Petrol vs cordless earth auger
Updated: October 2026
You are down to two powered choices, and petrol feels like the serious post hole borer because it does not fade with a battery. A petrol vs cordless earth auger decision here is more specific. Choose cordless when you already have the packs and the ground is soil you can clear. Choose petrol, or a day’s hire, when you need all-day runtime or a wide bit and you can control the weight. Prices are in the [earth auger comparison](/hub/digging-tools/earth-auger). Peter F. compared the listings and public UK sources in October 2026. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are down to two powered choices, and petrol feels like the serious post hole borer because it does not fade with a battery. A petrol vs cordless earth auger decision here is more specific.
You are down to two powered choices, and petrol feels like the serious post hole borer because it does not fade with a battery. A petrol vs cordless earth auger decision here is more specific. Choose cordless when you already have the packs and the ground is soil you can clear. Choose petrol, or a day’s hire, when you need all-day runtime or a wide bit and you can control the weight. Prices are in the earth auger comparison. Peter F. compared the listings and public UK sources in October 2026. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Power | Diameter | Weight | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Einhell Einhell GP-EA 18/150 cordless auger | Cordless 18 V | 150 mm | 5.7 kg | 9.0 | about £148.45 | View offer |
 WORX WORX WG865E.9 40V earth auger | Cordless 40 V | 200 mm | 13.6 kg | 8.0 | about £199.99 | View offer | |
 Horti Power Horti Power 82 cc petrol earth auger | Petrol 82 cc | 100–300 mm | 25 kg | 0.0 | about £299 | View offer |
On this page
The decision in one paragraph
Cordless is the better buy when the holes are a garden fence or hedging in clay, you can supply an 18 V or 40 V platform, and you accept that stone still stops the bit. Petrol is the better buy when you will refuel instead of swapping packs, you need more than one diameter, and someone can handle about 25 kg. Neither suits four shallow holes a hand auger could twist, or a specified foundation. A handful of bulbs is neither, and that fork is on the earth auger buying guide. Ron Smith’s guide points petrol at long runs and cordless at quieter domestic work.
The only petrol product here is the Horti Power 82 cc kit at £299, with no star rating, which is why hire is often the cleaner one-Saturday petrol option. A cordless listing with hundreds of UK reviews can still be the wrong tool if you need a hole nearer 300 mm. Hole width is on earth auger for fence posts.
What cordless changes
You drop the fuel can, the pull-start, and the exhaust. UK Einhell reviews include clay and hedging. One reviewer found the 18 V auger easier to live with than petrol, and another found it underpowered beside petrol they already knew. The GP-EA 18/150 is £148.45, 4.5 from 752 reviews, 5.7 kg, with a 150 mm bit and a stated depth of 80 cm. Einhell UK states 96 Nm and a 2.5 Ah battery or larger.
The Worx WG865E.9 is £199.99, with a stated 80 Nm, a 20 cm bit, and an amazon.co.uk weight of 13.6 kg. Do not merge that with a separate 12.2 kg bare-tool figure. It needs two 20 V PowerShare packs, which are not included. The rating is 4.0 from 12, and the written reviews are not from the United Kingdom. You gain diameter and a stated jam cut-out, and you lose the large UK review file. Cordless did dig clay in these reviews.
What petrol still does
Petrol keeps going when you refuel, which matters on a long run far from a charger. The Horti Power kit lists an 82 cc engine, bits of 100, 200 and 300 mm, extensions of 40 cm and 60 cm, a shock-absorbing spring, and 25 kg, at £299. That 300 mm bit is the diameter the cordless boxes here do not include. The listing states no jam brake, no vibration figure, no fuel mix, and no star rating.
Petrol is noisier, heavier, and needs maintenance, and a cordless auger stops when the pack is flat. A 25 kg kit with a wide bit is a poor solo habit, because the snatch and the spoil both grow with diameter. GAP’s two-person petrol borer page describes a machine around 28.8 kg and diameters up to 350 mm. That description belongs to the hire machine, not to the Horti Power listing.
That is the case for petrol, or for not buying petrol at all. A maintained hire machine is the petrol option with a depot, a manual, and a return time. Owning the £299 kit only wins if you will use the three bits more than once and you accept the empty review file.
Hire for one day, and kickback
Named day rates, excluding VAT, are examples rather than a UK average. Hire Services (Southern) lists £35 for a one-person borer and £45 for a two-person borer. Tippers lists £40 a day. Arrow Plant lists £37.40 for the first day. Deposits and delivery sit on top. Beside the Einhell at £148.45 with no battery, one day of hire can cost less than a body-only tool plus packs you do not own. A pack price is not invented here. If you already own Einhell 18 V batteries, the £148.45 is a machine you can keep.
Kickback does not pick a winner. A cordless flight and a petrol flight can both snatch on a root or a stone. The Worx listing states a cut-out if the auger jams. Einhell reviews describe a snatch and then a stop. The Horti Power page names a spring and no jam brake. A two-person hire frame shares the weight of a large diameter. It is not proof that petrol is safer. Release the drive, wait until the bit stops, then reverse or bar the root out.
Common questions
Is cordless strong enough for British clay?
UK reviews of the Einhell describe clay, hedging, and new-build ground on 18 V, with a 150 mm bit, often on one pack or a few packs. That is enough for many garden fences. It is not enough to claim the tool outpulls a petrol borer a reviewer already knew, and it still stops on stone and thick roots. The Worx listing states 80 Nm and a 20 cm bit, on only 12 ratings whose written reviews are not from the UK.
When is petrol still the better buy?
When the day is long, the bit needs to be wide, and refuelling is easier than a second battery set. In this comparison that points at the Horti Power kit’s 100, 200 and 300 mm bits, with the limits that it weighs 25 kg on the listing and has no star rating. If you only need petrol for one fence, hire is the better petrol choice than an unreviewed purchase.
What does a day of hire cost compared with buying the Einhell?
Hire examples excluding VAT are £35 and £45 at Hire Services (Southern), £40 at Tippers, and £37.40 for the first day at Arrow Plant. The Einhell is £148.45 without a battery or charger. One day of hire is cheaper than owning that powerhead if you still have to buy packs, and worse value if you already own the 18 V batteries and you will bore again. Delivery and a deposit are not inside those day rates.
Do I need a second person?
For the Einhell at 5.7 kg, reviewers use it as a one-person tool, with a firm two-handed grip because of the snatch. The Worx at 13.6 kg on amazon.co.uk is still a one-person listing, though you lift that weight out of every hole. A 25 kg petrol kit, or a hire machine around the 28.8 kg GAP quotes for its two-person borer, is where a second person stops being optional, especially with a wide bit.
What is missing from the £299 petrol kit’s listing?
A star rating, a review text, a fuel-mix ratio, a vibration figure, and any named jam brake. What is present is an 82 cc engine, bits of 100, 200 and 300 mm, extensions of 40 cm and 60 cm, a shock spring, and a stated weight of 25 kg. The listing also notes that some products cannot be delivered outside mainland UK. You can shop the diameters. You cannot shop a UK review conclusion.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listing lines saved on 19 October 2026. No laboratory test.
- HSE — PUWER overview (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE — excavations (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE — CIS65, avoiding danger from underground services (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Energy Networks Association — Think before you dig (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Einhell UK — GP-EA 18/150 Li BL-Solo (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Worx UK — WG865E.9 40 V earth auger (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, Schedule 2 (retrieved 19 October 2026)