My first electric trimmer was an old Black and Decker with a built-in lead-acid battery. It worked OK, but it wasn't super powerful and it came off charge one winter and the battery was destroyed.
My second attempt was an 18v Grass Hog. That thing served me admirably for 9 years, until the motor finally gave out. I bought another just like it used on eBay which lasted me another two years.
I was reluctant to switch to 20v because I had so many tools that ran on 18v. And, I didn't want to be using two sets of chargers and batteries during a transition.
Ultimately, my wife forced the change on me by getting me a Black and Decker 20v tool set for Christmas. I had no choice but to upgrade.
In the meantime, I found a handy adapter that lets you use your 18v tools with the 20v batteries.
That was all it took. Now, I could standardize everything on one battery type and charging system.
So, when my old 18v trimmer gave out this spring, I knew it would be no big deal to get a 20v upgrade, which is exactly what I did...
Behold, the LSTE522 trimmer from Black and Decker. This thing is so much better than my old 18v system.
First, the torque. It's still not what a gas trimmer would be, but it's pretty darn good. You can clear lightly overgrown areas with it without much trouble.
While it has more torque, the supplied line doesn't work really well for tough stuff. My advice would be to get a shaped line for it. I use a square 0.65 line and it performs much better.
It has a line feed switch which seems to work pretty well. It also has an edging wheel, which I haven't had a chance to try.
The hold position is comfortable, but your finger does get tired from holding the trigger. There's almost no travel to the trigger, so if you're not paying attention, you can let it off really easily. I'd rather the spring loading be a little lighter and have the trigger's travel be maybe 1/4" or so.
My biggest complaint is one that I often have with tools of any type...they're not sized for a person over 6' tall. This is no different. The shaft extends pretty far, but I still have to hunch over to trim, meaning a sore back after a while. 3" more length would be welcome.
The standard B&D batteries are good for about 20-25 minutes run time, which is adequate to do a small yard. Do yourself a favor and get a higher amp battery, especially if you've standardized on the 20v system. I have a 6 amp battery, and this morning, I cleared two abandoned front yards with it in my neighborhood and had enough battery left over to knock down the grass in my front yard when I was finished. Total run time was about 75-80 minutes.
That same battery will run the 5" circular saw, utility saw, or drill all day long.
No need to pay full price on the batteries. I have been buying Powerextra aftermarket batteries for years and have had good results. You can get the Porter Cable models, and with a Dremel and 5 minutes, you can modify them to fit in either the Black and Decker or Porter Cable tools. This is handy for me, because I have a Porter Cable brad nailer that also works on 20v batteries.
I plan to buy the optional Mower Deck for this trimmer as well.
It snaps onto the trimmer and converts it to a 12" mower. It would be perfect for my small front yard when I don't want to drag the gas mower out.
I'll keep you updated.
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