Customer Reviews

Toro 51358 3.9 amp 13-Inch Electric Trim and Edge String Trimmer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

My old Craftsman 2-cycle trimmer gave up the ghost so I decided to go green with an electric. Once I got it going, the old Craftsman used to make short work of the weeds in my garden and behind my house.

The string broke about 12 times on the Toro and I had to open up the spool to fish it out. And the garden was only about 1/4 done. I finally threw it down in disgust and gave up. It may be OK for trimming the grass around the edges of your yard, but that's about it.

This trimmer was purchased to replace a 1980's vintage Toro trimmer that worked great but finally wore out. While my old trimmer lasted over 20 years this product of "Value Engineering" didn't last 20 weeks. The first feature I noticed is that the adjustable handle can't really be adjusted to function as a comfortable balance point for a normal human being. The second feature of questionable worth is the large guard on this trimmer. The guard is incredibly effective. It is unlikely you will cut anything by accident or even on purpose with this guard in the way. The next feature is the auto-jam operation of the string feed that ensures the string never gets anywhere close to the outside edge of the guard. And the final, and to me most useful, feature is that while bumping the trimmer on the ground won't feed more string it will break the cheap plastic shaft between the handle and motor in half. This really is the most useful feature as now I can toss this piece of trash and buy a trimmer that actually works.

I had my Toro 13" model 51358 String trimmer less than a year. I bought it because it had what looked like the nice feature of turning the handle over and it became an edger. From the beginning, the advance-the-string by tapping it down never worked well. I would stop the trimmer, turn it over and tap the center with my hand and withdraw more string with the other hand. This worked for a while until the smooth metal grommet from where the string fed out from the housing disappeared. The string was now exposed to the sharp plastic edges of the string housing. Two feet of edging and no further before the string broke! After about 6 premature string breaks, the edger fell on the driveway (with a little help from me!!) and the handle broke off. The breaking of the handle was a good thing because the edger now fits very well in the recycle bin!

THE TORO HAS MORE POWER THAN MY OLD ONE.

USED ABOUT FOUR YEARS THEN I COULD NOT

GET THE CAP OFF TO REPLACE THE STRING.

NOW I KNOW THAT GRIT ACCUMULATES AND IT

NEEDS TO BE CLEANED ONCE AND A WHILE.

MY OLD MATH TEACHER USED TO SAY A WORD

TO THE WISE IS SUFFICIENT.

The bump feed did not work properly in the horizontal trim position, and did not work at all in the vertical (edging) position. I bought this trimmer to replace an older version which finally burned out after many years of service, so I know how they should work. With this one it was trim or edge for a foot or so, remove the head to feed out some more line, replace the head, and repeat- over and over again. Very frustrating. I even rewound the line on the spool a few times because it seemed to be trapped by overlapping line. I finally returned this trimmer. Overall, I have always liked the Toro brand, but this trimmer just didn't cut it (literally).

Not only is this trimmer very weak, the string feeder is terrible. The plastic threading is not aligned, the string is either stuck or spools out because the cap holding it down will not tighten. Then the plastic eye the string is threaded through broke off altogether. I got 2 1/2 uses out of this flimsy product.

after buying two other trimmers that were self feed 'and and only gave frustration.
this TORO bump feed works really great. had one years ago that had given many years of service. finally found this on the web...just the right size for a shorter person

I bought this string trimmer last summer, it has worked very well for me until today. It lasted about one year and now I am looking for another lightweight trimmer. Today the hole where the string feeds through broke off and now the trimmer is not usable. I was very happy with it because it is lightweight making it easy for a woman to use. I would say the 13" cutting span isn't quite enough but tolerable. If you wish to use it for about one year then get it because it may break in one year. A bit cheap quality-wise and I am so disappointed it did not last longer. Not sure if I will buy this brand again.

I've been a loyal Toro - Electric Trim and Edger for many years. I've always been very satisfied with their products. However, I will never purchase this brand again. The line feeder did not feed properly. The line would roll back inside after less than 3 revolutions. The little eyelet that you string the line through the cap fell off. All this happened within 5-7 mins. of use. I should heed the negative reviews posted on this item. Please...reconsider your options!

TORO's bump-feeding trimmers proved to be so AGGRAVATING that I promised myself that I would get on Amazon and write a SCATHEING review. I did not have this exact model, but I have 2 models -- the 12in and 15in, that were new last year. On both models, every 60sec the string broke (happens), but the string would get jammed in its own crevice of the screw mechanism, or would disappear back into itself. This required hand-untightening the string chamber. However, if hand-tightened, often one cannot untighten it 60sec later -- leave hardly tight. I don't own a gas trimmer, but I went online and spent $30 for replacement teeth for my friend's trimmer so that I will have access to his -- that bad. When I was a kid, I used a string trimmer and occasionally had to advance the string (2-3 times per yard). In 25 years, what has TORO done to FAIL SO MUCH on such a SIMPLE electric motor application?!