Black & Decker 20V MAX* EASYFEED String Trimmer/Edger

I've been using my old B&D trimmer for 20 years and it still works but it's too small (I'm over 6' tall) and corded. I recently tried out a friend's new cordless trimmer and it was great but too heavy. It was time to upgrade so I got the B&D LSTE523 since it's about 2 lbs lighter than the one I tried. Comments: I wish it could be extended a bit longer like by an inch or two so I wouldn't have to bend over as much since I'm 6'2" but it's a lot longer than my previous one. Seems to shoot out a lot of debris but probably cause it's more powerful; wear protect gear! It is the best trimmer I've ever owned; I find myself anxious for the grass/weeds to grow longer so I use the trimmer lol. Pros: Battery provides an hour of power, plenty for my medium size yard. Much more powerful than my previous one and good enough to quickly trim the edges in the roll mode. Auto cable feeder works well; don't really need to use the button to extend the line. Adjustable handle is great as i can change the position for comfort depending on the task and for storage. Unlike gas trimmers, no gas, oil, filters, smells, starting issues to worry about. Cons: Battery a little heavy since it's bigger. The charger that it came with is slow and takes 7.5 hours to charge it if the battery is empty (not a big deal as I only need to trim grass once a week or less). BTW, the LSTE525 comes with 2 smaller batteries if the weight is an issue (costs a bit more though).

This is a great trimmer for home use. It's light, can do both trimming and edging, and has improved significantly over the previous model. The cordless concept gives you a lot of freedom. I have a corded edger with a blade and it's great for the really challenging parts of the lawn, but nothing beats the convenience of this cordless model. How well does it trim? For a home with a front and back yard (probably around 4000 sq ft lawn space) I found the 3Ah battery just enough to cover both yards if using a judicious mix of the two power settings. The low power setting is fine for most of the trimming and even some of the edging, but I use the higher power setting for thicker growth. This is for St. Augustine grass common in the south. If you have hardier substances to cut or if you need to use the higher power setting more than I do you may have to charge in the middle of the job and it does take a while to charge an empty battery. You can also buy additional compatible batteries on the Black and Decker 20v systems on Amazon which I would recommend for those with larger/tougher jobs. Which one is for you? The biggest differences with this model series are the batteries they come with and the string feed mechanism. I've included a chart to help understand the differences between the models. Some thoughts: - The basic 522 and 523 appear to be physically identical trimmers except for the string feed. The 522's is automatic, the 523's is manual. My old 400 had an automatic feed that worked but there were times I would have liked to have been able to feed it when the automatic didn't trigger. - The 523 appears to be sold in two options (at least it was when I bought mine). One option comes with a 3Ah battery, the other comes with a 1.5Ah battery. The bigger battery is heavier but lasts longer. If you have a smaller lawn, or you want the lightest weight, maybe the smaller battery unit is better for you. Although the unit is not heavy, you may feel it after using it for forty minutes. Again, if battery life is an issue, Amazon sells additional batteries separately, and they're compatible with the whole line of Black and Decker devices including cutters, drills, and more. - The 525 seems to be identical to the 523 but comes with a choice of either a 3Ah battery or two 1.5Ah batteries. - The entire 500 series (522, 523, etc) are a big improvement over the 400 series due to modifications to the trimmer/edger conversion mechanism and also the change of the auxiliary handle's friction clamp to instead a fixed pivot point on the handle assembly. This makes the 500 series easier to use and more reliable. 6-Jun-2019 update: Saw a bunch of negative reviews from people that had issues with quality control on their units. I don't doubt them. I had issues with the previous generation of this unit. All I can say is that even with issues, I got four years out of the previous model and this one so far has worked fine. Stories of the awful (and probably outsourced) support from Black and Decker are disappointing, but that's the price of dealing with some corporations.

This is my 2nd weed trimmer I bought in the last 6 weeks. The first one is a "heavy to lift" gas engine with brush cutting blades and the spool for grass cutting. I used it a few times and decided that I should get another one just for grass cutting. After looking at many battery models and reading reviews I decided that this may be the one. Now there were some cheaper ones while this one comes with two batteries and that is a nice feature. So what do I like about this weed trimmer? The fact that one just plugs in a battery and presses a button and away you go. No mixing gas, and often struggling to get started as with a gas engine type. I also like the “push a button” feature when more string is needed. Way better than the "bump to the ground" ones that never seem to work. Of course, this one is way lighter than a gas model. However, after 15 minutes one’s arm does get a bit tired as one has to continuously hold the trimmer off the ground and not skating on the ground. I hooked up a harness for mine and now I can go all day. I used it the first time for about 20 minutes and that then took about 2 hours to recharge the battery. After 20 minutes the trimmer still ran as if it had had a freshly charged battery. Manual says to recharge the battery after every use to prolong battery life. One interesting comment in the manual is that spare spools should be stored in an air tight bag with a table spoon of water to prevent the spools and string from drying out. That kind of surprised me. So what do I not like about this trimmer. It has very thin plastic line about half the size of my gas engine one, and the line gets frayed pretty easily and I would deduct that the 30 feet of line gets used way faster than on a gas engine type with the heavier line. I also would have preferred that there were two lines exiting the spool and not just one thin line. However, it does cut grass pretty nicely and even thicker grass. I was also not expecting it to be as loud as it is. I found that if one is cutting grass that is close to a wall, the little wheel hits the wall first and as such one cannot cut the grass that is close to a wall. I discovered the best way to cut grass close to a wall is to angle the trimmer, so the little wheel is no longer in front. Overall, the assembly which was almost nothing, was easy and for a battery trimmer, I would think it’s as good as any in this price range and would recommend it. Shipping was one day sooner than the earliest date and that is appreciated.

Ligera, no necesita cable de alimentacion, solo si el pasto es muy largo o una superficie grande vas a requerir varios dias, o mas pilas. Viene con dos pilas, tardan unas 6h en cargarse y al ajustarla en la segunda velocidad (para cesped largo o espeso), dura cada pila unos 20min de trabajo ininterrumpido. Linea de corte muy facil de montar y avanzar.

As a woman that was looking for an easier way to do lawncare this year, I opted to buy this because it's light and simple. It has two speeds, one normal and one more powerful. I trimmed grass along my fence mostly, so it cut that with ease. It also cut through thicker weeds well too. I did not experience any weakness in this tool unless the battery was dying. I love that the length is very easily adjustable for use and storage. It also edges pretty well, however, it will use up a lot of the battery. It also can be used with other Black & Decker batteries, so I was able to use my hedger batter with it. I will say, I do think these batteries may be a little weaker than my old ones. Regardless, the product works well and was a great value for the money!