weed whackers..husqvarna or stihl?

[soarkrebel]

All right i have been weed trimmer shopping. i have looked at husqvarna and stihl well i have kind of narrowed it down to them.
i like the stihl fs85 or the husqvarna 326l.i am still open .
anybody use these ? i have researched these on here and found stuff on the stihl but none on the husky. why?

help me decide my weeds are taking over! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Youare]

I have a husqvarna model, can't tell you which one only that it is what the commerical use people buy.
It is a straight shaft model which can accept a metal saw for brush.

I find it well balanced when wearing the body support harness as well as comfortable to use. I have
had not problems with it. The string is easy to change. I will admit I have not tested it against any other
brand of trimmer.

Randy

 

[tc35dforme]

I may not be the best guy to answer right now since my FS-85 won't wake up from its winter's nap. Off to the service shop today /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. New fuel, clean jet, have a spark, no life.....hmmmm. It did pull hard the first time, maybe I sheared the key and spun the magneto and f'd up the spark timing. I did run it dry last fall, but didn't lube the chamber afterwards. My error.

I have had good luck with Stihl over the years.

 

[rdln]

Have you looked at shindaiwas?

I have owned a t270 since 95 and havent had any problems, and it runs like a raped ape.

Its used by a lot of Lawn Maintenance Outfits.

 

[RET]

I'll second Steve's comment about Shindaiwa.
I'm no expert on the pros/cons of the brands in discussion, but my Shindaiwa is a solid piece of equipment. ALWAYS starts on 2nd pull, never any problems. Likes to work hard.
If you haven't looked...check it out....you may find it worthy of adding to your shopping list.
Woops, sorry. You're trying to REDUCE your choices, not expand. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

RET

 

[soarkrebel]

I did look at the shindaiwas. one dealer sold all three husky, stihl and shindaiwa. he said he prefered shidaiwas thats what he used but compared it to the ford /chevy debate.

Hey have any of you stihl owners seen or used the cultivator attachment. i saw that they made a attachment for them last night to convert them to a mini cultivator.
that sounds great to me cause i just built my wife a terraced garden area and was thinking about one of those mantas tillers.
i saw a attachment on ebay that had a bid of like 29.00 bucks! may look a little harder at stihl.

 

[Pacesetter300]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Have you looked at shindaiwas )</font>

I have been looking for a pole pruner. I called the local dealer and was quoted $559 for the Shindaiwa model M230. About the same for a Maruyama (?? model). This compares to $369 for the Stihl KM55R and about $200 at Home Depot for the John Deere (looks to be made by Homelite). Is there that much difference between them? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif JD and Stihl are pretty good brands?
Pacesetter

 

[fishman]

I have an FS85 that I've been very pleased with. I've used the string attachment, the brush blade, and the saw blade all with very satisfactory results. It's what I turn to when the tractor is too much and the lawn mower is too little.

In my opinion, it has plenty of power. I've used it to cut down up to 5" diameter trees with the saw blade. They aren't cheap at about $25 each, but you really ought to have two of them. Be careful not to get them hot because they dull quite easily then. If you go easy on them, you can clear out quite a bit of brush between sharpenings. Figure a single use on a sharpening, though.

This will be my 4th year of ownership with zero troubles. I just run good oil, premium fuel, and always use stabilizer.

I don't think you could go wrong with the Husqvarna or probably the Shindiawa. As with tractors, you should probably go with the best dealer.

How about a 4th option /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Honda has a slick 4 cycle trimmer out that looks really sturdy.

Oh, one other thing. my owners manual recommends using metal blades only with the bicycle handlebars, not the single loop handlebar. I agree, as the bike bars give me a lot better control.

 

[Egon]

Anybody tried a good old fashioned scythe. Starts every time and the cardiovascular system will say THANKS.

Egon

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a husky that I have had since 1985. It is a 36r, and I have NEVER had any problems with it and it has really been used. It will always start by the second pull even after the winter months. On the other hand, I have a sthil FS44 that has been nothing but trouble. So for my money I will always buy the Husky.

Thanks, now if I could figure out which tractor to buy. Green? Blue? Orange?