need good weed whacker / string trimmer

[Soundguy]

I went an looked at poulan models today as well as craftsman, and weed eater.

am going back to look at husq and mtd tomorrow.. will make decision then. I want a big engine and think I saw a 31 and a 41 cc model.. at 114 and 119$

soundguy

 

[jimg]

I owned a Sears trimmer (one in your price range) 3 or 4 yrs ago and found them to be of very low quality. The first one I bought and getting it started was a bear. If I could get it past warm up all was OK but getting to that point was a 'journey'. I returned it and the salesman agreed it wasnt right. The replacement exhibited exactly the same behavior exc it was more difficult to start. So, I think you might wind up w/ luck of the draw going the Sears route assuming someone(s) owning that mdl got reasonably good service out of it.

 

[Soundguy]

I opted for the MTD.. manager knocked another 10$ off.. so i got it for 109$.. is 4 cycle, straight gas model.. looks pretty sturdy... was originally a 160$ machine.

soundguy

 

[czechsonofagun]

I use John Deere for six years now. I hate weedwhacking - do it ma once a month but the trimmer starts everytime, even after gas left over the winter. No problems at all. Would buy it again.

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds like this 4 cycle runs 'slower' than the usual whizz'bang mixed fuel jobs... seemed to do a good job.. though drinks the fuel. i used half of it's tank to cut around my house and some fence line.. the lil featherlite weadeater has only used about oh.. 1g of gas in the last 4ys!

soundguy

 

[LBrown59]

I have a
STIHL
FS 46:

Starts good
Runs good

Bump string feed almost never hangs up.
Almost impossible to tangle weeds around the head.
Quick and extremely easy to untangle if that does happen.

Best trimmer I've ever owned.
******************************
Before it I had a homelite / worst trimmer I ever owned.
Before that a Mac. - my first trimmer.
It wasn't much force either but not as bad as the homelite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2 big frustrations I've had with every trimmer I've used is failure of the string to feed properly and spending about as much time untangling weeds wrapped around the shaft and head as I did actually trimming weeds.
The STIHL doesn't have either of those problems.
It's the only one that I've seen that don't .

It's S T I H L Trimmers all the way for me.
No way would I ever want to take the risk of getting back into those 2 Major headaches by buying another brand.

 

[jwstewar]

Chris,

I have an 11 year old Ryobi 4 cycle. It has been a great little trimmer. It can take the different attachments. I've got several of them. It is now starting to get tired and smoking a little bit. Last year I bought a new Troy-Bilt (MTD)from Lowes that would take the same attachments. It last about 2 weeks before the drive shaft broke while using the little cultivator. Ended up taking it back and started looking again and went back to using the Ryobi. Then I broke the trimmer head on it. It now wants to spin around the shaft instead of spinning the head. I had decided on an Echo, but hadn't bought yet. The house then burnt so all of a sudden the weed whacker wasn't a priority.

Came spring and the new house was finished and the weeds started growing again so I started looking again. Wanted another 4 cycle because I really liked not having to mix the oil and gas. I looked at all of them again and again decided the Echo was the way to go for me. It was pricey, but so far I really like it. What sold me, were the ability to change attachments, the dealer being close buy (his son goes to school with my daughter), a 5 year warranty, and a 300 hour rated engine. Stihl and most of the others have a 2 year warranty and 50 hour rated engine. It was pricey, but I feel I should have it for quite a long time.

 

[Volfandt]

Stihl and most of the others have a 2 year warranty and 50 hour rated engine. It was pricey, but I feel I should have it for quite a long time.

Odd, that means I only need to change the oil only two times.....
I guess my Troybilt is living on borrowed time now.....

Like I've already posted, for 3 seasons it's run a dual string trimmer, brush blade, edger and pole saw without any problems, guess I better stay away from the cultivator option.

 

[Soundguy]

I like the bump feed on this mtd.. it actually works.. My weedeater featherlite almost never fed right... This mtd is also dual string.. I like that.. and so far I have not got it tangled in even 1' tall grass. the weedeater -ALWAYS- tangled... I'm actually glad it finally died..

soundguy

 

[jwstewar]

I forgot. We actually have a Weedeater Featherlite out in the garage the FIL gave us. We call it the city weedeater. The little thin line just won't cut our weeds out here. It usually just moved them out of the way - heck the string wouldn't even break. I think Monica only tried to use it once because my Ryobi was too heavy for her. That is the last time she attempted to weed eat.