Do I REGRET Buying The STIHL FSA 120? Battery GOOD ENOUGH For PRO Gardeners?

I've been using this Stihl fsa 120 battery strimmer on a busy garden maintenance schedule for over a month now, it's proved to be an asset and a pleasure to use.
Drop in the comments your thoughts on this strimmer or if you think battery is good enough for professional users.
I'm not sponsored or paid by Stihl for this video, these tools have been bought by the business.
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Cheers
#lewisgardenservicesltd #gardening

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Just to clarify...I'm not paid or sponsored by Stihl for this, I've bought all this kit and these are my thoughts on the Stihl and battery gear. It may not suit everyone so please do your own research before buying anything that I like and use. As always, thanks for watching... great to have you along on this KZbin thing👍👍

[@flydogone8355]

I swapped my FS70 for one of these last year. I was sick of the noise, vibration and standing in a cloud of fumes for hours. Music and Podcasts get me through the day and with battery it's so much better. Also the super light trigger operation cleared up the finger pain I was getting over longer sessions.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Doing a good job for you then 👍 hopefully I'll get a couple of years out of this🤞they still have an amount of vibs and noise but definitely less👌 thanks for the comment

[@ParkersGardens]

In our experience for small and medium gardens, battery gear is perfect. For massive gardens and major commercial work, petrol is still probably king. We purely do small domestic work now and so are all battery other than our mowers or backpack blower for the autumn.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Good to hear and agreed 👍 couldn't do without the petrol backpack blower 👌 cheers

[@robby8958]

Good video as usual. My experience is very similar. Battery is perfectly suitable & dependable for smaller areas. I happen to do a lot of heavy brushcutting, so I will always require a 2 stroke. Both battery & 2 stroke have their place. I was initially sceptical of battery but have now embraced it.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

A lot of us are the same I think, using both but embracing the benefits of battery. Cheers 👍👍

[@dagtailgroundmaintenance]

we can trim hedges all day on battery. Much more comfortable for us and everyone's ears. No tool is perfect. Still good to have petrol and a battery. Not tried a battery commercial mower yet but I'm sure it will come one day. Good honest review Nathan

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Cheers Carl and I agree, no machine is perfect if anything this strimmer is arse heavy slightly with the 300s in and the hla66 etc have their flaws as most do but my productivity and health has gone up loads using them. Take care mate 👍👍

[@mcpheesgardeningservices]

Great stuff and totally agree . I'm all battery with exception of the mower for over 4 years now and haven't mixed up 2 stroke fuel for a long time .I have enough batteries to go all day and have multi chargers so all the charging is done within an hour or so when I get home..Some operators here have inverters with either duel battery or solo panels...bit too technical for me and not cheap they tell me..I have though woken up at night and yelled " charge the batteries lol " Great video as usual and love your work

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Sounds like you've got it sorted there mate, I don't worry about battery run time but have woken up and thought, oh no I forgot to charge 😅 thanks for that mate 👍👍

[@DJC995]

Hi Nathan Nice one Good to see your happy with it the big complaint the commenters have is run time my battery kombi strimming 45 min the petrol fs 310 45 min per tank Thanks again

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

I think trigger time compared to continued use on large areas is where battery works, 45 mins strimming a large area compared to 5 mins here and there if maintenance. Cheers mate and hope you're doing well👍

[@MachineryNation]

Thanks for the shout out! 😊 good demonstration 👌🏻

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

You need it🤣🤣 definitely up to pro use I think those strimmers 👍 thanks for stopping by

[@mattgibbs2125]

Loving the videos, you're a far bigger maintenance company than me but very informative and entertaining to watch. The happy go miserable personality is also a bit of me lol. Keep up the good work!

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Happy to miserable....love that👌😅 well along to my ups and downs 😬 cheers for watching 👍

[@fleischersgrasscuttingserv6441]

Good bit of film showing how much that battery gives you for that whack job. I have three AP 300s and use it with the Kombi system. I was surprised the first time I did a big weed whack and it ran out after 30 minutes (on full power), but I just replaced it and charged. No problem. No fuel. No mixing. No smell. No cold starting pulls. My two chainsaws are still petrol but I think, if I could afford it, would go with a powerful battery model (AP 500). But no need yet. Thanks for the video, Mr Lewis, you have confirmed my bias!

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

They don't last forever but long enough for me to get through most days, like you say just charge up and go again 👌 thanks for watching 👍

[@garryedwards8451]

Hi Nathan,we have just gone over to Battery machine's. Hedge trimming and strimmers, blowers. Game changer, thanks for the advice and videos. Garry Solihull

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

👌I'm running as much battery as can expect for mowers and you're right, game changer. Thanks for watching 👍

[@foo4572]

It’s nice to mix them up .. I’ve recently done some modest hedges using my battery hedge cutters and they work a treat .. I’ve got a battery strimmer but not used it .. 😮…,it’s certainly nice to do a job and use no petrol at all I must admit… 👍😎

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

You've started now mate 😬🤣 bad as me next moaning every time I pick up a petrol strimmer/ hedge cutter 🤣

[@markschofield576]

I'm the same as you, battery is perfect for maintenance and petrol for the heavy duty stuff, I have a mate who's all petrol but I notice when we work together he's always using my strimmer and blower, just pick it up and your ready, defo more convenient 😃

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Maintenance all the way battery when I can👌 your mates converted now as well then😅

[@dampproofing810]

Great video mate, I'm just starting out and bought all battery gear, got 5 batteries planning to do small jobs, so Great video for me mate 👍

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Hope they do as well for you as they do me, good luck with the business and thanks for watching 👍

[@swatsnatch]

I'm on my second year with all battery kit. Has worked well with no problems. Only had 1 job I struggled on and it was an all day clear up 4' high grass. I was away from my tow car so couldn't run my inverter for more than a pair of batteries so had to ask to plug In to the customer. He was happy with that no issues. Since bought another couple of batteries and can do 11-12 cuts on my busy day no issues and still plenty of juice left. The mower doesn't like really long wet grass but very few do. Good luck with everything. Small inverter hard wired Into your vehicle and your golden.

[@mattreed8024]

Spot on, especially regarding the 2 stroke savings. With my set up the savings are enough to buy me another new battery every two months, not that there is a need to of course.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Yea that's the way I look at it. Bought backpack battery in 2019 for £850, so saving maybe £20 a week in fuel it was paid for in a year and 4 years later it's still saving. 👍 Cheers for that

[@joshuabush2569]

I'm all for battery after years and years of using noisy smelly two stroke... I'm into the Makita 40v XGT stuff. I still have my petrol chainsaw, mower and brush cutter for bigger jobs but it's surprising how much you can get done with the battery kit 🔋

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Same here mate and totally understand, mix of both but battery if you can is how I'm going. Cheers 👍👍

[@lukassw7471]

I work with the FSA135 for a few weeks, very good stuff. I also bought the BGA86 battery blower, enjoy it every day. For bigger jobs I use petrol tools

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Nice one👍 same here, enjoy the battery and petrol when needed, cheers 👍👍

[@TKG]

we are the same, small maintenance jobs battery is perfect, anything major defiantly petrol, it also makes a difference what typ of handle you have for strimming vs brush cutting, would not want to do the big commercial job with battery if I only had a D handled strimmer,

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Exactly mate, those D handles kill my shoulder so don't use any longer sor strimming if possible 😬 thanks for stopping by👍

[@THETATTOOGARDENER83]

I’ve been using my battery gear all week and I really do like it The combi with the strimmer head is really light I want to buy a few more batteries tho

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Go crazy 🤣 it's is nice to use👍👍

[@betterlawns4u]

Battery is the way forward. ( with the possible exception of commercial use mowers... For now) it's just that not everyone has realised it yet. Ego is my weapon of choice. Like all battery kit it's expensive. But on balance I think the positives out way the cost negatives.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

I'm more positive than negative too but until you use them it's often the other way around. Cheers 👍👍

[@jackw9920]

Love my FSA90 strimmer. Use it every day. Still got a petrol FS90 Though for big clearances but it rarely comes out. Battery is always the first choice.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

First choice 👌 always my thoughts too. Cheers for watching 👍

[@federalnoise]

They are good. Battery packs can be serviced/repaired for these. Most have a balance board PCB inside and an array of usually up to 20 cells. The battery packs should really be cleaned internally from time to time using distilled water or PCB cleaner etc.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Thanks for that great advice. I'll look into it. Cheers 👍👍

[@tomthetaletellerphillips]

Wish i could afford to get a decent battery strimmer! I actual use the Lidl battery multi tool. I need some more batteries though but, for edging up it's fine. It dubai doesn't have the power for thick stuff, but that's why i have the petrol strimmer.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Keep at it mate and you'll get there👍 petrol backpack for those big jobs are usually needed too. Thanks for watching 👍

[@cosworthization]

Looks a great machine. I love Stihl.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

It's doing great👌 thanks for watching 👍

[@mdgardenservices7819]

Looks like it does the job just fine to me I’m loving the battery kit. Much easier on my aching body😅👍

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

It does ok, would be even better if I didn't have to walk around with it too mate😅 flat out here, how's things with you mark? Have a good one👍

[@edwardcotterill8935]

Hi As a professional gardening business, I find the 7 AK 10s and AK 20s, along with a single AK 30s, to be quite effective. However, my only criticism would be that the batteries take a considerable amount of time to charge using the standard charger.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Good to know you're getting along ok with them. My ap charger is pretty fast, do the ak have a fast charge option? Thanks for watching 👍

[@edwardcotterill8935]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd Indeed, a fast charging option is available, although it typically comes at a higher cost compared to the standard charger.

[@Joelb734]

Sold I starting to hate my old petrol strimmer and I mainly do small maintenance work

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Plenty of brands out there for battery so pick your poison 😅 good luck, you'll love whatever you get I'm sure👍 cheers for watching

[@Joelb734]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd i have a sthill battery hedge cutter and my local dealership has that offer on buy a machine and battery get a battery free until end of June so probably go for that

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

@Joelb734 yea I got a couple BOGOF batteries too👍

[@Elektrobastler]

Thanks for your video! We currently have a 10+ years old FS120, and it is starting to crap out (bearings shot, vibrations of the drive shaft), so we are considering a new tool. Is my assumption right that the FSA120 is the battery equivalent of the FS120 in terms of power? The FS120 is plenty powerful for our use. Usually doing about 2 hours of mowing between the grapevines a day, sometimes more. We already have a AP200 battery for another tool, so that could be re-used. Guess we'd need another 2 batteries to get through a 2h mowing session? Did you use it on eco or performance mode in your short "I did this with 3 bars" clip?

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

I'm not sure but it makes sense it's the battery equivalent, yes on eco mode for the small commercial section. Depending on grass length I guess 20 mins trigger time on ap200. It is a pleasure to use, do you have a charge option close to where you're working? Thanks for watching and comment👍

[@Elektrobastler]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd thanks for the reply! Yeah, the vineyard is ~2 min on foot from our house, so charging between packs is no big deal. Since we already have a hedge trimmer with an old AP200 and I'd like to get a chainsaw too... Sharing batteries between devices makes the investment for the batteries seem a lot less high.

[@ianmozi]

Love my battery gear, no downsides just positives 👍

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Glad you're enjoying it, what are you using? Thanks for watching 👍

[@bidders77]

I have Makita 18v tools, they are great for maintenance

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

I've heard good things about them 👌👍 thanks for watching

[@Grahams-Grass]

No I don't regret going battery as you know I only use the Super pro Dewalt stuff sorry kit.... my question to you is how do you cost your battery charging do you estimate it or have you got a system in place to tell you the cost etc etc etc etc etc 🤷🤠

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Think it's pennies to change, my bill doesn't seem affected anyway. Backpack battery nearly 5 years I recon paid for itself after a year in fuel saved so I'm sure I'm saving the ££££ now 🤞 cheers mate👍

[@mattreed8024]

It’s easy to work out, just look at your charger to see how many watts it uses and then look at your electric bill to see how much you’re paying per kWh and then do the maths. Or I could just tell you 😜 so depending on a few variables you’re going to be looking at between 2 and 5 pence to fully charge any of the Stihl ak or ap 36 volt batteries. Compare that with £7 for 5 litres of two stroke mix 😳

[@Grahams-Grass]

@@mattreed8024 errrmmm calculate a from b to make z .. l put put down £2.50 a week for charging ... 🤷

[@shayg9802]

i have a battery one, run time is good, but i buy the replacement heads of string, and the strings are always breaking,called stihl and am getting no where with them

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Maybe try a different string, they do snap now and then unfortunately 😬 thanks for watching 👍

[@pauljackson1981]

If it works out for you sod what other people say.Great to have the two as it will save you time and money,Not like me to sound sensible,I will have to go now and lie down in A dark room for an hour LOL

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Enjoy that sit down mate...you definitely need it😅 cheers 👍

[@AshMcFarlane]

I'd love to go battery but I just cant justify the battery cost and the recharge times on Stihl gear

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

When you can they really do pay for themselves I find and haven't thought the recharge times where long at all👍 cheers for watching

[@slowmarchingband1]

Battery gear is just..nice to use. I couldn't go back to all that noise, weight, fumes, and mixing 2-stroke. Also, you can start nice and early in the summer and you don't p%ss people off.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Exactly, I'd definitely do far less if only running petrol gear now👍 thanks for watching 👍

[@zarrow50]

Does the petrol unit have more cutting power? Also , what did your petrol bill come to?

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

I'd say on highest power setting my battery one have more grunt, about £1500 a year on my earlier years battery gear roughly 👍 cheers for watching

[@zarrow50]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd a lot of petrol

[@davidfisher3273]

I’m nearly all battery now. . When I retire I can sell the batteries on 👍

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Nice one👍 sounds like a plan

[@joshuabush2569]

Whats the power like on the FSA 120 compared to the 130?

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Less but great for maintenance, a large overgrown thick lawn I'd go for the 130

[@joshuabush2569]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd ok fair enough, I was looking at the new KMA 120 kombi unit and couldn't work out if it had the same motor or not... Annoyingly these things quite hard to find out.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

@@joshuabush2569 I'm judging it in use not on any stats I have on so I may well be wrong

[@joshuabush2569]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd yeah I certainly would be interested to find out... Got my first bit of Stihl battery equipment, the HlA 66 should arrive Monday, very much looking forward to using it!

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

@@joshuabush2569 let me know what you think, used the 66 on a good few hedges yesterday, 1 battery and it did amazing and I wasn't totally knackered at the end😅

[@thegeordiefellwalker8878]

you've got the battery setup sussed. plenty commercial machines & plenty 300 batteries.its only going to get better 👍

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Cheers mate, definitely happy with the wet up at the moment. How's the weather treating you this week 😬

[@thegeordiefellwalker8878]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd non stop rain here mate last 2 days 😮 worked late mon & tues 👍 cheers

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

@thegeordiefellwalker8878 😬 summer is here then😅

[@russelldownesdownes5618]

Do you prefer it to the 135

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Haven't used the 135, I have the fsa130 tho and that's great for bigger jobs, the backpack is fine and I used it for maintenance for years but this is generally lighter and gives you a break from the backpack, perfect for maintenance 👍 cheers for watching

[@Ben-fk9ey]

I wonder how many people are put off battery power by something I'd call "battery worry". We know batteries are getting better all the time so the worry is if I buy one now (and they're not cheap) a new much better one might come out next year. So I'll wait until next year and so on... With petrol machines I don't think you have that worry.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Great comment and question, technology becomes obsolete straight away usually but I'm hoping the battery range will carry on into new kit long enough. Thanks for watching 👍

[@mattreed8024]

It’s not a worry because they’re ALREADY good enough for most applications 👍

[@jeremyminns5627]

We're gonna rock down to electric avenue,and little to no impact with folk with early starts & Saturday morning jobs to all thats concerned.appy dayz.

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

5am starts👌👍🤣 cheers for watching

[@wagner251]

when everybody is battery watch the energy companies wack the bills up !

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

😅 that's how they work 😬 cheers

[@jasperedwards3341]

if you use 7 batteries then you need more chargers

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

They get charged after work each day👍

[@jasperedwards3341]

2000 eurs in batteries

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Probably saved at least that in fuel in a year I recon🤞

[@beplh5242]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd Those batteries only cost about 10p in electricity to charge. Did you have any failures yet?

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

@beplh5242 good info👍no failure or loss of power that I can tell

[@russellpetrie119]

its horses for courses

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Definitely and a mix of battery and petrol is often needed. Cheers 👍👍

[@jasperedwards3341]

speak slower i didnt hear what batteries its like when jokes are too fast

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

Ap300 and 300s😅 I've only on speed now and you don't have to speed me up when watching 🤣👍 cheers

[@jasperedwards3341]

@@LewisgardenservicesLtd whats the difference with theses batteries

[@LewisgardenservicesLtd]

The s has slightly longer run time I think