parallelsversusdictators.org

This article is mainly about a choice between an electric string weeder versus a gas-powered equivalent. Maybe I just got lucky with the electric tool I chose, but many of the advantages would apply to all makes and models of comparable battery-powered products. Since the article is also an argument for using renewable energy rather than fossil fuel, it should satisfy the interests of a broad range of readers.

My recently purchased electric weed whacker happens to be a Ryobi 40V, bought as a package with a battery and recharger. The $159 package price was higher than the tool-only price of some gas-fed tools, but only by about $10-15. Also, you’d have to add the cost of gas and oil (even higher if you buy pre-mix) to the price of the gas-fed item.

Based on only one use of the electric tool for about 90 minutes (after which it still had some juice remaining), it crushed the fossil-fueled version, hands down:

Quiet Revolution

It was lighter and quieter than any gas-fed, two-stroke string weeder I’ve ever owned. Hearing protection is recommended by the manufacturer, but I confess I left my ears unprotected. It was quiet enough that I felt no discomfort at all. That’s just an observation, not a recommendation to forego hearing protection or any other safety measure.

My hearing is good enough that I find my neighbors’ gas-powered lawn mowers, weed whackers, and leaf blowers obnoxious, even with my windows closed. My Stihl weeding tool has a muffler, but it was engineered so as not to impede much exhaust flow, which would reduce power. Therefore, it doesn’t do much noise reduction.

Ease of Handling

The Ryobi’s weight seemed equivalent to that of my son’s gas-fueled model, which I had used just a few days earlier. The weight of the battery may be comparable to that of the engine plus fuel of my son’s gas-powered alternative. At least, that’s my impression. The time spent on my yard versus my son’s was roughly equal.

Extra Equipment Needed With Gas

I keep a two-gallon can of regular gas in my garage, used to fuel a gas-powered lawn mower and snow blower that both take straight gasoline. Also on hand for 2-cycle tools: a funnel for mixing the gas and oil in a separate one-gallon container, a 1/2-pint graduated glass beaker for measuring the 77cc’s of special oil per gallon of gas, a drain-pan for catching used oil during annual changes, plus lots of rags. This collection seemed like a necessary part of life before I bought the electric tool. I also needed a bottle of fuel stabilizer to add to any pre-mixed fuel left over and stored until the next growing season.

Now, I have an 8″-long battery that remains in the Ryobi’s handle unless I’m recharging it. The recharger is a surprisingly small item, about 4″x4″x1/2″, that normally stays near an outlet.

Smells and Smoke

I learned not to mix fuel in the garage. As careful as I try to be, I inevitably spill some fuel on the floor, where it generates enough odor to upset folks, especially the health-conscious ones.

When in use, two-stroke engines also normally produce smoke. (That feature plus their noise ended the manufacture and sale of 2-stroke motorcycles decades ago in the US and elsewhere, since they couldn’t meet increasingly stiff emission and noise limits.)

More Versatile During Use

With a 2-stroke motor, one can’t reduce RPM for very long without causing carbon to build up in the engine’s combustion chamber and also foul the spark plug. So, if you need lower RPM during use, or simply take your finger off the throttle and allow the motor to idle excessively, you need to compensate by intermittently running the engine at full throttle for a few seconds to “burn off” any carbon build-up. Those bursts are not welcomed by your neighbors, especially those with open windows.

The electric tool simply stops running whenever you fully release the trigger. Those intervals, of course, save the battery, whereas restarting the gas model requires different choke settings depending on whether the engine is cold, partially cooled, or still warm enough to start with a fully open choke. As you may imagine, all of this requires some experience, and even the experienced user can find it frustrating at times.

Engine Maintenance and Tune-up

Like all gas-powered motors, the weed whackers need an unimpeded flow of air in order to run properly. The air filter is one more item that must be periodically checked and replaced, ideally about once per season of use.

Available Power

The motor of the battery-powered model produced slightly less power than the gas model. I learned this after using them, and only when I researched their relative recommended string diameters.

Ryobi recommends a string diameter no larger than .095mm, and my tool came loaded with a smaller diameter string. The manufacturer warns that a diameter larger than .095 could slow down performance and possibly even cause engine overheating. I used the tool with the already-loaded thinner string and experienced no lack of power. My son, on the other hand, thought the thinner string was noticeably less effective at edging.

My opinion: the electric tool was sufficiently effective with the smaller-weight string. If the Ryobi produced less power, I was honestly not aware.

However, I have a trick that minimizes line breakage, whatever the diameter. I set the exposed line length at about three inches for most work, especially when nearby obstacles like fence posts and curbing endanger the line. Adjusting line length is simplified by a special tool included with the Ryobi — a plastic ring with teeth on the inner surface. The teeth engage cogs on the outside of the line adjustment knob. This arrangement is so effective that one need not use the “bump” method of extending the line, a method that has caused significant wear to the adjustment knob on the Stihl and that, incidentally, has caused the bump feed to quit on the Stihl.

(Long story short: I’ve been manually loosening the adjustment knob whenever paying out or replacing string on the gas tool. That has been the most time-consuming and annoying part of using that tool. I checked and found that Stihl now offers a better way to adjust string length.)

Conclusion

Rechargeable electric tools are a convenient and enjoyable way to send a message to the fossil fuel industry, provided we move to renewable energy sources. Please see my related article on “pluggable” residential solar panels and renewable energy produced by wind farms. For an even wider array of articles on a variety of topics, please visit my News page.