American Gardener YS24 YardStick 10-Inch 24-Volt Cordless String Trimmer
by American Gardener
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List Price: Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of American Gardener YS24 YardStick 10-Inch 24-Volt Cordless String Trimmer
Customer Review: Great home trimmer if you don't want a gas model
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this trimmer at the beginning of the 2009 season. I mow and trim twice a week and my lot is just over 1/2 acre and contains planting beds, a retaining wall and fences. I do a lot of trimming and edging.
PROS: Always starts, no gas to mix, easy to switch from trimming (horizontal) to edging (vertical). Charger mount helps to store the trimmer out of the way.
CONS: I am still manually advancing the string because other reviews on this product have advised doing so.
After not being able to get my gas trimmer started this year I thought I would give an electric model a try. The recent reviews for the Yardstick looked good so I ordered it. Although it arrived in only a few days that was enough time for me to read some of the older reviews that were much more negative about the product. Buyers remorse was setting in before the delivery arrived. When I opened the package I was reassured for two reasons. (1) Nothing about the product seemed in any way flimsy as some reviews had stated. (2) There was a replacement cutter, springs and other parts included with the product. Basically, the parts that were described as being of poor quality in earlier reviews were included in case replacement was needed. I charged up the unit overnight and used it the next day. I completed all trimming and edging in about 30 minutes without any battery performance problems. Since I have been using this trimmer twice a week for about 3 months I have at least 25 days of trimming on it. It's dirty, but other than that it works like the first day I used it. No need for any of the replacement parts, nothing has ever fallen off of it. I did have to open the string spool to pull the string out after edging too close to the road in front of my house but that has happened with any trimmer I have ever had.
There were many reviews that stated that the trimmer worked great the first time but then the battery would not hold a charge the second time. As I said above, I have not experienced this problem. I don't know if the frequency of use has anything to do with it. After doing some web searches I learned that this type of battery should not be exposed to extremes of heat and cold. Maybe that is what caused the other users their issue. I plan on bringing it into the basement in the winter.
SUMMARY: This is a solid, dependable trimmer. An excellent choice if you want to get away from mixing gas and oil.
Customer Review: The BEST Battery Trimmer!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently moved from an apartment into buying a house. With a house (usually) comes yard care. I needed everything--lawn mower, trimmer, garden hose, rake--you name it!Gas trimmers were not considered. Friends' and co-workers' experience indicated they were loud, hard to start after a few years, and belch a continuous stream of blue smoke. Plus, I didn't want to deal with the mixing of gas and oil, and filling that wee little tank. Corded electric trimmers are fine, but my yard is big. It would take considerable time to handle the lengths of extension cord required.
So, I started to look closer at the battery powered trimmers available. I checked out the Black and Decker CST1000 and CST2000 (the "Grass Hog" models). The CST1000 was too light-duty, and the CST2000 had a gear drive I thought was doomed to fail after a few years of grass clippings and dust. Plus, neither model had a way to feed line manually in case of jams within the spool. The Toro 24 volt (model 51465) trimmer looked promising, but the safety switch was awkward and required too much constant effort. I didn't consider the 12 volt Toro because of the small 7" cut.
I had never heard of American Gardener before, but several selling points caught my eye. I liked the idea of 24 volts for power and run-time. And with a ball-bearing motor, I am hoping the trimmer lasts several seasons (Both Black and Decker and Toro DID NOT have double ball-bearing motors).
I had the "Yardstick" for a month and think it is well worth the money. The run-time is excellent. I swear I've had mine running for an hour almost continuously munching grass and weeds! The power is also excellent, and the motor is quiet and very smooth. The weight balance is good, and the safety switch is easy to operate for long periods of time. The housing is made of a thick rubbery plastic that looks like it would take the occasional "whoops!"
It is, in my opinion, superior to the other battery trimmers out there. Overall, a well engineered and made trimmer. The only "cons" I can think of is: It takes a long time to recharge (they all do). Figure about a day and a half after heavy use. And with 24 volts worth of batteries, it is no lightweight. But, I have had no trouble carrying for all the trimming I need to do (about an hour).
Kudos American Gardener!! HIGHLY recommended.
Customer Review: End Your Research... The YardStick is #1
Summary: 5 Stars
Ease-of-Use and Versatility! That's why you should buy the 24-Volt YardStick Cordless Edger. I did. Think about it, why do you avoid trimming your lawn each and every week? The trimming and edging really doesn't take that long. In my case, the reason I only trimmed about once every three-weeks was, (1) I needed to uncoil one 100 ft. extension cord for the front yard, (2) secure and tie the cord at the source and around the trimmer's handle (to avoid the "Houston, we've got a problem" power outage), (3) avoid the cord itself, (4) work a strategy for getting the cord around trees and flower beds, (5) trim the yard, (6) then rewind and store the cord... only to repeat the process for the backyard! All the real work was in the prep and storage time. What needless pain.So, I did the research, and my wife got me the YardStick for Father's Day. I looked at other cordless trimmer/edgers, but the recommendations on Amazon for the YardStick, countered by user cautions/comments about other battery (awkward position of start/power switch) and gas edgers (noise/hassle), helped me take the plunge and try American Gardener. A look at American Gardener's web page will help anyone understand that "trimming is their thing."
I knew I'd received a quality product right out of the box. The YardStick, although not a lightweight, was balanced, comfortable to hold, easy to maneuver while being rugged with an elegant/practical design. I'm a tall person, so the "turn style-like" handle adjustments and easy conversion to edger-mode were important. The test drive was a blast. I was amazed at the "quiet" torque created by the 24-volt powerhouse. Cordless has come a long way. This is also the only dual ball-bearing motor I could find, and it hums. The precision of the edging feature was a welcomed surprise.
The chore that used to waste a good 35 minutes, now only took about 12- front AND back! Then, I just placed the YardStick in the charger for next week. Cool.
Customer Review: First-class product - but read the instructions - and dump the line!
Summary: 5 Stars
Last year I retired my gas trimmer (too many expensive tune-ups, noisy, polluting, keeping 2T fuel a nuisance ) and bought the YardStick. It does an excellent job on my small lawn, and I have even used it for clearing long grass on a steep bank that I am attempting to reclaim (it worked, but was struggling somewhat). Contrary to other reviewers, I don't find it heavy or badly balanced, and it has two huge advantages. The first is the quick head rotation, switching from edging to trimming instantly. The second is the guide wheel, just above the spool, which allows me to maintain sharp edges without "wandering" into the lawn proper. But two cautions. The first is that it is fully mounted into the charging bracket when it is off-vertical! If you put it on vertically, see a green light and think you're alright, you'll be disappointed. Make sure it's slightly tilted and showing a red light, and you'll get a long running time per charge. The second is that it is definitely not an edging tool. Form your edges with a proper cutting tool, and then use the YardStick to maintain them, or you'll be frustrated by the slow progress and will use line by the mile (I pull out the line manually fairly frequently, and so avoid the nuisance of rethreading after a break). I strongly recommend this trimmer, without hesitation.
2010 updates: First: many reviewers complain about short battery life. See my comment above about the counter-intuitive way of plugging it in for recharging. Second: I have just bought my second Yardstick (batteries died on the first one, after a lot of hard use). The line broke every few feet of edging. Remedy: throw away the line that comes with the machine, and replace with 0.080" commercial grade shaped line (standard bulk supply from Home Depot). Today I completed my edging with no breaks, compared to 10 with the line supplied.
Customer Review: Works well, replaced gas trimmer
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using this about 6 weeks, it has worked well, and does a good job trimming thick Bermuda grass on a typical-size suburban lot. It does the job of a dirty finicky 2-cycle gas trimmer I had previously. Compared to the gas trimmer, this has a little less power and only one string (vs two), so its just a bit slower, but at the same time it seems to do a neater job as I feel I have more control.
I read other reviews from people that had trouble with the battery longevity. I have yet to measure that for myself but these sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries should work better and last longer than ni-cads, though one needs to follow instructions on keeping them charged and stored properly. Also it will harm the longevity of any battery to run it down to less than 20% charge. Absorbed glass mat (AGM) technology for SLA batteries (not used in supplied batteries) should do better with storage and be less sensitive to deep draining. When the time comes to replace the original batteries I hope to find some AGM SLA batteries in this form size from a 3rd party supplier, if not from the manufacturer.
UPDATE: The batteries lasted about 3 years for me. Their demise may have been hastened by the fact that we were reorganizing our garage over the winter and I left it unplugged while all that was going on and it took longer than we planned (several months). I easily found replacement batteries available from other suppliers. I got Powersonic 12V 3.4AmpHr AGM batteries that fit perfectly (two at $20 each) and the trimmer has worked like a charm all summer. I get plenty of power to do all the trimming of my city sized lot. People who are getting poor operating times or battery lifetimes may have gotten a unit that was "on the shelf" for a long time. The Lead-Acid batteries have a limited shelf life, particularly if they are not kept charged.