If you’re one of those people who have issues with trailing out and unraveling extension cords to do a job or have written off any ideas about using any petrol driven garden equipment, then cordless strimmers might just be the answer for you.
First of all it would be beneficial to ensure that a battery powered strimmer would be right for you or not. Although they sound the perfect answer to the scenario above there are some pros and cons however that its best to be aware of.
There are many benefits that the cordless version will provide and a few downside points that it’s best to be aware of if you’re on the market for a new grass stimmer. Luckily the choices are many and they will suit most pockets as will the power range which will fulfil many garden requirements.
Benefits include the ability to trim grass anywhere without the need to rely on a power socket being close to hand. This is especially handy with longer gardens and the need for a long extension cable being used. Obviously the hassle of setting up the power extension leads and the time saved in doing so.
The Alternatives
The only alternative to cordless strimmers would be to trim any grass left undone by the lawnmower, by hand or use a petrol strimmer to get the job done.
While there is no doubt that a petrol strimmer would be the best option when there is a lot of strimming to be done, or where the area is heavily overgrown with tough weeds, brambles or long course grass.
The option of using a petrol strimmer goes out the window for a large number of gardeners either because they may be too heavy for the individual to use or they have no desire whatsoever to use them.
The downside of the cordless strimmers would be the limitations of the amount of work that can be carried out before the batteries need to be recharged.
Be prepared to have to wait for the batteries to recharge if they run out during operation.
They are best suited for the small to medium sized garden or any garden provided they won’t have to much work to do at any one time.
Battery Types Used on Cordless Strimmers
Obviously the main difference from the more normal electric grass strimmers and a cordless version is, the later is battery powered. In general the body and head etc are much the same as you would find on a mains electric version subject to manufacturers model variations.
Having established that the main difference is the battery, it lets us concentrate on ensuring that we choose a model that comes with a suitable battery. One that will be powerful enough to trim the grass and chop down unsightly weeds for the situations that you will be likely to face.
As battery technology continues to improve so too does it increase the performance we get from the tools powered by them and the cordless strimmer is no exception. They can now tackle tasks that are a bit tougher (within reason) and will last longer before needing to be recharged.
The latest battery improvements have been the moving from Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) to Lithium Ion (Li-ion). Without getting to technical the main difference is in the electrochemical reactions of the chemicals involved with each.
In short the differences are: Lithium-ion requires less maintenance, they are smaller and slightly more expensive than their Nickel-cadmium counterparts.
NiCad is classed as hazardous waste and needs to be disposed of in a safe manner, Li-ion is safer and classed as non-hazardous waste.
Li-ion apart from being longer lasting is also better at holding the charge. The Li-ion battery won’t discharge at anything near the rate of a NiCad battery when not in use, this rate is negligible.
Perhaps the biggest improvement provided by Li-ion is the memory effect. This basically means as far as we’re concerned that these batteries can be recharged at any state of discharge without any memory effect being created.
You can find out more about these battery types if this is something that interests you here.
Choice of Cordless Grass Strimmer
No one knows your gardening needs better than yourself which means you will know whether a cordless grass strimmer would be suitable for you or not.
If you have long grass and heavy weeds that need to be strimmed, then perhaps you had better make other arrangements because these trimmers won’t cope with work like this.
You would only be wasting money as rechargeable battery strimmers were never designed to take on these tasks.
On the other hand if you need a strimmer that would quickly run over the lawn edges and perform other lighter tasks then the these strimmers could well be exactly what your after.
Hopefully you’re now that little bit wiser regarding cordless strimmers and what they can do and probably more importantly what they can’t do. Read more about choosing the best grass strimmer here to help you weigh up the pros and cons before committing yourself.