Most of the detail work on a garden or a site is done with hand tools: the strimmer, the hedge trimmer and the blower. Wherever we can, ours are STIHL battery tools. Nobody pays us to say so, and we were not given anything to try: they are simply the tools we choose. The big mowers are a different story, but for nearly everything else, battery power has changed how a day on site goes. Here is why, and what it means for the people whose grounds we look after.
Quieter for everyone nearby
A battery tool is far quieter than a petrol one. There is no engine ticking over between cuts, and the noise stops the moment the trigger is released. On a busy site that makes a real difference.
- At a school, work can carry on near classrooms without drowning out a lesson.
- At a care home, residents are not woken or startled by an engine under the window.
- In a churchyard, a quieter tool sits better with visitors and services.
- Around apartment blocks and business parks, people with windows open are not put out.
It also means we can stop and talk to a site manager or a homeowner without shutting an engine down and pull starting it again afterwards.
No fumes and no fuel
A battery tool gives off no exhaust where it is working. That is better for the person using it all day, and for anyone walking past on a path, waiting at a school gate or sitting near an open door.
There is no petrol to carry, mix or spill either. No fuel cans in the van, no smell left on the drive, and no risk of a splash of fuel scorching a patch of lawn. The tools still need the same care for blades and lines, but there is far less to go wrong with no engine to service.
The power comes from a charged battery instead, so the cleaner the electricity that charges it, the cleaner the whole job.
How the charging works
Charging is simple. The batteries go on the charger overnight, so every morning starts with a full set. On the road, a DJI portable power station that charges from the van tops batteries up between jobs, so a flat battery does not have to end a day early.
STIHL batteries fit across a family of their tools, so the same battery can run one tool in the morning and another in the afternoon. Fewer chargers, fewer batteries and less to carry.
Looking after battery tools at home
If you have battery garden tools of your own, a few habits help the batteries last.
- Bring batteries indoors for the winter rather than leaving them in a cold shed or garage.
- Charge them at room temperature, not straight after heavy use while they are still warm.
- Do not leave a battery completely flat for months. Store it part charged and top it up now and then.
- Keep the contacts clean and dry, and follow the maker's own instructions for storage and charging.
Where the big machines still earn their place
Battery tools do not do everything. The bigger lawns and large open sites are cut with a Toro stand-on mower and a Kubota zero turn mower, the right kit for the size of the job. Everything around them, the edges, the banks, the hedges and the paths, we do with battery tools wherever we can.
Need a hand?
We look after homes, businesses and public sites across Worcester and Worcestershire: lawn mowing, hedge trimming, strimming and weed control, and regular grounds maintenance contracts. WhatsApp a photo and your postcode to 07792 110915 and Tom will come back with a price.
