Cordless Whipper Snippers

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Hi all,

After some advice from anyone that has a cordless whipper snipper.

My mum lives by herself now and sometimes has the lawn mowing man come around and do the lawns for her. But, she sometimes gets sick of waiting for him and gets out there with Dad's old Honda and does the lawn herself.

Because she was not using the petrol whipper snipper, I "borrowed" it as mine had broken. But now that she is doing the lawns again herself, she wanted to know how to use the petrol whipper snipper. Went around to show her, but she found it too heavy and too difficult to start.

So, was thinking that a cordless version might be the go for her. Light and easy to start. But I am not a fan of battery powered gardening products as they have generally, in the past at least, been pretty gutless. But I know that technology has improved and so wanted to investigate options a bit.

So, does anyone have one and how do you find it? The research I have done to date indicates that the Black & Decker model seems to be the preferred model, but most of the reviews are from overseas and the preferred model is not sold here. From the B&D website there is a 36v 2.0Ah model that seems like it should do the job quite nicely.

By the way, Mum's block is under 1/4 acre, but her lawns aren't really thick. The snipper would be used just to clean around garden beds and fences.

Any input appreciated.

[Iggle Piggle]

Have a regular coffee and a catch up with mum, and do her lawns?

Figure this is not an option due to distance - otherwise it really is a no brainer.

Also, I have to admit I was trying to work out how the whipper snipper cuts if doesn't use cord - then I realised you were talking about how it is powered, not how it cuts.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by Iggle Piggle

Have a regular coffee and a catch up with mum, and do her lawns?

Figure this is not an option due to distance - otherwise it really is a no brainer.

Actually, we live just around the corner from each other. Problem is, Mum is very independent and, with me working and her not, if I don't get it done on the weekends (rain, etc) she'll just get out there during the week and do it herself.

Originally Posted by Iggle Piggle

Also, I have to admit I was trying to work out how the whipper snipper cuts if doesn't use cord - then I realised you were talking about how it is powered, not how it cuts.

Perhaps I should have said battery-powered

[Iggle Piggle]

Originally Posted by psychobimbo

Perhaps I should have said battery-powered

Nah, that's all on me. The bump-feed on mine has been playing up lately and cord keeps jamming so my subconscious had me hoping there was some kind of new head that cuts without a cord.

Simple misinterpretation as a result of me wanting good head - sure many can relate.

[Russ]

Father in law has a Ryobi One Plus cordless 18V it has plenty of grunt and is light weight and easy to use. I would recommend at least the 5Ah battery to power it

http://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-one...r-kit_p3380985

You may be able to get it cheaper online and if you can get a lower price (including freight) they (Bunnings) will beat it by 10% as they claim, all you need to do is print out the proof

I have a number of the Ryobi 18V products - blower, drill, impact driver, tyre inflator, vacuum, impact wrench, lantern, torch etc .... they have proven to very reliable and perform very well

[poppa smurf]

I find with any battery operated gear that the problem is not the power, it is the longevity of the battery itself, if it doesn't get used regularly and recharged correctly they simply die.

I would agree on the Ryobi unit, parts (batteries) at least should be readily available and cheap.....they also have excellent add ons to expand your system.

[The Yeti]

I'm in the same boat

After my dad passed away my mum got board, and instead of going out and getting a life she isolated her self at home (they have 7acres so theres always something to do)

my sister and I have orgasnied for a gardner to come once a fortnight to mow and edge the house yard its 2 acres so not the sort of thing either of us can give a lap while we drop in to see her and we would really rather spend quality time than do chores besides with a 30 year old home and timber shed on 7 acres theres always cores todo that don't involve the lawns

BUT the problem is like I said before she's board she has stage 4 lung cancer but refuses to do what the doctors say after all by her logic they said she had a 20% chance of making 12 months now she's in her 6th year and still here so what the bloody hell would those quacks know (her words not mine) she's never happy with what the gardner does and instead of talking to him and saying hey today I'd like you to focus more on this part and less on that she rings my sister and I and complains after he leaves.

I've gone off topic sorry

any how, she wanted to tidy up after the gardner so for mothers day last year I got her a Ryobi cordless line trimmer and she loves it and I'm really impressed with the battery life and the weight and ease of use of it

Mum recently had a stay in hospital with a broken pelvis (cancer treatment really messes you up and as a result she has very brittle bones and shocking balance) she's only 68 so give up the smokes people you don't want your family to see this. While she was in hospital we had a massive working bee at her place fitting disability hand rails etc and while my BIL and I were doing that my 13yo daughter wielded this thing with ease

The scary part is as you know Ryobi has a 1 battery system and part of the reason I chose the Ryobi line trimmer is I had already brought her a Ryobi cordless drill for the christmas (she's always been a hands on person a bit like the nanna in that insurance comercial) so by doing this it meant she had 2 batteries in play, any how during this working bee I was in the shed to grab the push mower to mow the spill way for the dam (the gardner doesn't go below the house yard) and I found a wiz bang Ryobi Pole chain saw for lopping branches.

WTF Ive had to confiscate this can you imagine a 68 YO any one let alone cancer survivor on a walking frame after a fractured pelvis lopping over head trees. and the really scary thing is I tried it out on a few and it works really well, I wouldn't go in to the tree lopping business with it but if I had a few branches that were over hanging my eves or something I'd use it for sure

[Giant Cranium]

Look at the hitachi. Will be more expensive but that's for a good reason. They also just released a 6ah battery. She will be going for ages

[Simple6]

Another vote for the Ryobi One+. I'm only doing edging and it does the job for me, but I certainly don't have an acre though...

[DOC]

+ 3 for the ryobi, been using them for years now (have the 36v options in mower and whipper) and would not look back, been good and do a great job. pretty sure bunnings have full resale rights so maybe not available online at other stores ?

[snopony]

My mum, in her 70's now, found a great little Bosch one at Bunnings. dont know the model but an overnight charge gets our front and back edges done in one go.(bout 20 mins to half an hour) It has little snap in "blades" plastic that you change when they wear down.
Its very lightweight. It was recommended to her by a lady in her 80's who found it was the only one she could use due to the light weight.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by Russ

Father in law has a Ryobi One Plus cordless 18V it has plenty of grunt and is light weight and easy to use. I would recommend at least the 5Ah battery to power it

I have a petrol Ryobi with button start. Its good, the interchangeable ends are good (I bought the tiller attachment to do some turf prep and it did it fairly easily). But it is heavy, and the wife cant keep control of it when she uses it.

We recently got a Victa 80V mower, so have the batteries/chargers (which are the expensive bit), been thinking of getting the accompanying lie trimmer but was woriied it would not have the grunt.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by Iggle Piggle

Nah, that's all on me. The bump-feed on mine has been playing up lately and cord keeps jamming so my subconscious had me hoping there was some kind of new head that cuts without a cord.

Simple misinterpretation as a result of me wanting good head - sure many can relate.

Should be able to get a blade (metal) I have one but I can't remember what they call them. Slasher comes to mind but not sure.
Ask at the hardware store, they (should) know.

It must be a straight shaft unit though, I know they can't be fitted to whippa snippas with the curved shaft.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Just as a follow-up to my OP, I ended up buying the B&D special order through the local Bunnings. Cost $372, which is a bit more than the others, but the reviews I had read suggested it was worth the extra cost.

Unfortunately, it arrived a couple of days after Mother's Day. Went around to see Mum last night and gave her her present. Have to say I was pretty impressed with it in the very short time I had to play with it (and put it together).

Essentially came complete apart form the protective shield around the head and the shaft-mounted handle.

Weight is fantastic. Very light and very well balanced. Light enough for Mum to be able to handle around the yard. The head has a rotation function that allows it to become a edge trimmer with the click of a quick release button. The head itself is self feeding (no bump head), which, again, will really suit Mum.

Battery came 1/4 charged and was up to 3/4 charge by the time I had put it together and shown Mum the basics of the trimmer.

Had a quick trial run with 3/4 battery around the yard, and even on the eco setting, it seemed to do a pretty good job. Cutting performance at turbo setting was pretty much equivalent to my petrol trimmer.

Real test will come the next time Mum does the lawns, as she'll use it to do the whole yard, not just a quick sample. I was impressed enough with the initial test that I might consider one of these myself once the petrol trimmer dies.

Only downside I could see last night was that the head only has one line of string for trimming, instead of the usual two, but it didn't seem to have too much impact on cutting performance.

Posted this here in case anyone else was interested.

And thanks to all for your input. Greatly appreciated.

[The Yeti]

thanks for the follow up post

[LTDHO]

My battery powered Ryobi only has one line out too!

[SB076]

Originally Posted by snopony

My mum, in her 70's now, found a great little Bosch one at Bunnings. dont know the model but an overnight charge gets our front and back edges done in one go.(bout 20 mins to half an hour) It has little snap in "blades" plastic that you change when they wear down.
Its very lightweight. It was recommended to her by a lady in her 80's who found it was the only one she could use due to the light weight.

I actually have one of those (had it for around 3 or 4 years) I only have a small yard and this machine is incredibly light and easy to use. The only thing you need to do is replace the blades. Its also fairly quiet, which if you have young kids a good thing

[sprintman1]

Anything but Ryobi the cheapest junk made. Now If only I can stop the missus buying their crap we'll be way ahead

[CoupeKing]

I use a Bosch from Bunnings, works fine. Uses those little clip-on plastic blades. I can finish the edging of a medium sized yard with one battery. Struggles with anything too thick though.

[mik]

one of things i hate with some of the line trimmers is putting new line in when the line wears out and breaks off , or you just run out of line ,
on some of them its dead easy , on others you need to be Einstein to get it topped up with line and working properly again, some of the more expensive industrial ones are very easy to refill the line , others are just a devices built to give you swinging exercise when you repeatedly smash the thing into the road surface lol .

[Giant Cranium]

Just use the steel from a coat hanger as the line. Never needs to be changed. My be a little dangerous

[arronm]

$372 and you only get 1 battery

[NTF6]

Originally Posted by Russ

Father in law has a Ryobi One Plus cordless 18V it has plenty of grunt and is light weight and easy to use. I would recommend at least the 5Ah battery to power it

http://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-one...r-kit_p3380985

You may be able to get it cheaper online and if you can get a lower price (including freight) they (Bunnings) will beat it by 10% as they claim, all you need to do is print out the proof

I have a number of the Ryobi 18V products - blower, drill, impact driver, tyre inflator, vacuum, impact wrench, lantern, torch etc .... they have proven to very reliable and perform very well

+1 for this unit, I paid less than $229 though and I must say that it is a cracker of a unit. Due to a recent elbow operation I couldn't pull start my mower. So, seems as I already had the Ryobi battery powered angle grinder, drill and 1/2" drive rattle gun (friggin awesome too) I thought I'd get the battery powered whipper snipper. I cut down my whole lawn which was at least a foot tall all on one 5Ah battery, in fact it only used about half the battery life for about 40 minutes of cutting.