# Landscape Blade vs. String Trimmer



## DeliveryMan (Mar 1, 2018)

For those of you who use a Landscape Blade -- it seems as if a Landscape blade is a fairly limited use tool (good for the horizontal edging that the reel mowers can't get to, but thats it).. By comparison it seems as if a string trimmer can do more, horizontal and vertical edging.. Am I missing something?

What is the advantage of using a landscape blade?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The main advantage is a very clean cut. The string trimmer just beats the grass until it shreds it.

I want a LB but I cant get it past the approval committee since i will need the LB and the head for a very small amount of edging I have to do.


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

Hands down one of the best purchases I've made in regards to lawn care since I started reel mowing. In my opinion if you have a reel mower and cutting less than 1", the landscape bade is a must. When trying to edge around vertical surfaces, the string trimmer beats the heck out of the grass to get it trimmed short enough to match the HOC from your reel mower. Oftentimes, my grass would have a scalped looked to it all the way around my raised boarders, and fence line. The landscape blade cuts the grass as short as you need to match the HOC from the reel and leaves a clean cut that is not scalped.

As far as versatility, I've only pulled my string trimmer out once this year, and it was mainly to do some trimming around my neighbor's lawn. They are an elderly couple, and I cut their grass on a regular basis. I didn't want to use my landscape blade where I did not need to.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

A Landscape Blade is hands down the best tool I've seen/used for trimming reel low. I would also argue that using a string trimmer for edging is doing the lawn a disservice, but to each his own. :thumbup:

FWIW, I know @Concretestorm uses his Landscape Blade to edge.


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

I've read a million people talk about how great it is but I cannot seem to figure out applications where it's actually used in place of a string trimmer. String trimmers are used to 1) edge or 2) trim along a fence, pole, mailbox, electrical box, etc..(I'm obviously generalizing). How can you use a metal blade to trim along those items??


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Starting at 3:49 in this video...
https://youtu.be/JzGnpPkIGLk?t=3m49s

https://youtu.be/vUyEPuq96-U


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

The tips of the landscape blade are squared off and sort of rounded just enough so you can actually touch the surface of post, walls, borders, etc without causing damage to them, and actually trimming the grasses that are growing there.

The only place I have a hard time is 90 degree corners where the rounded blade will not get into.


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

Mystery solved...Thanks Ware and Topcat!


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

g-man said:


> I want a LB but I cant get it past the approval committee since i will need the LB and the head for a very small amount of edging I have to do.


Have you made a appeal to the committee based on what the LB could do for a flowerbed?
I'd come up with 10 ways that a LB can improve the look of flowers/flowerbeds and begin working that information in over time :nod:
I'm assuming that the committee is a stakeholder in the flowers.


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

Don't forget the argument of the clean socks! :thumbup:


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## Llano Estacado (Jul 18, 2017)

Ware said:


> Starting at 3:49 in this video...


What about vertical edging around sidewalks and driveways? I see in the video you switched to a traditional blade edging tool. Will the landscape blade do that job or no?


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

How beneficial would the LB be for those with a higher HOC? I am definitely intrigued.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Llano Estacado said:


> What about vertical edging around sidewalks and driveways? I see in the video you switched to a traditional blade edging tool. Will the landscape blade do that job or no?


I prefer the deep, clean edge I get with a stick edger, but I know some edge with a LB - Concretestorm comes to mind. I would never give up either tool though. :thumbup:


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## Don_Bass (May 2, 2018)

Anyone Running A LB On A Honda WeedEater?


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## Llano Estacado (Jul 18, 2017)

Ordered a blade from R&R today. Feel like a kid waiting on Christmas to get here!


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## Killbuzz (Apr 30, 2017)

It also doesn't throw debris everywhere. I use mine in flip flops and shorts.


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## jerrie01 (May 9, 2018)

Where is the best place to get one? Looks like a great tool.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

jerrie01 said:


> Where is the best place to get one? Looks like a great tool.


You can buy a complete setup from a Maruyama dealer, or if you want to convert a Stihl, Echo or similar you can buy just the head from Seago International for $300 delivered. R&R also sells them.

Here is another thread that discusses the adapters. :thumbup:


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## jerrie01 (May 9, 2018)

Awesome. Thanks!


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## kur1j (Jul 2, 2017)

@Ware

Are they the same exact thing?


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## Fishnugget (Sep 29, 2017)

I can't wait for my landscape blade to arrive and I agree with some of the comments on here that the string trimmer just shreds the edges of grass. My edges right now are looking a little beat up. Kind of sad.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

kur1j said:


> Ware
> 
> Are they the same exact thing?


Yes. They're all made by Idech in Japan. That's also where Maruyama comes from.

Seems like someone has said Echo or one of the other big names offers the landscape blade as an option in other countries.


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

Ware said:


> Seems like someone has said Echo or one of the other big names offers the landscape blade as an option in other countries.


Yep


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## M311att (May 22, 2017)

I've shattered 2 glass front doors with a string trimmer. I need a landscape blade......maybe next year.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

All I can say is if you're edging your lawn with a string trimmer and think that produces an acceptable result, nobody here is going to convince you that you need a $300 head.

I have an edger just for edging, a landscaping blade for trimming, a mower for mowing, and a blower for blowing. They're all tools that are "limited in use" but note that I don't NOT have a blower because I can't rake soil with it.

I love my blade, I can use it in flower beds, gravel, against rocks, around wooden posts without chewing them up, etc.


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