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I went electric...
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Posted by metal (My Page) on Fri, Dec 1, 06 at 17:28
| After moving to my new house (.5 acres, 5 trees, no sidewalks) I found my gas powered blower, string trimmer, and edger were a little overkill. I only edge along my driveway (~30 feet long) and around 5 trees and some borders, all grass. I only use the blower to blow the grass back on the lawn after mowing (HOA requires it). I bought the CCC3000 Black & Decker set. It comes with a string trimmer/edger, blower and hedge trimmer with a wall mount for all three. All run off 18V batteries. Three batteries are included along with a charger that can hold all three. I got all three for ~$160 online. I kept my two cycle versions until I had a chance to test the new electrics out, being a little skeptical. I have been very surprised by how well they work. The edger has only one string, but if all you are using it for is grass (as I am) it works great, and has a swivel head and guide for edging. The blower isn't as powerful as my two cycle craftsman, but it is more than enough for blowing grass off the driveway and doesn't suffocate me when using it to blow out the garage. The hedge trimmer is absolutely awesome. It does a great job on my two willow bushes and my one box hedge bush in the front yard. I have yet to have to use more than one battery to finish the yard. This setup is not for everyone, but for someone like me who only has 10 of 15 minutes worth of trimming and 10 minutes of blowing to do, and no big weeds to whack down, it is perfect. Plus I now only have to have regular gasoline for my mower, no oil, mix, etc. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: I went electric...
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| Sounds great, in the beginning, in a couple of years when the batteries need replaced you might have another $160 into it. Your wise to keep your two cycle stuff. REJ2. |
RE: I went electric...
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| I wish you the best of luck with that equipment. When my girlfriend asked my advice about which line trimmer to buy, I looked at what was out there and told her to buy the cordless Ryobi unit that was available about four years ago. It was light and easy for her to use. No gas to mix with oil. No need to pull on a cord to start it. No smelly exhaust. No noise. All for less than $200.00. I even talked with Ryobi's customer service about this unit first. He assured me that the battery would last at least three seasons providing I kept it in the charger except when actually using it. By the time the second season rolled around, the working time of the battery fell by 50%. In season three, it was down to about 25% which meant that she could not complete the trimming work on her 1/3 acre property with a single charge. It takes 24 hours to fully recharge the battery. Need I say more? At this point, Ryobi dropped this trimmer from its line. What a bunch of A-holes!!! Being the kind of guy I am, I married her and bought a gas powered trimmer. It was the decent thing to do. Of course, I get to do all the trimming now.......... sigh........... |
RE: I went electric...
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Update
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| Have been using the "combo" for a while and everything is still going strong. Edged the driveway and used the weed-eater around the trees and landscaping, then used the same battery to blow off the drive and still had power to spare. Great set for a great price. |
RE: I went electric...
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| Thats a good combo if you also have the cordless tools, they sahre the same battery and you can have lots of spare packs to change around. The only downside is B&D stuff isnt really high quality, the yard tools are probably okay but the other tools will tend to die an early death. |
RE: I went electric...
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| I have a set of the 18v B&D tools and really like them, especially the drill. However, I recently bought a spare battery. When I started using the new battery, it would pop out of the tool every few minutes(I've never had this trouble with the original batteries). The last time, it popped completely out and fell on the floor. Now the battery is completely dead and will not charge. I assume an internal connection broke when it fell. I have been trying to open it to repair it (there are hex head screws around the top), but none of my hex keys, inch or metric, will fit. Anybody know where I can get the correct size? |
RE: I went electric...
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| We have a local Black & Decker store (Wichita, KS) that would be able to help you (probably would replace/fix the battery free). Do a google search and see if you have one locally. |
RE: I went electric...
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| me too!.. I bought the B&D battery power mower at a yd sale for 25$. Its been great> i can do 2 cuttings on 1 charge. Someone gave me a ryobi trimmer sans charger. Have used it w/ an old telephone chrger since. (i only plug it in to charge) and its been great. No smells. No cords. Much less noise. But i can not throw anything out. so they share shed space w/ their predecessors. |
RE: I went electric...
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| *cues up "It's Electric" by Diamond Head* |
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