Customer Reviews

Black & Decker NST2018 Grass Hog 12-Inch 18-Volt Cordless Electric String Trimmer with 2 Batteries

5 star:		(374)
4 star:		(223)
3 star:		(72)
2 star:		(57)
1 star:		(71)

 

 

I think this is perfect for someone who really:
1) dislikes the noise and smell of the gas trimmers
2) wants something fairly light
3) does not want a cord to always worry about
4) already has firestorm or B&D 18 volt products (batteries are interchangeable)

I have used all 3 types of trimmers, gas, 120 wired, and this cordless one and I have to say the convenience is great. Instant on with a press of the switch is great. The plastic is a bit cheap feeling but it seems to do the work. I think it could've been much better constructed, but the battery life is pretty impressive and the speed/torque of the trimmer is also pretty impressive on a well grown/groomed lawn. It did have a bit of trouble instantly tackling a thick busy section of grass but after going over it 2-3 passes...it took care of it. This same spot has given me trouble even with the corded 120 volt version from Toro so this was expected. The gas one I had chewed through it easily but that's gas...

I think for light to moderate work, it's fine. If you have thorny and thick undergrowth or even small plants with a fibrous stem, it'll take more work to get down than a gas.

Oh..if you even TRY to 'bump and feed' this unit, you will find the spool falls off VERY easily with a solid thump to the bottom (THAT was a pain in the as* as it flew off and unwound a ton of filament that I had to rewind by hand and figure out how to put it back on!

If you have 18 volt black and decker goods like I do, then you'll REALLY like having the two extra batteries and one extra charger. I have 4 batteries and 2 chargers amongst all the goodies now so I know i'll always have more than enough juice for anything around the house.

I would vote 5 stars, but the plastic has a cheapy feel.

I just bought the B&D NST2018 trimmer along with the NS118 cordless blower. I have a corner lot with long parkways and a lot of sidewalk footage, and have grown tired of dealing with up to 175 feet of extension cables for my corded trimmer and blower. I've had a nice battery-powered mower for several years, and felt it was time to go all cordless. This new pair of tools seemed promising, particularly because of the removable battery design.

After only one use I can say I'm reasonably satisfied, but not fully sold.

Handling: This is probably one of the lightest cordless trimmers available and is easy to handle. The automatic feed system looks similar to the ones in other B&D models and seems to work properly. The shaft length is adjustable and the cutting head flips over for vertical edging.

Power: The trimmer is clearly not as powerful as my corded one. It deals with grass and light ground cover adequately, but has a hard time on anything with thick stems. Not recommended for whacking big stuff.

Battery: The batteries are compact. The trimmer comes with two of them, and I needed them both to complete one job. I guess I'm okay with this approach. It makes sense to lug around only as much weight as is necessary rather than carry a much heavier battery the whole time. If you buy this along with a blower as I did, you'll have four batteries and two chargers available for swapping. And if you happen to have a FireStorm 18v drill, you can apparently swap batteries with that system as well.

Quality: Build quality seems similar to most B&D stuff, meaning it will probably work for a few years.

Overall: Going cordless does simplify my work and save me time, but this tool isn't appropriate for all trimming jobs. I have a month to make up my mind about keeping it. But even if it passes muster, I suspect I'll want to hang onto my corded trimmer for the occasional heavy job.

I got this trimmer to replace a 14" corded Grasshog. Getting the cord out and dragging it around is a hassle. I had a cheap gas weedeater before and I could never get it to start, just ended up with a sore arm from pulling the cord. So I opted for this model. My first impression was that its wimpy. The string is almost too short. The battery drains quickly. It would be useless if 2 batteries were not included. But, it trims my 1/3 acre yard with hardly any juice left in the second battery. So, it does the job, but if you let your yard go for a few weeks plan on spending the weekend getting it back under control with the wimpy trimmer and anemic batteries. The auto feed, edger guide, and no cord are its best attibutes.

A new era of my life was begun this summer when I bought my own grass trimmer/edger and lawn mower. After five years of hiring one lawn service after another, I decided to mow and tidy my own lawn. Mind you, I am a senior citizen on the young end, a woman, and not a lover of machines with sharp edges that I must handle (not the edges, the machine). Just to make sure I could do this, I borrowed my brother's equipment. He showed me how to use them and I buzzed away.

On July 4th, I declared independence from lawn services by buying my own lawn mower and grass trimmer. I was nervous at first, but now I get out there and have the best time.

Here are the reasons that I like this particular trimmer (Black and Decker 18-volt cordless electric 12-inch Hog String Trimmer/Edger):

1. It is electric! That means no cord! When I was using my brother's corded unit, I kept thinking, wow, the person who invents a cordless unit will make a ton of money.

2. Other reviewers expressed dissatisfaction with the cordless machine because it was not strong enough or didn't last long enough or took too long to charge. Here are my findings:

a. Strong enough to do my job--didn't find this complaint true for me
b. I couldn't believe the unit faded out just as I finished. True, a yard any larger would require more charging.
c. The instructions say to keep the unit on the charger all the time. My unit is always ready to go when I am!

3. One of my biggest complaints about lawn services and one which they totally ignored me concerning was stripping the grass blades to just strings. These poor blades never got over the shock nor did they ever grow again. Since the lower part of my yard slopes, rain water washes the top layer of soil down the yard every time, creating a barren look. I could never get the grass to build up or soil to stay put. There are no stripped blades now!! The same is true wherever they trimmed: along brick edgers, around night lamp, and the area around my gigantic oak tree. Grass now grows right up to the roots which project from the trunk.

When I want to edge, I flip that shield over and edge away. Of course, one should always wear protective goggles.

Another great aspect of this trimmer is its spools of string. When I used my brother's, I had to restring the unit several times because the string became loose. My unit has already-strung spools to go with it. I can't believe how wonderfully this works! And no more bad words!

This trimmer is incredible and works only as well as the person in control! Plus, best bonus--my yard looks great!

I bought this trimmer because my old toro 7" 6 volt cordless trimmer finally died. This one has a ton more power,and the one I bought came with two batteries. The batteries are of the type that you can leave on the charger without damamging them, they are kept at full charge. I got about 30 minutes of continuous use out of the batter after its first 9 hour charge. Subsequent charges take 3 to 6 hours. The unit is also lighter in weight than several other models and the adjustable shaft is nice because my wife and I both use it and we differ in height by several inches so we can both use it compfortably.

I used the older 12 volt trimmer before purchasing the newer 18 volt trimmer, hedger, and blower. I do appreciate the fact that the new 18 volt trimmer is lighter but the battery life is woefully inept. The older model would complete my yard work which included trimming and edging 3400 square feet with some power to spare. The newer 18 volt uses 2 complete batteries and is gasping for breath at the end. I then use the last charged battery with the blower and rush to finish clearing my driveway before it requires the use of a ventilator. Is it necessary to wear a bandalero of charged batteries to do lawn work?

What is the advantage of using 18 volt batteries if there is no increase in power or longer battery life? The added voltage will keep you warm on chilly days but I would rather sacrifice a hot battery for one that lasts longer than 5 minutes at full strength.

Like I said, it is good to use lighter tools but I don't see the promised increase in power. Both trimmers rate at 6800 rpms and both blowers have the same air speed at 120 mph. Yes, the 18 volts recharge quicker but I don't mind overnight charging if the 12 volt is going to complete the entire task.

B&D's new lawncare trio is really the only choice in cordless technology but could they have given us the new lighter weight tool while keeping the same or better battery longevity?

Interchanging batteries with other B&D products is admirable but developing a better overall lawncare product should have been the top priority.

Black and Decker makes good products, that's why I expected more from their latest offering.

I vent, therefore I am......

Tony

Jupiter, Florida

I bought this for my father who is approaching 70 years old. It is very light and very easy to use. We have burmada on our lawn. The first time we used it, there was a lot of growth so it took three batteries to finish his lot. I do have to point out that he had very bad technique. After I showed him a better way to do it, it worked more efficiently and now if he or I use it once a week, I may be able to get by with one battery. Because it inverts, I can do 40 feet in about 30 seconds, if you edge frequently and don't have massive growth. Just don't push it too close to anything you are try to get rid of, it slows it down and it doesn't work properly and the line won't come out. It has a 12inch area so remember to utilize that. I've also have edge and trimmed the yard 9 times this summer already and I still haven't used the spool of line yet. With our gas one the work would take about 45 minutes and I would have sore back from the extra weight. Now I complete my work in less than 15 minutes. This has been a pleasure to use.

I want to like this trimmer. Unfortunately, my lot is too big and a few problems have cropped up in 2 years of use.

The batteries have lost about half of their capacity. I use to be able to make it around my 6/10 acre lot on the 2 batteries. Now I can cover about 4/10 acre with 2 batteries. Edging even drains them faster. I would only recommend this trimmer to someone with 1/4 acre or less. The charger is very basic (no charged LED). If the charger is not a trickle charger, this could explain the shortened battery life.

Another problem with the string head has cropped up this season. Seems that the string head wants to fly off about once per outing. Most times the spring goes flying and is hard to find. Just the force from spinning is throwing it off (no ground contact). Rewinding the string is very annoying and I have read at least one other review with this same problem.

Generally I avoid Black & Decker products as the initial low price is a poor investment when you are replacing it in 2 to 3 years. At $100 for this trimmer, it definitely isn't a cheap trimmer! For cordless freedom, I was willing to take the chance. I'll probably have to replace the Grasshog this season with the highly-rated Stihl FS45. A professional-grade piece of equipment for only $40 more!

Pros:

-No cords or gas/oil mix!

-Rotate and edge is very nice!

-No bumping to advance the string.

-Comes with 2 removable batteries.

Cons:

-Battery capacity greatly reduced after 2 years.

-Should include a smarter charger.

-String head falls off frequently.

-Black & Decker durability!

If you're tired of 'bumping' the string, breathing in noxious fumes, and dealing with cans of gasoline and oil for the typical gas trimmer, then the cordless Black & Decker 12" Grasshog is the way to go.

I bought two trimmers from Amazon. The first was the 9" Grasshog, and the second was the 12" Grasshog.

The 12" Grasshog model is the definite winner. It is lighter, comes with 2 batteries that charge in 6 hours, and it cuts a larger swath through grass and tall weeds.

The key to making this trimmer even better is to buy a dual 18 volt charger. That way you can trim in the morning, wait for the batteries to recharge, and trim in the late afternoon or evening. I also bought 2 additional X-Treme batteries and a second dual charger to go even longer.

This trimmer is woefully inadequate. First off, the batteries last all of about 11 minutes on a full charge. I have fully charged BOTH batteries five times each. Ten full battery charges STILL haven't finished my 1/2 acre yard. Using a quality voltmeter, a fully charged battery reads approximately 20.8 volts. It becomes unusable and requires recharging at around 18 volts. The less-than-3-volts spectrum of usable power renders this product pretty much worthless.

Further, the Auto-Feed System (AFS) string feeder uses WAY more line than a bump-feed trimmer. Again, without even having completed my yard ONCE, it has already chewed through a whole 30-foot spool of line. This is entirely unacceptable. Much of that 30 feet was completely wasted. Bump-feed trimmers hardly waste any line, as YOU decide when to let more line out. Portraying the AFS system as simpler than bump-feeders is ludicrous - really, how hard is it to bump the spool when needed?

This Grasshog is going back to the store TODAY. Which is a darned shame - I'd much prefer a cordless trimmer to a corded or gas-powered model. But only if it WORKS, of course. I consider 2-stroke engines environmentally unfriendly, and a pain to deal with. But what's ultimately important is they WORK! I will be reluctantly replacing this Grasshog with a Troy-Bilt gas trimmer - tougher line (.095 instead of .065"), much more power, larger cutting swath, accessories-capable, and it won't die every 10 minutes!