weed eaters for farm use

[WilliamBos]

I prefer ECHO, but I second 4 strokes. Tons of RPM's, and no more mixing.

 

[texbaylea]

hi everyone
did not know where to post this.
i have alot of structures at my place in town and the farm. i have recently had a couple of the homeowner brand weedeaters- weed eater and riobi brands - they are not "cutting it" and my neighbor can get them to stay running (carburation).

i need to go back to the weedeaters that receive at least .095 string and have the shoulder harness and bike handle bars preferrred.

brands i am going to look at are shindaiwa, honda, redmax -

any experiences or advice. i have tractor and bushhog. need to get around the structures- don't want to kill my back and need durability.

thanks all,
michelle

There is another option you might look at. The DR wheeled string trimmer/mower which now comes in a self propelled version. It uses cord up to .175 plus a 12" saw chain edge blade. I have an older version (not self-propelled) and loved it until my knee and hip problems got so bad I could not operate it without a lot of pain. I am thinking about selling it rather than letting it just set there.

DR stuff is pricey however.

Vernon

 

[ronbo3]

I have an Echo 260 model brushcutter/trimmer. It has a straight shaft and uses removable attachments. It comes with the string trimming attachment and I bought the brushcutting blade attachment for the heavy stuff. This machine has been absolutely fabulous. I have cut 3" diameter trees with the blade and use .155 string for the other weeds, vines, and brush. I have tried the .95 size line, and it it too light for my use. Echo also has a chain saw attachment for trimming trees.
This has been a great tool for me, and I recommend the Echo line. Check out Echo's website for dealers close to you.

 

[PAB_OH]

I have an Echo 260 model brushcutter/trimmer. It has a straight shaft and uses removable attachments. It comes with the string trimming attachment and I bought the brushcutting blade attachment for the heavy stuff. This machine has been absolutely fabulous. I have cut 3" diameter trees with the blade and use .155 string for the other weeds, vines, and brush. I have tried the .95 size line, and it it too light for my use. Echo also has a chain saw attachment for trimming trees.
This has been a great tool for me, and I recommend the Echo line. Check out Echo's website for dealers close to you.

I have the same model and it's great. I don't have any other attachments (yet) but I run .105 string in it and it's a bit light for my uses but it holds up pretty good. If it's for residential I think they offer a 5 year warranty as well.

 

[xlr82v2]

+1 for Stihl. I've got an FS44 that's about 10 years old, an FS80 that's about 5-6 years old, and my Dad's FS 80 was probably close to 15 years old when he retired it and got a new one. Only problem with the old one was the ignition module would quit working when it got hot. A new one for that old trimmer was nearly as much as a new trimmer. So, it got retired.

I like the Stihl Polycut head with the white plastic blades. It does a really good job, but it throws a lot of stuff, even more than the nylon string heads, so eye protection is a MUST.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

We have a ditch with lots of thorny vines and I used to cut it with a string trimmer. One time we were really busy and we had a guy come to cut the grass and he used a trimmer than had a hedge trimmer head on it. I went to the local JD dealer and they had the stihl with the trimmer head on it, not the interchangable type but permanent. I think I paid about 500 dollars for it. It worked really great, no string to mess with and the stuff your cutting doesnt fly up at ya, it just falls over on the ground. Also the bar was like 2 foot long and you could cut under things that a regular string trimmer would never be able to cut.

 

[john_bud]

About 12 years ago I got an EFCO trimmer. 52.5cc 2cycle engine that spins a 10" sawblade or a 20" swath 0.120" string. Lots of power and starts without trouble. It has the WIDE shoulder harnes with about 3" wide straps and a hard plastic hip protector.

Expensive, but it cuts a 2" softwood tree like that (snap!), runs great and is comfortable to use.

Follow the link for the efco page....

Efco - Product catalogue - 8530

 

[ampsucker]

another vote for stihl.

and, liquid edging plus mulch. no matter how good the machine, i prefer not hauling it around when the temps hit 90+

amp

 

[michellesc7]

Hello All Again
I made a decision and went to get it late afternoon.
I looked at the weedeaters at home depot and lowes and weighed heavily on the echo.

i have always bought huskavarna equipment until recently when i bought a stihl 170 chainsaw for lite trimming. i have no complaints with it. so i got oriented with the stihl and could tell the well balanced quality.

made one phone call and got a couple of prices on a shindaiwa - 450 to 550. then i thought throw away, throw away.

so i went back to my stihl dealer. he had alot of stihls, a few husky weedeaters and a good batch of red-max weedeaters. i looked at the stihl
fs-80r and fs-110r for an optimum buy, but opted for the redmax bcz2610s. the redmax has fuel injection - no stupid carburator. you still have to pump the bulb. i almost bought the stihl 110. the redmax balance was awesome. the manager had the model down from this one for himnself. i just liked the way rthe 2610s felt. it is made in japan but assembled in lawrenceville, ga and that weighed in on my decision also. and had a dealer with a 2 year warranty to back me up on maintenance. ordered the pole saw attachment.

i will let you all know how it performs. and maybe someday i will aspire to the goats and animals to get to that simpler life.

thank you all for your kind responses.

michelle

 

[newcountry]

Michelle, I'm glad you came to a decision your satisfied with. There are plenty of quality products out there.

JohnBud, I was just about to put a vote out there for Efco as well. I don't know that I've seen anyone else with Efco products on TBN. I've got a similar model to yours and one of their larger cc chainsaws. Certainly not cheap, but WOW do they do the job with no downtime at all. My Efco dealer sells Stihl also but says Efco is the better product. That is just his opinion -- I haven't tried the Stihl so I don't know, but I am very happy with both my Efcos. My one gripe is parts are hard to come by and the dealer is almost an hour away.