I bought this item thinking I might have to take it back due to the negative comments about the battery. I'm proud to say I had no issues with the battery life. I stay on the average size city corner lot. I edged my grass, trimmed around my trees and house without the battery dying on me! Very pleasantly surprised!
This weed eater is advertised to be able to trim an area the size of a football field on one charge. I can't trim a 50ft fence line on one charge. I get about 10 or 15 mins of use out of a charge. Before recharging, the battery has to cool down. Then it takes about an hour to charge and you get another 10 mins of use. It takes me all weekend to trim my yard because the battery is constantly being recharged. What a wimpy battery. The trimmer itself is light and easy to use. If I could just get an hour of use out of this battery, it would be a great trimmer.
Works well, weight is manageable for a small-framed woman. I can get about 80% of my yard trimmed before the battery dies so I split it into two jobs. Can't do much better with a cordless, battery powered trimmer.
The motor just died exactly 30 days after the expiration of its two year warranty. I used it about three times a month, 10 minute sessions each time, because my lawn is that small and the battery use time seemed to provide not much more than this. So total motor life before K.I.A. was...about 12 (non continuous) hours! Not sure if that's normal but sure doesn't seem like I got value out of this device. The power was just adequate to give me a clean edge and I liked that it was lighter than a gas powered one, but I didn't expect to have to pay for some other replacement so soon...
I bought this line trimmer for use around my parents yard, about half an acre with 3 out buildings and fencing. I bought a second lithium and sold the standard battery that came with it. with regular upkeep to the yard it probably takes about 3-4 charges for all the trimming needed. The trimmer handled most of the weeds even fairly thick stuff and long stuff. It would probably be perfect for a city homeowner with a smaller yard, but I am continent with its performance. Ditch the Nicad battery though, it's got maybe half the life of the lithium and unlike the lithium, it doesn't tell you when you need to charge. the lithium battery will cut out when it needs charging, which as far as I understand helps protect the battery. I don't know if I'll be able to update this, but at some point in the future I intend to procure that heavy duty lithium battery, it would be nice if it will allow me to complete all the trimming on one charge.
I have had this trimmer for a year now, and am very satisfied with it. The ergonomics are good. I can adjust the handle angle and length for me or my son. It feels lightweight and balanced. The 3-position head provides a nice range of trimming angles, and the push-button setting makes it easy to change. A 1/4" of cutting line is auto-fed when the trigger is released for a few seconds. I can cycle it on & off to get extra line out, but normally I don't have to think about it. The cutting power feels just as good as my previous gas trimmer. I can walk at a quick pace while trimming. The motor won't bog down when the cutting line is dragging against a wall or a fence. I should mention that I'm not trimming anything thicker or tougher than grass. I am happy with the battery life. I spend 15 minutes trimming, and 10 minutes using the blower. After this the battery indicator is red. I love trimming without the loud gasoline motor noise, and especially the lack of exhaust pollution.
I have tried many weed whackers through the years. All kinds, shapes and sizes. I am a 5'4", 50 year old female with back issues. I need something lightweight considering the amount of weed whacking I have and gas ones were just too heavy and cumbersome. Electric ones were such a nightmare with the amount of cord I need so a battery operated one sounded like a good option. I was skeptical because I had tried one in the past and it had so little power it just bent the weeds. I believe it was a 12 volt and the battery was heavy to boot. Having said that, this trimmer comes with a 19.2 volt as stated BUT, it is the old style. Craftsman now sells a much smaller version that can be used with this trimmer though it is NOT compatible with the old charger that comes with this unit. It does have the power and I highly recommend investing in the new batteries. I still wish it had longer life (hence 4 stars) but this is a keeper. Sure beats cords or gas.
This trimmer works great, batt charge last long time.
I really wanted this trimmer to work well. I have a rather small lawn with an area in the back against the back that has some crabgrass against a building. It works just OK on regular grass, not so well on anything a little tougher. It takes two or three passes to trim the area in back (about 50 ft. long). To make matters worse it died on me after the 5th use. I purchased a 27cc gas trimmer today. I want to get the trimming done and not coax a rather weak tool. If you have a lawn with good grass and light weeds this trimmer would work just fine. Anything else I would pass.
Great power, lightweight.
I love this trimmer. The only draw back is the run time on the battery provide with it. Upgraded to the C3 Lithium-Ion XCP Battery
I bought this item thinking I might have to take it back due to the negative comments about the battery. I'm proud to say I had no issues with the battery life. I stay on the average size city corner lot. I edged my grass, trimmed around my trees and house without the battery dying on me! Very pleasantly surprised!
I returned this item. It stopped working after using it for only a half hour.
Probably what you would expect from a cordless. Took two charged batteries to do my pretty small yard. Overall pleased with the purchase.
I just finished using this trimmer for the first time on my yard and it did the trick. Reflecting on some of the previous reviews; My yard is about 1/4 acre, and I wouldn't suggest anyone with a bigger yard to purchase this trimmer. The battery was almost dead by the time I finished my yard and that is without edging the sidewalks and driveway. Luckily I have a second battery so that is not a problem for me. I had no issue with a lack of power from this trimmer to start out with. As the battery starts to die, a lack of power is noticeable. But that goes for any battery powered device. Advancing the trimmer line. I was confused at how it did this just from the description of the trimmer. You just release the trigger and wait for it to stop and it advances the line 1/4" per stop. Now if you let the line get too short before you try to advance the line, the line wont have enough weight from the centrifugal force to advance. And just remember it advances only 1/4" at a time.
Works well and doesn't need a cord. Other reviews advised buying a spare battery, which I did, and glad of it. One battery only last about 20 minutes and my 1/2 acre yard needs more time. 2 batteries just about does it. Self-feeding string is great!
Battery does not last longer than 30 minutes, good thing I have another c3 product from sears. I downsized from a gas operated trimmer and regret that now. Line feeds well.
Having a number of 19.2 tools, always have a charged battery.
The one time I used it it worked fine did quite a bit on one charge. I'd give it 5 stars but haven't used it enough.
Comes with a Ni-Cd battery, while I would have preferred Ni-MH or Li-Ion. Although the length is adjustable, it is still an inch or two too short for me, and I am 5'11". The manual line feed is finicky and needs a little finesse at times, although with the auto line feed you rarely need to use the manual method. Overall it's a tad on the heavy side, but the grab handle is almost infinitely adjustable, so you can make it pretty comfortable. Very similar to a gas-powered model in maneuverability, and no cord to drag around and catch on obstacles. The battery seems to last 20-30 minutes on a charge, and it comes with a 1-hour charger that works with batteries from 12 to 19.2 volts.