Black & Decker 18-Volt Cordless Electric 12-Inch Grass Hog String Trimmer/Edger #NST2018

Here's my usage: 1 acre surrounded with chain link fence - and I have to do both sides; plus 200 feet of concrete driveway; three out-buildings; 16 trees, posts, etc.; another couple hundred feet of shrub beds.

First - chain link fence and trimmers do not play nicely together. Prior to this trimmer, a trip through this yard with electric or gas meant several reels of line. With this trimmer - slightly more than one reel! I've had this for the entire 2008 mowing season. It does a better job of actually trimming along the fence than any gas or electric trimmer I have used in the last 35 years - period.

Second - power is not an issue unless you are trying to clear heavy stuff that hasn't been kept trimmed.

Third - battery charge leaves a lot to be desired; it takes a long time to re-charge and extra batteries are expensive. It takes about six batteries worth to do all that we have to do. I've solved this by buying their tiller (see review) and a second trimmer. I now have 5 batteries and three chargers. The second trimmer actually cost very little compared to the price of two batteries.

Fourth - I'm 63 with a bad back - the trimmer is well balanced and the weight is no problem.

The batteries when fully charged last only 20 minutes each and by then the trimmer will barely rotate. Batteries also lose their charge if not used often and it may take three to nine hours to fully recharge. It is disheartening to be almost done with the task and lose power.

After having a few gas trimmers which would get to be hard starting after a year or two and a host of the 120 volt AC trimmers with cords, I decided to try something new.

It works as well as the others even though it is battery powered. I can trim my whole yard in 20 minutes on just one battery with plenty of power left over.

It does not do as good a job of edging as a 4HP edger with a steel blade but it will work well for trimming between serious edging.

If I have one complaint it is that it is unclear how to treat the batteries. Do they stay in the charger forever? The charge light never goes out. How long should they charge at a time? There are no instructions for this.

I am pleased with the performance of this trimmer. I'm glad I do not have to hassle with gas miture or weight of trimmer. I have a small yard and wanted an electric trimmer, but didn't like the idea of power cords being pulled all over the yard with the trimmer.

Bought this little string trimmer on August 27th.
Worked great for about three to four weeks. The safety switch then hung up. The only way you can turn it off is to unplug the battery. The motor now only lasts for about five minutes before a recharge is needed. Since Amazon's magic return policy only goes for 30 days, I'm out of luck. When I emailed Amazon about the inability to return it, they never even responded to my email. Not buying another Black & Decker product and not buying through Amazon again.Black & Decker 18-Volt Cordless Electric 12-Inch Grass Hog String Trimmer/Edger #NST2018