The first string trimmer I’ve owned is my DeWalt 20V Max, and I love it. With a 5ah battery, I can do my whole yard. Recently, I found a 4-cycle Cub Cadet on the side of the road. The fuel lines and primer bulb were bad, so I replaced them and got it running in 20 minutes.
But after using the Cub Cadet for about 10 minutes, I just wanted to go back to my DeWalt. What am I missing? Why would anyone prefer a 4-cycle gas trimmer, especially one that stalls as soon as it hits something hard?
I can’t speak for a four cycle. But my Stihl FS75 has been ran into the ground and comes right back to the fight. It takes down small saplings, bigger brushy areas as well.
Hale said:
I can’t speak for a four cycle. But my Stihl FS75 has been ran into the ground and comes right back to the fight. It takes down small saplings, bigger brushy areas as well.
I have an old Echo. It’s probably 15 years old now, it’s got the big boy 26cc (I think) 2 stroke. It spins 20 inches of the .105 line running no guard and no air filter for that matter and will absolutely crush any electric whip out there. I have the Milwaukee whip, and it stopped working the second year I had it. I wasn’t impressed.
@Tallis
I don’t mind electric for some things. But weedwacker and lawn mower is gas.
There’s a difference between running and running properly. Yours is only doing one of those.
But my next trimmer will be an electric if my Echo ever dies.
Unless you have a huge property you maintain, do some heavy brush trimming, or run a landscaping business. I don’t think you need gas.
I got rid of my old 4 stroke after getting tired of dealing with the carb always gunking up (in hindsight probably the ethanol gas before I knew any better) and then constant battle trying to start the damn thing.
Went out and bought the Dewalt and never looked back. But if you need to minimize downtime, you can’t beat the convenience of just refilling a gas tank. Nothing like getting ready to go trim and find out the batteries are dead, or dying halfway through and not having another one ready to go.
Fortunately all my tools are Dewalt so I have a bunch of the batteries floating around and charging.
@Vance
You may want to consider separating your batteries and trying to use the same ones for lawn tools every time. Outdoor power tools are hard on batteries and eat them up over time. It does take a while for them to kill the batteries, so maybe it isn’t worth the effort.
@Zayn
That’s a fair point. I’m pretty sure most of my 5ah batteries are fakes. I’ve been buying them from a guy at a flea market for like $50-$75 a battery. No idea where he gets them or what he does but he had tables of them, and they appear to work great and haven’t killed a tool or a battery in the 4 years I’ve been using them. I also didn’t see him last year 
@Vance
Yeah, like I said it can take a while but I just went through this with my Bauer batteries that I believe are around 5 years old. They did decline slowly so I’m not saying it took 5 years to kill them, it just took a while for my dumbass to notice that all my tools were running super weak. If you’re using fakes I probably wouldn’t bother. I’m not usually a fan of knock-offs but they may not be a bad idea for lawn equipment that tears through batteries.
@Zayn
I actually also have a DeWalt blower (came as a bundle deal with the trimmer) and that blower will drain my 5ah battery in 10 minutes. I have noticed after using the 5ah in the blower several times, if I use the 5ah - full charge - in my trimmer, it seems to die fairly quick. I thought it was just me but now that you mention that, I have experienced a change in my battery performance. Interesting. Thank you for pointing that out.
@Vance
Same! I have all DeWalt tools. Only one 5ah and one 4ah, all the others are 3ah, but I can usually get everything trimmed with just the 4ah.
Landscape business owner here. 10 years in business and bought countless gas Husqvarna 525LST, Stihl FS 91/94 R. These trimmers have no problem running a lifetime for a homeowner.
I bought an electric Stihl 135 a couple of years ago for my house. It’s been sitting for over a year and probably won’t ever touch it again.
I use a 5-year-old Stihl FS 94R.
I’d rather fill up the tank once a month and it will handle anything I throw at it.
Why did I buy electric? For fun.
What don’t I like about the electric? It’s weak and cost almost twice as much as gas.
I know a gas trimmer will run 10+ years without any issues.
@Dakota
The battery-powered equipment is also made of fragile plastics that break if you look at them the wrong way. The gas-powered stuff can fall off the truck and still work every time.
Sloan said:
@Dakota
The battery-powered equipment is also made of fragile plastics that break if you look at them the wrong way. The gas-powered stuff can fall off the truck and still work every time.
I have a Milwaukee trimmer, so maybe different than what you have, but it’s taken a lot of abuse; the shaft is the same as any gas one, and the plastics have lasted longer than most gas trimmers I have had. Got broken plastics on the Stihl but none on the Milwaukee.
Ryobi 40V HP attachment capable string trimmer was EASILY the best lawn-related purchase I’ve ever made.
For string trimmers, the choice to go electric is a no-brainer. Gas just plain doesn’t make sense anymore unless you’re doing commercial work.
And the attachments open up an entire world of convenience. (Some gas power heads are attachment capable.) The attachments I’ve got:
For all of the attachments, power and battery life is always more than adequate. However, when I’m using the pole saw to cut stuff that is objectively too thick, battery life can be a bit anaemic.
@Toryn
I have the same Ryobi one - it’s epic. First time I used it I was having troubles holding onto it as it was so much more powerful compared to my previous 18v one. But the strap sorted this out pretty easily.
I have 2x 6a batteries that I share with the lawn mower. Have never had a single one run out before even on longer jobs.
@Toryn
I second this, have a Milwaukee and love it. Attachments are also sweet. Still have a Honda gas mower, purely because of my lot size.
I have an Ego trimmer that is awesome. A little on the pricey side but worth it IMO. I only wish I had gotten the pole that you can change out the heads instead of a dedicated trimmer, that way I could get the edging head too instead of a whole new tool. Oh well.
It was left on the side of the road for a reason.
Not sure I’d choose a 4 cycle, but a standard 2 cycle is a no-brainer for a landscaping business. You can run it all day long and just fill it up with gas when it’s low. You aren’t going to be charging batteries on the road, so you’d need to spend a small fortune on a pile of them. Even then, you’d need to make sure you charge them nightly or you’ll be screwed the next day. Gas just makes more sense for heavy use. For a homeowner, battery is perfect. I do my entire yard with my Makita battery whacker on 1/4 charge on one 5ah battery or less. Really just no reason to use gas. Of course, for the mower, anything more than a tiny, flat yard, I’d always go gas. It all depends on your use case and property size. Even for a blower, I went gas because a tank will do the entire yard where with my battery blower I’d go through 4 batteries in 30 minutes and just do one side of the house.
Get a commercial-rated 2-stroke and never worry about these issues if you keep up with minimal maintenance. Absolutely love my KM 94 R. Never had anything more than a 2-pull start and it absolutely rips through everything. Love having multiple attachments (currently: string, reciprocating blade, brush trimmer) with one power head.
STIHL Kombi is the best system on the market.
