My petrol KM engine is 5 or so years old now, plus we have a weekly all day job that pays well, but the client would prefer us to use as much battery kit as possible going forward.
We already have a smaller battery stihl mower for the easier stuff, Etesia for anything else, plus AK and AP powered hedge cutters and strimmer.
But it's the KM engine thats next for replacement, exclusively for use as a long reach hedge cutter, as i like the flexibility of the two halves for storing in the van. I have looked at the KMA battery options and discounted the AK version as i suspect it's not comparable power/grunt wise to the petrol. So that leaves the KMA 120 R and 135 R but both look pretty poor regards run time, So any real world use experience from people gratefully recieved. It's not something we use every day and we don't generally take on any thing overgrown and needing reduction rather than trimming, but i don't want to struggle and then have to resort to the petrol too often. I should also say i realise there is other kit available but i already have Stihl batteries (although only one AP200 so far) so will be sticking with it.
Thanks, Anthony
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I've had the kma 135r for 3 years. It's good for light strimming and works perfectly well for tackling thicker hedges. I mostly use ap 300s batteries. Big power drain when strimming. Comparing it to my over 10yr old km130r, the kma 135r is considerably under powered. The km 130 I now use a handful of times per year mostly for heavy strimming. The kma 135r is pretty powerful on full power but needs a lot of batteries. I've considered buying the back pack battery but they are expensive, being a slave to 4x ap batteries is enough commitment for me.
For comparison the HLA 135 which is basically the same motor with hedge trimmer attachment, the run time is up to 39 mins with an AP 200. Which doesn't seem to bad, would you say that was fair?
I don't mind buying another AP battery, possibly a 300s but that's my lot, as you say being a slave to these bloody things is just annoying!
Not sure on the ap 200. Think it was around an hr and half with the ap 300s. Depending on how hard the cutting is. I mostly use my hla55 which gives 2.5hrs trigger time with ap 200. I have two ap 200 and two ap 300s.
I tend to use AP200 in my HLA135 as for that specific machine it's the best weight to balance the blade end to the battery/motor end. Usually run it on level 3, the fastest blade speed range. Seem to get about half an hour out of it but maybe a little less as the usage can feel longer than actual trigger time. It's powerful and seems to increase it's effort somehow depending on how thick the stems are that's being cut. Today was doing the second trim of top of beech hedge trimmed earlier in summer. Had it on level 2 with trigger fully depressed which was the right amount of blade speed for the job. Level 1 is pretty slow and no use to me
Great, thats just the sort of info/insight i was looking for, Thanks.
you're welcome.... forgot to take any AP200 with me today so was using an AP500S with the HLA135 which was heavier but not unmanageable...conversely might get away with using an AP100, which has fewer cells so would be under more strain to provide peak power levels, must stress I've not tried that, so the pack overheating is a possibility, but it's only a hedge trimmer after all
KMA200R has just been launched also
But for the extra cost, how much better actually is it, and if battery drain is the same or worse.... hard pass
No idea lol am not a kombi guy. But like any battery kit, the more powerful the machine, the higher the battery drain. I have maybe 20 of the AP battery packs of various capacities and ages and have gradually sold off about the same amount of fully functional used ones over the past several years that I've been using the AP gear. For the amount of work they will achieve during their lifespan they are very good value. Stihl make a black "milk crate" type carrier with handle which holds 6 at once