Customer Reviews

Greenworks 21052 15-Inch 5.5 Amp Electric String Trimmer/Edger With Pivoting Head & Telescoping Handle

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have a small yard. This trimmer/edger works fine with a couple of exceptions: first it is head heavy and secondly, the left hand handle is not much use. The timmer works fine, but I have to hold the shaft itself, the handle leaves the head too heavy to use and I am not a weak person. As with most electric trimmers the head is heavy as everything is located there. In a gas model the weight is distributed at both ends with the trimmer itself at the ground and the engine at the top. On the plus side, it is quieter than gas, starts instantly, goes off instantly, and has plenty of power. On the negative side is the electric cord. I bought this model to go with my electric mower. The lack of gase and oil and difficult starting out weight the negatives. There is only one screw involved in assembly. I can't comment on changing the cord as I haven't done it yet. I did buy extra spools. The double lines are very effective. By the time I finished, I had just about mastered using the trimmer and edger. My rating of four is because it is a bit awkward to handle because of the heavy head. As a midrange inexpensive trimmer it is more than satisfactory. If I had a lot of trimming, I would have tried a gas model again,but I was worn out on starting the Craftsman gas edger I had to say nothing about the noise.

Update May 27 -- After fooling around with the adjustments regarding the head and the shaft, I found a position that that makes using the trimmer much easier both for holding and for trimming. This has made the trimmer much easier to use as it is easier to handle and easier to maintain a constant line while trimming and edging. As a result I have raised my rating. The double lines really can chew up the grass when you need to edge.

Update July 18 -- Although I am happy with the edger, it uses line at a fast rate. I have used the original line spool as well as the three spools that come in the prefilled replacement spool package (three spools per package for $17.) The problem now is the replacement spools are on back ordere. Greenworks 29242 3-Pack Replacement Trimmer Line Spool for 21052 and 21212. I presume I can reload the spools with other line of the same diameter. I line replacement is going to be a problem, I will lower my rating.

This is the first electric trimmer I've owned and I'm very pleased with it. It has plenty of power and works great as an edger too. I hadn't edged my sidewalks in the 5 years I've lived there but this trimmer busted right through the overhang. It is fairly lightweight and the ability to fold the head and handle makes it really easy to store in the garage. The edging guide works ok but it still requires you to pay close attention as you can't simply drag it along the edge of the pavement. The autofeed line gave me a few problems initially but I think it might just have been an issue with having a new spool. Don't mess with the Black and Decker (read the reviews) and get this trimmer from Amazon (I don't think Lowes / Home Depot carries it).

As with most small appliances, when they work they are great but if they are fussy you want to sling them against a wall. I don't like fooling with gas or mixes for convenience and environmental reasons. I don't use a trimmer enough to have it sit with gas in it or have to worry about "old" gas or "winterizing" as well as all the other ills which befall small gas engines. I wanted corded without the hassle of recharging a battery and this is one of the few available. I don't to a large enough area to go beyond the end of a cord anyway.
BUT.. this one is fussy about string advance and I have had to do it manually a number of times. The rectangular black button at the inside edge of the spool controls this function but is not identified in the owner's manual. String advance is mistakenly keyed to the "spool retainer" on the trouble shooting page saying in part "while pushing down on the spool retainer" Since this design has eliminated the "bump to advance" feature, this spool retainer does not move at all.
Having had pretty good luck with the Weed Eater brand in the past, I was not expecting the spool to be an issue.. but because it is bigger and broader than what I am used to .. getting the spool in and out can be a challenge unless you have a broad handspan and a good grip if you follow the instructions. They state "Push tabs on both sides" and then "pull up to remove" It implies that you have to push in the two tabs at the same time while pulling up which is difficult if you have an average or smaller hand .. You can push on one tab and get it up just enough to clear under the outside of the spool and then get the other side loose without the first one sliding back into place. but it takes practice.

Bought this trimmer after reading the positive reviews. Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the majority that said this is a quality product. Here's a list of the deficiencies I found:

1. This trimmer goes through string like crazy. The auto-string advance spits out 1/4-inch of string every time you turn the trimmer off for more than 2 seconds and there's no way to turn this feature off. I have a lawn of approximately 2000 square feet and went through the entire spool of string on the first edging job.

2. The head on the trimmer is very heavy and the handle isn't balanced properly to offset the weight of the head. My lower back and arms were getting really tired after about 20 minutes of trimming/edging. I feel that I'm in pretty good shape since I lift weights 4 days a week, but I was exhausted after using this trimmer for an hour.

3. If you're 6 feet tall or more, you'll find that this trimmer is too short for you. Even with it extended out all the way, I felt that I was stooping over the whole time I was using this trimmer. That would help explain the tired back.

4. Refilling the spool is difficult and getting it off of the head is a major pain. In addition, the trimmer cut-off blade wouldn't cut through the commercial-grade replacement string I bought and the string would just advance out and wrap around the motor shaft.

I was never able to get back to trimming with this thing after the original spool of string ran out. Had to get my 15-year-old Craftsman out of the shed to finish the job.

I'm returning this to Amazon and will continue my search for a quality electric trimmer that meets my needs. I'd suggest that you save yourself some frustration and look elsewhere, too.

This company makes a worthless product! My husband used it on our postage stamp yard twice (it takes him all of 10 minutes to do the whole yard) and that was all we got. The automatic feed line now continues to feed out line, which he cannot control, and then it wraps around the shaft and locks up. When my husband called the company, they told him that he needed to use a shorter extension cord. He has tried it with a shorter cord but then he can't reach the whole yard, which as I said, is tiny. How short a cord should one use with this thing?! Not to mention, cord length didn't matter, the same thing happens regardless. I just want to point out how ridiculous their one suggestion was. They said they would look at it if we are willing to drive it to their service center an hour away. Ridiculous! It is clearly defective...just replace it! We will never waste a dime on Greenworks products again.

I just received my trimmer today. I wanted to give my first impression after one use. I used it for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
It came packaged in its regular box, no extra packing, but was in perfect condition. I removed it and the guard easily. The guard was easy to put on, all I had to do was take the screw out of the trimmer, slide the guard on, and replace the screw. Couldn't have been easier. The trim line was installed already and I was set to go.
I easily figured out how to use the telescoping handle. On the handle, there is a part that you are supposed to slide up about a quarter of an inch to rotate the handle if desired. When I picked up the trimmer, I accidentally pulled that part all the way out of its place, and a spring and small plastic piece fell out. Not knowing how to replace those, I slide the piece back down and it locked into place. Once when I was trimming, it did slide back up and I just slid it back down locking the handle back into place. Hopefully this will not continue to give problems.
I took it outside, plugged it in, and cringed as I turned it on. I dread the sound of trimmers. But this was such a nice level of noise I could have trimmed all day. I started in to tackle my overgrown back yard. I have weeds of all kind, small trees, tall grass, basically just a mess of a back yard. I cut the jungle out the of the way with no trouble at all. Even the tall grass never got wrapped around the head of the trimmer. It works like a dream.
I trimmed until I noticed the line was not feeding through, even though I was stopping it and starting it as directed. I knew I would need to manual feed the line a bit, so I stopped. I was completely exhausted from chopping down the jungle so I needed the break anyway.
The biggest complaint I would have about it is what the other reviewers have stated. It is quite heavy in the head. I am a woman with no upper body strength, but I have noticed men writing about the head being heavy for them. The handle was useless to me, its was in a bad position and no way to adjust for a left handed person, so I just held the shaft of the trimmer.
I love the ease of starting and stopping the trimmer, no more stuggling to pull a cord and when I did finally get the old gas trimmer going, I was afraid to stop for any reason for fear of having to restart the trimmer. I love that the noise and fumes of my old gas trimmer are not a problem anymore. With the minor drawbacks of the heavy head and useless handle, I would still recommend this trimmer. It has power to tackle the toughest of jobs and that made it worth it for me.

I bought this trimmer to replace my lousy Black & Decker Grasshog. I was initially sceptical at first but after using it about 10 times, it works great and feeds the line out perfectly. By stopping the motor with the trigger, it automatically feeds the line out to the proper length. The spool is divided so there are 2 lines coming out of the spool and I find that it uses very little string especially compared to my B&D. It is also very powerful but just a bit heavy. It uses standard line. Very nicely made and a vast improvement in string trimmers. I highly recommend it.

As others have noted, this is a powerful trimmer that busts through accumulated grass overhang with ease. It is a bit unbalanced, but I found it easy to get used to and was very pleased with its performance in helping me get control of a badly overgrown lawn.
BUT;
1- the dual string design means that it goes through string in a hurry, and
2- replacement spools remain on back order!
ergo, the trimmer is currently useless!!
If trimmer string was as readily available as I had expected, I would rate it "four stars"; if it continues to be unavailable I will have to drop it to no stars, because it is of no use to me.

If replacement spools continue to be unavailable, Amazon should should clearly state so, or stop selling this item.

Due to the fact that my lawn mower would not start I used this weed trimmer to cut my entire back yard and I'm talking about grass that was at least 18 inches high. This trimmer went it through it easily without causing any problems whatsoever. It is well constructed with quite a few nice adjustment features like the telescoping handle for height adjustment for example. It also makes a great edge trimmer which results in just twisting the handle. Setting it up was easy, all you have to do is attach the grass guard which is no big deal. The only thing about it (and this is not actually a complaint) is that it is head heavy, all the weight is at the bottom. This is where the adjustment features come in handy to make handling this machine somewhat easier. And of course I have to mention as well that it is powerful so you might want to invest in some kind of eye protection. I did not give it five stars because I don't think any product we buy these day is worth five stars,just my opinion.

This trimmer does an excellent job in a short period of time. There is power to spare. A clip on shoulder strap makes it easier to hold and handle.