How to mow the grass? How to make this process as simple as possible? Which is better - a brushcutter or an electric brush? Which device is more economical to operate and maintain? How to buy a petrol or electric kos without overpaying for excess power?
This article aims to answer all of these difficult questions that any site owner faced with the challenge of choosing the best deal on the market. In order to make your choice as simple as possible, we will tell you in detail about the advantages of each type of device, as well as consider the cost of servicing electric or petrol cutters and buying additional equipment for each of them.
1. Purchase cost
Since a gasoline engine is a more complex device than an electric one, you will have to pay an average of 1.5 times more for a high-quality brushcutter than for a high-quality electric brush. There is nothing to be done - for autonomy (read. Absence of a permanent "tail" from an electric wire) you will have to pay more.
2. Additional equipment for starting work
In addition to buying the device itself, you will also need:
For brushcutters:
- Metal (it is forbidden to pour gasoline into plastic at gas stations due to safety precautions) 5 liter canister with a watering can. Average cost: 170 hryvnia.
- 1 liter of gasoline. Average cost: 13.5 UAH / liter.
- 1 can of oil, 1 liter. Average cost: 50 UAH.
- A plastic canister for mixing gasoline and oil. Average price: 100 UAH.
- An ordinary medical syringe for drawing oil from a can and injecting it into a can of gasoline is 40 kopecks.
- Funnel for convenient refueling of brushcutters with fuel mixture. Average price: 20 UAH.
Total: UAH 367.40. (July 2014)
For electric braids:
A coil of wire for 50 meters (enough for comfortable movement on a plot of 6 acres (20x30 meters). Average price: 250 hryvnia.
Total: 250 UAH. (July 2014)
The cost of protective uniforms - glasses, boots, pants - does not differ, since there are no special requirements for each of the devices separately.
2. Cost of operation
The brushcutter is powered by a two-stroke or four-stroke internal combustion engine, which is fueled with a mixture of gasoline and oil in a certain proportion.
Electrokosa does not require additional conditions for operation and is powered from a regular 220V electrical outlet.
The cutting system for brushcutters and electric scythes is the same, three options are used - bobbin with line, plastic or metal knives.
In most cases, the power of the brushcutter is indicated in horsepower, and the power of the electric brush is indicated in watts. This creates certain difficulties in the calculations, so we will immediately give the definition: 1 horsepower = 0.74 kW.
Let's take, for simplicity of calculations, a brushcutter and an electric brush with a power of 1 kW (enough for mowing both grass and weeds on previously cultivated land):
Motokosa:
- The average consumption of a 1 kW brushcutter is 0.5 liters of fuel mixture per hour.
- The average cost of 1 liter of gasoline is UAH 13.5.
- Brushcutters require not only gasoline, but also engine oil. Its average price is 50 UAH. for 1 liter. Average consumption is 1 liter of oil per 50 liters of gasoline.
Electrokosa:
- The average cost of 1 kW in dacha cooperatives is 40 kopecks / kWh.
- The electric scythe will consume 1 kWh for one hour of operation.
In order to calculate the cost of operating an electric braid, we will use the formula:
W = P x t x T, where:
W - electricity consumption in kWh;
P - the power consumed by the electric scythe in kW;
t - operating time of electric scythes per day in hours;
T - the number of days of operation of the electric scythe.
Electricity consumption of our electric scythe for 1 hour = 1 kW x 1 hour x 1 day = 1 kW-hour.
Total: for 1 hour of work with a brushcutter, you will pay about 8 hryvnia, and 1 hour of work with an electric brushcutter - about 40 kopecks.
3. Power
This is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a braid type. However, one must initially understand that the “the more, the better” method - creates not only a surplus of unused capacity, but also additional financial costs. Note that some expensive streamers of both types have an intelligent power control system, increasing it when mowing more difficult areas and decreasing it when working in less overgrown terrain.
On average, for a comfortable mowing of a previously cultivated land plot, where the grass / weed ratio is 70/30, a scythe with any type of drive, with a power of 1 kW, is sufficient.
In addition, there are also battery electric scythes on sale, but they cannot be considered as a full-fledged mobile replacement for a gas scooter, because the battery capacity is relatively small, which initially imposes large capacity limitations.
4. How to mow?
Motor-scythes and electric scythes can be completed with two types of cutting elements: line and knife. The knife can be metal or plastic. The line is enough for cutting young soft grass, and a knife is required for more serious obstacles - thick or rough grass, weeds, young shoots of trees. You can also buy reinforced line designed for coarser grass - it mows better and wear less.
It is necessary to pay attention that metal knives are not installed on low-power (usually with a power of up to 1 kW.) Petrol cutters and electric cutters. This is due to an understandable reason - a weak engine will not be able to maintain the required rotation speed of a heavy metal knife and the latter will simply get stuck in the grass and stop against weed trunks, which will eventually lead to an emergency shutdown of the engine.
Therefore, if you plan to mow the grass, and not trim, it is better to initially choose a tool with both types of cutting elements and a sufficiently powerful engine. You also need to take into account that the fishing line is a consumable and you will periodically need to buy a new one.
5. Operation
- The brushcutter is more mobile as it does not need an external power source. With a large area - this is a significant advantage, with a small area - it no longer matters.
- For brushcutters, you need to separately prepare the fuel mixture and refuel. Electrokos is easy to start up - just plug it in and press the button.
- The brushcutter engine is relatively picky about the quality of gasoline and fuel mixture. Less than a foreign car engine, but refueling a good petrol cutter with bad fuel is a guaranteed way to a service center. In electric scythes, the voltage requirements in the network are equal to any other household appliance - from a vacuum cleaner to a hair dryer.
- The maximum shelf life of the ready-to-use fuel mixture for the brushcutter should not exceed 2 months. Accordingly, initially it is necessary to calculate the volume of the mixture for work, so as not to incur extra costs and not to dispose of the old mixture. The electric scythe does not require such planning.
- The brushcutter requires a planned replacement of consumables - for example, replacement of spark plugs. The electric scythe requires only routine cleaning and lubrication.
- The tank of a household brushcutter is designed, on average, for 1-1.5 hours of operation - after that it is necessary to interrupt the process and refuel. With the electric scythe, you can only interrupt work at will.
- The brushcutter, on average, is 0.5-1 kg heavier than the electric one. The weight is not very significant, but with long-term use, it affects.
- A brushcutter is significantly noisier than an electric one, and unnecessary noise can ruin your relationship with your neighbors.
- When working with an electric scythe, you must constantly remember about the presence of a wire and calculate your trajectory so as not to accidentally damage it. When working with a brushcutter, this is not necessary.
- The mowing scooter can be mowed in any weather, in dew and even in the rain (the latter is not recommended). The electric scythe can only be used in dry weather.
- The electric braid has no exhaust, it is environmentally friendly. The brushcutter generates exhaust, and is also a dirtier device to operate due to gasoline and oil.
- Most brushcutters have a more comfortable bicycle handle, as well as a more comfortable backpack carrying system - this is justified by the greater weight of the unit. Electric braids, which have less weight, are usually equipped with a simpler handle installed on the bar, as well as a single shoulder strap.
Each of the types of braids under consideration has its own advantages and can be used in different conditions. We hope our article helped you make a choice in favor of a particular type of device. And you can always buy a high-quality brushcutter or electric brush at a nice price in the F.ua online store.
