The best brush cutters for weeds

What matters for weed clearance

Garden weeds are rarely a single hard job — it’s dandelions along a path one week, nettles behind the shed the next, and a general tidy-up of borders in between. That means versatility matters more than raw cutting power: a machine with a reliable line head that copes with soft growth and the odd tougher patch, without being so heavy that a quick 20-minute session feels like a chore. Easy starting counts for a lot too, since weed clearance is often done in short, frequent bursts rather than one long campaign. A few of these machines also accept a blade, which is worth having if your weeds tend to come with brambles or woody regrowth mixed in.

Our picks

The Makita DUR368LZ is the pro-grade option here — at under 4 kg it’s genuinely light to swing through a border full of weeds, and its 36V brushless motor has enough in reserve to fit a blade for the tougher patches. It suits anyone already invested in Makita’s LXT battery platform.

For similar brushless performance at roughly half the price, the Einhell Agillo 36/255 BL is the value pick. It takes a metal blade as well as line, so it copes with a mixed patch of weeds and light brush without needing a second tool, provided you’re already on Power X-Change batteries.

If you’d rather not think about batteries at all, the Stihl FS 70 C-E is a genuine all-rounder — it comes with an 8-tooth blade fitted as standard, so it moves straight from soft weeds to denser growth, and ErgoStart takes the effort out of cold starts.

The Worx WG183E is the machine to reach for on a lawn or border full of ordinary weeds and light growth — at 2.2 kg with batteries included and automatic line feed, it’s about as effortless as trimming gets, though it isn’t built for anything woody.

Similarly, the Black+Decker STC1840EPC is a complete, ready-to-go kit for weed and lawn-edge work — its 4.0 Ah battery and fast charger mean there’s nothing extra to buy, and its 30 cm cut is generous for the price.

For clearing weeds over a wider area quickly, the Greenworks GD40BC stands out for its 40 cm cutting width — the extra reach per pass means fewer sweeps to clear the same patch of ground, and it plugs into Greenworks’ broader G40 tool range.

Which should you choose?

For most gardens with a mix of soft weeds and the odd tougher patch, the Makita DUR368LZ or the budget-friendly Einhell Agillo cover the job well and both take a blade if needed. If you’d rather avoid batteries and fuel mixing altogether, the Stihl FS 70 C-E is the simplest all-rounder. For light, frequent weeding around paths and borders, the Worx WG183E or Black+Decker STC1840EPC are the easiest to live with day to day, and the Greenworks GD40BC is worth it if you’re covering more ground and want a wider cut per pass.