Men are From Gas Powered, Women Are From Electric – Review of Troy-Bilt Weed Wacker
If there is one gardening implement that has drawn lines down gender preferences, it would be the weed wacker. I should know, I now own 3 of them. My most recent weed wacker acquisition came from Troy-Bilt (being the Troy-Bilt’s TB57, Lithium Ion String Trimmer) who wanted me to try it out and let you all know what I think about it. And I felt very qualified to do this because, well, I own so many of them now.
My weed wacker collection started out with me going and buying a weed wacker we were in need of one. So I drove myself down to the hardware store and bought one. I bought one that I liked, an electric one, the kind you plug into the wall like a vacuum cleaner and look like a confused housewife wandering around your yard.
My husband was not pleased. He had no desire to look like a confused housewife (he was doing just fine looking like a confused husband, thank you) and he then went out a scoured yard sales until he brought home a rather large gas powered one.
He hated the electric one because he thought it was prissy. I hated the gas powered one because it was heavy and stank. Often, the neighbors would watch the street theater as my husband and I casually wandered around the yard and weed wacked with our own weed wackers trying to prove, non-chalantly, that our weed wacker was the better weed wacker.
Now, I have this weed wacker from Troy-Bilt. It is a battery operated weed wacker and seems to address the issues that both my husband and I had with each others’ weed wackers. Now, technically, my husband is not here to speak his mind on it, but, like all wives before me, I feel that I am entitled to but my words in his mouth.
The Troy-Bilt weed wacker was light enough for me to carry around, and did not have the allegedly sissy electric cord leash. It certainly had the power to cut through the massive patch of thistle that had sprung up around my compost bin (it was like a scene out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre watched on a TV where the color is really off).
I do have to say that I did have some difficulty putting it together. I can honestly say that in this case, the problems started when I skipped the step my husband usually takes in skipping reading the directions. The directions confused me and that made it difficult to put the weed wacker together quickly. I probably would have been better off just putting it together without the directions.
But, once it was together, it worked very well. And the really nice thing about it being battery operated was that when I noticed I had missed a spot, it was no more difficult than picking it up to correct the problem. No lugging the power cord back out. No struggling to get the thing started again.
So now, I have to figure out what to do with the other two weed wackers. I suppose I could always paint them and list them on Craigslist as a matching set of his and her weed wackers.
Been there! Done that! I cannot use the gas powered weed whacker, way too bulky for me to lug around! I can’t use an electric one, I would require enough electric cords to use on 1.5 acres with about 45 trees… not including all the stuff we have planted through the 16 years we have lived here. So I wanted a rechargeable one, we had one (Toro!) before and I loved it, but it bit the dust after 10 years of (ab)use, but hubby says no to another one, HE’LL do the weed whacking, I’m not to worry about it anymore! ok. I’ll just plant more things… 😀
We’ve ‘been there done that’ too! Hubby HAD to have the commercial grade John Deer brand gas-powered whacker. It’s so heavy and awkward, I can’t use it. I had a rechargable one for a few years and it bit the dust; I’m planning on buying a new rechargable one this year. The Troy-Built sounds like a good one if it powers through thistle!!! Wow!
Funny that we have had the near opposite experience – I like the electric one we have, my hubby wants a battery powered one. He said he’s afraid he’ll weed whack the cord!
That is so funny about your husband seeing the electric as too prissy. So does mine! We’ve been looking at new mowers and I want an electric, which he throws a fit about… yet, for the almost two years we’ve lived at our current residence he’s mowed the lawn exactly ONCE! I don’t think he’s much argument on what kind of mower to buy when I’m the one doing all the mowing. Men! HA!
I, too, have a rechargeable weedwhacker though mine is a Craftsman. I love it! We have a gas-powered weedwhacker that was just too heavy and loud. I really enjoy cutting the weeds, but just could not hold out using the gas one. I can trim the whole yard and the fenceline behind our house with no trouble at all. If you have a large yard like we do, I do recommend purchasing an extra battery. I can’t trim our yard on one charge.
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Thanks for the review! We are both getting old enough that weight is a serious issue with us, but we still need one for some areas. I really dislike the idea of weed whackers all together, but for creek banks and irregular garden edges…
In any case, the rechargeable may be our solution!
As much as I liked this article, I’m so glad that I live in an apartment and don’t have a yard. I can see -exactly- this kind of debate going on between my husband and I when we eventually get a home. I can also see one of us taking out the cord, as someone else mentioned!
I wouldn’t mind weedwhacking (it’s my least favorite yard thing to do) but our weedwhacker was a gas one. Hubby is currently looking for a new one since our current one bit the dust. Gonna mention the battery powered kind to him now. I’m so glad I read this blog!
I THINK WE COULD TAKE THOSE HERS AND HIS WEED WACKERS OFF YOUR HANDS. (Also gardeners not too far outside of Cleveland), we have been debating the exact same thing. My wife claims we need a trimmer (ug, “weed wacker” is too cumbersome) so much she tried to convince me that’s all she really wanted for her birthday. I thought, uh, yeah right, I’m going to buy her a weed wacker for her birthday? No way! I was thinking the only think more lame than buying an electric trimmer would be buying an electric trimmer for your wife’s birthday present! I didn’t even know there existed weed wackers besides gas powered. However, when she just this morning told me her dad always had an electric weed wacker, I though, hmmm… maybe they DO work??! So, I will call him to ask since he’s been supposedly using one all these years (unless she was just using that story to convince me…).
His & hers weed whackers? What a comical thought! I thank you for this amusing article. Perhaps it is just the retired landscaper in me but I simply adore my commercial grade, macho-powered, gas guzzling weedy. I can definitely connect with the green fluid Texas Chainsaw Massacre having literally mowed entire acres of 6 foot high weeds with nothing but a weed whacker. Gooey and juicy are descriptive words that come to mind.
I have this Trot-Bilt model and both myself AND my wife use it and love it. I used to use a gas powered weed wacker, but Now it just collects dust in our shed.
I got a house, not long time ago,and now, all those question, how, where, when are popping in my mind, I even didn’t know which whacker to get. Now, at least i know something
I have a corded electric and I HATE IT!! I HATE having to get the cord out, actually several because I have to daisy-chain a bunch just to get all the way around my yard. I HATE when the cord gets hung up on something and I have to stop whacking and go untangle. I HATE that the cord always seems to be popping out of the hook-up even though I use the locking device. But I love that it is so light-weight, quiet, and easy to start. I can’t lug around a heavy whacker; and I know that people say that the re-chargeables are light, but exactly how light are they?
Funny article. I have always been against cordless and electric weed wackers since I am a property manager and use more commercial equipment and really havent heard of commercial cordless weed eaters. But the residential models are getting better now a days I have been hearing. Maybe soon they will have cordless weed wackers that lawn care pros will be using. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Well, weed wackers are a real need for gardening. I prefer electric one and my hubby prefers gas powered one. As a result, we have both… haha.
UPDATE!! A year later…since I posted above that my wife actually wanted an electric trimmer for her birthday…OKAY! I happened upon an old Toro electric trimmer at a yard sale last spring. The thing is really tiny and simple and never breaks down. It really is amazing since it works fine. MY NEW STANCE: Why would you need gas unless you must trim far from electricity? Clearly, from the other comments, those who prefer gas almost always just want to feel macho. Those who are more sensible buy an electric one that has far fewer parts to break (as in hardly any parts to break). Now my only question is what to do with my old gas powered trimmer that I can’t get to start any more? Oh, one more thing…my wife would never be able to trim around the house during our toddler’s nap with a gas unit, but the electric one makes hardly any noise. The choice is obvious.