Are Gas Weed Eaters Better Than Their Electric Alternatives?

Choosing the best weed eater isn’t easy since there are so many options out there. Before we start talking about gas weed eaters and if they are better than their electric alternatives, we need to answer a more important question:

What are you going to be using your weed eater for? Are you a lawn care company that services a lot of residential customers and looking to find the best commercial weed eater that’s easy to use and can last for a long time?

Or are you a homeowner that’s looking to buy a good weed eater to improve the looks of their small yard? These usage intents are very different from each other and as we dive into this topic, this is something we should keep in mind.

What Type of Weed Eater Do Professionals Use?

Professionals and lawn care companies have always used gas-powered lawn equipment for a long time. But that’s starting to change, and it’s changing rapidly.

Gas-powered lawn equipment has evolved a lot, to the point where a lot of their previous problems (their weight, noise, air pollution, etc.) were massively minimized.

Newer gas weed eaters are more fuel-efficient, they produce less noise, and they are easier to use compared to a decade ago.

In the same way, gas weed eaters are extremely powerful and reliable machines that can last for a long time and if they are properly maintained, are just too good to resist.

Battery-powered weed eaters are usually not as powerful as their gas alternatives, but they are extremely easy to use which is why they are actually favored by homeowners.

But this is slowly changing, California has recently voted a ban on all gas-powered lawn equipment which is going to force landscapers and homeowners to use electric or battery weed eaters.

Unfortunately, this will present a huge problem for most smaller residential landscaping companies that will need to invest to replace their equipment, buy replacement batteries, etc.

This all costs a lot of money and it causes other problems, like for example carrying additional replacement batteries, disposing of old batteries and other general problems related to providing their service.

Biggest Benefits of Gas-Powered Weed Eaters

Gas-powered weed eaters have been around for a long time, and they’ve proven themselves to be extremely reliable. Most professionals prefer gas-powered weed eaters due to their power and reliability.

They are also much easier to repair in case something goes wrong. While most electric and battery weed eaters offer a couple of years of warranty, gas weed eaters can easily last a decade if they are maintained properly.

But the biggest benefit of gas-powered weed eaters is that they can be used for 24 hours straight and when you run out of fuel, you can easily add more and keep using them. This makes them super popular among lawn care professionals since they don’t have to worry about batteries or cables.

One of the downsides of gas weed eaters is that they have to be regularly maintained, which is also why a lot of homeowners are probably better off by going for battery or electric alternatives.

Green Weed Eater Alternatives

Just because gas weed eaters have more power and are easy to use doesn’t mean that they are always better than their greener alternatives. There are two types of green weed eaters: battery and electric weed eaters.

The only difference between them is that battery weed eaters use replacement batteries that have to be either charged or replaced in order to be used. The main downside of battery weed eaters is that most battery weed eater units run out of their battery really quickly which is why a lot of landscapers just hate using them.

But, when it comes to using them for your own yard, they have more than enough in them to take care of your needs, which makes them great for homeowners with smaller yards.

Electric weed eaters are standard corded weed eaters that use, you guessed it – electric power! But one of their downsides is that they must be consistently plugged in and if you’re working for a long period of time, that cable might make things more difficult by making your weed eater less maneuverable.

Biggest Benefits of Electric and Battery Weed Eaters

If you’re a homeowner and you prefer to handle your own yard work, electric or battery weed eaters should be able to cover all of your needs.

Electric or battery weed eaters are excellent for residential use, especially due to the low noise they produce while you’re using them. They are much easier to start as well. Not that gas-powered weed eaters are too difficult to start, but battery-powered weed eaters can be used by anybody.

Apart from being easier to start, they are also lighter than their gas alternatives, which makes them super easy to carry around and operate.

You should definitely try out an electric (corded) weed eater before you make a decision to buy one since a lot of people hate cables. Also, this might be a bit too obvious, but corded weed eaters are limited to their cord, and you will need to have them plugged in at all times in order for them to work.

Even though battery weed eaters aren’t limited by the cord they are limited by their battery size. But newer models should easily last long enough for you to run circles around your yard and the battery endurance is not something homeowners with smaller properties should be worried about.

When it comes to their pricing, they are pretty similar to gas models, but you will need to buy a battery immediately which will cost significantly more. Batteries usually come with warranties of around 3 years so you should be safe, at least during that period.

Conclusion

Gas weed eaters are definitely not always better than their electric and battery alternatives.

Over the past decade, technology has greatly improved and today, most of the electric lawn equipment for homeowners is in a lot of cases better than their gas alternatives.

But, using a weed eater for your personal needs and using it to service dozens of yards is nowhere near similar, that’s why gas weed eaters are still going to be a #1 choice for most lawn care business owners.

As the technology is improving, electric weed eaters are getting much better and electric lawn equipment is slowly starting to be used by landscaping businesses.