I have a Hitachi gas weed whacker and am overall happy with it. My yard is 1/3 acre and it works fine for trimming. It is not particularly powerful but does fine for my needs. That said, I would not use it to mow an entire yard. As others suggest, a reel mower or battery would be a better choice. In fact, I had an antique reel mower when I lived at a diff place wih a small 25x35 yard. Took all of 15 min to mow and the cut was always perfect. Only maintenance was having it professionally sharpened each year and using lithium grease on the moving parts.