STIHL Battery KombiSystem – 5 Fall Yard Clean Up Tasks, 1 Tool

5 Fall Yard Clean Up Jobs – 1 Tool. PLUS, A Printable Fall Yard Clean-Up Checklist and A STIHL Battery KombiSystem Review…

Autumn brings treasures like pumpkin spice and apple picking. But the coming of cooler weather also brings extra items on the to-do list for homeowners. Items like fall yard clean up.

This year, we took on 5 major fall yard maintenance tasks with one battery-powered, multi-function tool system – the STIHL battery KombiSystem.

*This post was sponsored by STIHL. We received STIHL battery Kombi product in exchange for this content. All opinions are my own. Please read our full disclosure policy here.*

Here’s what we’ve got on tap for you today:

If you found this post because you’ve been considering buying your own STIHL KombiSystem (ours is the STIHL KMA 130 R KombiSystem), we are happy to share our experience to help you decide whether or not it’s the right tool system for you.

We received the battery KombiSystem (the specific title is the KMA 130 R KombiSystem)  in the summer and tackled a summer gardening project with it. We wrote a post at that time which covered in detail what the KombiSystem is, as well as detailed setup and operating instructions.

To review a bit, STIHL recently released this battery-powered multi-function toolset.

The KombiSystem currently offers a total of 13 attachments. Each quickly and easily couples with the Kombi motor. Together, this suite of products can tackle almost any outdoor or landscaping project you throw its way.

Instead of buying individual outdoor power tools such as a leaf blower, hedge trimmer, tree pruner, edger, grass trimmer, etc. the STIHL KombiSystem can handle all of those projects and more.

Again, for more details about setting up and operation of the KombiSystem, head to this summer gardening blog post, and check out the video tutorial there.

Fall Yard Clean Up Checklist:

As a homeowner, you have a lot on your plate as the weather gets cooler. To help keep your winterizing tasks on track, I created this printable fall yard clean up checklist for you.

Simply head to this link or click on the picture of the checklist below, and you can grab your copy right now⤵️!

There are certainly a lot of fall lawn care and yard maintenance tasks to check off our lists each year, right?

That’s one reason that we were really excited to try out the STIHL KombiSystem this season.

We completed (5) of the tasks on the checksheet using the KombiSystem. Instead of having separate power tools for each job, we only needed one motor, plus the attachment specific to the task.

STIHL KombiSystem Performance on 5 Fall Yard Clean Up Tasks:

1. Hedge Pruning/Cutting Back Perennials:

We have a number of large, established hydrangeas in our yard that we cut back each fall.

Pruning keeps their size under control, improves blooming each spring, and makes it easier to clean out debris from the mulch beds.

You can see some of the big hydrangeas in the image below, to the left of the door.

Using the KombiSystem adjustable hedge trimmer, I was able to knock back these huge hydrangeas in just minutes.

The STIHL Kombi has a ton of power, which was one thing we were initially concerned about when trying the battery-powered system. Typically, gas-powered tools really outperform battery-driven tools in the power department.

But Dave and I both agree that this hedge trimmer is much more powerful than our electric version (made by a different manufacturer). And it felt just as powerful as our gas-powered trimmer.

For me, I found the battery hedge trimmer easier to assemble and operate than our gas-powered trimmer. It’s lighter weight, and I don’t have any priming to remember or pull chains to deal with.

I will say that for someone short, like me (I’m 5’2″) I wish the attachment was a bit shorter, as that would make it even easier to use. But Dave preferred it longer as he could reach more than he would otherwise be able to.

This particular hedge pruner attachment has an adjustable angle on it, which is helpful. There is another version STIHL sells that is a static angle unit if you prefer that.

2. Create a New Planting Bed for Fall Transplants:

Once we pruned our giant hydrangeas (and pruned is kind of an understatement…I whacked the heck out of those suckers), we wanted to transplant them.

Years ago when we completed our DIY deck makeover project, I removed the railings from our low-to-the-ground deck.

It gave our outdoor area a more open feel.

I had been wanting to create a mulched bed of shrubs around the perimeter of the deck to soften the edges a bit.

Our hydrangeas have grown like wildfire over the years, so rather than buying more plants, we decided to transplant 5 mature hydrangeas to the area.

To make the new bed, we first chalked a line to map out the desired location of the planting area. Then we used the bed redefiner attachment to cut our new bed perimeter along the chalk line.

This tool made quick work of that task.

It took less than 5 minutes to cut the line, which was about 40-50′ long in total.

We then changed attachments and used the cultivator tool to till up the grass that was in our soon-to-be mulch bed.

Loosening up the soil with the cultivator made removing the grass a ton easier. It made digging the holes for the transplanted hydrangeas simpler, as well.

3. Clean up/Edge Mulch Beds:

Once we actually moved the hydrangeas over to the new bed, we went back over the perimeter line with the redefiner attachment. That tool creates such an awesome edge that mulching is a breeze.

We laid a weed barrier down.

Then threw in the mulch.

The mulch just stops right at your line and once you’re done mulching, you get a really great, professional-looking and defined edge.

4. Blowing Leaves/Debris Removal from Planting Beds:

After mulching, I used the blower attachment to get any debris out of the area, and I blew all the downed leaves off of our deck area as well.

The blower attachment is one of my favorites because it’s super lightweight, and isn’t too long for me to use.

We have another battery-powered blower tool, but the Kombi is much, much more powerful.

That said, on low-power, it was gentle enough to get the debris out of my planting bed without removing/blowing out my mulch.

5. Prune Tree Limbs:

If you ask me, one of the best things to do in the fall is to get a fire going in the fireplace. And fall yard clean up is great for gathering kindling and limbs we can dry to be burned over the cold months.

We used the pole pruner attachment to cut dead limbs we had on a number of our trees.

One of our trees got hit by lightning this year. We still can’t tell if it is going to make it or not, but it has definitely been losing dying limbs. It’s a big tree, so the pole pruner made the job much easier.

Being up on a ladder with a chainsaw is never a good idea. In fact, STIHL tells people that if a job requires your feet to leave the ground, you should always hire a pro. This pole pruner attachment allowed me to cut branches that needed to be taken down without doing something that was unsafe.

As far as the pole pruner attachment performance goes, we haven’t had a power pole pruner in the past, so I can’t give you a great apples to apples comparison. But it is SO much easier to operate than the manual one we have (it has a rope that you pull in order to operate the cutting mechanism at the end of the pole).

It is lighter weight than our non-power pruner, which made it really comfortable for even a small person like me to use. But it was powerful enough to drop some pretty significant branches (over 2-3″ thick) without a hitch.

Final Thoughts/Overall Review of the STIHL KMA 130 R Battery KombiSystem:

We’ve now owned and used our battery KombiSystem over the course of several seasons of yardwork chores. And we’ve had the opportunity to test, play with, and put all of our attachments to the test. The attachments we have include:

• BF-KM Mini-Cultivator
• BG-KM Blower
• FBD-KM Bed Redefiner
• HT-KM Pole Pruner
• HL-KM 145° Adjustable Hedge Trimmer

Overall, we love this system. Dave is really happy with the power it provides.

It’s comparable to his gas-powered tools which had previously been his favorites. And I’m an even bigger fan.

I despise the gas-powered tools we have because they are so heavy, and getting them to start with those damn pull chains is ALWAYS a struggle for me.

Plus, operating gas-powered tools is generally a multi-step process. That means that I’m constantly calling Dave to be reminded of the order of operations…priming, choke, pull that, press this…it’s a giant PITA.

We have many electric yard work tools, which I like more than the gas-powered for their weight and ease of operation. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cut a power cord as I work.

And the lugging of the extension cords in and out, and wrapping them up neatly at the end a process I’d much rather live without.

The KombiSystem is SO MUCH easier than both of those options for me. No cords. No pull chains.

The backpack is lightweight (tip from your resident physical therapist i.e. me 😉: fasten the lower belt OVER your hip bones to take a bulk of the weight off your back…see photo below).

And the battery life is incredible. We’ve used these tools a ton, and only had to charge the battery once, maybe twice…the whole year!

The only downside for me is that some of the attachments are really long. Great for being able to reach, but for me as a short person those longer attachments can feel a bit cumbersome.

Lastly, tools needed for yard work can take up a lot of real estate in your garage or shed if you’re lucky enough to even have designated storage space like that for tools. With just one battery-powered motor, you can hook up 13 different attachments. This helps save a bunch of space in your storage area.

And that wraps it up! STIHL products are sold through local retailers. To learn more about this system, or other STIHL products, you can find your local STIHL dealer here.

And if you want to see our other STIHL product review posts, here they are:

• STIHL Battery KombiSystem Summer Gardening Project
• Reviewing Two Battery-Powered Curb Appeal Pruning Tools: STIHL GTA 26 and STIHL HSA 25

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