Buy the CRAFTSMAN V20 13" Trimmer & Edger Kit.It trims, it converts to an edger, and it arrives with a 4 Ah battery and a charger in the box — CRAFTSMAN publishes up to 63 minutes of runtime, which is longer than most brands will even claim. For a small lawn on a tight budget the WORX 20V 12" 2-in-1 does the same two jobs for less money and one size smaller. If you want a combo that grows into a whole tool system rather than one battery platform, the Echo PAS-225VPB is a gas powerhead that takes an edger head, a pole saw or a cultivator later.
A combo tool means one of two things, and they are not equivalent. The first is a rotating-head trimmer: the motor housing pivots 90 degrees so the line spins vertically, and a small wheel guides it along the hard edge. The second is an attachment powerhead: one engine or motor, and interchangeable heads that include a real steel-blade edger. The first is cheap and convenient and cuts with line. The second costs more and cuts with a blade, which is what a clean edge actually wants.
We have edged nothing with these. Everything below reads published cutting swath, voltage or displacement, conversion method, blade size and what the listing says is in the box — see how we pick. Prices are live from the price layer with an “as of” date beside each tool.
What to look for before you look at prices
How it converts. A rotating head is a twist of the shaft housing and takes seconds. An attachment swap means undoing a coupler and fitting a different head, which is a minute and a tool you have to have kept. If you intend to trim and edge in the same twenty-minute session every week, the rotating head is the one you will actually use.
Line or blade. A rotating trimmer head cuts the edge with nylon line, which scuffs a line rather than slicing one. A dedicated edger runs a steel blade on a wheel at a set depth, and the result is the crisp vertical wall you see on well-kept properties. If the edge is the thing you care about, read the dedicated edger rankings first.
Cutting swath.Combos run narrow — 12 and 13 inches here, against 16 to 18 inches on a single-purpose trimmer. On a quarter acre of fence line that difference is real minutes every week.
What is in the box. A bare tool is not cheaper than a kit once you buy a battery and a charger. The CRAFTSMAN kit is on this page partly because it ships complete.
The combos and near-combos, compared
| Tool | Swath / blade | Power | How it does both jobs |
|---|
| CRAFTSMAN V20 Trimmer & Edger Kit | 13" line | V20 battery, 4 Ah included | Rotating head, up to 63 min published runtime |
| WORX WG163 2-in-1 | 12" line | 20V PowerShare | Rotating head plus a wheel guide |
| Echo PAS-225VPB | 21.2 cc powerhead | Gas, 2-cycle | Attachment system; ships with trimmer and blower heads |
| BLACK+DECKER LE760FF | 7.5" steel blade | 12 A corded | Edger that converts to a trencher - not a trimmer |
| Greenworks 40V 8" Edger | 8" steel blade | 40V, battery and charger included | Dedicated cordless edger on a shared battery |
Swaths, blade sizes, voltages and displacements are the figures the listings publish. Live prices with an “as of” date are above.
Be honest about which two tools you are really combining
The last two entries in that table are not trimmer-edger combos, and they are there on purpose. Once you have decided the edge matters, the cheapest honest route is a narrow battery trimmer you already own plus a wheeled blade edger — and a corded wheeled edger costs about what a mid-range trimmer costs. Two tools, each doing its own job properly, for roughly the price of one premium combo.
The Greenworks 40V edger is the version of that argument for anyone already on the Greenworks platform: it shares batteries with the 40V trimmer and the 17-inch mower, so it behaves like a combo at the battery level without compromising the blade. If you want the whole picture on why blade beats line for edging, that is string trimmer vs edger.
The gas answer: a powerhead, not a trimmer
The Echo PAS-225VPB is a different kind of combo. You buy a 21.2 cc powerhead, and the attachments are what make it a trimmer, a blower, an edger or a pole saw. It ships with the trimmer head and a blower attachment, and the Speed-Feed head is the easiest line reload on any gas trimmer — you thread line through and wind it with a knob rather than dismantling a spool.
It only makes financial sense if you will genuinely buy and use at least one more attachment. If you want a gas trimmer and nothing else, the gas trimmer rankings have cheaper machines that cut exactly as well.
Technique: a combo gives a good edge if you treat it like an edger
Three things make the difference between a scalloped line and a straight one, and none of them costs money. Walk the edge, do not swing at it — use the wheel guide and let it ride the hard surface. Go slowly enough that the line is cutting rather than beating. And blow the clippings off the hard surface afterwards, because a clean edge beside a dusty path does not read as clean. Our guide to edging a lawn covers the whole sequence, and the blower rankings cover the last step.
The verdict
Most people: the CRAFTSMAN V20 kit. It does both jobs, it comes complete, and the published runtime is unusually generous for a 20V tool.
Small lawn, lowest price: the WORX WG163. A 12-inch swath is the cost of the saving, and on a courtyard lawn it does not matter.
A tool system rather than a tool: the Echo PAS-225VPB powerhead.
If the edge is the whole point:stop looking at combos. Buy a wheeled blade edger — corded BLACK+DECKER if you have an outlet nearby, the Greenworks 40V if your perimeter is long and the cord is the problem.
