BLACK+DECKER 20V MAX Cordless String Trimmer and Edger with Spool, Battery and Charger Included, 2 Speed, 12 Inch (LST522)

My neighbor recently convinced me to purchase this trimmer. For the past 9 yrs I’ve been using a Husqvarna 4cycle trimmer which is very powerful and has performed great. But I needed a trimmer that could be used to form a nice demarcation between the concrete and grass…and also around flower beds. I would have to tilt my Husqvarna to achieve this but due to it’s design it would leave a “sloped” edge. This Black and Decker performs beautifully. The built-in wheel makes all the difference in the world as well as the ability to tilt the trimmers head (by turning the handle). The wheel helps stabilize the trimmer so that you can get a nice, neat edge and it even does very well around curves. It’s also much lighter than my other trimmer…very easy on the upper body. I have only used it once (today) but was so impressed I wanted to write this review. My neighbor has had his for years and it’s still going strong….so I’m not to worried about durability. If you need a trimmer for cutting down really tall grass or saplings, then a heavier duty model (like my Husqvarna) is probably what you should purchase. But for normal use, this trimmer will be just fine. I may even purchase an extra one just as a back up in case this model is ever discontinued (hopefully not). One more thing…it would be a good idea to go ahead and get an extra battery as back up. Hope this review helps.

Works well. Light weight.

The unit itself is very nice. Seems sturdily built and is lightweight. Adjustable length works well and locks securely. I question the need for two speed control, but their claim is the lower speed saves battery power. I am not sure how much of a difference it makes and changing speeds in use is not very intuitive. A better choice would be an in between speed which is permanent to get better cutting and a little longer battery life. My annoyance comes from the lack of much information about the "automatic line feed" and how it operates. The fact is, the user's manual is bare bones for user information. The booklet is small, is divided into three languages, and all of the "icon" diagrams to explain things are so small you need a magnifying glass. I wanted to know what triggers the line feed, how it knows to lengthen it, and how it knows to stop feeding. None of that information is in the book or on the Black and Decker website videos. Aside from that, the unit is built well and should be durable. It is a good value for the money.

This is an excellent weed eater. I got it initially to use temporarily since my gas weed eater needed repairs but now all I use is my Black+Decker machine. It's not heavy so my gf can easily use it, the length is great, the battery life is defent but I got three other batteries to eliminate the need to charge while working. I love the edging feature as well plus the two speed options. This product has exceeded my expectations.

My original trimmer was a Black & Decker one and it lasted MANY years. Tried some other ones (other brands) in intervening years but was never as happy as with the original. Now I feel I have come back to my roots. Have used this one over the summer and so far been happy with the trimming performance as well as the battery power. Mind you, my lot is 0.5 ac so I'm not trimming huge areas and wouldn't need major power tools.

I just spent the day using this whacker. First, I always buy insurance on hardware, so I am not worried about the product life span. Out of the box and usable in about 15 minutes. The only assembly is a tiny phillips head screw required to remove and replace after putting in the string guard. I used it for about 4 hours on 3 foot high clusters of weeds so nasty I could not pull them by hand. And I tried cutting them with shears, but that would have required days. But with this little guy with a charged battery (I bought two extra batteries-I want charged batteries on tap) I took them down to the dirt in hours. The auto string lengthener worked as advertised. It can be extended by about 4 inches, which as a tall old man, I needed. I live in CA and don't have a grass year. It is all landscaped, designed and with raised block beds and lots of edges these damn weed grow in fast in the winter when we get water. By late spring, these weeds own the fence lines, house foundation and all the raised beds. But not anymore. And this thing has a wheel installed to allow the device to be inverted and used as an edger. Because I don't have a lawn, I don't need the heavy duty model. I bought what looked to be the right price for my needs on sale. With the extra batteries and the extra spools of line, it was around $180. I would have paid someone a lot more to come and do it for me. Well spent funds for a device I will pull out once a month in the summer. If it breaks tomorrow, I will let you know.

I purchased a trimmer for myself last year and I liked it so well, I purchased one for my daughter this year. It is light weight yet does a great job and it's easy to replace the string. I have three black and decker batteries, it takes two charges to do my medium sized lawn, and all three batteries to do my lake property. I purchased an additional battery for my daughter too. My only complaint is the batteries take awhile to charge, so I ended up purchasing additional ones so I don't have to wait to complete my trimming.

This is an ok weed whacker, but it's almost more like a toy than a real garden tool. It only has one cutting string, which is nice on the one hand in that it is simpler to change, but it results in a less powerful cut. The type of cutting filament is floppy and soft, unlike standard weed whackers. The cutting power of this thing is moderate at best. It will cut through basic grass blades but cannot cut through the tougher root or rizome/stolon parts. It gets hung up on larger weeds and the softer filament tends to grab non-organic objects more than the firmer types. Edging was okay as long as it was just basic grass blades. Any thicker undergrowth/root structures that protruded onto the concrete were nearly impossible to cut back or trim with this device. Battery life was okay, but it was only the first charge, so maybe that will improve slightly. It was enough to trim about 100' around the edges of my yard. The product box was crammed very hard into a large Amazon box. It was partially crushed, in fact, because the length of the product box was about 4"-6" shorter than the Amazon box and whoever put it in there literally smashed one end of the product box in several inches. The weed whacker wasn't damaged though, so I didn't worry about the packaging. Overall if I had known before buying this what I know now, then I would save the money and apply it toward a more robust and stronger-cutting tool. If you have just a small yard with easy-to-trim grass, this thing is probably perfect for you. But anything beyond that I can't recommend this one.