Dewalt 20 V Battery Weed Wacker Reviewd

"so what I don't get is why you responded in the first place if this had zero relevance to you."

Relevance to me has nothing to do with the discussion.

I responded to bring some reality to the topic.

Battery powered OPE can do "some" jobs well. Good quality gas powered OPE can do all jobs well unless one may be doing trimming/cutting indoors or other poorly ventilated areas.

There's no way a piece of present day battery powered equipment can do the work of an equally priced gas powered machine. Especially in areas where there is no electricity. Simple fact. Added to that is the exorbitant replacement battery costs which make electric OPE even that much less competitive. Particularly when a decent quality piece of gas equipment can last twenty to thirty years or more.

That's the point I'm trying to make.

I guess I'm somewhat very disappointed with the number of still serviceable power tools I've thrown out because the replacement batteries cost more than the tool itself. That's one of the main reasons I'll avoid battery powered OPE because when the battery finally dies, the tool becomes virtually useless. I've found that more often than not, I can buy a new tool & battery for only a couple bucks more than the battery alone.

When commercial landscaping companies start using battery powered equipment on a large scale, I'll definitely have to take a look at them then.
 
Commercial landscape companies already use battery gear for low noise situations.

I think battery tech is evolving pretty quick, and for areas with no power, if you can drive there you have power.
 
Commercial landscape companies already use battery gear for low noise situations.

I think battery tech is evolving pretty quick, and for areas with no power, if you can drive there you have power.
 
Originally Posted By: 123Saab
Commercial landscape companies already use battery gear for low noise situations.

I think battery tech is evolving pretty quick, and for areas with no power, if you can drive there you have power.


a) Maybe so, but not what one consider as large scale use.

b) Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity to charge batteries is pretty much a zero gain proposition right? Makes more sense just to burn the fuel in the machine doing the work.

I look forward to the day when battery powered equipment can go head to head with gasoline engines at competitive prices.
 
I could probably get away with a battery trimmer but I love using my old husky. I stand there revving it like a mx bike warming it up and then get at it. There’s something special to me about firing up and using 2 stroke ope. I get so happy whenever I have an excuse to fire up one of my chainsaws. It’s like smoking a nice cigar vs using one of those vape things.
 
Originally Posted By: boraticus

You get two hours non-stop use from one battery? Very impressive if not hard to believe.



I get about 20 minutes of heavy duty use from a single 20V battery.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: boraticus

You get two hours non-stop use from one battery? Very impressive if not hard to believe.



I get about 20 minutes of heavy duty use from a single 20V battery.


It’s all about how many amps the motor takes to come up with the torque and how many amp hrs the battery is rated for.
In the case of the Dewalt, the battery is rated as 5 Amp hrs. The are two settings on the unit, one for high torque and one for low torque. The amperage of those two settings I do not have. How many amp hours was the unit you were using?
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: boraticus

You get two hours non-stop use from one battery? Very impressive if not hard to believe.



I get about 20 minutes of heavy duty use from a single 20V battery.


That's more like it. I figured two hours was a bit of a stretch.

Depending on what I'm cutting with the Milw or Dewalt 18V & 20V saws, 20 min or a bit less sounds about right. The heavier the wood, the quicker the battery is exhausted. Nonetheless, I really do appreciate battery powered hand tools.

I bought the Dewalt a few years ago specifically for cutting the truss ends off of a garage I built. Having to manage a heavy, cord saw while cutting overhead from a ladder at my age could be a hazardous activity. The cordless saw made that job easy.

The Dewalt saw is nice enough but only came with one battery. When I went to buy a second battery, at $135.00 a pop, I noticed a super deal on a couple Milwaukee tools which included two batteries & charger for around twice the price of the DeWalt battery. That's when I changed all of my cordless tools to Milw. In addition, I scooped up two more new Milw 5AH batteries and a charger for free from a friend who had the tools stolen. I also like the ergonomics of the Milw saw better than the DeWalt.
 
Went through the calculation to charge a 5 amp hr battery. It’s 0.1 kWh. I pay 12 cents per kWh. You don’t have to take in the fixed costs because you are going to have them regardless if you use an electric tool. The cost to charge my Dewalt and have enough juice to trim my quarter acre yard is 1.2 cents or in US money, less than a cent.
 
if you already have the tools and a few batteries the battery cost is nonexistant.. since you already have to have batteries for your other tools.

Right now I have dewalt tools with 3 5ah batteries.. That would last longer than I would trimming.

and I suppose you could car charge at least 1 while using the second and third.(if I was trimming at the farm)

I am definitely interested. I actually think the Milwaukee model is better.. but I'm not going to go buy all new batteries for that.
 
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Check this out. Boys need not apply.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Qfo-B2b0g


Gimmick. Look how much it bogs down even with a giant tractor engine powering the hydraulics!

I love the circular saw blade on my weedwacker but it will never replace a chainsaw or any number of other heavy duty brush cutting tools.

Spins great and looks mean in free air. Hit a tree with it and it slows down and binds REAL fast...
 
My dad had a ryobi weed whacked that I wasn't impressed with at all. But i so hate gas weed whackers that i tried a M18 Milwaukee yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised with how much better it was that the ryobi. I trimmed my dad's yard then come home and got most of my yard with one battery. And both of our yards hadn't been trimmed in certain part in a while. I have always had DeWalt tools until the M18 fuel drill I like them both I just wanted to try the brushless drill.

Thanks for the review. Cordless stuff has come a long ways.
 
I recently bought a Ryobi 20" self propelled mower and it's the cat's arse for me. I still use a JD 425 for most of the property, but I have a little push mowing to do and the Ryobi handles it with ease. I really prefer it to a gas mower, it's light, very powerful, mulches, and I can't think of any downsides yet. I did buy a second battery so I can mow for an hour and a half or so if I want to, but haven't needed to mow that long yet.
I looked at the Ego electric mowers and if all I used was a self propelled mower, I'd go for one of those babies.
As for weed eaters, I'm thinking when I get tired of my Husqvarna, I'll maybe go electric there too, and I do have quite a bit of trimming to do.
Wave of the future!
 
Originally Posted By: OilFilters
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Check this out. Boys need not apply.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Qfo-B2b0g


Gimmick. Look how much it bogs down even with a giant tractor engine powering the hydraulics!

I love the circular saw blade on my weedwacker but it will never replace a chainsaw or any number of other heavy duty brush cutting tools.

Spins great and looks mean in free air. Hit a tree with it and it slows down and binds REAL fast...
That is a safety feature on the machine in the video. Most weedwackers are not rated to handle a saw blade. With my Stihl FS 250 all I have to do is blip the throttle to cut most stuff that isn't so large that I have to cut it from both sides.
 
Yesterday, I came home to a lush FL yard. Decided to see if the 20V Dewalt trimmer was up to the complete task. My Echo can do the task in less than one tank of gas. The 20V is fairly powerful but is down on starting torque. This is where the Echo really shines, as it's gas it and go. The electric needs to spool up for a second before it has enough torque to push it into the weeds and start cutting rapidly.

It took 3+ batteries to complete the yard, I stopped at dark, and when battery 3 went dead, with only a few more things to trim. Each bat made it about 20 minutes as I mentioned above. But interestingly, the trimmer's raw power started suffering intermittently at about the 15 minute mark. It would occasionally start spooling up slowly, then be back to normal power. I ran each battery until it quit.

Overall, the 20V is a pretty good little unit, a pleasure to use, and it is powerful enough for typical homeowner use.

Bottom line 4 batteries = one tank of gas in the Echo.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
Yesterday, I came home to a lush FL yard. Decided to see if the 20V Dewalt trimmer was up to the complete task. My Echo can do the task in less than one tank of gas. The 20V is fairly powerful but is down on starting torque. This is where the Echo really shines, as it's gas it and go. The electric needs to spool up for a second before it has enough torque to push it into the weeds and start cutting rapidly.

It took 3+ batteries to complete the yard, I stopped at dark, and when battery 3 went dead, with only a few more things to trim. Each bat made it about 20 minutes as I mentioned above. But interestingly, the trimmer's raw power started suffering intermittently at about the 15 minute mark. It would occasionally start spooling up slowly, then be back to normal power. I ran each battery until it quit.

Overall, the 20V is a pretty good little unit, a pleasure to use, and it is powerful enough for typical homeowner use.

Bottom line 4 batteries = one tank of gas in the Echo.



What size 20v battery? I have the same trimmer and I don't have a huge yard, but one 4.0 amh battery is ok for me.
 
I have this trimmer.. paid just under $100 iirc. bare tool I already had 3 batteries.

Works great. No buzz in the hands.. low noise.

Good for light to medium work.
 
Originally Posted by JC1


What size 20v battery? I have the same trimmer and I don't have a huge yard, but one 4.0 amh battery is ok for me.


I have 3ea 4AH batteries and 1ea 6AH battery.

2 acre yard, wooded with plenty of fence to trim along the front, and a good handful of trees to trim around.


Wanted to add that I finished the yard the next day with the Echo gas trimmer. I'd guess the Echo has 3x the raw HP. It's quite a bit more powerful.
 
I use at least 5 gallons of 32 to 1 fuel per year at $15 .00 for gas and $7.00 for oil that is $22,00 and I would need how many $170.00 Batteries and chargers?
 
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