The trouble with a lot of battery-powered yard tools is they’re weak sauce, and can’t stand up to serious maintenance tasks. So what to make of Husqvarna’s Combi Switch 330iKL interchangeable yard tool; is it a lion ready to rule the backyard jungle, or a lamb? Backyard maintenance can be serious work if you have a lot of different chores—and it can be expensive if you need a new tool for edging, trimming and cutting tall branches. The ideal solution is a Swiss Army knife type of tool that can handle a variety of backyard maintenance tasks. Meet the Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL . This battery-powered multitool is designed to manage several different chores with one core tool and optional extensions.
Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL
Summary
The Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL is a battery-powered powerhouse and the included String Trimmer is a good way to test the motor’s capabilities. Once you have made progress in quickly trimming your yard thanks to the large cutting path and powerful cutting abilities, you can swap in whatever other attachments you need.
Pros
- Ultra powerful
- Lots of attachments
- Attachments are effective
- Feels durable
- Well weighted
- Removable battery
Cons
- Combi Switch feels oversized
- Battery life is short
In this review I’m going to try out the Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL kit with a few different attachments including the Pole Saw and Lawn Edger. I’ll test out each one here in my yard and show you what they can do, walk you through what the kit and the options are like, and then I’ll wrap things up with the pros and the cons and let you know if I think I can recommend this tool for you.
About the Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL
Let’s take a look at what you get, and you’ll want to pay close attention to the model I’m reviewing here because every digit and letter matters. The Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL specifically, is a kit that includes the Husqvarna 330iK combi tool, which is the base component of the kit that comes with the handle which holds the rechargeable battery, a charger and allows you to connect other different attachments. This version comes with the String Trimmer attachment. Husqvarna sells other bundles with the same 330iK base motor and different attachments. The other attachments I got are the Pole Saw and Lawn Edger.
Watch my full hands-on review of Husqvarna Combi Switch with Trimmer, Edger, Pole Saw
Husqvarna 330iK Tool
The Husqvarna 330iK motor handle serves as the heart of the Combi Switch’s power. The arm measures 39.76 inches without attachments and has a powerful 8,500RPM motor. This might sound weak compared to your average gas-powered chainsaw which hovers around 12,000RPMs, but the Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL fully relies on the included 40-B140 36V lithium-ion battery so you don’t have to dabble with those oil and gas mixtures. The kit I received contains just one battery, but extras are available to buy for about $189CAD.
A word about the power and the motor here… this being a battery powered device I wasn’t entirely convinced it was going to be powerful enough to tackle more challenging yard maintenance. I am about to be proved wrong…
Battery and Charger
The large 36V battery is a big brick and it must be removed from the Combi Switch to charge. It slides into the charging cradle and lights will update you on the charging status.
Assembly & Set up
Before you get to the fun stuff you do have a little bit of assembly to do. Mainly attaching the ergonomic handle at the mid shaft. I was ready to go in just a few minutes. The battery will need a full charge before your first use which does take several hours.
The kit I received includes the String Trimmer attachment which you can also call the weed whacker. The trimmer head includes 22-feet of pre-wound 0.095-inch Husqvarna Titanium Force cord which should last you quite a while. To get set up, just charge the battery fully, then connect the String Trimmer attachment to the Combi Switch handle base.
I’ll take you through how the trimmer works first, and then take a look at the two other attachments I received.
String Trimmer
I wasn’t expecting much from a battery powered string trimmer. The last time I used one was many years ago, and it was a lacklustre tool at best, limited to short jobs that didn’t require a whole lot of cutting power. So I was pretty surprised when I powered it on. It actually feels like there’s an incredible amount of power in this tool. That was proven when we started trimming the yard.
The trimmer head is able to power through tall grasses, and even small shoots easily. In action, the string trimmer boasts a large 18-inch cutting path so it took us less time to do the trimming.
While the battery is large and heavy on its own, the motor handle is actually quite well-balanced with the string trimmer attachment loaded and it doesn’t lead to quick fatigue.
I can say that with the attachment in, the Combi Switch does seem almost comically long; almost a kin to a commercial landscape tool as opposed to something for residential use.
The string trimmer made quick work of all of the grass that doesn’t get cut by my Husqvarna Automower 315X robot lawn mower, and it actually makes an ideal companion.
For the last couple of years we’ve been using an electric string trimmer which has required dragging a long cord all over the yard. And if I’m being honest, though it is a plug-in, it’s not particularly powerful.
I actually found the Combi Switch was far more powerful than my electric version. It goes without saying you should be wearing safety glasses anytime you’re using a device like this, but it was absolutely even more important with the Combi Switch because high powered rocks and debris were being fired in all directions. The cast-aluminum gear box features large buttons including a dedicated button for adjusting the speed.
Simple Line Replacement
The Combi Switch uses what Husqvarna calls Titanium Force line that’s meant to be more durable and long lasting, and less prone to shredding when encountering things like rock, brick and concrete. Replacing the line involves a simple alignment, feeding the line, and twisting. Husqvarna calls this the Rapid Replace trimmer head and it completely eliminates the need to disassemble the head to reload your string, so I’m a huge fan of that.
A new roll of line costs between $10-15.
Lawn Edger Attachment
The next tool I tried was the lawn edger. I’ve always wanted one of these to create a tidier looking lawn, but never took the plunge; in part because I don’t need any more tools taking up space in the garage. So I found having the interchangeable lawn edger with the Combi Switch was actually an excellent compromise.
I swapped the tool in with a quick click and was ready to get to work. With the Combi Switch’s powerful motor, the edger is a beast on dense hard-packed lawns like mine.
I’ve never used an edger before, so we experimented a bit with using it. The big, sharp edging blades made really quick work of the major overgrowth of lawn that had spilled onto the sidewalk.
We were able to get a very clean cut that only required a little bit of finishing and removing of the lawn cuttings. I love the way the nice clean edge looks at the front of my house and think this attachment did a masterful job.
Pole Saw
With plenty of dead branches on a couple of trees in my yard, I was looking forward to testing out the pole saw. We were going to hire someone to come in and trim the dead branches for us, but that came with a price tag of nearly $1,000. By comparison the $299CAD price tag of the pole saw seems like a much better investment.
The pole saw is essentially a tiny chainsaw attached to the end of a long pole. Being familiar by now with how powerful the base motor of this tool is, I was fully confident I would have no trouble chopping branches with this cordless device.
The Husqvarna Combi Switch + Pole Saw 330iKP can reach up to 12-feet, and saw limbs up to 8″ thick.
Husqvarna says the proprietary X-CUT® chain delivers a superior cutting performance, with the optimized cutting angle and long-lasting sharpness. Well I can’t weigh in yet on how long the blade will stay sharp and what its long-term durability is, I can say the Combi Switch made quick work of removing the dead branches and then chopping them into manageable pieces.
I was also easily able to tackle a previously out of reach dead branch on one of our aspen trees.
The Combi Switch pole saw is super handy and it’s going to come in even more so this fall and winter when it comes time to do some cold weather pruning also.
Battery life and charging
The battery life may come as a surprise to some folks. On a full charge you’re getting only up to 28 minutes of runtime. Having experienced the power from this tool, I’m not surprised; it’s going to eat a lot of battery to run at this level.
Battery life does also vary by attachment. Husqvarna pointed out to me that the majority of jobs with a Combi tool are momentary jobs (quick on and off of the throttle), so the usage should be able to get you through the work you need to get done.
In truth I was able to carry out all of my review tests from the trimming of the grass, to the edging, and even the removal of those dead branches on a single charge, and even then the battery still had about 2/3 of its charge left.
If you do want a second battery, those retail for about $198USD, which is quite substantial; about half the cost of buying the entire kit.
Overall review: Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL
The Husqvarna Combi Switch 330iKL is a battery-powered powerhouse and the included String Trimmer is a good way to test the motor’s capabilities. Once you have made progress in quickly trimming your yard thanks to the large cutting path and powerful cutting abilities, you can swap in whatever other attachments you need.
Let’s go over the pros and the cons.
On the pro side, the motor is beyond powerful, particularly for a rechargeable battery powered lawn tool. I love the good range of different attachments available and find this type of swappable combination tool allows me to take care of more chores without having too much gear taking up space in the garage. Each of the attachments was incredibly effective at its core task. The motor base seems durable and well-made, and the handle is well balanced to manage the weight of the attachments and battery. The removable battery means you can swap in a fresh one to keep on working if you want to purchase an extra.
On the con side, the tool does seem a bit bigger than it needs to be for me personally. But that larger size did come in handy when I was trying to reach up for tall tree branches. I think some buyers might also be put off by the relatively short battery life, but the truth is I was able to tackle all of my household chores on a single charge with plenty left over. Of course if you’re going to be using this for bigger jobs and longer durations, investing in the extra battery might be very worthwhile.
The Husqvarna Combi Switch Sells for about $540CAD for the base motor with string trimmer. The Pole saw attachment costs about $299 while the edger is $169 CAD.
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