Makita XRU15PT1 36V (18V X2) LXT® Brushless String Trimmer Kit with 4 Batteries (5.0Ah)

Update: been using it for quite awhile now and can only report great things. Love the variable speed and that I can can reverse to detangle out of messes. Batteries still going strong and they charge quickly. Its a beast! Original review Bought this for the easy to start feature...I expected to sacrifice some power. Nope, I am very happy with the job it does so far. I have yet to test it on really tough weeds, but the trimming I've done around shrubs and along the fence line has worked great. I think on the low setting it is even easier along the fence line than my trusty Husky was--I lose less string against the fence, while the Makita still does the job perfectly. The battery life is great, a couple hours later I needed a break before the batteries were used up. Love having the extra batteries, that factored heavily into my decision to buy. Love that I can start and stop so easily. Surprised how well the weight balances using the strap, I thought it might be too heavy (5'2", 150#). I almost gave only 4 stars because I'm not happy with the trimmer head--specifically, it doesn't hold much string, and its not as easy to refill as some are. They should have just given it a 20' easy to load head, instead of I had to order one separately. The 2 extra batteries more than make up for that, however. Otherwise, I love this and expect my spouse may even start using the trimmer, now that theres no messy oil mixing and the start up glitches of a gas motor. I'm very happy with this purchase, but I will update this if I find problems down the road.

Quieter and less maintenance than a gas trimmer. Before buying i was skeptical because I have very thick tall grass and used a powerful gas Stihl weed whacker. I still love my gas Stihl, which is a bit more powerful, but the Makita trimmer can handle almost everything. The real reason to get this set is the two bonus batteries, for a total of four batteries in the box. That way you are always able to charge two while you're using the other two. Overall, I’d say the pros are the Makita is quieter, cleaner, no carburetor to clean out, don’t have to worry about your gas going bad over the winter, no engine maintenance. Cons are that it’s maybe not as powerful on the toughest if thick grass, but it can do almost all of it. You’ll have to change out batteries more frequently than refill a gas tank, but it’s probably better for your own body to take a break periodically to do this anyway. Maybe if you are using it for 6-8 hours a day, changing the batteries would get tiresome, but for most people who aren't using it literally all day long, it is solid. Would recommend.

I have been using a Makita RBC251 trimmer for more than 20 years. That model has a gas engine (2 stroke) which has worked well all those years, powerful, well balanced and a good deal lighter than the 4 stroke trimmers of that time. But it was time for a change, I decided to get the Makita 36 volt model. OK then, here is how this electric version compares to my old 2 stroke Makita tool. First off, the weight and balance are very close (Makita engineers probably used that old tool as a reference point) and they look pretty much alike as well. The electric version is quiet and doesn't require mixing gas and oil or any arm straining starting exercises --- but it does have a significant lag in spin-up time. Gas version spin-up to full speed was less than a second vs the electric at three times that. I should mention that I was using FULL POWER. My weed cutting action is typically tall weeds and some with thick stems. I tried the two lower power settings and quickly decided full power was what I needed. In that mode, it had equal power to my old gas trimmer (impressive!). Battery life was fair at that setting and for my use. I got 40 minutes of use before I was down to half charge (two bars). I estimate a reasonable run time to be 1 hour so that I would leave some charge in the Li-ion battery pair. Recharge on the new (discharged) batteries was about 2 1/2 hours. From the half charge state, about an hour. Getting an extra set of batteries with the tool ensures I will be able to do any weeding needed in one continuous session. I am very satisfied with this new tool and I do recommend it. Update: The trimmer cord (green) that comes with it was used up at about 1 1/2 hours. It required many "taps" and broke off a couple of times. After the second break, I took out the remaining cord and tossed it. The cord used on my Makita gas trimmer was .095 dia (Orange) vs the .080 (Green) trimmer cord. I put that Orange cord on the electric Makita. It was much better! It lasts a lot longer (fewer taps needed) and it cuts better at medium power. So much better that I ran it at med power for all of my lesser weed cutting needs. Makita says use .08-.09 dia. cord and the .095 is the closest larger size, though the trimmer head is rated for several larger size cords. Bottom line: The Orange cord works better on this 36V trimmer IMHO.

I searched a plethora of reviews, comparisons, youtube, prices, etc. After 'weeding' through the complaints of the negative reviews (which I'll cover shortly) and the pros and cons of its peer group, I took a leap of faith that any battery weed eater could possibly be worth $400. It most definitely is! Let me dispel the most common negative reviews I saw that are utter nonsense. First let me begin by saying I live in the country and have always just sprayed ground clear because keep gas powered weed eaters running was too much trouble. So this bad boy weed eated overgrown areas that hasn't even been sprayed in a few years and had big healthy weeds that any gas powered would get nervous about. 1. String gauge too small and or not as powerful as a gas. WRONG. With the standard string and on the medium setting, it cut down everything in its path without delay or problem. The only time I had to put it on the high setting was when I was clearing and actual path in a large area and not just a line around a tree or building. 2. Someone actually said it was too loud. Really? Not even going to justify this with an answer. The same can be said for the next few inane complaints I saw. 3. Too hard to assemble. 4. It slings cut grass all over me. 5. I didn't like the free safety glasses that came with it. 6. Too heavy. 7. The bump feed string head is awkward. Yada Yada complaints by people that have apparently never weed eated or lived outside an apartment complex in downtown. The included charger and 2 sets of batteries is what totally wiped out its only real competition that is going to add another 3-4 hundred in hidden costs. With the fast charger and two sets, you never run out of juice. Instead of stopping to refuel a gas tank, stop, swap batteries, put old ones on to charge, repeat. Run it on medium, which is plenty and I never have to swap more than once anyway. It's direct drive motor sitting on the cutting head is awesome. This machine can compete head to head with any other electric or gas power and hold its own and once you include the charger and batteries included in the kit, BAM, no brainer.

Best electric weed trimmer ever! I’ve gone through several weed trimmers, both gas and electric. This one easily hangs with the best of them. For the homeowner, the 4 batteries is enough to have one set fully charged while the other is in use. We have a half-acre plot with plenty of shrubs, trees, sidewalk, and rock edging that all need cleanup with the trimmer. I can do our entire lot at full power at least 4x before needing to swap out the batteries. It’s plenty powerful enough for everything I’ve thrown at it and never had it stall out once. It’s plenty light enough, no obnoxious 2-stroke noise or smoke, and has instant power with no constant throttle bumping to keep it alive. No carb cleanout every spring! No fuel mixing or storage! No 2-stroke oil! Bonus that the batteries are Makita standard and can be used in other portable tools. I’m an ICE gearhead, but this electric trimmer has converted me for life!

I read recently here on Amazon a response by a Makita rep where someone asked what country are these manufactured? The Makita rep stated that was of no importance as the QA is the same no matter what country. Well, I beg to differ..here's your proof. After receiving the product today I've discovered poorly written manuals that didn't pass a QA spell check, a QA grammar check or usage accuracy. Image #1 - what is a "Coun-tire" Image #2 - the sentence begins "With finish of charge," - poorly written grammar how about "When the charge is finished" Image #3 - that nylon head appears used but outside of this, on Page 12 of the Cordless Grass Trimmer Manual, nowhere does the manual state to Thread the Nylon Head in Reverse. I tried for 15 minutes thinking this was a poorly threaded shaft when I recalled plumbers thread in reverse, let's give that a try. Sure enough, the nylon head threaded. Image #4 - the charging station - when the charging station is facing the consumer, it's not obvious to lift the plastic clip on the rear of the battery to release the battery from the charging station. Is it too much trouble to put one sentence in a manual? Outside of the images above, let's head back to page 12 in the manual of the Trimmer: that hex wrench in the diagram shows "5. Tighten" and "6. Loosen". This should be Lock and Unlock as there's no threading involved, it's an up or down positioning to lock the shaft in place. Somewhat confusing as nothing can be tightened or loosened. Actual Usage: With respect to the Trimmer unit itself, it's got plenty of power on the middle speed. In fact the high speed was not utilized. The unit to cut through all types of weeds, very thick grass and even areas of wild mountain blackberry and stinging nettles. The slowest speed is ideal for areas where there may be gravel or other small rocks. This will aid in your safety and any nearby windows. The weight with two batteries is quite manageable and the life of the 5.0 amp batteries is excellent. I had plenty left over to use the Makita blower after approx an hour and still did not drain the batteries. The included stringer didn't break once.

I got this Makita XRU15 trimmer during an Amazon Days sale, with 4 batteries included which also fit my several other Makita tools. That was a good bargain and I'm glad to have replaced my gas trimmer which was dying anyway. It's quiet and easy to run, with some assembly of handle, guard and strap (included) required. The guard at the bottom is inadequate as others have mentioned but it'll do if you wear boots and your old pants. Based on other reviews I had also ordered the Shindaiwa 78890-30000 Speed-Feed 400 trimmer head at the same time, giving much easier loading of trimmer string than the Makita which is similar to my old gas trimmer head and very complicated to load string into, a major drag on progress when you have a lot of weeds to cut. The main point of this review is to let you know the Speed-Feed 400 will fit this model Makita XRU15 trimmer WITHOUT any adapters you may see offered in some kits with that head (at a higher price). Just get the head only and screw it on in place of the Makita head. I bought the kit with adapters , which costs more, but did not need them. Apparently some Makita trimmer models do need the adapter but this one the XRU15 or XRU15PT1 does not. Enjoy your weed whacking.

This looks to be a well made string trimmer. It is heavy duty. And also heavy and tall. Luckily it comes with a shoulder strap or I probably wouldn't be able to use it for long stretches as I am not a big person. I haven't used it much yet, just tried it out for 10 mins once I assembled it. One thing on the assembly, the instructions are TERRIBLE. Diagrams are incomprehensible and the verbiage is clearly translated from Japanese. It wasn't that hard to figure out the assembly though. IMPORTANT-when you are attaching the string spool it screws on opposite of what you think (or any other screw). This took me a bit to figure out. I like that you have to press two buttons for it to run. Less chance of accidentally starting the rotor if you dropped the trimmer and it hit your finger. I have not tried the string feeder drop yet, so hopefully that works as smoothly as everything else. I hit a bunch of rocks and it wasn't fazed by that. I plan to use this trimmer a lot. I love that it comes with 4 batteries so you can be using 2 while charging two.