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Thread: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

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    Senior Member conrad's Avatar
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    Default Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Hi all,

    Just wanted to ask for some collective wisdom - I have a large job, probably about 3 acres of lawn and garden area, lots of paths and so lots and LOTS of edging... more than 3km of edges at a guess. So far it's all been done with my Husky Lithium line trimmer on the backpack battery - which is all good as far as doing edges and trimming into corners and around posts in one lap. Battery life is more than enough, no breaks required except for the operator which is the weakest link here! I swap the edging with one of my guys so it's not just him doing the whole lot for the entire day...

    But it's getting to the point where an actual edger attachment or dedicated machine is necessary.

    I would prefer to stay with electric cordless gear if I can - pretty much the only option is the EGO 56v Power Head + Edger attachment. But I'm not sure on run time with that... and whether the handheld edger is much better than a line trimmer.

    Or do I go with an Atom Edger or larger 3-4 wheeled unit?

    My only thought with a larger wheeled unit is how it would go when the roadside curb edge needs to be done, it would have to be wheeled along the grass which isn't always smooth and level... is that an issue?

    What style of edger would you go with for maximum comfort and job speed/productivity?

    Cheers!

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    Member Redeye's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Atom, for mine - just the one wheel ( which l run on the path/gutter, not the lawn....clockwise/anti makes no diff unlike the 3 wheelers) and one wheel makes it much easier on curves. On regularly done edges you can almost jog.......l wonder if they have any thoughts of going cordless?




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    Senior Member conrad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Quote Originally Posted by Redeye View Post
    On regularly done edges you can almost jog.......
    Now that I like the sounds of!!

    Which one do you have and how long does it run on a tank of fuel?
    Thinking I will go the Honda 4T pro model with all the anti-vibration stuff.

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    Senior Member NLALM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Id go the 2 stroke

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    Senior Member BeetleJuice's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    You'll enjoy using the atom,i no longer have the 2 stroke as my jobs aren't big enough anymore.Did see a council worker edging the park with the red one assume it was a honda
    If you are a tall person 6' or over then you may need to extend the handles some how or find something else

  6. #6

    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Quote Originally Posted by conrad View Post
    Now that I like the sounds of!!

    Which one do you have and how long does it run on a tank of fuel?
    Thinking I will go the Honda 4T pro model with all the anti-vibration stuff.
    Biggest 2 stroke Atom (unless you are very tall as they can be uncomfortable to use)
    On maintained edges it will be a breeze and will give a great edge

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    Member Redeye's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    yep, go the biggest 2 stroke




    http://curraronggardening.com/

    "All sin is washed away in the Holy goodness of Beer"
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    Senior Member geoff's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Ive had my 2 stroke atom for over 8 years and still going strong it gets used most days...these machines are fantastic for curves garden edges and nature strip straight lines ....acrtually hey are much faster than a whipper and do a great cut,,,so with my edges i use a circular blade that gives a nice 12mm groove better than the straight blade ...

  9. #9
    Senior Member RSM-Gazza's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Interesting topic,
    I've got a job 0.45km long and requires 6 lengths of that edged and 10 crossover driveways and several square box lawn features amongst all the other grass full length strips. Plus its all Vertical Edged.
    It's fortnightly as I use two Husky 323L light weight whipper snippers, Use one at a time and have one as back up as my Husky 525LST is too heavy even with the 200gr base plate removed and reverting to a T35X trimmer head saving another 50gr (323L has the T35x head). Used the Red 2 Stroke Atom when I first started to get it right.
    But using the atom every visit would be a joke.
    I'm pretty good can I say with straight vertical edging now as I've been doing this job for 7 yrs and all their other properties as well.
    I can walk both ways edging now and at a good pace using 2.4mm Trailer Blazer cord, But walking back wards is still the best straight edge.
    Have sorted out me fuel stop refills in relation to where the rig is parked and carry spare cord rolled up in me back pocket.

    Weight is the key to the whipper snipper with the 323L Husky at 4.1kg. If they break down I will have them re built, be new carb butterfly pins or pistons as they are discontinued. Because the shoulders give in with size of the job otherwise.

    Interesting to hear what is posted as in this job there are 3 full length gutter runs out of the 6 full length runs and I have traffic management to work with and early start noise pollution to comply with.

    Good post topic Conrad, hope I'm not hijacking it in anyway.
    Cheers Garry

  10. #10
    Senior Member conrad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Not at all Gazza, all discussion and comments welcomed!

    I hired an Atom edger this week to give it a trial for a day - I only used it for about a couple of hours and one of my other guys used it for maybe 3 hours. Seems like there is a knack to using it, and especially using it fast - was starting to get the hang of it after a little bit.

    But I have to agree with you Garry - I would say that I can still get better looking edges using a line trimmer. I think that's because it looks instantly good - the whippy clears the trimmings right out of the edge whereas the Atom simply cuts and leaves the trimming sitting in the edge/on the concrete. But damn it's quick on those long straight sections, and so much more comfortable for the operator if you're doing lots of it! What takes me just over 3 hours with the whippy took 1.5hrs on the Atom (but I did have to do a quick walk around again to trim around posts etc.)

    I did find that I had to stoop over a little bit, even worse when you have to cross a driveway... I also found the handles to be a bit narrow, would prefer if you could walk between the handles instead of having to hold them out front. Maybe something I look into modding for myself.

    Seemed like the blade on this hire unit was worn down a fair bit, it was struggling to get the needed cut depth on some sections and would just drag the plastic gear casing when I tried to angle it down more. Maybe just need to replace blades when they get to that stage. These ones still had about 15mm before the holes in the blade, but some parts of the job have the concrete raised up a bit, the lawn has sunk down.

    One area where it doesn't do well is on really overgrown edges. The wheel just rides up on top of the overgrown stuff, raising the blade height with it so you can't cut all the way through. Maybe there is a different setting/technique that could overcome this?

    One things for sure - for my guys who aren't as quick and as good as me on the whippy - the Atom lets them work heaps faster with a much more consistent finish!


    Well looks like I'm going to go ahead and pick up one of these in the "professional" model with the anti-vibration gear and the 2 stroke seems to be what everyone likes. The guy at Kennards said they much prefer the 2 stroke as well.

    How about using non-Atom blades...? The genuine blades are spring steel which help absorb shock so you're not damaging the gearbox, but for those of you using circular blades etc. has that cause any dramas for your machines, or are you just really careful when using it?

  11. #11
    Senior Member NLALM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Mate, ASP make tougher blades that last longer than the genuine , get the thick ones . At the moment I'm using genuine blades I got 15 sets on ebay cheap. I prefer the cross blades on the atom the round ones are good but put a bit more strain on the machine.

    Have you had a look at the edging attachment for your walker , I don't know much about them but could be good for those long lines, maybe you could get demo for a day.

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    Member Macka's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    The hire blades are worn down, that slows you down the plastic srubs on the lawn, blade doesn't go deep enough and can jump out, its just a pain, always run new blades and you will save hours a week in wages.

    Always run the atoms full noise, leaves a clean groove on maintained edges.

  13. #13
    Senior Member conrad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    Hey NLALM - which edging attachement for Walker are you referring to? I only know about the garden bed edger...

    Cheers Macka - Always run them at full noise... in that case would you still go for the 2 stroke engine? How much less fuel does the 4T Honda use at full trigger, anyone know?

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    Senior Member BeetleJuice's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    After owning the Atom and now running a stick edger the comparison between them is huge.
    Stick edger blades are cheaper and the edger is easier to hold for tall people.I run both curve and straight shaft on Stihl KM85 and KM90 4mix.

  15. #15
    Senior Member NLALM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lawn Edger for LARGE Area - Maximum Operator Comfort

    edger.jpg

    I don't know if they are any good, they were called the stevens edger, stevens are the ones who developed the multi deck

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