Professional Tool Reviews for Pros
When you factor in the performance, balance, features, and price, the Greenworks Pro 60V 16-inch string trimmer is one of the best all-around string trimmers for homeowners—even compared to gas. It has plenty of power to tackle light clearing tasks as well as your regular weekly yard maintenance with ease. The 60V lineup has everything you need to keep your lawn looking great, including a new zero-turn and lawn tractor, so there's no reason to shy away from this battery platform as a complete system.
The Greenworks Pro 60V lawn care line focuses on delivering the best balance of performance and ease of use for homeowners who want to replace gas equipment. However, with so many options on the battery-powered market today, it can be difficult to find the best option to suit your needs. The Greenworks 60V 16-inch cordless string trimmer embraces the challenge and looks to give gas-powered equipment a run for its money.
One of the highlights of this model is its 16-inch cutting swath. Many battery-powered options are 15 inches, and Greenworks has another model on the 60V line that’s 13 inches, so having that wider clearing path makes the job that much quicker.
The trimmer comes with 0.080-inch line, which is pretty much industry standard for electric string trimmers in the homeowner sector. You can also jump up to 0.095-inch line if you prefer (we recommend Black Diamond line). Just keep in mind your runtime will drop from our results.
If you’ve been on the Greenworks 60V system for a while, you might be wondering why there’s another 16-inch model when the previous one was so good. It’s primarily a power play. With this update, Greenworks is offering performance levels equivalent to a 30cc gas engine.
Speaking of runtime, the Greenworks 16-inch string trimmer delivered some of the better performance we’ve seen recently. Running at High speed, the brushless motor hummed along for 24 minutes, 48 seconds using a 2.5Ah battery. That’s a drop of about 10 minutes from the previous 16-inch model, but that’s the trade-off you make for additional performance.
Overall, the cutting performance was excellent for 0.080-inch line, but moving up to the 0.095-inch does make the job easier and quicker. The runtime is enough to cover lawns up to 1/2 an acre or more, depending on how much landscaping you have to tackle. Of course, you can always pop in another battery and keep working if you have more area to cut.
One of our biggest pet peeves when it comes to battery-powered string trimmers is excessive vibration. Greenworks did a great job of keeping the vibration to a minimum so you can work longer without excessive hand fatigue.
One of the biggest motivating factors for folks making the switch to battery-powered OPE is noise reduction. This string trimmer produces 80 decibels on low and 84 decibels in high gear. This falls right in line with what we expect from a battery-powered string trimmer of this size.
One of the highlights of the Greenworks Pro string trimmer is the Load N’ Go trimmer head. To reload, start by lining up the indicator arrows on the head.
Once you line up the arrows on the head, the inserts of the outer casings match up with the inserts on the inner spool. Run the length of your line to the center and turn the bottom section to ratchet it in. From there, it’s your typical bump feed trimmer head.
Greenworks throws a couple of speed settings to go along with its variable speed trigger. You toggle them with a handy thumb switch. In the Low setting, we were able to manage the vast majority of grass and weeds without burning through the battery so fast. When we needed some extra “oomph” to get through some of the thicker growth and edging, switching into High gear kept us moving along.
The Greenworks 60V 16-inch cordless string trimmer weighs in at a very reasonable 11.19 pounds, which includes the 2.5Ah battery. Compared to other models we’ve tested, this is in the middle for most battery-powered trimmers. Because of its excellent balance, the trimmer still feels very manageable and agile in both trimming and edging positions.
Greenworks also made this string trimmer tether ready if you’d like to use a shoulder sling to lighten the load on your arms.
The battery weight offsets the weight of the head nicely (which houses the brushless motor), and any imbalance is adjustable by moving the handle up and down the shaft. You won’t need tools here. Instead, you can tighten or loosen the handle with a thumb dial. Every weed wacker handle should adjust this easily!
The Greenworks ST60L254 comes with a 4-year warranty on both the trimmer and the battery. You can pick up the kit—including a 2.5Ah battery and charger—for $179.99 at Tractor Supply.
When you factor in the performance, balance, features, and price, the Greenworks Pro 60V 16-inch string trimmer is one of the best all-around string trimmers for homeowners—even compared to gas. It has plenty of power to tackle light clearing tasks as well as your regular weekly yard maintenance with ease. The 60V lineup has everything you need to keep your lawn looking great, including a new zero-turn and lawn tractor, so there’s no reason to shy away from this battery platform as a complete system.
Click here to explore the entire Greenworks 60V lineup.
Having worked in the automotive and metalworking trades, Josh has even found himself core drilling commercial properties for purposes of surveying. His knowledge and love of tools are exceeded only by a greater love for his wife and family.
A fan of all things that can stretch him mentally, Josh quickly dives into new products, tools, and product testing with ample amounts of both enthusiasm and precision. We look forward to many years of growth alongside Josh as he settles into his role at Pro Tool Reviews.
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I’m looking at the ST60L254 from Greenworks at TSC and it looks like the head is different. That interlocking lower-case “t” nonsense is what you find on Harbor Freight…no thx to that. The ST60L254 looks different. KEEP YOUR RECEIPT. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HEAD ON THE TRIMMER!!!
This thing is garbage. After 2 years, the bump head failed. No big deal I think. Just get a new one. Except that greenworks doesn’t sell one. And NONE of the aftermarket ones will fit the greenworks threads. It’s got decent power and ergonomics.
But it’s 100% disposable Chinese crap.
Buy something that you can actually maintain. A stupid string trimmer should last 20 years of light residential or a decade of farm use. And for goodness sake, if you are really doing commercial work I hardly need to tell you that you are looking in completely the wrong place.
Will the battery be damaged if you run it all the way down?
String trimmers are responsible for tons and tons of tiny particles of plastic in our environment. The reels run out because the string is shaved with each pass by the blade. I have stopped using mine for this reason and reverted to garden shears or just not worrying about edging. Greenworks could be an industry leader by creating a permanent or biodegradable string. How ‘bout it, Greeworks?!
I have had the Greenworks 60v string trimmer for about three years. I also purchased the hedge trimmer, blower and mower so the batteries are compatible, and I have four batteries. My only real complaint is that it only uses the .080′ string because I spend way too much time redoing the broken string. The newer model with the self loading head looks like a great improvement, but I can’t believe they still only allow for the .080″ string. I am thinking about replacing mine for another model that does use the .095″ string.
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Professional Tool Reviews for Pros