Husqvarna 224L

The Husqvarna 224L is a gas-powered string trimmer that uses a four-stroke engine. This means that, unlike two-stroke models, it runs on straight gasoline rather than a mixture of gas and oil. Four-stroke trimmers are generally more efficient than two-stroke models and produce lower emissions. However, they also tend to be heavier and vibrate more, and they require additional maintenance.

The Husqvarna 224L is the only four-stroke trimmer covered by our report sources that seems to avoid most of these problems. At 11.2 pounds, it's lighter than many two-stroke trimmers, and owners say vibration is not an issue. Users also report that the trimmer handles well and is relatively quiet. We did find a few complaints about durability, sometimes involving products that didn't work right out of the box. A two-stroke trimmer from the same manufacturer, the  best-reviewed Husqvarna 223L (*Est. $250) , gets better reliability ratings and also costs about $80 less.

The Husqvarna 224L has not been included in any professional tests that we found. However, it does receive about 100 reviews from owners posting at Lowes.com and another 50 or so at the manufacturer's website.