Buyers Guide to Grass Trimmers and Brushcutters

Grass trimmers are designed to trim the grass around the edges of your lawn. A brushcutter on the other hand is designed to tackle thicker, denser clumps of grass around a vast area, not limited to lawn edges.

Brushcutters therefore offer the ability to change the standard nylon cutting line with a grass blade, allowing them to cut thicker grass. The best grass trimmer or brushcutter for you will depend on the size and complexity of your garden, and they are available in three power types; battery, electric and petrol.

Typically designed for small, domestic gardens, electric grass trimmers plug into your homes electricity supply. They are lighter than petrol and battery grass trimmer, but do not offer the same power or performance as a petrol grass trimmer or brushcutter.

Battery or cordless grass trimmers are better for larger gardens, allowing you to move further from the house or power source. However, you must consider things such as…will you manage to cut the whole garden before the battery runs out? The best battery grass trimmers will have a fast charge time. Lithium ion powered battery grass trimmers re-charge the quickest and are the best battery grass trimmers you can buy. Lithium ion is also the most powerful battery on the market today, but also is the only battery that does not decrease its power output as the charge runs out. That means you have the same power and performance from your grass trimmer, right up until the battery is fully empty.

The most powerful grass trimmers and brushcutters on the market. They are capable of tackling long grass, coarse weeds, or rougher vegetation.

The benefits of a petrol powered product are lengthy and include; faster cutting, easy portability and they have a versatility to cut wet shrubs. Petrol grass trimmers and brushcutters are predominately best for large areas of grass, which usually take a long time to maintain. With there being no cord, you’re completely free to trim the grass without having to worry about finding electric outlets – so many people use them for their speed and portability.

The downside to these is that petrol brushcutters and grass trimmer require additional maintenance compared to their electric and battery versions. They require both petrol and oil to be added to the machine before use. They are also noisier when in use.

Brushcutters or grass trimmers that are termed as split shaft (they come apart) tend to allow a range of additional attachments to be added to the product. This helps make them into a variety of other tools like a hedge trimmer, pole saw or even a cultivator. These combi trimmers are ideal, as it means that one tool designed to cut the grass can be turned into a whole range of tools that can take care of your entire garden no matter what the season is.

Cutting Width
Bigger isn’t always better in this case. The larger the cutting width, the more grass will be cut at a time – this will always do the job quicker but not always be the best option. If you want to avoid damaging your plants or flower beds, a smaller cutting width is the best option. Also, grass trimmers with a plant guard are perfect if you tend to cut near or around plants and trees and don’t want to damage them.

Cutting Line
If you plan on cutting thicker grass, a twin line (referred to as dual line) trimmer is the best option. This typically comes as standard on petrol and battery powered grass trimmers, however, basic electric grass trimmers may only come with a single line.

Extending your line
You will need at some point to extend or unravel more cutting line from your trimmer. If you cut too closely to trees, over time your cutting line will break. The best grass trimmers will have an automatic line feed that will feed the line when required, or as with McCulloch petrol grass trimmers, have a Tap n’ Go trimmer head, where you simply tap the trimmer head on the floor and the cutting line will extend. The alternative is to stop the trimmer and manually pull the line out and restart your trimmer once again.

Comfort
Electric and battery products are typically easier to start than petrol. You tend to just press the button and off you go. Petrol products tend to require you to have to follow a starting procedure to get going.