McLane comes very well recommended and it's been around for awhile.

I have an old Power Trim that has been a good one. McLane also makes a good edger.

When I lived in California Power Trim was top of the line. Now in Jersey, I use Little Wonder 6032.

McLane is a good homeowner's machine, but not in the same class as Power Trim or Little Wonder. Much less expensive, however, especially from big box store. Make sure you get either the McLane 801 or 101 models. Avoid the "dumb-down" 137 three wheeler. It is only slightly less expensive than the 101 and you'll be disappointed.

I didn't know McLane was sold in a big box store. I don't recommend, nor do I ever buy any serious equipment from a big box store.

Home Depot used to sell McLane edgers. Don't know if they still do.

If you choose not to use Home Depot, that's OK. It's a personal decision, but not based upon the merits of a particular piece of equipment.

I have an old McLane I bought at a sale 20 years ago and still working fine. It was from a landscaping dept at a property that went contract. The briggs motor stuck a valve once but a ratchet, socket and hammer fixed that.
With 4 wheels it makes curbing easy too.

It's funny you should mention the stuck valve. I just had to take mine apart for the same reason.

anyone ever use one of the hand held models from Stihl? Looks like I could hand it from the wall of my garage to save storage space. The McLane units look nice too.

I use the echo stick edger, or hand held if you will. I've had a Mclean, its good for working on concrete surfaces, but I found it is not as easy or fast around beds in turf areas. With the echo I found:
Can hang it on the wall so it takes up less room in the shed.
no oil to change every year,
no belt to worry about,
the 2 stroke stick edger just seems more user friendly to me at least

john c - I think I may try the stick edger for the reasons you mentioned. I have only a small amount of beds along pathways with a large amount of edging needed in the yard.

I like the lower maintenance point you make as well as the space savings.

My question is: How are the stick edgers to handle? Don't the tend to fly around?

It's about like carrying a weed eater when moving from place to place, once you put the end down to start edgeing there's enough weight on the end to keep it there. One thing I did notice where it lacks when compared to the 4 stroke multi wheeled types is if you are cutting an edge for the very first time, but once you have a clean edge established and all you need to do is maintian it the stick will zip right through it at about a walking pace

john c - I have a mix of existing edge to maintain and new edge to cut. Does the stick edger not do the job on the new? or is it just a more tedious process to get it right?

If cutting the new is a problem then maybe the best bet for me is to rent the bigger machine for a day to cut the new and then buy the stick edger to maintain?

No I think any of the sticks would do, the 2 stroke does not have the torque of a 4 stroke it won't power through something like a 4 stroke would so you have to cut in smaller steps if using a 2 stroke, it's just gonna take a little longer.....the first time, after that you'll make it up 10 fold

thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

I have both a walk-behind and stick edger. For what it is worth, the walk behind is a John Deere E35, and the stick edger is one of the expand-it attachments like sold at home depot, and is powered by the Toro powerhead also sold at home depot.

I have used a walk-behind for years, and have just started using the stick this season. My impressions are still kind of mixed. The stick is easier to get out and use each use, but the speed of use for the stick and the walk-behind are pretty comparable.

On an established edge, you can use both at close to a normal walking pace. In the few areas where the edge was not well established, I much prefer the walk-behind.

I actually bought the stick edger as part of a reconditioned package from Cummins tools. It came with the powerhead, trimmer attachment, edger attachment and pruner attachment. I really bought the kit for the pruner, so I was just going to try out the edger. My plan was to sell the walk-behind if I liked the stick edger well enough, but I haven't convinced myself to sell the walk-behind.

One other consideration here is that the two edgers I talked about are somewhat on different ends of the spectrum. The John Deere E35 walk-behind is in many ways one of the nicest walk-behind edgers I have ever seen, and the stick edger I am using is more of the homeowner variety.

I'm trying to decide between electric and gas. I've used an electric and like that it goes around curves easy and that you can ride it on the curb. But A neighbor wants to sell me a like new Yardman gas powered lawnedger for $100
If I buy and edgehog ($82) i should really buy a good quality 100ft extension cord to go with it (40-50)
I like the low maintenance on the electric, but I hear the engines like to burn-up.
Ben

I need advice on which is the best way to go for someone who has a lot of curvy concrete edging around flower beds. Is the walk behind or the stick better suited? I also have the curb at the street to edge. Can the edgers with wheels ride along a 6 inch curb I'm wondering?

Being a small engine shop owner I can tell you that Shindaiwa makes the best stick edger and Whipper Clipper makes the best walkbehind edger.Check em out.