

Batteries are great for stuff like drills, impact drivers, etc., stuff that gets intermittent use for just a few seconds... But not stuff that runs continuous. The low impedance cells used to make power just dont pack the energy density required for good runtime, and the high energy cells just cant do the rates...

 

[rjundi]

My mom uses a cordless (black & decker) weedwacker and finds leaving it continually running gives best battery life. Start/stops lead to much short battery life. She has a huge yard and one switchover of the extra battery and it does it. It is quite light. She is adverse to gas powered ones after a fire of one while in her use.

 

[JHZR2]

What she is likely seeing is a temperature rise on the battery which drops impedance (so higher efficiency by lower voltage drop), which means more energy can be accessed.

It has been shown time and time again that allowing "rest", which actually is allowing the diffusive processes that get reactive ions to the electrodes) allows greater total energy access, so there is something else going on there.

And the reality remains the same that you can build a battery for high energy or high power, but it is all a compromise.

 

[01rangerxl]

Cordless lawn tools are very light duty. They are fine for light touch up trimming, but if you're ever going to be dealing with tall or thick plants, go ahead and buy a gas trimmer.

If you do go cordless, I would suggest Ryobi due to availability of replacement parts and batteries as well as a decent warranty. The batteries will interchange with some Ryobi power tools depending on what model you get.

Worx has poor parts and replacement battery availability, and no interchangeability with other brands or types of tools. Black & Decker is slightly better in that respect, but not by much.

 

[KrisZ]

For me it's gas all the way.
My neighborhood doesn't have big properties but people that use electric mowers, even the ones with the cord, seem to be always struggling, going over and over the same spot even in fairly short grass. And after they’re done you can tell by the uneven cut that the machine did not have enough power.

Another point is the longevity. The battery in every cordless device will need replacing after few years, even with very light use and there are always two problems with that, availability and cost. Meanwhile almost any gas equipment can run for years with little maintenance and will always have the same performance.

 

[Smokescreen]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
For me it's gas all the way.
My neighborhood doesn't have big properties but people that use electric mowers, even the ones with the cord, seem to be always struggling, going over and over the same spot even in fairly short grass. And after they’re done you can tell by the uneven cut that the machine did not have enough power.

Another point is the longevity. The battery in every cordless device will need replacing after few years, even with very light use and there are always two problems with that, availability and cost. Meanwhile almost any gas equipment can run for years with little maintenance and will always have the same performance.


+1

 

[mechtech2]

If you use it every week, and have more than a moderate amount of work, go with the gas version.
Battery operated tools are getting better and better. But real work on a regular basis favors a gas version.