Grass trimmers: Compare features & prices

Side-by-side comparison

Type of grass trimmer
Corded electric grass trimmers are mains-powered and have a power cable attached to them. Cordless trimmers are battery operated, and petrol trimmers are powered by petrol that's added to a built-in fuel compartment.

Length (M)
How long the power lead is (corded trimmers only)

Weight (kg)
The weight of the grass trimmer

Rotating head?
Most grass trimmers have a rotating head that allows you to switch between vertical cutting, ie edging a border, and horizontal cutting, such as cutting grass growing against a fence.

Line release method
As the trimmer is used the nylon line that cuts the grass wears down, so more line is fed out. There are different methods of releasing more line. Some trimmers do this automatically when the trimmer is started and are known as 'line fed', some require you to tap or bump the trimmer's head on the ground and are called 'bump feed', and on some manual feed trimmers you have to pull the line out yourself. A small number of trimmers use plastic blades instead of line which need to be replaced when they've worn down.

Overall performance
How effective and quick the trimmer is at edging borders and trimming grass, and how well it coped with longer grass and weedy patches.

Vertical cutting
How effective the trimmer is at cutting when the line is rotating vertically, ie edging grass growing over soil border.

Horizontal cutting - lawn edge
How well the trimmer tackles the edge of a lawn, ie the 15cm or so strip that a lawnmower can't easily reach.

Horizontal cutting - hard edge
How effective the trimmer is at dealing with grass growing along a fence, wall or other hard edge.

Cutting longer grass
How well the trimmer tackles grass longer than 15cm.

Cutting rough vegetation
How effective the trimmer is at clearing a weedy patch.

Line feed test
Does the line feed mechanism work effectively or does the line break and get lost within the spool?

Overall convenience
How easy the trimmer is to set up, use and maintain.

Setting up
How easy the trimmer is to set up and get going, ie how easy it is to adjust the handles and length, how well-balanced it is, how heavy it feels, how easy it is to fill with petrol or change the battery on cordless and petrol models respectively.

Ease of use
How easy the trimmer is to use, ie how comfortable the handles are, how easy it is to feed out more line, how much effort is required to carry out cutting tasks, how much it vibrates during use etc.

Recovering the line
How easy is it to access the line to retrieve the lost line or replace the line spool?

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