Greenworks 4 Amp 13″ Corded Electric String Trimmer

 Je n’ai pas utilisé encore le Greenworks Torqdrive Tondeuse sans fil 48 V (2 x 24 V)38,1 cm, 2 batteries USB 24 V 2 Ah et chargeur 4 A double port inclus j’ai juste essaye de charger les 2 batteries. Les 2 témoins lumineux rouges clignote pendant la charge. Clignote vert en recharge et clignote rouge batteris défectueuses écrit das le livret d’instruction 😡

I just ordered another GreenWorks 21212 4Amp 13-Inch Corded String Trimmer after three years of hard use on the first one. I live on the edge of the high desert in Oregon and I have been cutting my entire ½ acre property with one of these. This includes wire fences, rock gardens, ironweeds that grow up over a septic leech field. These are great trimmers BUT there are a few things you need to know to make them work right.
These are dual sting and the automatic advance will only work properly when you are using both strings. This brings us to the replacement spools sold by various companies which DON’T even fit the trimmer. So forget them and get a 200-300 spool of .065 round (I say round – I have not tried the edged string) string and re-wind the original spool which came with the trimmer. There is an arrow on top of the spool which will let you know in which direction to wind the spool. BOTH strings are wound in the SAME direction. To get the string started in the spool there is a slot in the spool and slip the string in the same direction of the direction you will wind. This locks the string in place and allows you to wind.
How to get the trimmer to advance once you have the stings loaded. AUTOMATICALLY – understand that there is no sensor in the trimmer telling it to let out more string. The string is advanced EACH TIME YOU LET OFF THE POWER and the spool is allowed to come to a complete stop. Just before it comes to a stop, you will hear a slight click from the spool. This means that it has reset the advance and when you give it power again, the strings will advance. You can stop and start the trimmer as many times as you like until the stings are where you want them. MANUALLY – you can advance the strings manually by turning the trimmer on its handle and looking at the spool for a little black rectangle button on the spool. Jiggle that and play with the string and the string will advance.
This trimmer is 4 amp which means there might be brush or thick weeds which you cannot get through without the motor straining. You can work around this. Go to one single string. BUT be aware the automatic advance will not work properly with only one string. So you will have to manually advance the string. This will reduce the drag on the strings and allow you to cut thru thicker grass and weeds. The cut will not be a neat and you might have to make two passes BUT the motor will probably not bog down.

We are happy with it so far. When our gas one sprung a leak we decided to go electric. I had other greenworks products and have been happy with them. We likes this one so much we have bought the blower and hedge trimmer that use the same batteries which is super convenient. Power is just as good as out gas one and no more noise or fumes. We have a large yard ( third of an acre city lot ) and the battery can do the whole yard without issue.

Folks, I have had both the 21212 and 21272 trimmers for couple of years. And I have hated both… Both suffer from the same simple problem: neither of them properly release lines. Yes, I have tried to put the .065 lines so many different ways (tighter, loser etc.), but no avail. As a result, my trimming/edging job took 5x times, I had to stop every 10 feet to manually advance the line. And if I got lucky and the line advanced properly then the spool got used up within couple of minutes of edging/trimming.

I was about to throw (give) them away, until recently I thought of a hack. I had .105 flexible line for my 10 Amp trimmer (what I use for brush trimming in the back of the property). Here is the Amazon link to it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MD2APKS/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1VJGKJ7IL94BT&colid=1U1YPGUS14IF8 I find this particular line more appropriate, it is softer material and it has the triangular shape to it and as a result I get a very thin blade like cutting path. Rigid, round shaped generic lines will produce a wider cutting path because of the inflexible, rigid curved lines.
Here are the simple steps I took:
1. Measured and pre cut lines.
2. Took the empty spool out.
3. Threaded the .105 line through the first hole. Note: 21272 needed a little of widening of the holes the 21212 had already wide enough holes.
4. Tied a simple bow/nut on the stem.
5. Threaded the line through the second hole.
6. Evened out the line to make sure it is symmetric and the bow is in the middle
7. Removed (unscrewed) the line cutting blade. There is no need for it on a fixed line and I get another half of inch line length..
8. Put the cap back
Take a look at the pictures.

I did a full edging job with both and I cannot be happier. Of course, each line only lasts until you wear it down, but it only took me 1 minute to put in my own pre-cut lines to get going. I created my lines by simply cutting them to the right length. I measured about 10-15 full minute (about 400 feet of edging) continues run before I needed to replace the line (wore it down).

Can you imagine your $30-$40 trimmer working with a .105 line? Can you imagine what output, efficiency and trimming/edging speed you get? Simply amazing… The difference in ease, speed and strength of trimming/edging is significant. And there is significantly less line needed. I can see the $12 200 feet .105 line package lasting me for a year, while I needed to buy the .065 packs monthly.

These trimmers would have earned a 1 star otherwise, but with this hack I am giving both a 5 star. You cannot beat the ease of use, strength and speed at these price points. Disclaimer: I am sure the manufacturer would advise against this hack, so please use it at your own risk. On that note, I know the manufacturers have to sell ready made spools and lines (they make money on them), which this hack would eliminate both. I still think they should look into providing this as an option, they would make a lot more happy customers.

One more thing. The 4 Amp 21212 trimmer is more challenging to do edging with, the wheels on the 5.5 Amp 21272 make my edging job much faster and easier. Both of them do very well for weed eating, it is difficult to notice more power from the 21272, they feel spinning at similar RPMs. With this hack both of these trimmers will do very well for their intended use.