Black and Decker Grasshog Trimmer

This is a capable weed-eater. I began my first foray into lawn care this spring, and I was looking for a lightweight weed-eater to tackle the three-foot high weeds in my backyard. My regular lawn-maintenance guy decided not to return my calls, and like many people I was looking to save a little money if I could by doing it myself.

It's not too heavy even for someone like me who's only five feet tall. I would recommend wearing gloves if you're going to be weed-eating a large area, because I've had rough spots come up on my hands if I forget to wear gloves. They're not blisters, but they're certainly a step in that direction. My arms don't get tired when I use this, either.

The Grasshog is an automatic feeder which means you don't have to bump the tip on the ground to get the spool to give you more string when your string gets worn down. Well, at least it says it is on the box. I found that the work got done faster if I stopped every five minutes or so and pulled out the string a bit myself. It would have been a lot easier to have a weed-eater that I could bump instead of relying on a system that didn't feed out the string automatically.

I acknowledge that this is a cheaper model, and I'm assuming that you do get what you pay for. I don't think I expected it to be perfect, but it was definitely better than the $30 weed-eater I'd gotten earlier this spring (I returned two of them to Lowe's when they kept breaking, and I noticed the second time that Lowe's was no longer carrying them). When I kept the string at a good length I had no problems with this trimmer, and I did do most of my one-acre yard before tackling it with a lawn mower because it was really overgrown. 

Now I use this trimmer for the hilly areas of my yard and also for trimming around the porch and the fence that goes around my property. It gets the job done in a hurry, and it even has one of those holders in the handle so you can attach your extension cord so you don't keep unplugging yourself everytime you turn around or take a step. The only downside besides the string feeding issue is the fact that I have to drag a 100-foot extension cord around with me. However, I've tried battery-powered weed-eaters and they just aren't as powerful as this electric one. I certainly don't want to have to carry gasoline around in my car if I don't have to, so the electrical cord is a good compromise. 

I'm a novice when it comes to lawn care: I have an allergy to grass and I was never allowed to mow when I was growing up. Now that I have a yard again it's a necessary chore, and since I'm single it's up to me. This weed-eater has made keeping my grass a very manageable task, and it's great for women who don't want to mess with a heavy tool.