Battery Weed Eater Just How Convenient Are They?
There are three main kinds of weed eaters and these are the gas weed eater, the electric (corded weed eaters) and the battery weed eater types which are specifically the rechargeable ones. Weed eaters have so many names to boot. They are also called weed trimmers, weed whackers, weed wackers, or brush cutters in some parts of the world. 
Though the names of these simple machines varies a lot, they are best for 2 things only: trimming grass and for edging along lawns’ edges. Unless they are capable of being equipped with brush cutter blades they can also be used to cut tougher weeds and small saplings. 
People create machines today that are more compact and more mobile. You can use them without the cord while being powered with electricity. And so here comes the rechargeable weed eaters. They get their energy from the batteries which make them more portable, more mobile and offer you more freedom with your reach. If you wish to have the quietest grass trimming machines for your backyard or lawn, there are 2 best choices you can opt to. Either you go for the electric weed eater or for the best battery powered weed eater. 
Advantages of Choosing the Best Battery Powered Weed Eater
In our opinion and also based on our research, there are more advantages for the best battery powered weed eater compared to the best corded unit. Here we specify some.
The most modern type among weed trimmers
The battery weed eater types are seen to be the most modern types of machines with regards to grass trimming. Not only that they are loaded with more powerful and lightweight batteries but some of them have more advanced electronic features such as push-button multi-speed control, reverse head rotation, automatic trimmer line release, cutter blade capability, battery charge indicator, quick adjustable handlebar and many more. 
Lightest of all weed eaters
They are the lightest types among weed and grass cutters. Some of the lightest weed eaters can weigh less than 6 pounds while their smallest type of batteries which are generally Li-ion (Lithium Ion) batteries are the 20V. 
Such batteries can last for an hour of use but there are weed cutter types that are packed with 2 20V batteries for continuous 2-hour work while some are loaded with 40V batteries for continuous 2-hour trimming job also. Still, even with the batteries, most of these rechargeable weed cutters can only weigh no more than 10 pounds.
Quietest among weed wackers
Not as noisy and clunky as the gasoline types. On the level of loudness, the 2-stroke weed eaters are the loudest followed by the 4-strokes which both use gas for fuel. And in terms of quietness, the electric and the battery weed eater types are both number one. Nevertheless, people tend to push the limits of their electric weed eaters because being plugged in an electrical socket provides no limit with the energy source while with the battery types you have to balance the speed of the trimmer based on the type of the grass you are trimming. So the electric can become louder in this scenario. 
Most portable and mobile
Provides the most convenience if you want to move around. Let’s say you want to go over your fence or around your backyard but your extension cord is only a few feet long, this is where the best battery weed eater has the better advantage. As long as the charge on the battery is full, you can take your weed eater anywhere but it would be better if you have an extra charged battery on hand.
No fumes or smoke
No smoke or fumes, just clean air. Using a gas-powered weed eater can make you finish your trimming job much faster. But in a few hours of inhaling its fumes, you would likely want to use an electric or a battery powered weed wacker. With these tools, there’s only clean air around you while working. 
Easiest to maintain
If the gas-powered weed whackers are equipped with engines, carburetors and you use gasoline and oil to make them run, that’s what makes them clunky, heavy and more difficult to maintain. With the battery weed eater, all it has is a small motor the battery and shaft . 
Disadvantages of the Battery Weed Eater
Now we go to the disadvantages of using a battery weed eater over the conventional gas-powered and the corded weed eaters.
Not very durable compared to gas weed eaters. Because most of the parts are made of lighter materials like PVCs, it won’t be as durable as the clunky gas-powered weed wackers. However, they are not expensive either so if you can maximize its use for about 3 or 4 years, you will still get your money’s worth with it. 
Not as powerful as their gas-powered counterparts. Gas-powered machines are always a workhorse because they burn their fuel efficiently and have metal parts to push the machines to the limit. The best battery powered weed eater can also match some of the small versions of the gas-powered. But when it comes to pound for pound size, a mechanical force enforced by an engine cannot be overpowered by an electrical force coming from the motor.
Limited energy source
If you are trimming large tracts of properties or lawns, using the battery weed eater types would not be practical unless you have a number of batteries for reserves. So this is the area where the gas-powered weed eaters are more practical to use. Also, the batteries of the weed eaters take about 30 minutes to 3 hours to get them fully recharged depending on their size and wattage capacity. 
Have limited power cutting capacity. Some of the lightweight battery weed eaters are not capable of handling cutter blades although there’s no problem with their bigger counterparts.
Best Battery Choice for the Battery Weed Eater
Lots of people are asking us about the ideal types of batteries that should provide more power to the battery weed eaters. There are two different types of batteries for the rechargeable weed whackers and these are the Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cad) and the Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion). 
Most of the newer versions of the battery weed eaters today have Lithium-Ion batteries because these are more compact and lighter than the Ni-Cads. However, they are likely to be twice more expensive than the Ni-Cads. The good news is, the Li-Ions don’t discharge themselves while the Ni-Cads are known to discharge itself when stored. But if you look at the power potentials of these two types of batteries, both of them have the same power capacity so an 18V Li-Ion has the same power potentials as the 18V Ni-Cad. Moreover, these two differ in their chemical composition but the Li-Ion is more environment-friendly than the Ni-Cad. 
Finally, based on the category of weight, life and cost, the Li-Ion battery sweeps it all. The only problem with it is that they require sophisticated chargers to help you monitor their charging process. And because they are available in different sizes and types, each type and size of battery also requires a specific charger. So when you buy your battery weed eater, make sure you have a dedicated charger for it.
What to Look for When Buying the Best Battery Powered Weed Eater
We know that a lot of you are eager to have battery powered weed eaters because they can be some of the cheapest, lightest and most sophisticated tools for your lawns. But how would you know the best features to look for when vying for a unit?
Here are some of the things you have to check on:
Power output of the battery.
Cordless weed eaters rely on the power of their batteries although their main muscle is their motors. So if you’ll be choosing batteries for your weed eater, you may want to choose the Li-Ion batteries and with bigger volts capacity. These batteries last longer, require fewer charges and will consistently perform throughout their battery life. 
Weight.
Find a battery weed eater that is lightweight but should be powerful because you’ll never know when you’ll need it for a harder job. You may find your backyard one day with some overgrowth of hardy weeds or if your lawn mower broke and you need to trim your grass, there’s always the reliable battery weed eater to turn to. 
Design of the shaft.
If you have an open wide space for a lawn, a curved shaft can be better to give you better control. The straight shaft is better for sticking the head trimmer on tight spots or hard to reach edges. 
Trimmer head features
Choose which you like. A fixed trimmer head allows you to reload a trimmer line easily without disengaging the bulky cartridge. The automatic feed trimmer automatically releases the nylon line whenever the line goes shorter. The bump feed lets you release the trimmer line for a few inches so you have more control whenever you need to use a shorter or a long line. 
Versatility.
Do you want to use your battery weed eater as snow or a leaf blower? You can do so if your unit is capable. Some of the best battery powered weed eater types are versatile enough to be loaded with some accessories by simply changing their shafts. 
Rock guard or debris protector.
This piece of plastic guard can protect you and your eyes from flying debris as well as from hitting other objects so it should be impact resistant and has a perfect width to let you see where the head trimmer is. 
Now that you know what to look for the ideal weed eater, let’s check a couple of the best rechargeable types.
The Best Battery Powered Weed Eater We Could Find For You.
BLACK+DECKER
20V Lithium String Trimmer/Edger, Sweeper Plus
We told you that one of the best qualities of the best battery powered weed eater is being versatile so here it is a good example from Black & Decker. This B&D LCC222 is powered by a 20v Lithium-Ion battery and because the whole unit only weighs 4.5 pounds, we should say this could be an ideal lightweight weed eater for your home garden, small lawn and your backyard. It also has an automatic feed spool so no bumping or manual loading of a string is required. 
If you want it to convert it from edger to trimmer, you only need to twist the shaft and it’s done. Now one of the most surprising parts of this battery weed eater is its convertible capability into a sweeper which the accessory is also included in the package. If you need a powerful blower for clearing out your sidewalks, driveways, garage or decks or even the grass trimmings, you don’t need to manually clean the mess up anymore. Just pull out the shaft of the battery weed eater, insert the sweeper tube and here comes your reliable sweeper. 
Now, back to the weed wacker, this is perfect for residential use because of its lightweight size and it also has the battery capacity to trim and edge your wide lawn. Why you can work for a couple of hours with this unit is because it comes with an extra 20v battery. So what more do you get? A charger, of course, which is a dedicated battery charger for all the B&D trimmers Li-Ion batteries and a ready to use string trimmer line. So choosing this unit is already a game-changer as it will come complete to your doorstep. B&D is a trusted name worldwide so you can always expect good performance with this noiseless unit.
BLACK+DECKER 40V Max String Trimmer / Edger, 13-Inch
Now, here is another unit from B&D but we consider it to be on the higher end. This B&D LST136 model has a power drive transmission that can double up the power from the motor down to the trimmer head. This means you’ll have a faster rpm and will get the job done much faster and can even deal with tough weeds and woody overgrowth. Loaded with a 40V MAX Li-Ion battery, it also has an option to choose how much energy you want to use based on the toughness of grass you are dealing with. So if you are regularly trimming your grass and maintaining a clean edge, its battery can be able to finish the work without the need to recharge. 
Another unbelievable feature of this unit is its POWERCOMMAND options that you control with a dial. This control will let you program your work so that if you want to finish your large project the unit will save the battery charge and will not use maximum power capacity. But if you want this unit to use its maximum power you can also do so and make its head trimmer spin faster. Sounds futuristic, right?
For more helpful features, this one has a wide 13-inch cut swath which can fasten up your work even better. For the shaft, it has a long 52 inches pole so no problem for tall people to use and no need to squat no more. Like all new B&D grass trimmers, you can also quickly convert this tool from edger into a trimmer with only a twist of the shaft. The automatic feed spool is another good feature so no need to get bothered by manually inserting lines or bumping your line spool just to get that good amount of string. It comes with a B&D fast charger also and an AF 100 spool so it’s ready to use once it gets to you.
OUR
Battery weed eaters are more favored to use not only around the house like your lawn and yard. Some homeowners also use them for clearing out under their fences off the weeds that grow under or around the garage. The thing is, you can use it anywhere within your property that needs good grass maintenance. Weeds and grass will continue to grow. 
Among the lightweight weed eaters, the rechargeable types are, in our opinions, the safest, quietest, more reliable and more convenient to use and so these are perfect for residential use. Even landscapers use them when they need to trim and edge grass around buildings. So don’t hesitate to get your own battery weed eater especially if you only have a small lawn to maintain.
If you are interested to know also about forestry mulching, we also have a feature article for this. Forestry mulching is the process of clearing out forested areas using machines and turning the cut vegetation into mulch to make the soil more fertile and free from overgrowth.
