DEWALT DCST970B FLEXVOLT 60V MAX String Trimmer Review

Electric string trimmers often underperform however units with 60 volt power supply aren’t common – that’s why DEWALT DCST970B FLEXVOLT 60V MAX seems so promising at first glance.

Granted 60 volts is its maximum initial battery voltage without workload whereas actual nominal voltage is 54 – however you will find that most 20V and 40V tools actually have lower nominal voltage than their name might suggest.

With that being said – does DEWALT DCST970B FLEXVOLT 60V MAX meet expectations or is it a flop?

Performance

Before we get to how it actually performs there are a couple things you should know.

DEWALT DCST970B FLEXVOLT 60V MAX has a cutting swath of 15 inches and comes with quick load spool of 0.080″ dual line already installed – it’s not a particularly good line and there are better lines available on market. It also fits 0.095” line and it definitely cuts better with it. It has variable speed trigger and 2 speed settings:

• Low: 0-5,600 RPM
• High: 0-6,600 RPM

With that being said the cutting performance out of the box is amazing even with the mediocre 0.080” line. DEWALT DCST970B is very powerful – it’s definitely among most powerful battery powered string trimmers on the market today (if not the most powerful one). Not only can it compete with gas string trimmers in power and cutting performance, it actually outperforms most them.

Despite having two speeds you might actually never need to use the powerful one, the low speed cuts most of the stuff without effort. If you do some across some seriously tough stuff then high power mode will deal with it.

Battery

DEWALT DCST970B doesn’t come with a battery or charger so you will need to purchase them separately unless you already have them from other DEWALT 60V tools.

DEWALT currently offers 2 battery options for 60V appliances: 6.0Ah and 9.0Ah. As this tool is very powerful it’s obviously recommended to get the 9.0Ah one.

Although battery life depends on how you use your tool generally speaking you can expect the 9.0Ah battery to last around 25 minutes on full charge.

It also offers two charger options: regular and fast charger. With fast charger you will be able to charge your fully depleted 9.0Ah battery in a bit more than 1 hour, with the regular one it will take at least twice as long.

Ergonomics

DEWALT DCST970B is pretty tall so it fits taller folks well. Handle is adjustable – you just loosen 4 bolts and slide it upwards/downwards. It also has rubber overmold that’s comfortable to grip with or without gloves.

DEWALT DCST970B FLEXVOLT 60V MAX weighs 13 pounds with a battery, 12 pounds without one. So it’s pretty heavy for electric string trimmer – lightweightness is one of the major advantages of electric units but that’s not the case here as it weighs about just as much as gas units.

Another issue is that deflector is too small. You can purchase a large one but the one that comes with the string trimmer originally doesn’t properly protect you so expect to be covered with stuff you trim.

Overall balance is good, only complaint is that it’s a bit top heavy but by a small margin so it’s no big deal.

For the most part ergonomics are good and unit is comfortable to use for most consumers however some need something lighter.

─── Related Article: Best Electric String Trimmers ───

Features

It has bump feed head which is finicky, many consumers replace it with another one with the most popular choice being Husqvarna 537388101 Universal T35 String Trimmer Head.

Changing line is simple – Push head inside and twist it to right and it will come out. Then you can add new lines, put the head back in, push in again and twist left to lock it.

Conclusions

By this time you probably realize that despite the minor flaws DEWALT DCST970B is one of the best electric string trimmers on the market today. It’s certainly a choice worth considering.

DEWALT DCST970 (DCST970B) FLEXVOLT 60V MAX Cordless String Trimmer Specs:

• Type: Electric (battery powered)
• Cutting swath: 15”
• Line diameter: 0.080” / 0.095”
• Speed modes: 2
  • Low: 0-5,600 RPM
  • High: 0-6,600 RPM
• Weight:
  • Without battery: 12 pounds
  • With battery: 13 pounds
• Package contents:
  1. DCST970 String Trimmer
  2. Auxiliary handle
  3. DEWALT 0.080” line pre-wound onto the spool