I am thinking of buying a battery powered strimmer for my allotment. Would they be suitable for keeping the grass down on the paths? It is very time consuming getting down on your knees to cut the grass. I would be interested to know if anybody has had any experience with them.

hi anne, doesnt look like anyone is going to admit to having one of these. all i can say is ive got a battery drill, its fine if its used regularly, but if left for a week or two you can bet the batteries will be flat.
not having had a battery strimmer i would guess they are of limited power , and probably the batteries wont last very long, probably ideal for edging the flower border in a pocket handkercheif front garden.
ive got a mains electric one and a petrol one, its the petrol one that gets used most, its just got more power and gets through the grass quicker. the electric one is really only usefull for a bit of edging.
regards richard

Richard

Thank you for your advice. I will have to save up for a petrol one.
Anne

Hi
I did have a battery strimmer, and while it was an improvement on shears it did have to go home to get recharged after cutting half the grass on my allotment. It also only lasted one season... so at £49 that was about £4 a cut.

sadly I can't even remember the make, (it may have been power devil) but its relative cheapness may have been the problem

So yes I'd go and get a petrol one if you can possibly afford it

Hi Anne

Someone on our plot has an electric strimmer and it seems to only do half the paths before running out of steam. You could try Freecycle, I asked for and I got a McCulloch petrol strimmer for nothing on there last year.

I have bought and used a battery strimmer. Later, our allotment got a petrol one for us to share.

For the black & decker one we got (not necessarily the most expensive or best), we found:

- It wasn't that powerful
- The battery didn't let it run at full power for very long. How much will you need to strim at any one time?
- Like all rechargeable batteries, their performance goes down over time. Think about cost of replacement batteries.

By comparison, the petrol jobbie is a bit fearsome when you first deal with starting it. However it does the job in half the time.

If you don't have the choice, a battery strimmer might be better than a scythe


Colin

We had a battery strimmer from argus broke 2 in about 6 weeks got money back& got a petrol one, one of my OH's favourite toys now!!

Hi Anne.

If your paths are relatively flat and even, an Austrian style Scythe is the quickest thing other than a lawnmower. It's a pleasure to use and can handle long grass much quicker than a strimmer (without the racket and smell too). Can also be used for cutting nettles and weeds and even light bramble growth. I have had one for 2 years t

http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/ has details and good photos. I was at a competion a few years ago, and a scyther was over twice as fast as a 41cc strimmer wielder in cutting a 5x5m sqare of long grass.

Thank you all for your good advice. I am glad I did not go ahead and buy a battery one. I do have an old lawn mower, perhaps I will give that a try, but it will be hard work.
Regards Anne

I had a battery strimmer, two in fact, the batteries are easy to overcharge so mine packed up quite quick as one puts them in the garage to charge and forgets about em, they do not stay powered up for long either, so I wouldn't bother for the plot. Instead I got a a cheap (JCB) petrol strimmer for £60 from FOCUS and as it is a nylon wire type it is quite safe, so far this is it's second season and it is going ok.

Compo