Tag: Greenworks

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5 Powerful Electric Pressure Washers That Rival Gas

sun joe pressure washer

Electric pressure washers are on the rise because they have two underrated qualities: they are quiet and they are super easy to start. My favorite electric pressure washer is the Greenworks 3000 PSI pressure washer because it is extremely durable and provides a LOT of power.

You’re going to sacrifice a bit of power when it comes to these, but how much power do you need? For most homeowners, electric pressure washers are going to be more than enough power. 

I’ll explain more later, but my electric pressure washers are the second most satisfying tool on the planet. My sister-in-law bought one and finds excuses to use it. She is about as girly-girl as they come and she is constantly on the search for grime to blast away outdoors. 

But pressure washers are hard to compare. They all look the same, they have a ton of acronyms, and they cost a nice chunk of change. 

So today, we are going to break down what to look for in a pressure washer and give you the 5 best electric pressure washers in 2024.

We’ve reviewed all of these at length and even recorded videos of us using several of them on our YouTube channel.

Let’s get started. 

How I tested these electric pressure washers

I tested these electric pressure washers by checking out a few things. Obviously the PSI and GPM matter as well as the other technical specifications, but it’s also important to measure performance, bells and whistles (like number of nozzles and soap tanks), and portability.

I am using this pressure meter to test the claims!

With each of these, I did an actual test of the pressure (not the advertised test) and a similar test for gallons per minute using a 5 gallon bucket. It was a labor of love doing all this testing, but it helped me help you.

Seriously Powerful Electric Pressure Washers

Whereas most folks make you scroll down to the bottom to see the number one choice, I like to start at the top to not waste any of your time. I also think the number one choice is the absolute best, so you may not even need to scroll further. 

Here we go!

Updated Number One: Greenworks 3000 PSI pressure washer

The Greenworks 3000 PSI electric pressure washer is a VERY solid pressure washer. I got it, tested it extensively, and posted a review of it on my Youtube channel.

Not only does it look cool, but it is easily the best electric pressure washer I’ve ever used. Here are a few features that made me obsessed with it:

  • One of the highest PSI electric pressure washers on the market
  • A brushless motor that comes with a ten (10) year warranty. That is a crazy warranty and lets you know just how well this is constructed.
  • Really easy to store and wheel around. The wheels are huge and are never-flat, so you don’t have to worry about filling them up with air.
  • It comes with a ton of nozzles, including a turbo nozzle, that all store super conveniently on a little dashboard.
  • A high quality hose and a really good waterproof extension cord both come included in the purchase.

This thing did a great job cleaning off my deck and even concrete pavers in my backyard. I was impressed. It is also for sale on Amazon for a really good price.

1b. Ryobi 3000 PSI Electric Pressure Washer

We wrote about this Ryobi 3000 PSI electric pressure washer (which also ranked #1) on list of Ryobi Pressure Washer ranking. When I opened this post I said that electric pressure washers often exchange power for convenience and ease of use. The Ryobi 3000 PSI electric pressure washer does both.

We bought this one for our giveaway winner.

Yep – 3000 PSI is right up there with the Dewalt gas pressure washers and a whole bunch of others. This means you can likely take it beyond some household applications, such as spraying off graffiti or stripping paint off a fence. You can also tone it down to be used for washing a car or pressure washing your driveway.

While this has a really strong PSI, it is a little light on the GPM. Again, this means that you’ll have a strong stream but not quite the widest spray or most efficient surface.

But hey, it’s electric and this is about as good as it gets.

Here’s what I love about Ryobi’s 3000 PSI pressure washer BESIDES the power:

  • A push-button start
  • Never-flat tires that allow you to easily stroll it around a job site
  • A brushless motor
  • A big soap tank
  • BUILT IN NOZZLES on the tip of the sprayer, a cool treat

It’s easily one of the most powerful electric pressure washers on the market and the most powerful on today’s ranking. It’s extremely dynamic which is why we gave it such high marks.

It is a bit on the pricier side at about $450 and can be found at Home Depot.

2. Sun Joe SPX3500 2300 Max Psi Brushless Induction Electric Pressure Washer

Sun Joe is a slightly lesser known brand which is an offshoot of Snow Joe (and they also have Aqua Joe). They have one of the most popular pressure washers ever made and the top-seller on Amazon (also #5 on our list), the Sun Joe SPX3000. 

Definitely a cooler color scheme

The Sun Joe SPX3500 is basically the culmination of all the feedback received about the SPX3000. They went back and made it slightly more powerful, easier to carry around, more durable, and fixed a common problem – the hose connector. It used to be plastic and now it is brass on the 3500.

At 1.5 GPM, this is going to be more efficient at household jobs than the Ryobi, but won’t be able to deliver quite the same pressure.

Here’s what else we like about the SPX3500:

  • A solid 2300 PSI
  • The addition of a brushless motor
  • Black color – better looking
  • The ability to add a bunch of attachments
  • 1.5 GPM for an efficient job

Many people overlook the 3500 because it isn’t as popular as the 3000, but it went ahead and fixed all the complaints and is the superior option. 

Let me be clear – this is not the most powerful pressure washer in the world and doesn’t claim to be. But as far as electric pressure washers go, this one does a heck of a job.

You can grab it on Amazon for an extremely low price and I think that’s the only place you can get it.

3. Greenworks pro-2300 Max PSI 14 Amp brushless electric pressure washer

Greenworks is a great brand. They spend a lot of time making sure their claims are true and that their products hold up well. They nailed it with their PRO series 2300 PSI pressure washer. This  thing is sweet and the only reason I ranked it number three and not number two is that it is a bit more expensive than the Sun Joe.

Dominant.

Here’s what I love about this one:

  • Extremely sturdy – often underrated feature but it’s got a sturdy base and won’t topple over when you’re at the end of the hose
  • It has a brushless motor with water pressure-sensing technology that makes sure you have a consistent amount of pressure
  • It has a 25 foot hose and a 35 foot electrical cord which means you can go further than most
  • The power cord has an inline GFCI (little box with buttons), meaning you can plug it into just about any outlet without it getting in the way
  • It’s got a 2.3 GPM flow rate, which is extremely efficient. This means it is virtually the same pressure as the Sun Joe above, but at a much more efficient rate. Is it worth the extra money? I can be convinced by a good sale…

We’ve spoken with the guys at Greenworks who oversee pressure washers and they’re legit. They definitely know what they’re talking about. We’ve done a compilation of the Greenworks pressure washers, and this one is still number one – even when we compared it to the Sun Joe SPX4600.

If you’re looking for quality, this one is going to be your best bet. Just be prepared to pay a premium (which most of us will).

It’s available on their website or from Amazon for a moderate price, but still lower than most gas washers.

4. Worx Hydroshot Power Washer

While the Worx Hydroshot isn’t your classic pressure washer, I had to put this in the top five because it is so dang cool.

The Hydroshot is a battery-powered power washer that is totally portable. All you need is a body of water or a bucket and you’re good to go. It comes with this cool hose attachment that you can toss into a lake and use to wash off your bike, paddle board, or camping equipment.

You can also toss it in a bucket and wash off your kids shoes or your dog before getting back into the car. It’s like a high powered water gun designed to clean things.

Not your grandpa’s pressure washer.

Heck – you can even connect it to your pool and do some patio chair cleaning. The cool part about this is that it has a rotating nozzle on the end that can go from gentle spray to intense stream. 

These are really handy and if you’re an outdoor junkie, they are probably one of the coolest gifts you can buy.

You can grab it on Amazon for a great price (right now its like 40% off).

5. Sun Joe SPX3000 2030 Max PSI 1.76 GPM 14.5-Amp Electric High Pressure Washer

Yep, we still put the Sun Joe SPX3000 on this list because it is so dang popular. One of the best selling pressure washers of all time, they’re in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of garages across the country. 

We like the SPX3000 because it is super simple to use, provides decent power, and is dirt cheap.

We made a full Youtube video about the SPX3000 and even compared it to the next best seller on Amazon. It was quite the battle.

Just a classic.

But the SPX3000 is great for toting around your yard and cleaning off fences, windows, cars, mailboxes – whatever. It is the small-to-medium sized homeowner’s dream. I wouldn’t take it to any work site, but for about 80% of Americans, this is the perfect combination of price, power, and ease of use. 

The great soap canisters.

We love that this has a soap tank and a bunch of detachable nozzles that make it extremely flexible and great for anything light duty.

Why we started The Lawn Review

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

How we spend our weekends.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What to look for in a pressure washer

You gotta know what to look for on these pressure washers. Some of these pressure washers look identical, but have small, nuanced differences that you need to keep an eye on.

Pressure washer nozzles

When choosing a pressure washer, you should pay attention to the nozzles included in the package. Two types of spray nozzles are available, adjustable spray nozzles that can be controlled and quick-connect nozzles with predefined spray patterns.  

The predefined spray patterns typically come in different angles, allowing for you to quickly switch between a broad, lower pressure spray or a narrow, higher pressure stream.

Quick connect nozzles are super convenient, but they’re almost like airpods – you can lose them!

Soap tanks on a pressure washer

Additionally, you may want to consider a soap tank-equipped pressure washer. Some of these pressure washers have “foam cannons” where you can simply add some soap and it will mix it in with the water. Pretty cool.

I recommend a soap tank for cars and windows.

Wheels are important

Despite these seemingly minor features, they can have a big impact, especially with larger units. No sense in lugging around one of these in your yard and tripping all over the place.

Some pressure washers have a tendency to flip over and be top heavy, so make sure the base is sturdy.

Pressure washer hose types

There’s a big difference between how easy or difficult it is to use a pressure washer based on the kind of hose that comes with it. Stiff, rigid hoses make it extremely difficult to have any maneuverability without messing up the job or knocking over the base.

Portability and weight

Even if this has the drawback of making the unit less powerful, a portable, smaller pressure washer will be a better choice if you have to move around or carry the unit with you. Most of us do this, especially if you are doing the exterior of your house.

Totally depends on the job you are trying to do.

Pressure washer motor type

We are looking for brushless motors as they are more reliable, more powerful, and have a much longer life. 

Not interested in buying? Try renting a pressure washer.

GPM and PSI on electric pressure washers

GPM stands for gallons per minute. GPM measures how quickly water is leaving the end of the electric pressure washer. PSI stands for pounds per square inch and is a measure of pressure that is being applied out of the electric pressure washer.

Here’s how it looks on the real deal.

If this is confusing to you, you’re not alone. In reality, if you are looking for power, you want both. They work hand-in-hand to deliver water from the machine at a high rate and effective and efficient volume.

For reference, a pressure washer can have a high PSI but a low GPM, meaning it is able to have a high pressure but generally not over a large area. Having both a high PSI and high GPM means that it’s coming out fast and it’s producing a more effective stream.

Likewise, you can also have a low PSI and higher GPM. This is a good ratio for cleaning cars because you get a lot of water at a safer pressure.

So what’s a good PSI for a pressure washer?

It depends on the job you want to do. For heavy duty jobs, you will need 3000 PSI pressure or higher. This is for things like stripping graffiti and is not as common for homeowners, unless you have teenagers.

Anything under 1000 PSI is going to be pretty weak, but still has a place – like cleaning the mud off of a dirt bike or washing down a surf board.

Between 1000 and 3000 PSI is the sweet spot for most homeowners. This will provide a decent amount of pressure to do things like cleaning windows, cars, driveways, patios, decks, etc. Obviously the higher up you go, the stronger job you can do. And per our lesson above, the more GPM, the faster you can get the job done.

Best Electric Pressure Washers: Parting Thoughts

As long as you’re getting an electric pressure washer with a good motor that is easy to use and delivers the power you want, then you’re going to get a good piece of equipment. There are definitely more than 5 good electric pressure washers on the market, but the ones that made this list are ones we’ve found to be both reliable, popular, and affordable.

Is gas more your thing? Check out the Honda GCV pressure washer series.

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Greenworks’ 80V Leaf Blower Packs Gas-like Power

The Greenworks 80V Leaf Blower is an absolute unit. A solid, extremely powerful battery-powered leaf blower that can easily rival gas-powered backpack blowers.

It is VERY nice.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on this blower and boy, were we impressed. 

Today we will break down the best parts about this blower, a few of the things we didn’t love, and give it an overall ranking.

But before we get started, make sure to check out our long-form video review of this blower where you can see and hear exactly what it’s like. And don’t forget to subscribe to our channel to enter into the free giveaway!

Let’s get started.

Greenworks 80V Blower: Features and benefits

Before we hop into the breakdown of this blower’s performance and feel, let’s give a quick overview of what’s included in the purchase.

In the box you will receive: three user manuals (blower, charging station, battery), a tapered nozzle tip, the funnel, the blower motor housing, the 80V charging station and the 80V battery itself.

Now we can get going!

Feel and usability

The first thing we noticed about this Greenworks 80V blower was how DENSE it felt. It feels super solid and like it just came in one piece, carved out of stone instead of a million little pieces assembled together.

Not sure how else to describe it besides dense and tight. I think once you pick it up for the first time you will understand. Their new 60V blower has an almost identical feel, but slightly less power and a different battery unit.

If you really want to try something fun and have the 80V battery already, check out their all-new electric backpack blower.

Versatility

A few features we loved about the versatility of this blower were:

  • Variable speed trigger
  • Cruise control setting for variable speeds
  • Turbo button

With these three features, which aren’t all that common among other, cheaper blowers, you can have total control over how hard you want the air to blow.

Cruise control below and Turbo button above.

Before owning some of these nicer Greenworks blowers, EGO blowers, and Ryobi blowers – I always just held the trigger down as hard as it would go. But with these mega powerful blowers, the air comes out so much faster that you actually need to calm it down some of the time.

Having control over the airflow really helps and having cruise control allows for you to relax your hand and prevent it from cramping (first world problems!).

Nozzle types

The tapered nozzle tip that comes with this blower will give you a little bit more power at the end.

This is the tapered nozzle and it can pop on or off.

If you remember our discussion of CFMs and MPHs earlier, a tapered nozzle tip vs. a regular nozzle tip at the exact same number of CFMs will produce a higher MPH.

That’s why you see some blowers out there with lower CFMs, but really high MPHs – they have very narrow nozzle tips. For me, I will probably keep the tapered nozzle tip on all the time so that I can destroy wet leaves and other things on my deck and driveway that drive me crazy.

Other bells and whistles

The Greenworks 80V blower has that sweet 80V battery that slides right into the back of the blower. This thing has a nice LED light indicator with three levels that can tell you when you need to head back inside – although I doubt you will get super low on battery any time soon (more to come on that).

Comfort and usability of a handheld Greenworks electric blower

Not all blowers are created equally. In fact, I used to own a Stihl BG 86 C gas-powered blower that was about as powerful as this one, maybe a little less, but was built in such a way that I had to crank my shoulder in a weird position to keep it down. Not this one! 

 At 8.9 lbs with the battery and tool combined, it isn’t tough to waltz around with – meaning you likely won’t need a strap unless you have back issues. 

But my favorite part about this blower is that the handle naturally forces the blower to point downward. This allows you to effortlessly hold onto the blower and have it at the optimal angle for blowing leaves. 

Well-balanced!

This is a huge wrist, shoulder, and back saver and something that only a true user of the tool would design. Major props to Greenworks for the design!

How loud is it?

Obviously one of the key things that’s important when using an electric tool is the sound. In fact, many commercial landscapers use electric blowers when they get close to buildings to make sure that they’re not too disruptive. Places like schools, nursing homes, hospitals, offices – all of them don’t want to hear the insane screech of a backpack blower.

We again invite you to watch our YouTube review of the blower so that you can hear it for yourself, but this is probably on the louder side for an electric blower. During normal operations, the blower is on par with other electric blowers, but when you hit the turbo button this bad boy has a little bit of a squeal.

Hard to hold this against the blower as it is one of the most powerful handheld battery-powered blowers on the face of the Earth. 

All about the Greenworks 80V Battery

As we always do, we put the manufacturer’s claims to the test when it comes to tool run-time and battery charge-time. This usually involves us zip-tying the trigger down with the turbo button on, without the turbo button and at full speed, and then at a low-speed setting.

Nice lil power indicator.

Here were our results:

  • Turbo button held down: 12 minutes of run-time
  • Full-speed, no turbo: 17 minutes of run-time
  • Lowest speed: 496 minutes

Whew! We stayed up late for that one, finishing at about 10:30pm waiting for the dang blower to die. 

Me to this blower at 10pm

The must-haves in any battery blower

If you read our introduction, you know that the most important thing to look for in a battery-powered blower is obviously the brushless motor.

Does the Greenworks 80V blower have a brushless motor? Yep.

Brushless motors just mean that it uses magnets to spin the motor instead of copper wiring. This results in less friction, less heat, a much longer-lasting motor, and even more torque. Wow.

Another must-have is battery interoperability. Does the Greenworks 80V battery work with other tools? You betcha. 

In fact, the Greenworks 80V battery works in probably our favorite battery-powered mower of all time as well. If you are in the market for a mower – this thing is what you’re looking for. 

Lastly, we talked about CFMs and MPH – this blower has both. Super high CFM at 730 and can blow up to 170 MPH. More than enough speed and power for any residential use.

Comparing the Greenworks blower to Ryobi and EGO blowers

We are working on a separate video and full write-up for this, but at a really high level here is our summary.

Ego, Greenworks, and Ryobi blowers.

Official Review: Greenworks 80V Battery-Powered Blower

The Greenworks 80V battery-powered blower is a thoughtfully-made, well-designed battery blower that stands out in how easy and comfortable it is to use.

Does it get our stamp of approval? Heck yes. It is much quieter than a gas blower and can go toe-to-toe on power without a doubt. 

You can grab this blower on Amazon for a great price and can get the tool-only version for significantly cheaper if you already own the battery. 

Why we review lawn tools

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

We take blower testing seriously.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

Greenworks makes some other cool products we’ve reviewed, like their Cordless Shop Vac.

What to look for in an electric blower

Cordless blowers come in a bunch of shapes and sizes but there are three basic things you need to understand:

  • CFM – Cubic feet per minute. This is a measure of air output on the blower. Higher CFM = more power, but not necessarily more miles per hour. High CFM with a wide nozzle = lower MPH. High CFM with a narrow nozzle = high miles per hour. Ideally, you want both a high CFM with a narrow to medium nozzle for most residential jobs.
  • Usability – what is the point of having a blower if it is hard to use? Have to get one that is lightweight, easy to start, and has some functions that make your life easier.
  • Motor type – brushless motors reign supreme. Cooler running motors with more torque, a longer run-time, and last many more years. Brushless is a no brainer when picking a blower.

These are three things you need to pay attention to when looking through the specifications. 

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7 Battery Powered String Trimmers That Can Take On Gas

My favorite battery powered string trimmer is the Greenworks 80V 16″ weed eater because it has a brushless motor, super wide cutting swath, and is part of a great battery system.

My EGO is great!

Luckily, we’ve gotten our hands on and tested dozens of weed eaters in our lives. 

But before we move forward, there’s one super simple thing we want to clarify.

Weed eaters, weed wackers, string trimmers – they’re all the same thing. Believe it or not, people ask us the difference between the three all the time!

Top Battery Powered String Trimmers: By Category

As we mentioned before, the most gas-like electric weed eater for you may not be the best for me. So we will provide the best from each category to help you really narrow it down. Luckily, the best weed eaters all have the above things in common – so keep those as your North Star.

Best battery powered weed eater for large yards

When it comes to large yards, you need a weed eater that not only has a wide cutting swath, but serious battery power. Basically you want to be able to cut thick grass without the battery running out.

One of the best battery-powered weed eaters that my neighbor owns is the Pro 80V 16 inch string trimmer from Greenworks. 

This is mine and it is the one I tested for this article.

I recommend NOT using the stock weed eater string that comes with it. We developed the world’s best weed eater string by testing dozens of different strings and taking the best elements of each. We created a green, .095″, triangle shaped weed eater string that is extremely powerful, visible, and durable.

Basically it’s the dream weed eater. It has a HUGE cutting swatch at 16 inches. For reference, the ones for smaller yards are like 10 inches. To put it into perspective, this is almost a foot and a half of cutting power. Not only does this make it good for weed eating, but it also has the ability to do some nice deep edging work if you forgot your edger.

Why we like the Greenworks 80V Pro 16 inch weed eater

Better question is what is there not to like? Check out a few data points here:

  • Brushless motor (more durable, run cooler, quieter)
  • The motor and handle are attachment capable for other Greenworks 80V tools
  • Straight, long shaft (please no jokes)
  • A great four year warrants on the tool itself AND the battery

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! This is the best weed wacker for large yards and probably a bunch of others, too.

We love the durability of this one.

You can grab it from Greenworks’ website directly or on Amazon for a massive discount.

Best battery powered weed eater and edger combo

When it comes to cleaning up your yard and you want to go the extra mile, you have to have an edger. Sure, weed eaters with big cutting swaths can do some light edging, but nothing is going to actually give you the crispiest borders like an edger will.

That’s why it’s great to get a weed eater that allows you to change out attachments. A ton of folks have this now. In fact, we wrote a whole long form post about the best battery powered weed eater and edger kits and we had a clear winner.

The EGO Power+ MHC1502 Multi Combo Kit: 15 String Trimmer, 8-Inch Edger & Power Head.

Yeah, it has a long name and a steeper price tag, but is WORTH IT.

That edger is actually pretty slick!

Here’s why we loved the EGO Power+ MHC1502 trimmer and edger

  • It isn’t a two-in-one, it is really a 8-in-1 – this thing has so many other attachments that it can do just about everything except mow.
  • EGO uses just one battery class – the 56V. Once you have that, you can buy any of their other tools’ “tool-only” version – which means batteryless. That amounts to YUGE savings.
  • Brushless, straight, yada-yada-yada you know my shpiel by now. This checks all the boxes.
We love the edger attachment.

This edger and trimmer combo is sweet. If you are going to get one and ESPECIALLY if you already have an EGO battery, then this is the one for you.

You can from Amazon, which lets you pick from a bunch of different options.. 

Best battery powered commercial weed eater

This is actually a hard one. There aren’t many full-on commercial battery-powered string trimmers because a lot of professionals still use gas.

That being said, there are definitely some battery weed eaters with enough power to keep up with the commercial ones.

It just looks professional

Our favorite here is a brand you probably recognize. Makita. We love Makita and have written extensively about Makita mowers, Makita blowers, and more. 

Here’s what we love about the Makita XRU15PT1 36V string trimmer

Okay this weed eater is a tank. It comes with four batteries, but uses two at a time. If you have existing 18V Makita batteries, then you can save money on batteries, or store up a lot and only have to charge after like 20 lawns. 

It is a killer.

We like this one because it almost directly mimics some of the gas powered string trimmers like  Echo’s SRM 225. It’s loved by us for the following reasons:

  • Super long straight shaft (over 6ft. long)
  • Minimal guard, which is great for visibility but make sure you wear eye protection
  • 15 inch cutting swath and massive RPMs of 6,500 (really fast)
  • Brushless motor

Basically you want the most powerful weed eater you can get that still has the performance of a commercial one. The Makita XRU15PT1 36V absolutely has it. 

This one we grabbed online at Home Depot and picked up in store for a great price.

Best battery powered weed eater with attachments

Why buy a weed eater alone? Just about every big brand is making a power-head or multi-tool or some other name for a nice handheld motor with attachments. 

We started out with the Ryobi multi-tool, but I legitimately burned through two of the blowers in a six month period. So I sent it straight to the trash. 

I picked up one of the EGO Power Heads and have never looked back. To date, we own the string trimmer, the edger, and the snow blower attachment. 

Our own footage of the edger attachment.

Why we like the EGO Power+ Power Head

First of all, you’re here for weed eaters, so if you are interested in the weed eater, you can grab the MHC1502 battery powered weed eater we mentioned above. It has a huge cutting swath, brushless motor, and all the bells and whistles.

But boy do we love the attachments:

  • Pole saw
  • Edger
  • Hedge trimmer
  • Blower
  • Snow shovel
  • Bristle brush
  • Cultivator/Tiller
  • Rubber broom

It’s pretty crazy how many attachments can fit on a single head of the dang EGO Power+ Power Head. If you’re in the market for a heavy-duty, attachment capable battery powered weed eater – this is your go-to. 

Look at all the dirt it kicks up!

You can grab it at Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, or on Amazon. If you’re grabbing it online, I recommend Amazon. If you want to put hands on it, then I suggest stopping by Lowe’s or Ace to get your paws on it.

Stihl’s battery powered weed eaters

Stihl has a reputation for creating some of the best gas-powered equipment on the planet. They lead the chainsaw market with their Stihl MS 251 C chainsaw and also their gas powered string  trimmer, the Stihl FS 56 RC weed eater.

The FS 56 RC is undefeated in gas trimmers.

Stihl recently launched a big line of battery powered weed eaters, chainsaws, and leaf blowers.

To our surprise, we weren’t thrilled with their features or performance.

Why we don’t love Stihl’s new battery powered series

Despite Stihl’s stellar reputation in the gas space, we were saddened by some of their new battery products. For the weed eaters specifically, here is what we didn’t love:

  • No brushless motor – how could they do this? They are market leaders! It’s truly pretty sad.
  • Generally small cutting swath
  • Expensive

I think they are trying to go for a more residential audience as compared to their commercial gas trimmers, but man were we disappointed. Our favorite Stihl battery powered weed eater was the FSA 90 R – probably the closest equivalent to the gas FS 56 RC. 

The Stihl FSA 90 R has great specifications and features, but no brushless motor. It is the most “tolerable” of the group. We wrote a full review of the Stihl FSA 90 R here if you are interested in learning more. 

This one is not THAT bad

Stihl has a contract with Ace Hardware as the primary place to pick these up.

Cheapest battery powered weed eater

Oh boy – balling on a budget. Cheap battery powered weed eaters are great if you have a smaller yard, a townhome, or a thin wallet. 

Honestly, some of them are REALLY convenient. For example, we have ranked a ton of the Black and Decker string trimmers as well as the Worx weed eaters.

Both of these are budget friendly, but also small, lightweight, and extremely easy to use. 

Best budget battery powered weed eaters

Our favorite budget battery powered weed eater has got to be the Black and Decker 20V Max string trimmer. 

It is definitely on the smaller side, with a 12-inch cutting swath, but not as small as some of the others.

Nice!

My favorite part about this trimmer is that the 20V battery on it can also be used on your power drill and a ton of other Black and Decker products. My parents have the 20V power drill, so they got this one for a steal and saved on the battery price.

It also has this little wheel on top that allows you to do some light edging in a straight line. V cool!

You can grab it on Amazon for an unbelievably low price. 

Best battery powered weed eater for a woman

Sexist! Women can use all weed eaters just as well as a man! And probably better!

Okay – we know that so cool your jets. But we do get this question a lot and it has nothing to do with ability. It isn’t about being a woman, but many women reach out asking for trimmers that are super easy to use, lightweight, and storable. Also minimal maintenance and easy trimmer line replacement.

So we have helped find what they are looking for and always come to the same conclusion. The Worx GT Revolution 3.0.

Why we love the Worx GT Revolution for women

Coming in at just over five pounds, this weed eater is extremely lightweight and easy to maneuver. It breaks down (see pic below) for easy storage and even has a telescoping shaft. So if you are looking for the most flexible and intuitive lawn tool on the planet – this has got to be it.

Foldable!

It has a decent 12 inch cutting swath, is compatible with Worx 20V and 40V batteries, and has a really easy to replace trimmer line.

My single mother neighbor down the street uses this in her lawn and had amazing things to say about it. Oh, and her yard looks incredible. 

This one is available on Amazon – including battery and charger.

Final thoughts on battery powered weed whackers

Folks, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article – weed eaters are highly variable depending on what you’re looking for. We hope this has been an insightful article. If you have any more questions or would like to join our mailing list – feel free to check out our contact page.

Why we started The Lawn Review

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

We take tool testing seriously.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What to look for in a battery powered weed whacker

Cordless weed eaters come in all shapes and sizes. They aren’t highly complicated pieces of equipment, but they do have a few nuances. Here is how I see it:

  • Feel – Obviously this is subjective, but feel is everything to me. I have had weed eaters in the past where the handle is off to the side, making me torque my shoulders and back. If you can, get as many adjustable pieces as possible to make this customizable. It doesn’t seem like you use a weed eater for a long time, but the work is precision work that requires a steady hand and focus.
  • Motor – brushless motors are king here. They are longer lasting and more durable. Regular brushed motors are fine, too. The key difference here is that brushless motors use magnets, instead of friction, to power the motor. This means less heat, more durability, and a longer life. Brushed motors will still do the job, however they tend to have a shorter life. Brushless motors are relatively new, so if you have had an electric tool back in the day, it was probably brushed.
  • Interchangeable batteries – Get a dang tool that has batteries that you can use with other batteries. C’mon people – save money by doing this! You don’t have to keep buying new battery sets. There are a lot of tool companies that have batteries that work with a ton of different tools. But some of these companies have a bunch of different battery types. Be careful!
  • Curved vs Straight shaft – I always, always, always prefer straight shafts. They are so much easier to use and control and are much longer than curved shafts. Curved shafts are good for clearing out a small piece of land unable to be mowed. But if you want to actually do some good trimming and edging, a straight shaft is much better. Curved shafts are difficult to maneuver and to create a straight line for edging. 

How to instantly improve your battery powered weed eater

Upgrade your weed eating game with the ultimate GrassKicker Weed Eater String! While weed eaters and lawn edgers are great tools, it’s not complete without the right string. Our specially crafted line is designed to enhance your weed eater’s performance and give you flawless edges around your yard and garden.

Don’t settle for subpar string that breaks easily and leaves ragged edges. Our team has scoured the market and combined the best colors, shapes, thicknesses, and materials to create a superior line that cuts more cleanly and lasts longer.

With GrassKicker, you can take pride in your perfectly manicured lawn and make a lasting impression on your friends and family. And who knows, your envious neighbors might just start dropping by more often! Don’t wait, elevate your weed eating game with GrassKicker Weed Eater String today! Click the link now to buy.

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What Is Dethatching? Ultimate How-To Guide (2024)

Dethatching is one of those things I had never heard of before I owned a home. In fact, I didn’t even know what thatch was.

But once my lawn went from green to yellow after a few years of the same old fertilizer and aeration treatment, I started to get confused.

Why was I getting worse results after doing the same thing year after year?

That’s when I found out about dethatching – and more importantly – electric dethatchers.

Why you should let your soil breath

Lawn thatch is basically a bunch of old, dead grass and weeds that takes a while to decompose. The way that I realized I had too much thatch in my lawn was when I took my six month old daughter into the yard. She started clawing at the ground and pulling dead grass out of nowhere. 

Thatch from our yard.

While she is an inexpensive dethatcher, there are child labor laws that prevent me from cutting her loose on the whole lawn (kidding).

Anyways, lawn thatch can essentially waterboard your lawn – blocking sunlight and nutrients from getting to the soil and choking your grass to death. 

In small quantities however, thatch can have insulator-type qualities. Think of it like you think of mulch. Mulch has great protective qualities for keeping weeds at bay. Too much mulch that isn’t replenished starts to decay and become harmful to surrounding plants. 

So…what should you do about it?

How it works

Dethatching is the removal of thatch from the top surface of your soil. When dethatchers remove thatch from the surface of your lawn, it opens up the lawn and allows it to breathe. 

A couple weeks after dethatching and overseeding.

I know you may think this doesn’t make a difference, but you would be surprised to see how much thatch comes out of your lawn.

Ever used one of those things that cleans out your ears? The amount of wax that comes out is crazy and changes you forever.

The same thing is true of dethatchers. Whenever I use one, it makes me feel like I have been holding my breath for years and finally get to breathe.

When to dethatch – Fall or Spring?

Hopefully you won’t have to wait as long as I did to realize what was going on in the yard. It’s actually pretty easy to tell when you need to dethatch your lawn:

My neighbor DEFINITELY dethatched this year.
  1. You can wait and slowly watch your lawn die (not recommended)
  2. Your lawn retains water well after you think it should have evaporated
  3. You notice more weeds and/or mushrooms in your lawn
  4. The lawn is becoming unseasonably yellow
  5. Your lawn looks like it has male pattern baldness

If you’re not sure or are feeling paranoid, feel free to go out and dig a nice little cross section of your lawn. You’ll be able to see how deep the thatch goes. 

If you have a decent layer built up in your yard and you see more than a quarter inch or so on top of the soil, it is time to dethatch.

We wrote a great long post about the best time to aerate and overseed your lawn as well.

The difference between dethatching and aerating

Dethatching and aerating are commonly mixed-up lawn care processes. Both involve removing things from your lawn and you really do them in tandem.

But dethatchers are simply focused on the top layer of soil in your lawn. They are helpful to allow nutrients, sun and water reach the top of the soil, but are really skin-deep. Dethatchers do not get into the soil themselves.

Using a core aerator after dethatching.

On the other hand, aerators pull up chunks of soil that almost look like dog turds. This allows for the soil to open up, become less compact, and essentially mix together. The aeration process pulls plugs from the soil to the top of the lawn.

Don’t freak out! These are soil plugs from aerating.

 Both are done around the same time of the year in this order.

  1. Scalp your lawn and get the grass super short, being sure to bag it.
  2. Dethatch your lawn thoroughly, being sure to get all the thatch off the surface
  3. Use a core aerator on your lawn to pull up plugs
  4. Overseed
  5. Water (2x/week for 50 minutes on each area)
  6. Enjoy!

Types of dethatchers

The O.G. lawn dethatcher is a lawn dethatching rake. Which looks like a normal rake but is more intense. 

Not an ancient torture device, but a manual dethatcher.

This rake can help pull up all of the thatch and works well.

But it is a back destroyer. It’s like shoveling for snow except the snow is all ice and your shovel is made of plastic. 

You can make the process WAY faster, remove more thatch, and not be bed-ridden for the next week by using an electric dethatcher.

Electric dethatchers work by basically looking and operating like a push mower, but underneath there are small tines that dig up the thatch and bring it to the surface of your yard. Electric dethatchers are some of the most satisfying tools on the planet and are addictive.

Most electric dethatchers are corded electric tools, but newer battery-powered dethatchers are coming into the market. These aren’t super common tools right now, but I imagine most folks will have an electric dethatcher in the next few years.

Recommended electric lawn dethatchers

We at The Lawn Review have had the distinct pleasure of using lawn dethatchers ourselves. 

We’ve written extensively about the Sun Joe corded electric dethatcher and used it in our ultimate fall lawn care routine YouTube video. 

We also reviewed it in a single long-form YouTube video if you want to learn more.

Basically, the Sun Joe dethatcher is an affordable electric dethatcher that works really well. I believe they recently released a battery powered lawn dethatcher, which we haven’t used but are interested in trying.

The Sun Joe electric dethatcher we used.

You can find the corded Sun Joe dethatcher on Amazon as well as the new cordless Sun Joe dethatcher.

Greenworks also has a corded electric dethatcher. We liked this one as well, but didn’t love that it came without a collection bag. It is a great budget-friendly electric dethatcher, so I highly recommend it as well. You can get the Greenworks electric dethatcher on Amazon for a great price.

Kobalt electric dethatcher.

Frequently Asked Questions

We get these all the time from people considering dethatching their lawn. This will be an ongoing list collection, so if you have any questions, feel free to let us know.

What is lawn thatch?

Lawn thatch is a layer of dead and decomposing grass between your soil and grass blades. It is okay in small quantities but can also prevent your lawn from thriving.

What is lawn dethatching?

Lawn dethatching is the process of removing dead grass stuck to your soil in order for your lawn to receive better nutrients.

What’s the difference between dethatching and aerating?

Dethatching is the process of removing dead grass from your soil, whereas aerating pulls soil from the ground on top of your lawn. Both are important parts of your lawn care cycle.

What’s the difference between a dethatcher and a scarifier?

Dethatchers and scarifiers often work together to pull up thatch from your grass. Scarifiers are blades that cut up and loosen thatch while dethatchers physically pull it from the grass.

How often should I dethatch my lawn?

Totally depends on your environment. For folks that get a lot of snow, I recommend dethatching yearly to pull up all the grass that got killed underneath the snow.

For others in drier climates, once every few years might be enough. I know that I like to do it every year as part of my fall lawn care routine with cool season grass.

When is the best time to dethatch my lawn?

For those with cool season grass, early fall is the best time. For warm season grass, early spring.

What is better, aerating or dethatching?

Both are used in combination to prepare your lawn for overseeding.

Why we started this site

We started The Lawn Review out of frustration. We couldn’t find clarity around what type of products were actually good and reliable. All the fertilizers we tried didn’t work. We ended up with a dying lawn, wasted time, and wasted money.

We take this stuff seriously!

So we started buying and reviewing lawn tools and figuring out which ones were the best. And now we’ve moved onto actually keeping that grass nice and healthy all year around. 

We’ve spent thousands of hours building this content for people just like you and me – normal p

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This Cordless Shop Vac Made Cleaning My Car A Breeze

Greenworks 24V Cordless Shop Vac is something out of the Jetsons home. This shop vac can be carried anywhere without requiring an extension cord.

We loved it.

Let’s face it – shop vacs are one of the most necessary items you can have in your garage. From cleaning out your car to cleaning up spills, shop vacs are truly one of the most underrated tools on the planet.

Bottom line: Greenworks went wild and made a cordless shop vac. Yep. A cordless shop vac. This thing is powerful enough for most residential use and is extremely convenient. Grab it on Amazon for a great price.

Greenworks 24V Cordless Shop Vac: Features and benefits

We were lucky enough to get our hands on Greenworks 24V battery-powered shop vac. We made a nice video about it that you can check on YouTube, but also wrote out our experience here.

What’s included with the Greenworks Shop Vac

When we got the Greenworks cordless shop vac, we did a nice video unboxing. Here is  what came with the vacuum:

  • Hose
  • Two nozzles
  • Battery charger
  • Battery
  • Vacuum
  • Foam filter
  • Two manuals – one for battery/charger and one for the tool

Using the 24V Greenworks Shop Vac

The first thing we noticed about this cordless shop vac was how solid it felt. All the fittings felt rock solid and well put together. With some of the other vacuums we’ve tried, you could see how a hose could fall out and everything felt a little janky.

Really solid build.

Hose size

The hose at first looked a little bit small. When we got it connected, we noticed just how much give the hose has. This means that it can extend quite a bit, much more than the harder plastic hoses that come with some of the other brands. It feels like with some of the corded models that the harder plastic tubes always put you a few inches away from where you need to be using the vacuum, but not with this one.

Weight and length

The Greenworks cordless shop vac comes in at about 9.6 lbs and honestly felt even lighter. It does a great job with weight distribution as well, making it easy to tote around without swaying  side to side.

Greenworks said the hose could extend to about 5 feet. Without pulling it at all, it sits at just over two feet. We put its claim to the test and to our surprise, it came out at just over 5 feet (a hair longer).

Stretchy = good.

Length is less important for this one because you don’t have to worry about the limits of an extension cord.

Battery set-up with Greenworks 24V battery system

The Greenworks cordless shop vac has a little cabin for the 24V battery. You simply lift the top and pop the battery in. It does have a spot for two batteries, although it only requires one. The second one can be used here to add on some run time if needed.

Greenworks thought of everything.

One little bell/whistle type of thing I like on this is that the little door that houses the batteries has magnetic clips. This reduces any chance of rattle when in use and is something that speaks to the amount of thought that went into making this shop vac.

Nozzle tip attachments

While most of the time I use a shop vac without any nozzle tips, this one does come with both a fan nozzle tip as well as a narrow nozzle tip for hard to reach spaces. 

One other cool thing about this shop  vac is that you can easily take out the hose and put it in the air-outtake opening, making for a light-duty blower to help clean up any remaining particles you couldn’t get with the vacuum.

Nifty!

If you ever feel like you are losing suction, there is a nice filter that comes with it that can either be replaced, washed, or blown off. If it gets to be too much, then you can easily replace it for cheap. 

Storage

This cordless shop vac is a little smaller than some you may see in industrial settings – it has a 3-gallon storage area for all debris. This is still pretty tough to fill up!

Lastly, the two nozzles are super easy to lose, so I like that the tool has little clips that allow you to store them right on the vacuum.

Is the Greenworks Battery Shop Vac any good?

Greenworks makes a few claims about the run time and charge time for this shop vac. A cordless shop vac is an amazing tool to have until the battery dies. That’s the remaining advantage that corded electric shop vacs still have over cordless. 

With a fully charged 2A 24V battery, Greenworks claims that this shop vac can run for about 20 minutes. Well, we actually used it on some clean up until the battery died. 

It ran for exactly 20 minutes. Feels like a long time when you’re cleaning!

With a completely dead battery, we timed how long it takes to get to a full charge. It took about 75 minutes.

Not bad!

Price and Warranty

One thing we love about this shop vac and all of Greenworks tools, is the 3 year warranty on the tool AND battery. Most tools have a 2 year battery and tool warranty. 

This can be purchased right now on Greenworks website for just under $150.

Official Review: Greenworks 24V Cordless Shop Vac

We absolutely loved the versatility of the cordless Greenworks shop vac. But what set this shop vac apart from all others, both corded and cordless, was the thought that went into its creation. It was extremely well made with the end user in mind. 

We are going to buy this for just about everyone we know come Christmas time. You can grab yours on Amazon for a great price.

Why we review lawn tools

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

About Greenworks tools

Greenworks is one of the most innovative lawn tool brands. They create all-electric, predominantly battery-powered lawn tools that are of the highest quality.

We’ve owned and reviewed a TON of their products, including:

One consistent theme: they are all very well built.

Why Shop Vacs are the best tools

Shop vacs are the duct tape of the tool space. In fact, to not own one is a mortal sin. They have the ability to clean up dirt and fine dust from really tight spots and can be carried around outside. 

But the big differentiator from most vacuums is that the shop vac is able to suck up liquids without frying the electrical parts.

This means you can easily go from sucking up sawdust to cleaning up a spilled beer. 

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5 Battery Lawn Edgers That Perfectly Frame Your Lawn

The best battery powered lawn edger is the Greenworks Pro 80V lawn edger because it is super easy to use and comes with a great battery system from Greenworks.

We constantly get compliments about having the best grass in the neighborhood. But honestly, our grass itself looks just like each of our neighbors. So what’s the difference?

Clean, crisp borders around the yard separating the driveway and walkway from the grass. It is a small, subtle change but makes all the difference. Think about it like framing your yard. Imagine the Mona Lisa without a frame. It would look like something your kid would bring home to hang on the fridge (maybe a little better).

The new battery lawn edgers are awesome. So let’s check out which ones are the absolute best.

Bottom line – Here is our ranking of the best battery lawn edgers:

  1. Greenworks Pro 80V 8 inch Brushless Lawn Edger
  2. Greenworks 40V 8″ Brushless Lawn Edger
  3. EGO Power+ ME0800 8-Inch Edger Attachment & Power Head
  4. Kobalt 80-Volt Max 8-in Cordless Electric Lawn Edger
  5. Dewalt DCED472X1 Battery Lawn Edger

5 Greatest Battery Lawn Edgers: Ranked

Let’s get started! There are some great brands here, but a few that really stick out for their power, reliability, and price.

5. DEWALT DCED472X1 Edger

Dewalt is a household name, but not necessarily for lawn tools. Mostly known for their power drills, saws, and other contractor-grade equipment, Dewalt is a well-trusted and well-known brand. 

Recently, they’ve dug into lawn tools and have put out some surprisingly high-quality, competitive stuff. 

The gentle slope is a nice detail!

Their edger is actually pretty sweet. One of my favorite things about it is the squeeze trigger, which is way more comfortable on the hand and also provides a bit of a safety to prevent kids from using it. 

The edger is really an attachment on their multi-tool, which has a bunch of different heads that give you a full toolkit to craft your yard around.

This one was designed by pros, as it has a gentle slope going into the edger to ensure that it is flush with the surface and providing a deep, clean cut. 

The Dewalt battery lawn edger is on sale on Amazon right now and is normally a steep price, but also includes the head that can attach a ton of other tools. 

4. Kobalt 80-Volt Max 8-in Cordless Electric Lawn Edger

Kobalt is one of those brands that was exclusively sold in Lowe’s stores across the country, then randomly showed up online and did really well. Kobalt has some high quality products and are a personal favorite of ours in the aesthetics department. They have a nice navy blue and black combo that is sleek and not some fluorescent color.

Kobalt’s 80V Max series is a great series to build a battery powered tool set around. They have an awesome mower and a bunch of really good blowers.

Kobalt’s products look cool.

One of my favorite things about this edger is that it is LONG, which I like for surgical precision when edging. It also has a nice brushless motor, which means more torque, a cooler motor, and longer life. 

This one is for sale at Lowe’s – the perfect buy if you already own a Kobalt 80V Max battery.

3. EGO Power+ ME0800 8-Inch Edger Attachment & Power Head

EGO has great products, hands down. The power head is one of, if not the absolute best, top power heads on the market. Super versatile, reliable, and powerful. The EGO power head is a dang steal. 

I like EGO Power+  products because they all use the 56V battery, from the lawn mower to the blower to the edger. 

EGO products are built to last.

There isn’t anything particularly special or snazzy about this product, but it is one that I know and trust to do the job without fail. Driving around your neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon, I bet you’ll see one of these hanging in your neighbor’s garage. It will still be there in 5 years. Good stuff.

The EGO power head with the edger attachment can be bought together for a nice price, or the edger attachment can be purchased separately.

2. Greenworks 40V 8″ Brushless Battery Lawn Edger

Greenworks is one of our favorites brands – they have great products that are durable and reliable.

Their 40V series is awesome and can be used with over 60 tools. It is a great battery line to go with if you are looking to build out your lawn tool kit around a single battery. 

The 40V edger they have is great. It has all the necessary ingredients for a great edger and similar to the EGO, comes with the power head that can be used with a bunch of different attachments.

That brushless motor at the base is cool, but also dangerous.

I ranked this one number two because it has the brushless motor (which is great) down at the bottom of the tool, where it is vulnerable to hitting pavement and breaking. Otherwise, this battery lawn edger is great.

It comes with a ton of reviews and a great price on Amazon, where you can also get the multi tool power head.

1. Greenworks Pro 80V 8 inch Brushless Edger

Greenworks’ Pro 80V battery line is the supreme battery-powered lawn tool line. They have an amazing 80V mower, incredibly powerful blowers, and this awesome edger. 

This battery lawn edger is a dedicated edger – not part of a system of interchangeable parts. And it means business.

It has all the things you look for in an edger. Amazing battery system, easy to use handle, 4 year warranty, adjustable handle, brushless motor – the works.

The battery system here allows it to run for over 80 minutes, which is way more than you would ever need but speaks to the power of the 80V battery. 

Coming in at about 17lbs, it’s surprisingly light and usable considering how long it is and how much power it puts out.

This battery lawn edger is on sale right now on Amazon and is an EXTREMELY reasonable price.

Why we review lawn tools

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

How we spend our time.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What’s the difference between trimming and edging?

Let’s set the record straight here. Edging and trimming are two very different things that are often mixed up. 

Edging utilizes a motorized blade that digs into the dirt between a hard surface (street, driveway, sidewalk) and your yard. Edgers push up dirt and dig a small little trench that cleanly separates the yard and surface. Edgers can do a little bit of trimming if grass is growing over the surface, but are not designed for full-scale grass shredding.

Trimmers are used to cut stray grass not reached or not accessible by mowing. Trimmers can also be used to cut the grass between hard surfaces and the yard, but don’t quite have the capability to edge as well as an edger does.

Nicely edged lawn.

Is it worth buying a battery lawn edger?

In my opinion, absolutely. Most trimmers now come with detachable heads that allow for an edger to pop right on. Edgers are what take your yard from good to great. 

Can you edge with a trimmer? Can you trim with an edger?

If you are an absolute pro and have a high-powered trimmer, you can do some mild edging with a trimmer. If you use the GrassKicker weed eater string, you can get a really, really good edging job even with a weaker weed eater. Check it out below.

You still will not be able to dig way down deep to cause the best separation from surfaces, but it will give a similar appearance for a shorter amount of time.

You cannot trim with an edger unfortunately. The blade is just too big to finely cut small fragments of grass. 

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3 Mowers That Help You With Steep Banks and Hills

The best mower for hilly yards is the Greenworks Pro 80V Brushless Self-propelled mower because it has a strong self-propelled feature that does much of the heavy lifting. Lawn mowers and steep banks and hills don’t often get along. You end up hauling the dang mower straight up a hill, or try to do it sideways and end up missing a bunch of spots.

Today, I’ll break down my favorite mowers for mowing a hilly or sloped front yard:

  1. Greenworks Pro 80V Self-propelled mower
  2. Greenworks 40V 16” Cordless Electric Lawn Mower
  3. Makita XML03CM1 18” Brushless lawn mower

3 Lawn Mowers for Steep Lawns

It was hard to narrow down, but I was able to distill the list down to just three. I have to tell you, these three are titans in the electric lawn game. I am not bringing any bush league mowers to my recommendation list. These are not only top mowers for steep banks, but also top battery powered mowers in general. Let’s get started.

3. Makita XML03CM1 18” Brushless lawn mower

Makita mowers are pretty sweet. If you have owned any Makita products before, likely one of their power drills, you know that they have super high-quality products.

I put this mower at number three for a few reasons. For starters, it is heavier than the other two, coming in at over 80 lbs. It also does not have a self propelled function, meaning you are going to be pushing that 80 lbs, which is the average weight of a regular gas mower. 

Not bad!

I have this one at number three because it is a high quality mower that is extremely durable without being overkill on size. If you have a big property, this one is the type I would keep for steep banks and hills that my lawn tractor or zero turn couldn’t reach or were unsafe. It uses the same batteries that are found in the power drills, saving you a ton of money on a new set of batteries. 

This Makita mower is for sale on Amazon for a very reasonable price.

2. Greenworks 40V 16” Cordless Electric Lawn Mower

Greenworks is one of our favorite brands because they ONLY do battery powered lawn equipment. So they are the pros. 

Anyways, we love the 40V 16” cordless mower from Greenworks because it is small and light. This mower is perfect for effortlessly tackling the steep banks and hills. Many people are concerned about having to push a mower, when in reality the difficult part is holding onto the mower if you are fighting gravity downhill. This is true if you cut in a vertical pattern and are moving downwards with the mower. It is also tough when cutting horizontally and trying to keep the mower straight instead of toppling over.

Gets the job done and light as a feather.

Worry no more – this mower weighs less than 40 lbs, making it an extremely easy to use mower for steep banks and hills. At 16 inches, you don’t have to worry about it taking up a ton of space in your garage, either. 

In fact, this is one of the most popular mowers ever purchased on Amazon, with over 8,000 review comments left. You will probably see your neighbor with one.

Check it out on Amazon for a really great price.

1. Greenworks Pro 80V 21-inch Brushless Self-propelled Mower

Bring in the big dog. This mower is perfect in just about every way. 

Brushless motor. Self propelled. Steel cutting deck. Amazing brand. Battery line that works with all Greenworks 80V products.

It is really a dream mower. 

Thing of beauty!

I love it for hills because it can do a lot of the marching uphill for you. An underrated component of this mower is that it’s self-propelled function will help hold a steady and straight line when mowing horizontally on a hill. So basically you feel like you’re sideways, but the mower keeps marching forward.

This one is lighter than most gas mowers as well. You’ll be surprised at what it feels like to use on hills.

It is definitely worth the money and a great buy on Amazon.

Why we review lawn tools

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

Testing sometimes hurts.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What to look for in an electric lawn mower 

When looking to purchase an electric lawn mower, you need to make sure you understand what things matter. You will get hit with a lot of technical specifications and marketing tactics. Totally forget them and focus on the things that impact you. Below are my recommendations:

  • Brand quality
    • Quality is going to be super important here. Everyone is in the electric mower game these days and there are a ton of junky mowers out there. Avoid anything from a weird brand on Amazon that takes 9 years to ship. It is probably being 3D printed in a Laotian bathroom. Go for brands that have consistent quality and focus on the details, not just flashy colors.
  • Metal where it matters. 
    • Most electric mowers are plastic-y. Probably to reduce the weight of the mower so that the battery can get you further, but it feels cheap. Make sure to get metal where it matters – namely the deck. The deck is the part that covers the blades. Don’t get plastic here – a rock can rip through it.
  • Battery interoperability.
    •  A ten dollar word used here, but really just make sure to buy a mower with a battery that is compatible with other electric tools. Ryobi has this, so does Dewalt, and so do some of the Greenworks products. This will save you garage clutter and plug space.

If you have more questions, check out our guide to electric lawn mowers.

What you need to tackle hills with a lawn mower

Steep hills and embankments give every homeowner a fit. We all know the challenges they present, which is why we wrote this article.  Here’s what you need in a mower for steep hills:

  • Lightweight – it has to be able to be easily controlled and not topple over or get off track. 
  • Self-propelled – this not only helps push the mower for you, but will keep the wheels moving straight with its forward momentum
  • Battery-powered – if you have a really steep hill, you can definitely run into issues with gas not funneling into the engine. Battery powered mowers avoid that.
  • A walk-behind mower – even if you have a big property, I would separately purchase a walk-behind mower for the steepest part of the hills or steep banks. 

So here is what we recommend.

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7 Cordless Blowers for Any Budget

The best budget cordless blower is the Greenworks 40V leaf blower and vacuum combo because it has a reliable motor, is decently powerful, and allows for you to also suck up leaves or grass for easy clean-up.

You can grab our number one choice Greenworks 40V blower here on Amazon for a great price.

Listen, I used to hate working in the yard. You walk out there and try to ignore the leaves as much as possible.

Don’t overcomplicate this! You can get a budget blower and it still does a great job, takes up minimal space in your garage, and barely makes a dent in your bank account. 

Let’s get started.

Here are the great, cheap leaf blowers – ranked:

  1. Greenworks 40V Cordless Brushless Blower
  2. Greenworks 40V Cordless Blower
  3. Worx WG547 Turbine Blower
  4. Ryobi 40V Jet Fan Blower
  5. Kimo Cordless Blower
  6. Makita XBU05Z 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Blower
  7. Black and Decker 20V Max Sweeper

Budget Cordless Leaf Blowers: Ranked

Again, it can be done! You can find a great budget cordless leaf blower for a ridiculously low price and corded leaf blowers for an even lower one. We have found not only the most affordable blowers, but ranked them in terms of quality and power. A few of these we personally own and others we have tried and tested ourselves.

Let’s get this thing kicked off!

7. Black + Decker 20V MAX Cordless Sweeper with Power Boost

The Black and Decker 20V Max Cordless Sweeper with Power Boost is an affordable, trustworthy, budget cordless leaf blower that is a part of the 20V MAX battery series.

I’m going to stop here and tell you that if you own a Black and Decker 20V MAX series tool, buy  this blower. You can get the tool-only version for an insane price if you already own the battery. 

Photo cred: Amazon.

The Black + Decker 20V Max blower gets up to 130 MPH, is really quiet, and can run for 25 minutes straight. The best part – it weighs under 4 lbs. It is technically considered a sweeper instead of a blower, mostly because it has a flat tapered nozzle. This makes it perfect for driveways, garages, and porches. 

I would not get this blower if you’re trying to move massive piles of leaves. The tapered nozzle is powerful and great for a strong stream of air, but not going to cover a large area.

You can grab this one on Amazon for well under $100 when it goes on sale.

6. Makita XBU05Z 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Blower

Makita makes some dang high quality tools. If you’ve ever owned one of their power drills, you know exactly what I mean. They have recently jumped head-first into the lawn tool game as well. Makita leaf blowers are top notch and growing in popularity (you may have seen the TV commercials).

The Makita XBU05Z is a handheld, cordless, budget leaf blower that reaches speeds up to 220 MPH. Just like the other Makita tools you may already own, it just requires an 18V battery. 

While smaller than most other blowers, it can clear out a sidewalk, front porch, or garage with the best of them. It is extremely easy to use, has the same grip as a power drill, and can be stored in a very small area. 

Small and mighty!

At just a shade under $100, it is a great deal if you already own the battery with your other Makita tools. Grab it on Amazon today for about $95.

5. Kimo Cordless Blower and Vacuum

One of our personal favorites (because Mom bought it for us), we use this thing all the time. In fact, we did a full written review of the Kimo Cordless Blower and a full YouTube video. We love it.

While it is a lesser-known brand, it is the best option if you don’t own any yard tools. You can be battery-system agnostic and get a sweet blower/vacuum combo for a ridiculous price.

I use this one all the time to do a quick sweep of the porch, sidewalk, and driveway before we have people over. It can be stored in our coat closet and easily carried outside. It’s quiet, lightweight, and super cheap.

It also comes with a vacuum function, although I don’t use it that much. But the vacuum works well for sawdust or other things that you want to get rid of in a jiff. 

Surprisingly strong. Easy to store.

You can read our full review of the Kimo Cordless blower here.

This thing sells for an amazing price on Amazon – under 90 dollars..

4. Ryobi 155 mph 300 CFM 40-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Jet Fan Blower

So I bought the tool-only version of this cordless budget leaf blower because I already owned the multi-tool Ryobi 40V trimmer and edger. I got it for an awesome deal since I had the batteries already.

Ryobi 40V blower assembly. Easy as pie.

This Ryobi 40V blower works really well. It is easy to assemble right out of the box. One of my favorite things about it is that it has a variable speed trigger, meaning I can control how quickly the air flows. I use this blower every weekend after cutting the grass.

It comes in clutch when the maple tree in the backyard suddenly dumps thousands of leaves on our back deck. It gets rid of all of the leaves in super short order and doesn’t wake up the kids. Gotta love it. If you own Ryobi 40V products, this one is a no brainer. 

You can get it on Amazon like I did for a tad more than the others, but still a reasonable price.

3. WORX 20V Turbine Cordless Two-Speed Leaf Blower – WG547

The WORX WG547 cordless budget leaf blower is a pretty sweet looking blower. It has a jet-engine type of motor inside that can put out 75 mph of air, or 340 CFMs.

You may notice that the MPH here is not very high. The CFM, relatively, is pretty dang high. This means that the blower has a wider nozzle. I would NOT use this for wet grass or heavy debris. I would absolutely use this for a pile of leaves. 

Photo cred: Amazon. Thing is pretty sweet.

Listen, it isn’t going to absolutely destroy leaves like a backpack blower, but it also doesn’t cost $600. It will definitely be able to clear loose leaves from your patio or driveway with ease.

Worx is a great brand and is in almost every garage or shed around the country. 

At under $120, this thing is an absolute steal on Amazon.

2. Greenworks 40V (150 MPH / 135 CFM) Cordless Blower

Unlike the last blower, the Greenworks 40V 150 MPH / 135 CFM cordless blower is a high-speed, low air-volume blower. These are super interesting to use because they are basically beams of air that fly out of a narrow tip.

This one is awesome for cleaning off the driveway after a fresh mow. It can also lift off anything underneath a chair, on top of your outdoor tables, and between cracks that other blowers can’t reach. 

Flat tip = high speed.

Before you pull the trigger (pun intended), realize that this one isn’t great for clearing all the leaves from your lawn. You can do it, but you’ll be out there for a while. The Greenworks 150 MPH blower is about precision and power, not as much about pushing big loads of air.

It’s a great deal (actually a crazy deal on Amazon), has over 15k reviews, and comes in under $60. That’s a hot tamale.

1. Greenworks 40V (185 MPH/340CFM) Brushless Cordless Leaf Blower

The Greenworks 40V 185 MPH brushless cordless budget leaf blower and vacuum combination that makes cleaning up leaves extremely easy. A six speed-option dial allows for you to have complete control over what you are blowing away. Coming in at under 6lbs with a runtime of over 20 minutes on the highest setting, you will be able to quickly crush whatever job you’re trying to do.

What I love most about this blower is the brushless motor. Brushless motors last way longer, have more torque, and operate cooler than brushed motors. This one is going to last you a long time.

Somehow insanely priced AND comes with a vacuum.

With the additional vacuum add-on pieces, you can easily blow all the leaves into a pile and suck them into a big bag, making cleaning up a snap.

The craziest thing about this blower is that Amazon must be broken or something. It is listed for $70 right now if you get the tool-only version. It honestly seems like a glitch or something.

Oh well – feel free to take advantage of it as long as it lasts on Amazon.

Why we started The Lawn Review

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

We take blower testing seriously.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What to look for in an electric blower

Cordless blowers come in a bunch of shapes and sizes but there are three basic things you need to understand:

  • CFM – Cubic feet per minute. This is a measure of air output on the blower. Higher CFM = more power, but not necessarily more miles per hour. High CFM with a wide nozzle = lower MPH. High CFM with a narrow nozzle = high miles per hour. Ideally, you want both a high CFM with a narrow to medium nozzle for most residential jobs.
  • Usability – what is the point of having a blower if it is hard to use? Have to get one that is lightweight, easy to start, and has some functions that make your life easier.
  • Motor type – brushless motors reign supreme. Cooler running motors with more torque, a longer run-time, and last many more years. Brushless is a no brainer when picking a blower.

These are three things you need to pay attention to when looking through the specifications. 

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5 Battery Powered Lawn Combo Kits For All-in-One Shopping

The best lawn mower and trimmer combo kit is the Greenworks 40V 21 inch mower and trimmer kit. Not only do you get a sweet mower and trimmer, but you can save a bunch of money on lawn tools from Greenworks in the future by using the same 40V battery across dozens of tools.

Gotta love it! This photo came from one of our giveaway winners!

Best Mower Trimmer Combo (all-around): Greenworks 40V 21 inch mower and trimmer

5 Best Electric Lawn Mower and Trimmer combo kits

Alright y’all – let’s get to it. After about 19 hours of research and testing, we decided to bring you the best of the best.

We cut out combinations that could be purchased individually because that isn’t super helpful or convenient if you are trying to bundle these. We also disqualified combos that were insanely expensive. No thanks!

5. Toro Flex Force 60V Cordless 2-Tool Combo Kit with mower and trimmer

The Toro Flex Force 60V Cordless 2-Tool Combo kit is the second most expensive set on this list. And there’s a reason why. It has a 22 inch walk-behind mower (meaning it is self-propelled) and a 16 inch trimmer. That’s pretty sweet. 16 inch trimmers are definitely in the commercial range and can be used by professional landscapers. The Toro Recycler mower has a brushless motor which means it is built to last and deliver more power than its brushed counterparts.

The mower can cut about ⅓ of an acre in 40 minutes. This is a little bit more than the average homeowner needs, but no complaints from me. 

Toro has high quality stuff, but doesn’t have quite the experience in the electric space yet. For commercial gas-powered equipment, I’ll take Toro all day. In the electric world, they are still newbies.

Toro’s mower that I used.

You can grab this kit from Home Depot for about $100 less than it was this time last year.

4. Ryobi 40V HP Brushless 21 in Mower and String Trimmer Kit

I love Ryobi products. They *mostly* have pretty high quality stuff, including their 40V HP Brushless mower and string trimmer kit.

Ryobi’s 40V series is really strong, especially since the 40V batteries can be used with an absurd amount of Ryobi products. The mower here has a cross-cut functionality, proving superior and thorough cuts to any lawn. It also has a self-propelled function and comes with two 40V batteries. At 21 inches, it’s the perfect width for medium yards, but can also fit smaller yards with ease.

This thing can crush large yards.

The string trimmer here is nice as well. I have owned this Ryobi string trimmer for a long time and have had absolutely zero issues with it. It cuts 13-15 inches which is above average for residential weed eaters and will absolutely crush the borders of your lawn (which I love).

At a little over $800, this is the most expensive set I recommend. But it truly does serve as an investment in all of their lawn tools because you can buy the tool-only versions of any of their other 40V products, saving a boat load of money in the process.

You can grab this one from Home Depot as well.

3. LawnMaster 20VMWGT 24V Max 12-inch mower and Trimmer combo

LawnMaster is a no-name brand on Amazon but man, they have some DIRT CHEAP products. Now I can’t say that these will be found in droves, but geez, it is almost worth buying a new set each year because they are so dang cheap.

Whatever, it’s cheap. Photo Cred: Amazon.

Let me get started by saying that this mower is not very big. It is a foot wide. This is going to be able to take care of most people’s smaller lawns, but is actually great for tiny yards. Having a foot-long mower can navigate really tight corners and has more sensitivity to garden borders. 

Unfortunately, I would not recommend this to anyone with a large lawn unless it is serving as a punishment. Or you can make it a part of your Subway diet – a footlong sub and a footlong mower exercise. 

Anyways, you can grab this one on Amazon for a great price with a 10-inch trimmer. The trimmer looks very foreign-factory made. It will get the job done, but again is only good for smaller yards.

2. Worx 40V Lawn Mower & Trimmer Power Share Combo WG934

The Worx 40V lawn  mower & trimmer power share combo (WG934) has over 21 THOUSAND  reviews on Amazon, rated at 4.5 stars. 

So people think it’s dang good. For a reason.

The Worx 40V mower here is cordless and covers 14 inches. Definitely better suited for smaller yards, or if you like a workout – some medium yards as well. It has something called “intellicut” which basically adjusts the output of the torque with the difficulty of mowing. It is similar to driving with cruise control where it will push on the gas if you’re going up a hill to keep the same speed. Cool.

The mower AND the GT revolution trimmer. Photo cred: Amazon.

The trimmer and edger combo here is also really nice. I’ve reviewed a ton of Worx trimmers and have always found them extremely intuitive to use. The power is nice, but another benefit of the WG934 combo kit is the ability for the trimmer to double as an edger. The GT Revolution is the name of the trimmer when its sold separately, and I think its the most popular trimmer on Amazon. Is this…3 tools in one? Is that cheating? 

You can grab this one for a really, really good price on Amazon.

1. Greenworks 40V 21 inch Mower and String Trimmer Kit

The Greenworks 40V 21 inch Brushless and Cordless mower is an absolute beast. The fact that it comes with a full-body, grown-man string trimmer is a huge plus. And it is a great price.

Gotta love it! This photo came from one of our giveaway winners!

We love the 40V Mower, blower, and trimmer because you can build your entire garage around it. The 40V line from Greenworks covers over 60 products. Once you get this set, you’re set. Snow blowers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, pole saws – you name it, they’ve got it covered in this line. 

The mower has a steel deck, which makes it one of the most durable cordless mowers in the game. The brushless motor on this also gives it longevity and more torque. Between these two features, this mower is indestructible.

The TLR-favorite Greenworks has really great products. The 12 inch string trimmer that comes with this is perfect for small to medium yards and even includes a brush guard to keep it from tearing into garden beds.

I can’t say enough good things about this set. It is on sale for a great price on Amazon or you can grab it straight from Greenworks’ website.

Why we review lawn tools

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

We take tool testing seriously.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What to look for in an electric lawn mower 

When looking to purchase an electric lawn mower, you need to make sure you understand what things matter. You will get hit with a lot of technical specifications and marketing tactics. Totally forget them and focus on the things that impact you. Below are my recommendations:

  • Brand quality
    • Quality is going to be super important here. Everyone is in the electric mower game these days and there are a ton of junky mowers out there. Avoid anything from a weird brand on Amazon that takes 9 years to ship. It is probably being 3D printed in a Laotian bathroom. Go for brands that have consistent quality and focus on the details, not just flashy colors.
  • Metal where it matters. 
    • Most electric mowers are plastic-y. Probably to reduce the weight of the mower so that the battery can get you further, but it feels cheap. Make sure to get metal where it matters – namely the deck. The deck is the part that covers the blades. Don’t get plastic here – a rock can rip through it.
  • Battery interoperability.
    •  A ten dollar word used here, but really just make sure to buy a mower with a battery that is compatible with other electric tools. Ryobi has this, so does Dewalt, and so do some of the Greenworks products. This will save you garage clutter and plug space.
  • Self-propelled or not. 
    • I actually don’t like the self-propelled feature. It doesn’t help you that much and it drains battery – I would pass here. This is a marketing gimmick in my opinion.

If you have more questions, check out our guide to electric lawn mowers.

What to look for in a cordless string trimmer

Cordless weed eaters come in all shapes and sizes. They aren’t highly complicated pieces of equipment, but they do have a few nuances. Here is how I see it:

  • Feel – Obviously this is subjective, but feel is everything to me. I have had weed eaters in the past where the handle is off to the side, making me torque my shoulders and back. If you can, get as many adjustable pieces as possible to make this customizable. It doesn’t seem like you use a weed eater for a long time, but the work is precision work that requires a steady hand and focus.
  • Motor – brushless motors are king here. They are longer lasting and more durable. Regular brushed motors are fine, too. The key difference here is that brushless motors use magnets, instead of friction, to power the motor. This means less heat, more durability, and a longer life. Brushed motors will still do the job, however they tend to have a shorter life. Brushless motors are relatively new, so if you have had an electric tool back in the day, it was probably brushed.
  • Interchangeable batteries – Get a dang tool that has batteries that you can use with other batteries. C’mon people – save money by doing this! You don’t have to keep buying new battery sets. There are a lot of tool companies that have batteries that work with a ton of different tools. But some of these companies have a bunch of different battery types. Be careful!
  • Curved vs Straight shaft – I always, always, always prefer straight shafts. They are so much easier to use and control and are much longer than curved shafts. Curved shafts are good for clearing out a small piece of land unable to be mowed. But if you want to actually do some good trimming and edging, a straight shaft is much better. Curved shafts are difficult to maneuver and create a straight line for edging. 

You can also improve any weed eater to become a freaking beast with the right weed eater string. We developed our own after testing out dozens of strings and combining all the best elements.

How to instantly improve your weed eater

Upgrade your weed eating game with the ultimate GrassKicker Weed Eater String! While weed eaters and lawn edgers are great tools, it’s not complete without the right string. Our specially crafted line is designed to enhance your weed eater’s performance and give you flawless edges around your yard and garden.

Don’t settle for subpar string that breaks easily and leaves ragged edges. Our team has scoured the market and combined the best colors, shapes, thicknesses, and materials to create a superior line that cuts more cleanly and lasts longer.

With GrassKicker, you can take pride in your perfectly manicured lawn and make a lasting impression on your friends and family. And who knows, your envious neighbors might just start dropping by more often! Don’t wait, elevate your weed eating game with GrassKicker Weed Eater String today! Click the link now to buy.

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Can A Cordless Chainsaw Compete with Gas? Let’s find out

Greenworks 40V chainsaws are top tier chainsaws that are perfect for use around your home and neighborhood.

If you’ve read any of our stuff before, you know that we are kind of obsessed with Greenworks. They did not pay us for this post and haven’t paid us for anything – we are being honest.

They are probably our favorite all-around electric lawn tool provider. 

As self-proclaimed chainsaw experts who have reviewed a handful of Stihl gas-powered chainsaws and a couple electric chainsaws as well, we decided to give the Greenworks 40V chainsaw a spin.

You can save the planet with a battery-powered chainsaw as you chop down trees!

Jump ahead:

Greenworks G-MAX 40V 16 inch cordless chainsaw: Benefits and features

Let’s check out all of the features available in the Greenworks G-MAX 40V 16 inch mower. Many of these comparisons will be against a gas chainsaw, which are the most commonly used chainsaws. We also do some comparisons to other electric chainsaws.

Greenworks electric chainsaw Power

The first thing I will say that I love about the Greenworks cordless chainsaw is that it comes with a brushless motor.

For those of you who haven’t heard of brushless motors, they use magnets instead of friction to generate power. This comes with a few benefits:

  • Longer run-time
  • Significantly quieter and less “whiny”
  • More durable motor life
  • Double the torque

These things take a battery powered chainsaw from good to great. Oh, and the motor here is equivalent to a 35cc gas chainsaw. Woah.

Don’t believe us? Check this video out that we made comparing it to a Stihl.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Zk4zotT3XQ

Speaking of torque and power, this chainsaw can cut through a 15 inch piece of lumber pretty reliably. This is perfect for any homeowner who is trying to cut up a fallen tree after a storm. 

15 inches is a lot!

Usability and feel of the Greenworks battery chainsaw

Another great thing about cordless chainsaws is the decrease in noise. While this isn’t absolutely quiet, it is significantly more quiet than a gas chainsaw.

The lack of fumes is also pleasing, meaning I can stay focused on a single cut without choking through the fumes. 

Me finding random excuses to use it.

The Greenworks 40V 16 inch chainsaw has some pretty slick anti-vibration technology. Compared to a gas chainsaw, and even some of the electric chainsaws out there, we loved the feel this one had. It was extremely “tight” feeling in that you knew it was delivering some serious linear power, but it didn’t make your hands go numb with vibration like some of the others.

Also, coming in at just over 10lbs makes it maneuverable and easy to use. The whole experience is pretty pleasant.

Maintenance, safety and battery life

Unlike most gas chainsaws, the Greenworks 16 inch 40V G-MAX chainsaw doesn’t require any gas or oil mixtures. The battery is a 40V 4 Ah lithium ion battery that can make it through about 140 cuts of smaller lumber – mostly the size of smaller branches (around 4 inches). 

Still, this battery life puts it in the top tier of battery powered chainsaws.

The Greenworks cordless chainsaw has a chain brake and a low kickback chain that helps prevent accidental kickbacks. 

This angle is sweet.

The tool-less tension adjustment on the body of the chainsaw allow for quick adjustments to chain tension and easy loosening to maintain the chain.

The last-piece here which is important is the auto-oiling function. Candidly, a lot of chainsaws have this function, but it is always good to see it in the Greenworks one. Make sure to store this flat instead of hanging, otherwise the oil will drip down the blades and onto whatever surface is below.

Greenworks 40V 16 inch chainsaw vs 12 inch chainsaw

The 16 inch chainsaw is super popular, but so is the 12 inch chainsaw.

A few key differences include the brushless motor on the 16 inch chainsaw vs the traditional brushed motor on the 12 inch. The 12 inch chainsaw is obviously shorter as well, not giving you the same cutting depth as is possible with the 16 inch chainsaw. Lastly, the 12 inch chainsaw comes with a 2 Ah battery instead of a 4 Ah battery, meaning it will not be able to make as many cuts.

Some other good Greenworks products.

All in all, the 12 inch is great for residential folks as well, but is going to limit you with larger trees and branches. Totally fine if that isn’t what you’re looking for.

The 12 inch can still do a lot of jobs, but falls short in power.

From a price perspective, the 16 inch chainsaw is only slightly more expensive. To me, it makes the most sense to go with the 16 inch to get a stronger battery, better tool, for only a little bit more money.

Final review: Greenworks GMAX 40V 16 inch cordless chainsaw

This is a top tier cordless chainsaw, on par with some of the gas chainsaws available on the market. In comparison to some of our other cordless chainsaws, this one is not only more powerful and longer lasting, but more durable as well. 

You can grab it directly from the Greenworks website, or on Amazon for a big sale. For some reason, this one is much cheaper on Amazon than it is on the Greenworks website.

Why we review lawn tools

The reason we started this website in the first place was because we had so much trouble trying to find reasonable, understandable, honest reviews for lawn equipment. And it’s not cheap! After hours and hours of research, trying products and returning them, and messing up our yards – we started this site. 

Our unusual testing methods.

As people who had to learn the hard way, we want you to know exactly what you are signing up for before you purchase a piece of equipment. That’s why we are committed to providing honest, easy-to-understand reviews that mean something. 

What to look for in a chainsaw

A solid chainsaw is one of the most important tools a homeowner can have. Buying the right one is absolutely essential to your kids thinking you’re a cool man or woman. Chainsaws come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, types and models. Most are either gas or electric powered. Depending on your application of course, most people can get away with a 14” bar and chain. Unless you’re cutting up massive trees you probably don’t need anything bigger than that. 

16 inch version is serious stuff.

In addition to that, most people nowadays can probably get away with an electric model vs a more powerful, smoother cutting gas powered model. But it’s all personal preference. However, honestly I tend to always go with the bigger more powerful engines because I think they’ll last longer. So far that’s proven to be true, but I could just be wasting money. 

Must-have chainsaw features

Just make sure your chainsaw at least has a kickback reduction feature. This prevents you from losing one of your precious fingers! You only have 10 of them ya know! Kickback reductions can be in the form of the chain or bar itself. Basically these just prevent you from cutting too aggressively which prevents your saw from bouncing back on you. Or a chain brake which causes the chain to stop when it hits something hard or moves too abruptly 

Other features that are nice to have are more comfort-centric. These include tool-less tensioners, mufflers, anti-vibration, automatic chain oilers, etc. 

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