Flymo Mini Trim ST Electric Grass Trimmer, 230 W, Cutting Width 21 cm

Product Information

Battery-powered strimmers have a limited amount of run-time before you need to stop and charge them. However, how long the battery lasts for depends on its size and power. Some cordless grass trimmers will have a battery than only lasts 20 minutes, but others (normally with a battery of 4 Ah or more) can last around 30 – 40 minutes depending on the job. Always rake through long grass or undergrowth first, before using cordless grass trimmers. This gives hedgehogs, frogs, toads, grass snakes, newts, mice and all our native wildlife a chance to escape. This model comes with two 20v lithium-ion batteries and each one should give you about 30 minutes of running time. In our test it performed really well and was comfortable to use. It's also lighter than most of the cordless competition. Upon opening the box, you’ll see that there are only a few components to assemble, which is a good thing since the instruction manual isn’t very clear. Assembly is relatively simple and only took me about 10 minutes.

It has to be said, this trimmer isn’t particularly easy to assemble. While the line arrives pre-loaded so you don’t need to do it yourself, But some physical strength is required to put it together, and the instructions are a little unclear in places. Protective clothing such as ear defenders for louder motors with more power can be useful, particularly if the job is going to take a while. This is particularly relevant for a petrol strimmer, but certain electric trimmers can also be very loud.

Share this article

It’s not just the low weight that helps here, it’s the clever design of the GT50’s adjustable handle and cutting assembly. The whole thing is so well dialled, ergonomically speaking, that it feels like an extension of your arms. That’s one good reason for consideration before we even touch on arguably the best bit – the cutting method. A telescopic shaft and adjustable handle will help improve comfort . Also, a second handle makes controlling the strimmer easier, particularly on more powerful models (30 – 36 V). This is a lightweight and powerful cordless strimmer with a telescopic shaft. Even with the large 4.0 Ah battery installed, it weighs just 3 kg, which earns it a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for large areas. While I was disappointed with the strimmer’s ability to handle dense vegetation, its battery life impressed me. It came with two batteries, each one 1500 mAh. Initially, I didn’t expect much from them, but each one lasted for 30 minutes – just as long as larger batteries from other brands. The fact that there were two of them meant that this strimmer gave me the longest run time of all (an hour in total). As with a lot of things, personal preference will likely dictate whether you choose a mains-powered or battery-powered strimmer. It also depends on the job you are doing, whether you need slightly more power with a mains-powered option, or prioritise the freedom of cordless tools.

You get a 2.0 Ah battery included with the trimmer, which is about powerful enough to run on top speed for about 20 minutes. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it should be enough to tidy up a small to medium size garden. You can, of course, run the trimmer in eco mode that will stretch the run time out a bit though. Assembling Bosch garden tools is usually a simple task, but this cordless trimmer required quite a bit of strength to put together. As long as that’s not an issue for you, assembly should only take about 15 minutes. Something that I think makes this the best garden strimmer for edging is the guide wheel on the string end. You simply pull and twist the shaft to convert the trimmer from horizontal to vertical mode, and the wheel means you’re always at the optimum height for cutting.

The best powered grass cutters for the garden

Like all the best strimmers, the Ryobi’s trigger features variable speed control which is a boon when scything through different types of foliage. And when the going gets really tough, simply swap the 30cm auto-feed line for the 20cm Tri-Arc brushcutter blade which is capable of annihilating everything in its path. In general, there’s a lot to say about the design of this cordless grass trimmer – it’s all been very cleverly thought out. Just about everything is adjustable – the handle, the head, and even the cutting width (25 cm or 30 cm), which is a feature that most other cordless strimmers don’t offer. It may take a bit of practise initially, as well as trial and error, to work out where the cutting line is, but it doesn’t take long to master. Hypothetically, you could use a strimmer to cut a lawn, but it would take a long time. Strimmers are much less efficient at this task than lawn mowers, and it’s more difficult to get an even cut.

Design: To be ranked high, models needed to demonstrate the right balance between weight and power. Cordless strimmers weighing 2.5 kg were best for long-term use as well as short bursts of activity, so they were rated higher than heavier models. For strimmers weighing more than 3 kg, we assessed whether the design accommodated this, such as with a harness. Designs with adjustable cut paths (ideally 25 – 30 cm) were rated higher as they could be used for both lawns and more difficult places, like in between bushes, improving the versatility of the strimmer. Like all small petrol engines – both four- and two-stroke – this one benefits most from being used with Aspen fuel which you can read more about in our guide to the Best Petrol Lawn Mowers. Petrol strimmers. Powered by petrol these typically have steer handles - explained in more detail below - and a curved, angled shaft. Because they use fuel, they’re often more powerful than corded and cordless strimmers, but petrol is polluting and messy to store and use. They’re also heavy, noisy and need regular servicing. Thanks to the rise of cordless batteries, they’re less common nowadays, particularly for home use. As the line wears down, new line needs to be fed into the cutting head from the spool. Sometimes this is done manually, but most cordless trimmers have a system in place to make this process automatic or semi-automatic.A cutting style that you get on with – as mentioned above, strimmers can use either cutting line or cutting blades. Keep this in mind when shopping, and decide if you’re more comfortable (physically and economically speaking) replacing wire or blades when it wears out. Being a lightweight strimmer, with so many adjustable parts, the Terratek cordless trimmer was easy to use. However, it does vibrate considerably, which is a bit of a concern. At 7.7 kilos, this model is pretty heavy but thankfully it comes with a shoulder strap which, when attached to the balance point, helps reduce the weight on the front so that it effectively floats just above ground level. Just be sure to have the heavyweight battery in place when adjusting the pivot point. The loop handle, meanwhile, comes with a bar extension for a variety of hand positions, though I should add at this juncture that Greenworks also offers a bike-style handlebar version of this model, so perhaps consider that if you think a wider handlebar is better suited to your needs.