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Just noticed this new saw on metabo.com. https://www.metabo.com/nz/en/tools/cordless-tools/cordless-jig-saws/sta-18-ltx-100-601002650-cordless-jigsaw.html

A 15 cell pack would be a nightmare! A pack like this for 3 cell M12 and Bosch 12V would be almost manageable. The bottom lid mechanism could be a cap that screws off. There's a huge problem of putting cells into the same pack that have different charge levels.

The fastening mechanism would definitely have to be better than the one in the photo.

Looks great (I have a TD170). I'm not sure I'd like it too much shorter, but a smaller body would be good (not that the 170 is big).

Yeh I understand that, and I guarantee the manufacturers will never do something like this. Unless, perhaps there is a major worldwide shortage of lithium, or something causes their production cost/sale price to soar so high that they see a decline in tool sales because people can't afford the batteries, then maybe they might consider doing it to get tool sales back up (a massive unlikely hypothetical scenario!). I'm not really talking the economics of it all, just merely throwing up an idea to think about. A third party could make it happen (please, someone out there do it )

I ran across these Dewalt AA Laser battery packs on Ebay (image source is Melbourne Tool Sales on Ebay). Wouldn't it be great if manufacturers sold battery packs like these that you put your own 18650 cells into. All the protection electronics would be in the pack, with just the batteries being removable. This would allow you to either charge the pack on the usual charger, or, remove the cells and charge on a standard AA/18650/26650 battery charger. Cells could be removed and put into another manufacturers pack. I'm sure there are many problems with this including cell movement, connection quality, temperature monitoring, dust, water etc. If an effort was made i'm sure some of these could be avoided.

I ended up just finding the US style small guard on Ebay to give it a try. It has more room and will fit a 15" swath. What I've done is use the blade from the large guard and put it on the small one (they have the cutting edge on opposite sides). This adds half an inch to the string length on each side, taking the swath up to 14". The photo below shows the original setup and differences in the blade mounting orientation and guard size. Update: performance is great. I don't notice any difference in power, if anything it feels slightly more powerful (I guess that's because the tip of the string is moving faster). I haven't used it enough to compare battery life but I figure it would be using more. It feels so much better to have that extra string length. The small guard is absolutely useless! It must be the worst guard I've ever used. All it needed was to be a bit wider, like the large guard on the smallest side would be perfect.

Thanks for the feedback, I was hoping to hear about this saw. Looks great. What's the balance like? Does is tip forward when holding with one hand? What about the vibration?

Those shelves make the TStak's look tiny! I'll give a like to whoever counts the number of Dewalt logos in that above photo (just banter, Dewalt has made all of my favourite power tools)

Dewalt doing what Dewalt does, putting Dewalt logos on everything. I bet if you turned that chair around there would be another Dewalt logo on the back, and possibly underneath the seat. Looks great. I could see that chair being useful. I would attach a pouch to one of the legs to hold tools while working. Perhaps they've thought of this and have a few accessories coming out too.

At some point through the year each one of these has been my favourite: - Makita TD170 impact driver - Metabo SSE 18 LTX compact reciprocating saw - Dewalt 20V string trimmer I've probably enjoyed using the string trimmer the most but I've only had it a few weeks now. The recip saw is next; such a great little brushed saw.

I used to get them from Sydney Tools, they had everything early last year, now nothing. Ebay AUS has a limited selection, mostly from a Korean seller. They are expensive however. There's also Ebay USA. I also have concerns about warranty. I would imagine there wouldn't be any.

Not wanting to buy more batteries means I show some degree of loyalty but its not going to make me buy a bad tool. I really dislike brands that are slick; those that mislead, exaggerate or mention other brands in their marketing and demonstrations as a way of knocking them down (to make their own tools look better). Actually, this is kind of how some people can be; to compete or improve their own situation, they pull the competition down to get ahead of them, rather than push themselves harder to get ahead of them. People see through this charade. I especially see blind loyalty in the JavaScript world; Angular vs React vs Vue vs whatever other fanboy framework is the latest fad. Stop wasting energy on defending or bagging others, just recognize the strengths and weaknesses, pick one that will solve your problem best (they are tools, not Game of Thrones or Hogwarts Houses), and get on with building something useful for the world.

Metabo 36V OPE with X2 LiHD would be great. I wonder if they have future plans for this. There's something appealing about Metabo green OPE. I nearly bought the 18V hedge trimmer.

I still can't find Bosch 12V tools anywhere in Australia. Bunnings and total tools don't have them.😞

I would hope that a Flexvolt on the 20V string trimmer would make it perform better, something towards how the M18 string trimmer performs. Have you ever seen a review or an opinion on how the M18 performs WITHOUT the 15 cell 9.0ah? I haven't. It looks to be a beast, but I think the 15 cells has a lot to do with it.

Anyone tried a Flexvolt battery on the 20V string trimmer?

I just stumbled upon this. Is it the only re-badged tough system out there?

I recently had to decide on what OPE platform to get into. Price was the main decision maker so I ended up just going with Dewalt 20V so I could use the batteries I already have. Ego is cheaper than Flexvolt in Australia and 20V is the cheapest. M18 is more expensive than Ego as well, but cheaper than Flexvolt. I still use a gas mower and I intend to keep it that way. Too many times I've had to mow through heavy wet grass. I don't think a cordless mower would handle that and also have good runtime without needing to fork out hundreds for batteries. If I were a pro the batteries might pay for themselves eventually, but they won't as a home owner (it's only about $1 of fuel, 26 times a year). The Ego mower sounds great, I'll have to go and watch a review.

This looks great. I hope it works well because it would be handy to have.

I've changed the title of this thread from "covering the motor vents" to "trimmer mods". For those in the US with the small guard, can the string cutting blade simply be turned around to increase the swath? Is there room within the guard to have a custom blade that gives an even bigger swath than this?

I've really lost confidence in brushless tools. They've just been too random and unreliable for me so far. I've posted a few times about issues I've had, but here's another one: My new brushless Dewalt 20V string trimmer will exceed it's maximum speed if I suddenly lift the trimmer head upwards towards shoulder level. It really revs hard for about a second. It sounds like it's going 500-1000rpm more than the rated top rpm. Another brushless gremlin. I am quite happy that the Dewalt 20V hedge trimmer I just bought is brushed, because that will be worked hard. I think the brands (perhaps excluding the slow players like Bosch, Hilti, Metabo) may have brought brushless to the consumer too soon. I won't be surprised if most of my brushless tools won't be working in a few years. The batteries will outlast them.

That's not a bad idea really. Hot food on a cordless jobsite! A 9" cordless grinder is possible so an 800-1000W microwave might be too.

Haha, I've done that as well

Dewalt 18V/20V hedge trimmer (DCM563) for $219 AUD. It was between this and the Metabo 18V hedge trimmer (AHS 18V) for $279 AUD. It was mainly a price decision but I couldn't find much info about the Metabo (and read nothing but good things about the Dewalt).