HACKING PRODUCTIVITY WITH CORDLESS HANDHELD TOOLS

Broken pull strings, dirty carburetors, improper fuel mixture ratios, and knocked over gas cans are just a few common setbacks that will slow productivity and cost your business money when working with gas-powered tools.

Beyond meeting emissions and noise compliance requirements from an ever-expanding list of HOAs, municipalities, and states like California, cordless handheld tools offer a productivity hack as they are efficient, cost-effective solutions to reduce labor inefficiencies, streamline operations, and maximize uptime.

How Gas Handheld Tools Are Holding You Back

Cordless handheld tools have fewer moving parts than their gas counterparts, which means cordless tools require considerably less maintenance and service to help you maximize uptime. There’s no need to repair broken pull strings, remove and clean carburetors, or change spark plugs.

Battery-powered tools also save time during the workday by eliminating the need to make a visit, or multiple visits, to the gas station for fuel. There’s no time spent mixing fuels to the correct ratios—or downtime that can result from improperly mixed or spilled fuel.

With a cordless handheld tool, being ready to go is as simple as grabbing a battery off a shelf or charger, clicking it into place, and getting to work. And these cordless handheld tools offer a low-cost entry point to test the benefits of battery-powered tools before making a large-scale investment in transitioning your full equipment fleet.

“I don’t think you can truly appreciate it until you’ve experienced how the single-action push-button start [of a cordless string trimmer] changes the game relative to fueling, priming, and cranking a pull string over and over [with a gas tool],” said Conrad Tufte, manager of product for EGO Commercial. “I’ve watched people sit for 10 minutes trying to start a string trimmer. You’re paying someone 25 bucks an hour and it’s taking him 10 minutes to start the tool. And if that starter breaks, now you’re looking at 30 minutes to an hour of downtime for field repair—assuming you have the part and know how to fix it.”

A Cordless System Designed to Maximize Uptime

While the residential market has been able to match the power of gas for some time, EGO Commercial’s suite of tools is designed specifically for the all-day needs of professional users with industrial-strength carbon fiber, IPX5 weather resistance, and commercial-grade brushless motors that deliver lower vibration, long runtimes, and the power of gas.

But the real game-changer that EGO Commercial delivers is in its PGX™ Commercial Charging system, which can charge up to 70 batteries overnight from any standard 15-amp circuit—no expensive electrical upgrades required.

The system is anchored by the 1600W Hub, which can be mounted in a building, van, or trailer to connect to any standard 120V outlet. And it’s scalable: each 1600W Hub connects to PGX™ Commercial Charging 3-Port Docks that simultaneously charge up to three batteries at a time, with up to 24 docks connected to each 1600W Hub.

To solve for those instances where energy is depleted during the day that in the gas world would require a quick midday stop at the gas station, EGO Commercial offers an off-grid solution with its PGX™ Commercial Charging Power Bank. The Power Bank uses a 2.2kWh (40Ah) High-Capacity Battery to recharge smaller batteries in the field without cables or special connections. It can recharge two 5.0Ah batteries in just 30 minutes, and up to eight 5.0Ah batteries can be recharged from the energy of one single High-Capacity Battery.

“It’s an economical solution,” Tufte said. “Unlike other chargers needing costly electrical upgrades and hardware, the PGX™ system is designed to be simpler and much less expensive. If you’re starting out with just a couple of tools to experience the productivity gains, you might only need a handful of batteries and two docks. But as you add more tools and scale your system, you can do it for a much lower cost than the competition.”