Heard of the STIHL HSA 25 or GTA 26 battery-powered landscaping tools? I’ll be reviewing both today, so you can see if these handy, manageable power tools are right for you and your curb appeal chores at home!
Landscaping tasks are like laundry. They never, ever disappear completely, no matter how much we wish they would. If only we could get things like money…or wine to re-emerge once spent or drunk as quickly as weeds in our garden beds, right?
*This post was sponsored by STIHL. We received STIHL power tools to review in exchange for this content. All opinions are my own. Please read our full disclosure policy here.*
With a pretty hefty amount of landscaping here at the house, I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for tools to make the curb appeal tasks quicker and easier. When STIHL showed me the HSA 25 and GTA 26 battery-powered hand tools, I was REALLY looking forward to reviewing them. “Why?” you ask. Let me start with what I’ll call my “typical power tool issues”.
STIHL GTA 26 & HSA 25 Review: a discussion of “typical” power tool issues
Where are my ladies at? No offense menfolk. But I gotta have a little pow-wow with my gal pals right here.
Let’s have a real, honest, woman-to-woman discussion about power tools, ok? Here’s the thing. I’m going to guess that typically, the power tool companies don’t really make most power tools with us in mind. Trust me, you and I could discuss the sins of our fathers over wine, beer, mixed drinks or all of the above AT LENGTH at some point. I won’t do that here.
But what I will say, is that as a 5’2.5″ woman weighing in at about 125 lbs., when I pick up many-a-power-tool, I think, “Is this supposed to only be used by men in the NFL?”
Typically, landscaping tools can be REALLY big, bulky, heavy, long, and just cumbersome for smaller users, in general.
Sure, I could use that as an excuse to make Dave do the landscaping tasks (and if that’s your go-to move, by ALL MEANS, do NOT let this review mess up your brilliant plan because I truly applaud your efforts 🍻👏).
But if you’re anything like me, you may actually LIKE landscaping chores!
I truly love getting outside and getting my hands dirty. Given the choice between doing another load of laundry and pruning hedges? I’d prune hedges any and every day of the week.
But when the only options for pruning are huge, honking tools that weigh as much as a hefty toddler and are about as tall as me? The fun factor of the job diminishes rapidly.
And don’t get me started on gas-powered tools that make me feel as if I’m being asphyxiated as I work. And whose pull starts couldn’t be mastered even by an Olympic rower.
Electric tools? No thanks. I will undoubtedly sever the cord on those puppies within the first twenty uses. Plus, who wants to haul a heavy outdoor cord around the yard? I feel like a dog on a leash.
Enter Two Battery-Powered STIHL landscaping & curb appeal tools: GTA 26 and HSA 25
And for ALLLL of these reasons, when these two curb appeal pruning tools from STIHL arrived at the house, I immediately fawned over them and was claiming them as my own.
Let’s dive into these two little (but powerful) beauties some more to help you decide whether or not these two curb appeal pruning tools are right for you in your own home…
STIHL HSA 25 Battery-Powered Garden Shear Set
About the STIHL HSA 25
The STIHL HSA 25 is a battery-powered trimmer tool that weighs under 2 lbs.
It comes with two attachments: a shorter “grass shear” blade, and a longer “hedge shear” blade. It can run for almost 2 hours before it requires a recharge.
To me, this lightweight trimmer is a perfect everyday maintenance tool. It’s a tool you can grab on the fly, without having to futz with cords, pull-chains, and all that other bologna.
You can just grab this puppy and go. It’s BAD-a#$ like that.
Let’s talk pros and cons of the STIHL HSA 25, as I see them.
STIHL HSA 25 PROS:
- lightweight
- unbelievable easy set-up (slip in the attachment & pull the trigger)
- lightweight
- short so it is easy to use in tight spaces
- lightweight
- nearly 2-hour battery run time
- powerful for trimming heavier brush/bushes/hedges
- did I mention lightweight??
- perfect for a homeowner to keep up with regular maintenance/pruning tasks
STIHL HSA 25 CONS:
- not ideal for deep hedges or super tall hedges (unless you have superhuman arm length, or want to pull out a ladder)
- not ideal for very heavy pruning on a huge landscaping project (like the house down the street the kids have labeled as “haunted” that hasn’t had yard work in the past decade)
- probably not the best choice for a professional landscaper as his/her first line trimmer of choice…it just isn’t meant for that type of workload
Video Overview of STIHL HSA 25
STIHL GTA 26 Battery Garden Pruner
About the STIHL GTA 26
The STIHL GTA 26 is a battery-powered garden pruner that weighs just over 3 lbs.
Like the HSA 25, this STIHL battery tool is super simple to use. Put the battery in, make sure that you’ve oiled the chain, and then pull the trigger. It’s ridiculously easy to start.
We have a fair number of trees on our property, as well as some woody, well-established hedges and bushes that require something heavier to prune than a standard hedge pruner. So I was really pumped to give this hand-held tool a try.
If I’m being honest, I wasn’t really expecting it to be too powerful, given its small size. Boy was I VERY surprised in the best of ways the first time I took it for a spin.
We’ve had a fallen Bradford pear tree on our property for (cough) a year that we have never gotten around to cutting up and hauling over to the woodpile. And if you’ve ever had to deal with a downed pear tree, you know the INSANE amount of branches those trees have.
And their branches are smallish (I forgot to get a true “before” pic, so the one above is after I’d already been working at removing the smaller branches for a long while). Too small to warrant lugging out the beast chainsaw.
So I plodded down to the fallen pear tree and started whacking away with my new lil GTA 26.
And within two cuts, I was in love.
Since this tool was launched by STIHL, it has been flying off the shelves. It’s hard to get a hold of now, so check the stock at your local STIHL dealer.
STIHL GTA 26 PROS:
- lightweight
- powerful! I was honestly so surprised how easily this tool cut through fairly large branches (3-6″ in diameter) without faltering
- short – easy to shimmy in between hedges, trees, etc without a larger tool getting caught/stuck, etc.
- no electric cords
- no gasoline smell or annoying, difficult pull chains
- simple to start! Insert battery and pull the trigger
- great option for cutting smaller branches where a regular-sized chainsaw would be total overkill
STIHL GTA 26 CONS:
- this tool alone will not be enough to remove an entire tree, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll need a chainsaw
- the battery life is only 25 minutes fully charged…so do yourself a favor and purchase a second (maybe even a third) battery if you tend to work on landscape projects for longer than 25 minutes at a time, like I do
Video Overview of STIHL GTA 26
Other STIHL Tool Review Posts:
- STIHL Battery KombiSystem Summer Gardening Project
- STIHL Battery KombiSystem – 5 Fall Yard Clean Up Tasks, 1 Tool
Pin this STIHL battery GTA 26 and HSA 25 review post for later!
Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Sign up now and get a FREE copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” Click here or on the image below. Your copy will be sent right away!
Stephanie says
I have an interior brick fireplace that was clad in the ugly putty pink exterior brick used on the outside.(Its bad) It has wierd textured cut lines throughout. I painted the brick white and i still hate it. can I still do a mortar smear or a concrete finish if the brick is already painted with a solid coat?
Heather says
I haven’t tried that myself, Stephanie, so I can’t give you a definite. But I wouldn’t think it would be an issue to try it at all!
Lisa says
Going to do the German Smear on my cheap faux brick backsplash as the first step in updating my kitchen. TY for sharing all this info
Heather says
That’s awesome Lisa!! Would love if you let me know how it goes!! And if you have any questions, email me!! I’m always looking to make sure the tutorial for the german smear we’ve made is as good as possible!! Good luck!!
Lora says
Thank you for including my post about painting brick!