From the backyard experts to the dads that need a little instruction – I’m looking in the mirror here – I have to say the new Black & Decker line of cordless yard tools (www.blackanddecker.com/recharge) are pretty Kick Gas (if you’ll excuse the pun from their advertising).

Black & Decker flew me out to Arizona for a product demo of their new line of cordless yard tools, including a lawnmower, string trimmer, hedge trimmer, and combination blower/vacuum.

I tried each one, and while I can honestly say I wouldn’t need every one in my yard – everyone’s yard is different – I would certainly recommend them all.

Here’s why these tools really work, especially for someone like me who needs simple, easy-to-run machinery:

• Electric means quieter. These aren’t like your average weed whacker or your “wake up the neighborhood” lawnmower. Without the gas engine creating all the noise or exhaust, this is a much cleaner and quieter tool. You can even have a conversation while you work (like “Hey kids, put down my new edger!”).
• Electric means rechargeable. Not only do you save on gas – as well as figuring out how to even get gas (“Do I still have that gas can somewhere?”) – but the batteries themselves have indicators telling you how much juice each one has left. For me, this is a key feature. I’m limited on time as it is, so I want to know how much time until the battery is fully charged (apparently, they take about 15 minutes) or how much time I have left (“Can I finish the yard? According to the battery, I’ve got the power…”). Which leads me to…
• Electric means I don’t have to think. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at a yard tool wondering, “Do I put gas in this, or oil, or a gas/oil mixture…” and after the smoke starts coming out of my ears, I decide not to do any yard work. If you have a cordless drill or any other similar product, using the B&D line of yard tools will be very easy.

If you’re a lover of green technology, this is a step in the right direction. But as a lover of usability, I like that these tools feature a lot of ways to adjust them, especially being taller and not wanting to end up with a sore back after cleaning up the yard.

Now that I’ve tried out the tools on a baseball field in Arizona, Black & Decker will be sending me a few of these tools to try out on my own yard in Florida. I’m excited to give them a try because these tools look easy to use, and I’m a huge fan of that.

Disclosure – Black and Decker covered my travel expenses to attend this event.
I was given access to the tools to try in exchange for sharing my honest thoughts on them. The above words are my own and even though they took me to a baseball game while in town, these are my honest thoughts. What else would you expect?

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