Battery powered outdoor tools (1 Viewer)

[LS1FJ40]

I had been eyeing battery powered outdoor equipment for about 6 months. I have been using all Stihl tools:
FS70 trimmer 8 years old.
BG65 Blower 8 Year’s old.
Farm Boss Chain Saw 19 Years old.

They all worked great BUT my wife is now a stay at home mom and loves to mow and take care of the yard. Starting the bower and trimmer proved challenging for her (she’s 5’1”, 95 lbs). Plus the gas/oil mix. Always dealing with that.

I have all Makita 18v cordless tools (drills, impacts, saws, etc). So it made sense to stick with Makita. Plus I’ve never had an issue with a single Makita tool I’ve ever owned in the past 18 years.

I finally pulled the trigger and couldn’t be happier. I purchased them locally from Acme Tools (not Amazon or the Orange Box). They weren’t cheap but they work incredibly well. I was actually a bit shocked by how well the trimmer works and the blower is incredible. The trimmer has two speeds. I used the grinder today to cut some all thread. Haven’t used the chainsaw yet but will next weekend. The cool thing is how quiet they are and they only run when you pull the trigger. Unlike gas powered where they are always running.

I purchased the trimmer kit which came with a dual battery charger, two batteries, and a “free” grinder. The blower as a “tool only”. And the chainsaw as a kit with two batteries, dual charger and two additional “free” batteries. All batteries are 5.0 amp batteries. So, 6 batteries, two dual battery chargers, and the tools. The six batteries and two dual chargers gives a perfect rotation of batteries. Two on, four waiting. Then two on, two waiting, two charging. Then two on, four charging. Then start over. No down time.

This gives me 12 18v Makita batteries. 6 each of 5.0 amp and 3.0 amp.

I highly recommend these.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

We have the Echo 58V tools and we love them. Mower, trimmer and blower. Andrea is the one that uses them most of the time and loves them. It was the same here with us, always the starting or fuel mixes or string replacement (still an issue for her) but a easy honey do.

J

 

[LS1FJ40]

Jason, have you seen the Echo trimmer speed spooler? I guess you stick 12 or 20 feet through it and wind it up, backwards or something. Just heard about it yesterday from my neighbor. Makes respooling a breeze.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Jason, have you seen the Echo trimmer speed spooler? I guess you stick 12 or 20 feet through it and wind it up, backwards or something. Just heard about it yesterday from my neighbor. Makes respooling a breeze.

I haven't but it only takes a couple of minutes and it lets me take frustrations out before heading in the house... HA!

 

[LS1FJ40]

Haha. Yeah, I haven’t had to load the Makita yet. I may be the Stihl wasn’t the worst to load but wasn’t exactly user friendly...

 

[e9999]

been contemplating the notion of eventually switching to battery powered outside tools as well. One reason being noise and reliability, although the latter is not a big problem admittedly with most good gasoline tools like all my Stihls. And also the notion that eventually, although probably not for a while, gasoline may become much more expensive and possibly harder to come by (especially on the southern West Coast). Silly to worry about that, you say? Well, when it comes to tools, I want longevity. I have chainsaws that are well over 20 years old and I expect them to last that long. And that brings up the issue of batteries. Can you still easily buy a battery for a 20 years old drill? Probably not for many brands, or it will be very expensive. More so for an odd size or brand. And it's probably a reasonable assumption to think that batteries won't last for 20 years until the technology changes significantly. So, I'm thinking that these battery tools likely have shorter effective built-in longevity overall for now. And if it's like your typical drill where the battery costs as much or more than the drill itself, the notion of replacing them often is not very appealing. And, worse, depending on how you store them, some batteries may go bad even if you don't use them a lot. So, altogether, I'm wondering whether battery-operated tools are a mature technology yet. I fear they may not be, things are still in flux. Not so much for gasoline-powered tools. Then again, of course, I'm an old fart, so maybe it's a bit late to worry about 20 years down the line...

 

[LS1FJ40]

been contemplating the notion of eventually switching to battery powered outside tools as well. One reason being noise and reliability, although the latter is not a big problem admittedly with most good gasoline tools like all my Stihls. And also the notion that eventually, although probably not for a while, gasoline may become much more expensive and possibly harder to come by (especially on the southern West Coast). Silly to worry about that, you say? Well, when it comes to tools, I want longevity. I have chainsaws that are well over 20 years old and I expect them to last that long. And that brings up the issue of batteries. Can you still easily buy a battery for a 20 years old drill? Probably not for many brands, or it will be very expensive. More so for an odd size or brand. And it's probably a reasonable assumption to think that batteries won't last for 20 years until the technology changes significantly. So, I'm thinking that these battery tools likely have shorter effective built-in longevity overall for now. And if it's like your typical drill where the battery costs as much or more than the drill itself, the notion of replacing them often is not very appealing. And, worse, depending on how you store them, some batteries may go bad even if you don't use them a lot. So, altogether, I'm wondering whether battery-operated tools are a mature technology yet. I fear they may not be, things are still in flux. Not so much for gasoline-powered tools. Then again, of course, I'm an old fart, so maybe it's a bit late to worry about 20 years down the line...

I have 12 batteries. 3 of my 3.0 amp batteries are 15+ Years old. They still work. Admittedly not as well as my new 3.0 amp batteries but they still work.

I still have every Makita cordless tool I’ve ever purchased (at least the ones that weren’t stolen...) all still work and have been used and abused. I recently replaced my impact that is 15 years old. It still works but it isn’t brushless. I think 15 years is a good length of time out of a power tool.

My Makita cordless trim miter saw used the old 18v nimh batteries. I just ordered an adapter to use my lithium ion batteries with it. That tool must be 18-20 years old.

My biggest issue was just the pain in the ass of gas powered tools. Smelling like gas. I use my blower to blow off snow before I go to work. Now I won’t have to get dressed then go blow snow then go back in and shower before work. I can do it as I go.

My Stihl stuff is great. If I needed it for a living I’d likely stick with the gas stuff. But I don’t.

 

[Romer]

I used the Black and Decker weed trimmer and shrub trimmers for years with no issues. Good inexpensive set of tools. I have been wanting to consolidate my tools to Milwaukee and gave the Black and Decker to my kids for their new house and bout the Milwaukee set.

These are awesome and just as powerful for yard tools as gas tools. You just need to always have a charged extra battery. The only exception to power would be the saw. I have an ego chain saw and while its okay, it isnt as powerful as a Stilh or even the corded Crafstman one I use to have. I tend to use the Milwaukee sawzil (Reciprocating saw) in most cases anyways and that works awesome. I only break it out for larger trunks