This is the preliminary report.The first look at the strengths and weaknesses of that new weed-whacker.
The news is not great.
Not terrible.
Just not great.
When last I blogged, the 18 volt batteries for that new weed-whacker were under full charge. Two batteries, each to be used alone, with the other ostensibly serving as backup. Each battery taking in the vicinity of nine(9)hours to charge. An eighteen hour investment in weed-whacking, and yet there'd been no whacking, so far. I was optimistic.
Monday's rain ruled out running like a loon through the yard lopping off 90% of last year's growth on those ornamental grasses, the grasses being the main reason for that new whacker. By Tuesday, the rain was gone, the sun was out, and the wind had been whipping enough to dry things out.
Sliding that first battery into the whacker, a solid click indicated it was in there, and in there right. The thumb-switch is the safety feature. You depress that, then squeeze the on-off button, which in a gas-powered whacker would be the throttle.
A slight squeeze and my new toy damned near jumped out of my hands. This whacker was capable of some serious work, it meant business, I held its power in my hand. It was ready. Me, too.The first ornamental grass I walked up to was eye-high and ready to be cut back. (Ornamental grasses spring from the soil up with new growth each year, no growth takes place on last year's growth, so they should be trimmed down to almost ground level.)
I tucked into that baby with the whacker wide open and screaming like a circular saw. In seconds, job done. Magnificent!
Next grass?
Ahhh, there's one. Buzzing, growling, old grass blades filling the air, another one was closely trimmed, another one ready for this year's new growth, which is already underway. Things are very early this year.
I'm moving, outta my way!
Next target is a clump of dwarf grasses needing a trim. I'm there. They should go within seconds. Some did. Some didn't.
The change from boisterous raw power to a half-hearted whine from the new toy was deflating. At first, I thought it was me. Soon, like in seconds, it was apparent that it was not me, it was the new toy.
More specifically, it was the new toy's "fully charged" battery. Nine hours of charging, roughly ten minutes of whacking and....pffffttt. Done. Gone. Discharged. Dead. Croaked. Out of juice. Out of power. The will to whack there, the wherewithal to do so not.
Ripping out the spent battery and shoving in the other "fully charged" cell took seconds. Again, this thing nearly leaped from my grip and trimmed those grasses unguided.
Also again, nine hours of being plugged into our kitchen wall would yield about ten minutes of whacking, tops. After five or six minutes this thing lacks the power to pull a straw hat off a marble statue.
To Summarize...
...I'm disappointed. But I'm also willing to admit that my initial whacking was pretty tough stuff. The job at hand wasn't just edging a walkway, it was mowing down some sturdy vegetation. Not like working one's way up along the Amazon, mind you, but not dainty work either.
...I'm encouraged. When this machine's batteries are peak, it has the muscle of any its gas sucking cousins.
...Patience continues to be a virtue. A re-read of the manual indicates that four or five discharges and charges may be necessary for these batteries to reach such state of charge that the max capacity to hold a charge is achieved. (Why do I feel an urge to insert, "Party of the first part..." into that sentence?)
Even with showers over the weekend, I do plan on some whacking. So, be sure and join us next time on The Weed-Whacker Report...
