Best cordless brush cutter: cheapest and quality rated [Summer 2021 Updated Review]

Specification: Warranty: 1-2 year, Battery Type: Lithium-ion, Voltage: 36 v (18v x2) , Cutting diameter: 35 cm , Speed: 3500-6500 rpm , Net weight: 4.3-5.0 kg

As the name suggests, this Makita cordless brushcutter has been fitted with a brushless engine. Brushless engines are favoured because they stay cooler while running and therefore have a much longer working life.

This bruschcutter is powered by not one, but two 18V lithium-ion batteries (sold separately) that help it to not only to produce excellent cutting power at speeds up to 6500rpm, but also to give a long running time of over two hours depending on how it used.

It has variable speed control so you can preserve battery power while doing the lighter tasks like strimmer, then turn it up to slice through those weeds and tougher garden ‘enemies’.

Strangely, this brushcutter comes with a nylon grass strimmer head but the Makita star blade needed for brush cutting is again sold separately.
One thing I do prefer with the Makita over the DEWALT 54V-XR is the handles. The Makita has large ‘bull horn’ style handles that just feel more comfortable to use for me.

There is also a ‘fuel gauge’ that lets you know how your battery is doing in terms of power so you can plan your gardening session and maybe pull back a bit on the power when it’s an option to preserve your battery.
This cordless brushcutter features an electric current limiter that will prevent the tool being damaged in the rare case of an overload occurring. It’s a nice feature that adds to the already excellent longevity of this Makita.

It’s hard to find fault with the Makita DUR365UZ Twin 18 V Li-ion Brushless Brush Cutter. My best effort at picking holes is to talk about the blade and battery being sold separately, it’s just almost impossible to fault.

Specification: Warranty: 1 year, Battery Type: Lithium-ion, Voltage: 54 v, Cutting diameter: 38 cm, Speed: 5600 rpm, Net weight: 4.6 kg

Our first review is of this excellent product by DEWALT. The 54V XR Flexvolt cordless brushcutter is highly adaptable and can be used for a wide range of jobs thanks to the included attachments.

There is a self-feeding nylon spool for your general light strimming work, or you can fix on the brush knife and tackle those overgrown bramble bushes.

The brushless electric motor that is fitted in this cordless brushcutter is extremely powerful and can give some petrol models a run for their money. The motor being a brushless model means that it is far more durable, efficient and will last you a very long time.

On a single charge the DEWALT 54V-XR will run flat out for around 45 minutes to 1 hour. With top operating speeds of 6600 rpm, that should be more than enough time to get done what you need to.
The shaft of this cordless brushcutter is long at 1.8 metres, and when the 38cm cutting head is attached it gives you a fair bit of reach.

Thankfully, DEWALT were sensible enough to keep the 54V-XR lightweight and have distributed the 3.5Kg in a way that makes it very comfortable to use.

The build quality of this product is excellent, everything feels solid and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into the design and manufacturing of the 54V-XR and it comes with a 3 year warranty.
while this isn’t exactly a cheap cordless bruschcutter, it is certainly worth the money when you consider that you are getting petrol performance without the fuel costs, fumes, maintenance, etc.

Specification: Warranty: 1 year, Battery Type: Lithium-ion, Voltage: 40 v , Cutting diameter: 40 cm , Speed: 5300 rpm, Net weight: 5.5 kg

Greenworks have provided us with another decent cordless brushcutter/strimmer to join our list of the best in the UK.

Like our two previous reviews above, the Greenworks model has a more efficient and durable brushless motor that the makers claim gives you 30% more power. I don’t know if that’s true as I haven’t tested it but brushless motors are definitely superior to carbon brushed models.

Also like our other reviews, this is sold as a tool only and the battery and charger need to be bought separately, however the brushcutter blade is included in the price of this model unlike the Makita.

This can be used with the 2mm line head attachment to trim the edges of your lawn or you can fit the brushcutter attachment when you need something more heavy duty.
There is variable speed control through the throttle and the battery can run for just under an hour on a single charge if you use a 4ah lithium-ion unit which takes about 2 hours to recharge.

The Greenworks cordless brushcutter has been built of good materials and feels string and sturdy. Of course with that sturdiness comes a little extra weight but the use of the centrally placed auxiliary handle helps to keep the tool balanced.

Perfomance wise, it wasn’t quite up to the DEWALT 54V-Xr or the Makita DUR365UZ, but it wasn’t far behind and will still have you slicing through tall grass and thick weeds without any interruptions.

As the table suggests, the Greenworks Brushless Grass Trimmer 40V String Trimmer is a cracking piece of kit and only beaten by the Makita and Dewalt. There’s no shame in being pipped by these behemoths.

Specification: Warranty: 1 year, Battery Type: Lithium-ion (using a 2.5Ah battery or higher), Voltage: 18 v , Cutting diameter: 20-30 cm , Net weight: 4.7-5.1 kg

This cordless brushcutter is part of Ryobi’s ONE+ range, which means that you can use the same battery to run any of the more than 40 different products with the same battery. As usual though, the batteries are sold separately, but this would be an advantage if you already own another Ryobi product or intend to buy one.

Like the Makita DUR365UZ, the Ryobi OBC182B has large bull horn handles that work well with a good harness to give you better control and less fatigue when using the tool. The speed control can be operated from the soft grip handles while you are working.

The Ryobi cordless brushcutter comes with both a 20cm brushcutter blade, and a 30cm connection for trimming grass. The brushcutting blade is made of strong. Hardened steel and cuts heavy weeds and such more than competently.

The tool is easy enough to set up, which is a good thing because the instructions included in the box are far from great.
Another thing that the Ryobi falls short on when compared to our other reviews is battery running time. On a full charge you can expect about 30 minutes going flat out with the bruschcutter before you have to charge it again.

On the plus side, this Ryobi cordless brushcutter is probably the best balanced of all our reviews and certainly feels the most under control. It isn’t lightest cordless brushcutter out there, which honour goes to the DEWALT 54V-XR, but because of the ergonomic design and balance, it feels like it weighs less than it does.

This is a great bit of kit and the main fault is the battery only lasts half an hour or so. Actually, I don’t think this is too much of a fault, it really just highlights how far ahead of the curve Makita are in battery tech and not a problem for this brush cutter at all.

Specification: Warranty: 1-3 year, Battery Type: Lithium-ion, Voltage: 36 v (Two 18-volt batteries) , Cutting diameter: 30 cm , Speed: 6300 rpm, Net weight: 6.09 kg

The Einhell Agillo Power X-Change Cordless Brushcutter – Solo is probably the cheapest cordless brush cutter at the moment. While I prefer the Makita by miles I still think this is a pretty good little number and the general feedback from most clients is that it’s a very powerful and nimble tool.

That last review concludes our best cordless brushcutter reviews. As you can see, the top models all have brushless electric motors that are more efficient and powerful, giving you performance as well as increased battery life.
Cordless brushcutters have come a long way in the last ten years and I’m sure with advances in technology, the prices will lower, battery life and charging times will improve even more than they already have, and they will one day be the number one type even for professionals. 
We hope that you have enjoyed this article and invite you to visit some of our other pages that we have produced for your reading pleasure.

I would have to disagree a little though. It weighs 8.5kg so that’s probably a testament to how well balanced this cordless brushcutter is. It’s also extremely versatile using both nylon string and a blade to cut.

If it had any weakness I would say assembly and instructions could be improved but apart from that this is a really solid bit of kit for the money. You’ll have no trouble ripping through brambles at a serious pace.

Don’t forget to wear a protective covering on your face and a mask wouldn’t hurt either. This thing will throw up some debris due to the enormous power it’s delivering. Pretty amazing for a battery brush cutter really…