Strimmer advice please

I have an allotment but for the life of me I don't think I will ever need a strimmer for it. I use a fork for bigger weeds and a hoe for the rest. I am surrounded by weedy allotments (grr) and mine certainly isn't perfect but it's not too bad. A fellow allotmenteer once told me cheerily "one year's seeding is seven years' weeding" - thanks for that David!

Hi. DH and I took over an allotment earlier this year and bought a Bosch ART 26 battery strimmer. I've been very pleased with it - it's light enough for me to use but battery life is good and it's tackled the long grass and weeds on our plot. It does struggle a bit on the "woodier" weeds and tough grass which a heavier duty petrol model would cope with, but overall I'm impressed with it. We did purchase a second battery so we can change it over if the first one dies during a long strimming session.

Hope you find one and get the work done asap. With days getting shorter and colder, hedgehogs, newts and other wildlife will be lloking for hybernating wild corners. Nothing worse as a gardening experience than slicing a hedgehog with a strimmer. Once job done, perhaps you could make a pile or two of strimmings, etc, for them to find winter quarters.

BTY Merlotgran is right, a garden centre is not the place to go, find an agricultural supplier that specialises in small machinery.

I bought a relatively expensive Bosch 36 volt battery strimmer in the summer, perfect for trimming the grass edges, but would not be up to weeds on an allotment. You will need a petrol one, possibly even a brushwood strimmer which has a blade rather than a line. If you are going to do heavy work, don't forget the safety gear, flying stones etc are dangerous.

Thank you all so much for your helpful advice, it's much appreciated although my allotment days are now being restricted by rain

It will be too light for what you want, but one of our best buys this year has been the rechargeable strimmer from Lidl. Instead of that pesky wire that keeps tangling, it has an easy slot-in plastic cutter. I could never manage our big petrol one, but this one is a dream, especially for going round 32 raised beds!

A jockey wheel is situated behind the strimmer head to take the weight but it's very restrictive because you can't swing the strimmer from side to side and it will sink into soft soil. A lightweight, petrol driven strimmer would be a better choice for tackling pernicious weeds.

I tried using our strimmer when DH was recovering from a hip replacement but it was far too heavy for me and I kept hitting the ground every time I attempted to swing it from side to side.

You could try contacting well known manufacturers like Sthil and Husqvarna via their websites and see which lighter models they recommend.

Thank you so much that's really helpful, I'll go to a garden machinery specialist to see how heavy they are. One question, what's a jockey wheel?

There are two strimmers with jockey wheels on Amazon, Allotmenteer, but they're both battery powered and cost about £70. (Bosch Accu 26 and True-something). Hope that helps.

I'm sure I've seen one which rests on a small jockey wheel. This takes most of the weight off the shoulders so should be much easier to use. I'll see if I can find out more about it.

Get a petrol one. We have had one for 20 years. It is powerful, not ovr heavy and starts at the pull of a string. As merlotgran says; go to a garden equipment specialist and seek their advice. They will also have a wider range of makes and sizes to choose from.

There are plenty of models available but your best bet would be to go to an agricultural and garden supplies retailer rather than a garden centre and see how heavy they are when you hold one. You will also get some advice on the right one for the job.

If the weeds have tough stems like docks you will need one that has a steel cutting blade as well as the plastic cord which will only cope with small weeds.