I've never really owned a place with a lot of concrete around it and now I do. Driveway, front walk, back porch walk and about 105' of concrete apron just around the swimming pool plus an apron that connects the pool area to a storage building. I been keeping it trimmed/edged with the big Stihl 2cycle brush cutter/weed eater I brought with me, but it's a lot overkill and slings crap everywhere, especially into the pool water. I don't really want to spend 100s of dollars for a gas or battery power edger which booth throw crap up on the pavement and into the pool..
So, at around $70, do these things work?

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 03-15-2023).]

[This message has been edited by TheDigitalAlchemist (edited 03-15-2023).]

Best edger I ever used was a small 2-stroke Troy-Bilt tiller with the tines removed and an edger blade installed. (Came with the tiller.)
It was noisy and smoky. My neighbors loved me.
We had one like the one in the picture, except that it only had one wheel, instead of two. Was lots of work.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 03-15-2023).]

quote Originally posted by maryjane: I hate to appear ignorant (which in this case, I am) but exactly how do ya use the things? In some places, the surface of the concrete is as much as 6" from the top of the soil...

My parents had one of those lawn edgers to use all along the sidewalks on our corner lot... which meant there was a lot of edging to do. Those edgers are designed to trim grass from a lawn that's level with the sidewalk. It would be useless for trimming grass from a lawn that's 6" below the concrete surface.

A lawn edger actually digs out a little "groove" along the edge of the sidewalk the first time it's used... which means it's not just trimming grass, it's plowing through dirt and roots! It's hard work the first time it's done! After the groove has been created, subsequent trimmings are relatively easy if done on a regular basis (before dirt and roots fill in the groove again).

There are electric lawn edgers that would make the job a heckuva lot easier, especially the first time the edging is done. My recommendation would be to rent one of those for the first edging job (or use a spade), and then use the non-powered edger from that point forward.



By the way, a lawn edger is pushed along on the concrete. I mention this for two reasons. That edger you posted a picture of looks like it might have plastic wheels (although doubtful). If so, they wouldn't last any length of time whatsoever on concrete, plus they wouldn't grip the concrete to turn the blades. They need to be rubber. The other reason why I mentioned that the edger needs to be on the concrete is because I came across the following from Here. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Obviously this illustrator has never used a lawn edger!

quote Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist: How To Use A Manual Lawn Edger

I watched that after I wrote my post. It's a good video... although the guy isn't telling the whole truth when he says... "It's a very easy tool to use". Definitely not easy the first time!

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 03-16-2023).]