Stihl Professional Battery Weed-eater

[newbury]

So, I have been looking at/wanting to get one of these weed-eaters. Is anyone on here using the FSA pro weed-eaters? Is it worths the money with the backpack battery? How is the power? I would be using on 3 acres. The biggest thing stopping me is the initial coast for backpack and weed-eater and wondering if it will be as good as my gas one?. The dealer says they are just as strong.

How do you propose to use the weed-eater on 3 to 5 acres??
Are you trimming along one fence line that surrounds the property?
Do you have 5 acres of orchard that require trimming around every tree?

For the Stihl you are looking at a working tool that the cost normally gets folded into the cost of doing business so $1,800 may not be that bad.

But one of the main advantages I find with my battery operated tools is no engine maintenance, so I'm not concerned with it sitting unused or fumes. But when I need "more power" I generally use my small 2 cycle engine tools. If I was to have to "weed eat" a fence surrounding 3 to 5 acres I'd go for my FS250.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Right now it would be used on 3 acres but as I clear more land might get up to 5 acres.

I guess the root of my question is more like, How much "time-on-trigger" and how heavy of brush do you expect each time you pick it up? Using it to clear 3 acres and trimming a 3 acre residential lot are 2 totally different things. I live on 11 acres and keep 3 as lawn but don't hardly ever use a weedeater, I Roundup around every thing I can. That said, my Milwaukee 8AH battery will last several mowings between charges. I can reasonably expect to get around 45 min of weedeating done on one battery with just typical lawn maintenance. That's not 45 min of full throttle, just the typical trim this, walk over there, trim that for 45 min. If I am clearing fence rows I pick up my Stihl 131, as I know that task is better suited for more HP and would run down the battery much quicker.

 

[scaredychicken]

Thank Goodness...

But it is not just California as I face this in Austria too...

Don't forget Canada is also in the mix as well as Rhode Island, Winston-Salem, etc.

Here is a Canada link.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/leaf-blowers-hedge-trimmers-small-tools-banned-ottawa-ncc-1.6252380

When California rolled out unleaded gas my friends outside California said it ain't never going to happen here.

We now know NEVER is measured in years...

I'm going to ignore what I don't know (bans etc) my local equipment dealer sells gas, battery, corded electric machines and even manual items like shovels
Gas and Oil will have a comeback, I'm confident of that.
I may look at battery items purely out of convenience ... lighter and easier.
I am a user of Professional equipment, but I am in no way a Professional user

 

[WVH1977]

I guess the root of my question is more like, How much "time-on-trigger" and how heavy of brush do you expect each time you pick it up? Using it to clear 3 acres and trimming a 3 acre residential lot are 2 totally different things. I live on 11 acres and keep 3 as lawn but don't hardly ever use a weedeater, I Roundup around every thing I can. That said, my Milwaukee 8AH battery will last several mowings between charges. I can reasonably expect to get around 45 min of weedeating done on one battery with just typical lawn maintenance. That's not 45 min of full throttle, just the typical trim this, walk over there, trim that for 45 min. If I am clearing fence rows I pick up my Stihl 131, as I know that task is better suited for more HP and would run down the battery much quicker.

I have ditches where I cannot get the zero-turn into yet, trees, items in yard where grass grows around, dog kennels, (weed eating the rows of corn because I let the weeds get up )etc. It is right much weed-eating. Right now I going to say hour to hour and half to get to most of it and this will be 2 to 3 times once the summer gets really going. I sometimes break it up into 2 days. Will also be using for Mom's house which is only an acre and well established.

I had the house built a little over a 1 1/2 years ago. I am still preparing lawn and maintaining existing lawn. I am also clearing more land little by little. So still getting used to everything. I am thinking about 3 more years and I will be mostly maintaining. I am perfectly fine with my current Stihl gas weed-eater for now but it does affect my arm, and back after prolonged use. I think it is mostly vibration related. It used to not bother me but getting more and more of a noticeable issue.

 

[tfuller]

Regarding the comments on professional use I see things going that way not because of power but noise. Your state may not ban gas equipment but I could see an HOA requiring homeowners to only hire landscape crews that use battery equipment.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

If it's what you want that is the only justification you need, I don't intend to talk you into or out of it.

But, it's the internet and I like giving unsolicited advice . If you want to save money or at least kick the can down the road... I use a harness for my big Stihl 131, There are lots of options available the one below is around $20 from amazon. The one I use is more of just a strap but it came with the machine, this one looks much better. It may help you with the arm fatigue? Also there are the bicycle handle trimmers that are better for use with a harness, they are supposed to be much more ergonomic for extended sessions.

 

[mikester]

I'm skeptical... String heads, pole saw and hedge trimmer take different amounts of power. We use the Stihl Kombi power head and the saw can be ran all day on a tank of fuel, where as running the .155 string head will drain the tank asap.

All day on a tank of gas? I can go through a tank in about 1 hour. I mostly use the pole hedge trimmer and pole saw on the combi system. String trimmer less frequent.

The negative to the battery system is noticeably less run time when temps are below freezing.

 

[rontaki]

I have an EGO electric trimmer that works great - for the suburban lot I bought it for, before moving onto 7 acres much of which needs mowing. Ergo, time to buy a gas model for the string trimming duties. Due to back injury, I feared the higher weight of a gas trimmer powerful enough to do the job.

I bought a Stihl FS91, the handlebar style trimmer, and their double shoulder harness to hang it at my side. Gotta say, I can use that for hours and my back is OK with it. I would have bought a larger trimmer at the time, but was afraid of the weight. Not anymore, this has never felt too heavy due to the handlebars and harness.

Sometimes I'll go through nearly 2 tanks of gas in one session. That would be a whole lot of batteries, or with only two, a lot of trips to the house to swap with a charged one.