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Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

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raybarrow
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Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341310

Postby raybarrow » September 19th, 2020, 9:35 am

Hi Folks,

I am trying to find an inexpensive garden strimmer with blades rather than the line. When we had the allotment I had a petrol driven one which was brilliant but that was a lifetime ago and overkill for my needs. I want it to tidy up bits of the lawn and around the raised beds, so not a huge workload. The lawnmower can't get close enough. I have found the line feed ones to be the work of the devil, never again. Corded or cordless. I am using garden shears at the moment but the knees don't like that.

Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Ray.

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341323

Postby Wizard » September 19th, 2020, 10:25 am

raybarrow wrote:Hi Folks,

I am trying to find an inexpensive garden strimmer with blades rather than the line. When we had the allotment I had a petrol driven one which was brilliant but that was a lifetime ago and overkill for my needs. I want it to tidy up bits of the lawn and around the raised beds, so not a huge workload. The lawnmower can't get close enough. I have found the line feed ones to be the work of the devil, never again. Corded or cordless. I am using garden shears at the moment but the knees don't like that.

Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Ray.

Surely a bladed one will damage the sides of the raised bed. If I were you I would be looking at a better quality line one rather than one with a blade.

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341339

Postby martinc » September 19th, 2020, 10:55 am

My trusty 20+-year old Black & Decker GL595 died a few months ago, that had a single wire and an auto-feed system that worked. I tried various modern alternatives, they are all twin wire and have a bump feed. I found the twin wires much too violent and inaccurate, impossible to edge a lawn without tearing it to pieces. The bump feed never works with self-wound spools - maybe I should buy ready-wound spools. In the end I found an old GL595 on ebay and it works perfectly.

I have never used a bladed strimmer, but I don't understand how hard it is to get a strimmer that does the job out of the 50 or so on the market. I realise I was probably doing something wrong and I'm unwilling to pay £200 for best in class model.

Wizard
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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341366

Postby Wizard » September 19th, 2020, 12:12 pm

martinc wrote:My trusty 20+-year old Black & Decker GL595 died a few months ago, that had a single wire and an auto-feed system that worked. I tried various modern alternatives, they are all twin wire and have a bump feed. I found the twin wires much too violent and inaccurate, impossible to edge a lawn without tearing it to pieces. The bump feed never works with self-wound spools - maybe I should buy ready-wound spools. In the end I found an old GL595 on ebay and it works perfectly.

I have never used a bladed strimmer, but I don't understand how hard it is to get a strimmer that does the job out of the 50 or so on the market. I realise I was probably doing something wrong and I'm unwilling to pay £200 for best in class model.

The bump feed works fine on my Mitox. But that is a big 50cc petrol engine brush cutter rather than a domestic strimmer. I usually use a big mulching blade on it for site clearance but have used the double string head occasionally. In order to get the bump feed to work you do need it to be spinning pretty much full tilt and give it a good thump rather than a gentle bump.

Stonge
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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341384

Postby Stonge » September 19th, 2020, 3:12 pm

I had a Bosch strimmer with a dual line supposedly bump fed, recommended by Which? I think.

After much provocation I destroyed it with an axe. I felt much better after that, though I wish I could have thought of a more protracted and agonising end for the evil swine.

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341394

Postby Nimrod103 » September 19th, 2020, 4:24 pm

I have no problem with the line feed strimmers. It depends a bit on the size of twine, and the power of the motor.
Twines come in many sizes from (I think) about 1mm, up to 3.2mm or so. My Stihl petrol uses 2.4mm, which comes in ordinary plastic (plain yellow) or strengthened plastic (black & yellow stripes). The latter lasts much longer and will cut through thick grass and minor brambles.

Also a lot depends on the design of the strimmer head. I find the Stihl very easy to load, and is let out easily, but others I have used can be real pigs.

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341409

Postby bungeejumper » September 19th, 2020, 6:36 pm

Returning to the OP's request, there are several cheap(ish) bladed strimmers at https://gardendiy.co.uk/strimmers-with-blades-not-line/ , with Amazon UK links. That said, £70 counts as cheapish if you want battery rather than mains. ;) AFAIK, Einhell has a decent rep.

Our GTech bladed strimmer is ridiculously lightweight, and it runs 40 minutes on a charge, which is long enough to go round our half acre twice. It would probably bust the OP's budget @ £140, but we paid £99 for ours during a summer sale. It's very good on lawn edges, but it wouldn't like heavy weeds or brush. For that, you're probably back to the weight of a petrol engine. I've bust too many (3) mains electric line strimmers trying to deal with those. :(

So where's the priority? Cost, power and flexibility, or light weight? Different solutions for each. BTW, the Sun currently has a voucher offer on for the GTech 3.0. https://www.thesun.co.uk/vouchercodes/gtech

BJ

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341458

Postby mutantpoodle » September 20th, 2020, 9:08 am

I'm not sure who gets the commision but having had so much grief with corded strimmers I had given up

but reading this and checking the different specs I am now sold and will get one!
will decide later which!!!

thanks for the ideas

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341490

Postby tikunetih » September 20th, 2020, 12:08 pm

raybarrow wrote:I am trying to find an inexpensive garden strimmer with blades rather than the line. When we had the allotment I had a petrol driven one which was brilliant but that was a lifetime ago and overkill for my needs. I want it to tidy up bits of the lawn and around the raised beds, so not a huge workload. The lawnmower can't get close enough. I have found the line feed ones to be the work of the devil, never again. Corded or cordless. I am using garden shears at the moment but the knees don't like that.


I've got access to a veritable library of quality strimmers, petrol and electric, and this is the one I'd recommend:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22740&p=297403&hilit=strimmer#p297403

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJEEGHW/ ... 11_TE_item

Perfect for your intended usage if your budget can stretch. I use it for precisely what you describe, and it's got just the right balance between power, battery life and weight/manoeuvrability. It's my "favourite" strimmer by far and worth paying up for. You'll notice it uses a line, using commonly available and inexpensive B&D reels, and these works perfectly without any issues whatsoever (no need for blades).

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341624

Postby mutantpoodle » September 21st, 2020, 8:28 am

hmmm!
so I have decided I definitely want to get one...preferable at cheaper end of market as will be limited useaage
whats important to me...is that the battery will last
I dont mind charging it every time its used but I dont want to get one where the battery dies due to non use non charging
mine would be used 2 or 3 times a year......(I hope not more but...)

web sites and 'review' pages are full as one would expect but all seem to have critics as well as praises

does anyone have any personal experience with such a one?

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341643

Postby bungeejumper » September 21st, 2020, 9:29 am

mutantpoodle wrote:I dont mind charging it every time its used but I dont want to get one where the battery dies due to non use non charging

......does anyone have any personal experience with such a one?

Lithium ion batteries don't like being stored in frost-prone places, and especially not when they're on low levels of charge. We bring our batteries indoors during the winter months.

As with all such things, it might not be a bad investment to buy a spare battery while they're still current and available. :D And alternate them on the appliance, so as to keep them both fit and active.

BJ

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Re: Inexpensive bladed garden strimmer

#341646

Postby servodude » September 21st, 2020, 9:43 am

bungeejumper wrote:As with all such things, it might not be a bad investment to buy a spare battery while they're still current and available.


Choosing a brand and series that have a good chance of being around in 5+ years is also a really good idea
- keep an eye out for batteries going on sale on their own
- I've got a suite of Makita tools that share the same batteries that I've accrued over a period

Though if you're really only going to be doing a run over a couple of times a year I might be tempted to invest in a good long extension cord rather than go down the route of a battery strimmer
- it will be available for use for other stuff and won't degrade (at anywhere near the same rate) through inuse

-sd


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