Let me start by saying, I love the Greenworks Pro 80v tool lineup! I've purchased every 80v tool except for the snow blower... don't really need it here in TX. The string trimmer and all the other tools are working well and have good power and reasonable run times on the 2Ah battery. The lawnmower really needs the 4Ah battery, as I've only been getting ~ 23 minutes of runtime out of the 2Ah batteries in the mower. But, my grass has been kind of high both times I mowed, causing the mower to stay revved up most of the time I've been mowing. The mower revs up automatically when under higher load (i.e. deeper grass). The 4Ah battery lasts much longer. Haven't put the stopwatch to it (while it's in the mower), but it's probably doing @ 45-50 minutes or so. Not bad at all... Just wish it was a little more affordable! The 4Ah battery is just a little too heavy for the handheld 80v tools. Not a big issue though, either use a shoulder strap or just swap between 2 of the 2Ah batteries. Given that they fully recharge in ~ 30 minutes, you can pretty much keep on going. On hot days, 90+ degrees, the batteries will typically have to cool in the charger for up to 5 minutes before charging will start. The battery packs have an integrated temperature probe and the temp data is communicated to the charger in some manner of operation. The charger has an integrated fan that does a great job of keeping things cooled off... It blows air through the battery pack. Now onto the issues I've encountered... sorry GreenWorks, but you guys made some dumb design choices. I've communicated these issues to you, but don't have much faith that anything will be changed. The 18" 80v chainsaw, 2 issues I've noted, but first, some praise. The chainsaw has plenty of power and cuts really well. As good as any similarly sized gas chainsaw I've used. No noise or fumes in your face!!! Love electric chainsawing!!! Great work in making it powerful and capable. Love the fact that it revs up under load like the lawn mower. I'm sure this really helps add to the total cut time available from the batteries. I had problems for a while with throwing the chain often, not sure if something could be improved in the design or if it's mainly due to me just needing to use more finesse. I've worked to be less sloppy with how I'm cutting and that has helped a lot with keeping the chain in place. Now onto the issues I've noted; 1st Issue - The chainsaw turns itself off after only 15 seconds of idle time. Who decided this was a good idea? How does this make it safer or save battery power? It doesn't! So why the 15 second auto-shutoff? You know how annoying this is when I'm limbing a tree or a felled branch and having to move around and reposition branches and what not. Even though I never sit the chainsaw down, it always seems to turn off between trigger pulls! 1 minute would have been a reasonable auto-off time delay, but 15 seconds is just plain dumb and annoying. I'm always having to stop, to let go of the chainsaw to reach up to turn it back on... thanks for designing in a very annoying and useless feature!!! 2nd issue - the motor drive chain sprocket has a plastic retaining lip that I guess is supposed to help keep the chain on the sprocket. I got the bar/chain in a bind as a limb pinched it and the chain broke this retainer piece off. I kept going and used the chainsaw for several days afterwards, without issue. But not impressed with how this piece broke off or with the fact that it is plastic! 3rd issue - chain lube oil tends to leak out, at least when it's between 80 - 100 degrees outside. Maybe it doesn't leak as much in cooler weather when the oil is a bit thicker? Not uncommon for self-lubricating chainsaws, but annoying nonetheless. Wish it could be less leaky or that GreenWorks would include a hard shell case. I have to keep the chainsaw in a paper bag (to absorb the oil) inside of a plastic bag (to keep the oily paper bag from transferring the oil to my trucks interior carpet). Guess I need to just go and buy a hard case. Trimmer issues; 1st issue - could have just a little more power and rev up quicker. I'm quite sure both these very minor issues were specific design choices to maximize battery life, so I can overlook them. But, for the size/weight, it seems like the unit is only achieving ~ 85% power output. And yes, I am running it in the higher power mode by pressing the high power toggle button. Just wish high power mode was a wee bit more "high power". Run time is great though! I would sacrifice a few minutes for a little better deep grass/weed cutting performance. 2nd (serious) issue - stupidest design decision I've seen!!! The motor output shaft to cable drive shaft coupler is simply hot pressed onto the motor output shaft. AND the coupler is totally cylindrical!!! No splines, no flat area, it's not pinned, it's not keyed, it's just completely smooth and cylindrical, same as the motor output shaft. This is JUST PLAIN STUPID!!! A LOT of power is being transferred by this coupler and your brilliant design engineers have decided that a perfectly smooth hot-pressed on coupler is never going to slip or crack (as mine did) and then spin in place??? If you had chosen a splined or flat area or pinned or keyed coupler desing, the chance of slippage would have been practically eliminated, even if a coupler crack developed. You guys are going to be repairing or replacing a LOT of these units until you change the motor coupler type! There's no way this current hot-pressed perfectly smooth coupler is going to work under strain of load. You made the trimmer attachment capable... How well do you think the coupler is goining to stand up to someone using a tiller attachment? Change this ASAP or you're going to be fixing the vast majority of these units! I've included pictures of the couple that stress fractured in my first unit. See for yourself what I'm talking about. I'm just wondering how long my second replacement unit is going to last. I'll update this review when it fails too. So in summary, great lawn care tools, with good power (maybe great power, haven't compared competing lower voltage competitor's offerings yet). Good battery life which will only improve over the next few years as battery chemistries/designs continue to advance. But no need to wait... battery life, cycle time, initial costs, etc., combined with resulting tool performance all currently FINALLY beat what you can do with gas powered lawn care tools. GreenWorks Pro 80v lawn care tools definitely provide cost savings, with serious advantages in ease of operation, with no mess, fumes, engine maintenance or starting hassles! I'll never buy another gas powered device... the era of the battery operated lawn care tool has finally arrived in my opinion!!! Fix the design flaws and dumb design decisions GreenWorks and you'll take the market by storm! Don't forget to check out the pics of the seriously stupid design choice in coupler utilized on the string trimmer.
