Gas, Electric, or Battery Weed Whacker

Copyright (c) 2013 Pat Maki

Pull...pull...pull, I yanked on the starter cord. 9,...10,...11, my shoulder was on fire, I was sweating profusely, and thinking unkind thoughts. The blessed weed whacker didn't even sputter. Straightening my aching back, I had to walk away before I set fire to the thing.

I knew it was time for a new one, and had noted the success of the new battery powered tools, but I was skeptical, and had decided to let it run " the test of time". Well, maybe it was time. I decided to look at the electric weed whackers too. they were certainly appealing, small, lightweight, "easy starting", I said aloud, glancing back at the dead thing on the barn floor. No loyalty there!

The next day I borrowed my neighbor's electric whacker, and began. I chose my longest cord. 100 feet of it. It was a little off-putting that the nearest outlet was 25 feet away, but i have lots of cord, and the tool was light. I was humming, as i plugged it in, and unrolled the cord to the front yard. There was some weight to it, but I figured the bulk of it lay on the ground, so how bad could it be?

I turned the machine on and began, giving the cord a tug when i needed slack. When the tug wouldn't give, I'd retrace my steps, following the cord, until i found where it had snagged. The hedges, the dog's leach line, under the car's tire, (that was stubborn). I knocked over a water bowl, raked over my wife's peonies, ( my spouse considers her flower beds " her babies", so that one cost me.) With each snag the cord had to be re-traced. I was no longer humming. By the time I got to the corner, where the lilac bushes were, I'd run out of cord. I was getting warmer and the machine was getting heavier.

That's when it occurred to me that i should have started at the farthest point, at the end of the line, and worked my way back, thereby avoiding snags, and lessening the weight. But I was not in a good mood now, and feeling stupid just exacerbated my poor disposition, so when the cord resisted my impatient tug,.... I yanked!

Who knew the cord had wrapped around a hornet's nest in the lilac bushes. As I sat on the screened- in porch, spotted with calamine lotion, I considered again the three types of power sources. Gasoline, electric, or the battery powered.

I decided that i would compare six factors when shopping for my next weed whacker:

1. fuel;

2. ease of starting;

3. weight;

4. supplies needed;

5. storage;

6. cost;

Gasoline is messy. You must mix gas and oil, in the gas can first, then re-fuel an awkwardly designed tool. It cannot be laid in such a way as to give access to the gas tank, without having to hold it with one hand, while balancing an unwieldy 6 to 8 pound can of gas in the other. Starting the gas powered whacker can be a"hit or miss" situation, if you don't get the sequence just right. Adjust the choke, prime it two or three times, pull two or three times, adjust the choke, pull, and if you did it just right,... it fires. It is a heavy unit, and awkward to use, as it carries it's own fuel supply. i always had a backache after twenty minute's use.

The payback though, is that once started, it runs smoothly until it runs out of gas, or trim line, which brings me to supplies. The cutting, or trim line feeds out automatically, as needed. My unit had a "bump-feed" feature. a bump would cause more line to feed out.

Given the weight of the unit, I accidentally "bump-fed" a lot of line that was not needed, and reloading was not a joyous task. The replacement line came in a large coil that had to be unwound onto a small spool, then re-installed into the whacker. Storing the gas powered weed-whacker is challenging. Its design is not conducive to standing it upright, or laying it anywhere near flat. ( I'd made a noose, and hung the tyrant). The cost is around sixty bucks for the gasoline powered whacker at a Wal-mart. The only additional cost is cutting line, and fuel of course.

The electric, and battery powered are similar as far as starting, weight, and supplies. Both have pre-wound spools of cutting line that are easy to replace. Neither machine is easy to store, so look for one that comes with a hanging bracket and you are set. The only real difference between these two, is the power source and the cost. Batteries have limited power, but are re-chargable. Beware here. Some require over night charging, others only a half hour. Cost is approximately thirty dollars for the electric ones. Sixty dollars, for the gasoline powered, and around a hundred, for the battery operated. These are Wal-Mart prices. They go up from there.

I also shopped at Home Depot, Loews, and Sears. I bought a battery operated tool that came with a life-time supply of pre-wound cutting line, and a half hour re-chargable battery, and a hanging bracket. I bought an extra battery, for added convenience. And it came with a flower saver feature. This bonus 'cuz with the light weight, now the wife can whack her own darn flower beds. I miss my old gas whacker, though. The tinkering to get it started, and running smoothly, the sudden jolt of pride when it fired, even the sarcastic way it twisted away from the gas nozzle, and fell over with a clatter,....in objection?, or just more sass?

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com