I have not done any hard strimming work for years .
I absolutely hate strimming after spending too many years strimming embankments absorbing vibration leading to spinal problems .
However a good opportunity presents itself to look after a five acre property but one of the requirements is to strim a 1.5 acre steep bank comprising of long grass and tall dock .
My question is . Has anyone found a cordless strimmer . Preferably light weight , nicely balanced so a tall person such as myself doesn't have to stoop when operating and capable of running for six hours without falling apart when tackling overgrown areas .
It will get regular use but will be dedicated for this job .
A mower wont work as the area is full of dips and rock .
I have some old unreliable petrol strimmers in the shed but just cant face getting them out of retirement .
if it came to it i would consider a new petrol strimmer are there any cleaner , user friendly , low vibe petrol strimmers available these days ?
Any feedback greatly appreciated . Thankyou .
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I didn't know vibration through the hands could cause spinal problems .
Unless you have at least 2-3 batterys it looks to me a petrol strimmer job judging off the size of the banking plus long grass will soon tap the battery. I know husqvarna do a large strimmer but not always the easiest to use on a banking.
If you don't like strimming it might be worth getting a sub contractor or other in to do the task in hand.
Thanks Andrew
Well a combination of vibration and rocking twisting movement over many years , repetitive strain but i couldn't get on with a harness and bizzarley my wife is an occupational therapist but i knew best and suffered as a result , I dont blame anyone but myself .
I would prefer the cordless option but did think it might drain the battery in no time .
Once the grass is down it wont need doing again until next year . I do want to do the first strim myself so i can time the work and familarise myself with the terrain .
I have looked at wheeled strimmers but they look a bit on the clumsy side not versatile enough for this job .
The previous contractor used a strimmer so i am told .
1.5 acres? You need a etesia Attila type mower, and just do the bits you can't get to with a strimmer of choice. I've a Stihl battery FSA 85 strimmer and it's great
Totally agree - 1.5 acres of strimming won't be fun at all and you would be better off hiring a bigger machine fior the job!
Thanks this mower Etesia looks amazing from the footage .
The slope is grass and tough dock but puncuated by rock , its like a cragg but i think potentially a mower like this could do 50 % of the area .
Worth looking into the hire route
Something like a Stihl FSA130 and backpack battery. I use this strimmer and it's light enough to not even have it attached to a harness. I use an oregon Jet Cut head with the serrated pieces of line rather than a spool. On grass and most weeds this hardly ever needs renewing. The machine would do the job but if it's 6 hours you would definitely need to recharge the backpack, how often depends on its capacity. I still have some heavy duty petrol strimmers including one where the engine is on your back but I also hate using them
definately using a harness , i even use one on my little cordless grass trimmer these days .l
A good point about the jet cut head i had not considered this , sounds like it could make a big difference having the advantage of not having to keep replacing the cord Does it feel heavier in use than the spool ?
The Jet Cut is good because you just simply slide 2 new lengths of line into the head. There are various models one of which will take 4 pieces of line at once, but i prefer 2 lines. It seems to be made of some lightweight alloy so no difference in weight to a plastic spool. Very quick to replace the lines when they become worn down just pull them out. But in general use on my FSA130 they hardly ever break. When using the stihl backpack batteries I think there is some way of attaching whatever tool you are using to the actual battery harness, but have never done this. I have 3 of the oldest version Stihl backpack batteries AR900 but the newer type have greater capacity, a big investment though
what about one of those Stihl petrol backpack strimmers............ powerful, heavy engine on your back with a light "head" to hold? Never used one but they might be just the job.
We have a 50cc back pack strimmer - a complete animal of a machine and eats through everything, and ideal on banks!
However we mostly use FS400's for heavy strimming work as they are more comfortable on the flat and for all day use, and battery strimmers for light edging etc.
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