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Comment by 111111IIIIIII | Hacker News Reader

> “That could be a weedwacker,” a Thales spokeswoman, Beth Larson, added.

This just reminds me how thankful I am to live in a city that has outlawed gas powered weedwackers.

How does that work - are professional landscapers permitted them? I'm so jealous of this but I doubt it would ever work here, in a large, bay area city.

It might just not work. I lived in a place where gas powered landscaping equipment was illegal and it was widely ignored.

It's a historic city with small lots which probably makes it a lot easier, and I think the ban only covers certain areas. I couldn't tell you all the details because I only moved here recently, but they banned selling a few years before banning using them. I do see some commercial landscapers still using those wide ones that you sit on like a throne and control with joysticks or something, and I'm sure a lot of people without permission still use gas powered but not on my street.

Electric trimming apparatus exist. On a 14 gauge extension cord you can safely have things on an ordinary 120 volt circuit with a 1500 watt motor, so there is more than enough power. Noisy, yes, but not as polluting as a small two-stroke engine and not nearly as loud.

There are cordless trimmers and leaf blowers. The run time isn’t great but they can use the same battery. Expensive to buy lots of batteries for whole day, and hard to charge on the truck. But I’m sure they will figure out some solution like quiet generator on truck, or multicharger to extension cord from house.

Solar panel and big batteries on truck, with backup generator?

EGO has a commercial line of battery powered equipment. In certain areas all electric lawn care can extract a premium even if gas powered equipment is legal.

The Stihl line are great - but pricey.

I hope to never start a 2 stroke again.

It will have to work. https://www.consumerreports.org/emissions/california-ban-on-...

Internal combustion blowers and line trimmers are legal here. All my neighbors have switched to electric blowers. The lawn guy also runs a fully electric setup with mowers, trimmers and blowers.

It’s not legislated. The battery gear is just simpler and more reliable. And the fact it’s quieter is a bonus.

Washington, DC, has outlawed gas-powered leaf blowers, and they seem to have mostly disappeared. Honestly I don't know about trimmers.

I’ve been so pleased with the overall ergonomics of my battery-powered lawn equipment that I’m not sure I’ll ever use gas-powered again. They usually operate around 80 decibels, they perform very well, and I’ve never had to deal with spilling gas or oil. I’m pretty sure I’ll never buy gas lawn equipment again.

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