Gas vs Electric Trimmer

handyguy said: Gas ones are mostly illegal on Calif cause of smog, so you have to get a special one. Electric ones seem to get too hot after a certain time, a half hour, ours did anyway. Must let them cool down.

But with a gas one you can get a metal blade. Imagine what that can do

I don't really use them anymore, mostly cause they eat into wood fencing or houses allowing rot & bugs to get in.post_quote>

Haha. this sounds like a personal problem.

My vote is for electric. Every gas one I have had as a home owner is a pain in the butt.

They have all stopped working over time. The electrics never have.

The extension cord problem is not a problem. THey will run fine on a long run. If you have a really

own extension cord with 12 ga wire from romex buried cable for about 20cents or less / foot.

So 200 feet is $40. 12 ga is plenty heavy. And you can leave it out next to the fence or whatever without

worry about damage from sun. OR bury it and have a popup power socket where you want it. My dad did

that and we've had no problems for over 20 years with the circuit. It's simply a plug on

one end and a socket on the other end. It might be smart to cover the ends with a dummy

plug and socket to help keep them dry.

Electric is quiet. You AND your neighbors will appreciate that. It's clean in all ways. No grease, oil to stain

the sidewalk. No fire hazard. No running out of gasoline.

Shaft - Avoid the curved and get a straight shaft. The straight should avoid the cable that sends power to the blade. The cables can break. But if you find one with a shaft

that is otherwise 'perfect' for you get it.

Brand - Yardman looks good and hefty.

I do know that if I was buying my 'one and only' I'd try to get the meanest biggest and

baddest electric. But see my note at the bottom 1.) and 2.)

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22MTD+Southwest%22+electric+string&btnG=Search

Ryobi might also be MTD. I Can not say I've been happy with the one Ryobi electric I bought 5 years ago.

It was stolen and I was not sad to see it go. But things change. Brands change. So reconsider MTD Southwest

If you want to put on some of the plastic blades they will do a good job of hacking down some pretty heavy brush.

Most electrics are built cheap because they CAN BE. But there's no reason that a quality unit can't be found.

A big electric to consider - But it has a battery. I don't generally like batteries.

http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?X=1&Name=CETTrimmerSellGroup&src=AW49646XE2483309

Or perhaps one WITHOUT a battery. Unless you are handy with batteries.

2.) A VOTE FOR GAS POWERED.

There IS one gas powered trimmer I would recommend. It's a mower actually. It's the kind that uses 4 stroke

engine so no oil mixing. It uses a big big trimmer string so it will whack a 1/2" plant very nicely. I rent one regularly

for cleaning up a field of 12" grass 1x / year. It works perfectly. I finish an entire back yard in about 1.5 hours.

http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/articles/08summer04/stringtrim.html

If you have to have gas consider a 4 stroke. Most of the problems are due to 2 stokes being hard to start,

"touchy" (whatever that means), oil/gas mix means you can't just siphon your car gas tank.

Makita makes some nice ones.