Flymo Ultratrim 260

Verdict

If you want something to trim and edge your lawn, the Flymo Ultratrim 260 cordless trimmer is versatile enough to manage both well, thanks to a clever bit of design. It can be a bit tricky to put together, but once it’s assembled this trimmer does a good job of beheading errant grass stems, and leaves a neat edge in its wake.

Introduction

The Flymo Ultratrim 260 is a slightly more expensive trimmer than many, designed as a standalone tool rather than something to be shoved in a kit with a mower, and it shows.

There’s been a bit of thought put into its design, with an awareness of how gardeners actually use their tools. It flips over to edge your lawn, and can cut through long grass stems, but isn’t suitable for heavier work.

Design and features

• Kick-switch for flipping the head over
• Wheel for edging work
• Metal guard

The Flymo Ultratrim 260 arrives in bits. This is nothing unusual, as many garden trimmers do the same thing to save space when transported, but this model is one of the few that I’ve had to resort to actually reading the manual to assemble. The main culprit is the wheel, which is useful when you’re edging, but isn’t intuitive to attach. Eventually, I got it all slotted together, and found a trimmer that sits nicely in the hands and is adjustable enough for all kinds of grip preferences.

The telescopic tube can be adjusted so you’re swinging the head at a comfortable distance, while the handle near the top of the tool can pivot back and forth so your guiding hand isn’t twisted into a strange position while using it. This is vastly better to models with fixed handles, as it reduces fatigue while using it. Short trimmers like this one are generally pretty light tools, but your arm is still going to get tired if you’re using it for more than just a gentle trim of already short grass.

There’s more thoughtful design further down the shaft, as the head rotation mechanism is triggered by a foot switch, and with the head in the upright position it becomes an effective edging tool.

There’s another switch too, which allows the handle to rotate through 60 degrees so you can flatten the trimmer to get it under things like benches and trampolines more easily, and a useful power gauge on the shaft itself so you don’t have to keep looking at the battery, or just guess.

Performance

• Good cutting in both configurations
• Wide cutting width
• Only a single line

The Flymo Ultratrim 260 is a chunky trimmer, and a kilo heavier than others in the same sector, so you might expect some heavyweight performance. It’s absolutely fine cutting grass, and will gamely have a go at thicker weeds, but with a 1.6mm single line it’s not suitable for slashing through thick nettles or thistles. There’s an auto-feed system at work that delivers more line as it breaks, which is great for uninterrupted trimming.

The cutting head itself is quite wide, with a 26cm cutting width, which means you’ll have to take slightly fewer swings at an area before all the grass is felled. There’s a metal guard to keep the line away from walls, pots and the sort of delicate stems you don’t want to cut through, and then there’s that wheel.

It’s a clever thing to see on a trimmer, meaning that if you retract the guard and swing the head into the edging position, it will roll along the ground keeping the line a set distance above the lawn, making your edge cut more consistent and removing the risk of chopping lumps of earth or flicking gravel or bark around (depending on what your flower beds are covered in) by going too low.

Battery life is decent, and I never saw one run out while trimming and edging in my suburban garden, but battery life will depend on the amount of work you’re doing and how tough it is. The 18V power packs are not only compact but part of the Power For All system that can be interchanged with other compatible tools, so if you already own Power 4 All batteries you can pick up this trimmer for a cheaper price by buying it without the charger and cells.

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