Updated 3 Oct 2017
Snapshot: The Stihl FS 55 RC petrol line trimmer has 2 cutting lines and weighs 5.4kg. But how effective and easy to use is it?
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Overall score comprises performance (50%) and ease of use (50%).
Performance is based on horizontal and vertical trimming and long-grass cutting.
Ease of use is assessed on handle comfort, shaft length, weight, balance, cutting visibility, controls, vibration, starting, line-feed effectiveness and ease of re-spooling.
Price is from a September 2017 survey.
Our recommendation
We recommend petrol trimmers scoring above 85% overall. While the performance and ease-of-use of the best petrol trimmers in our tests has hovered at or above this level for a few years, battery-electric models continue to improve year on year.
We raised the bar for the performance of battery-powered trimmers to 80% after a batch of 7 cordless models returned impressive performance in our 2017 test.