Another String Trimmer Question

[billbill1]

Bird, we have a Weedeater Feather weight that is 5 or 6 years old and haven't had any problems with it. Very light weight and easy to start. I think the wife bought it at Wallymart for under $100. You might want to check them out.

 

[jwnge]

Bird, I also had a Featherlite weedeater, $49. at Big Lots, factory reconditioned. I used it for 5 years and then gabe it to a buddy who turned it into a radio controlled airplane engine, still going strong..JohnJ

 

[Bird]

Bill and John, I know I'll only buy a straight shaft model, but that FeatherliteSSTHO does look like the best bet yet if it's reliable enough to last a little while. It's lighter than either the Echo or the Stihl and that's good, probably cheaper and that's good; wonder about how much vibration.

 

[Mith]

have you thought about a wheeled strimmer,or estate strimmer
it yould mean you wouldnt have to lift anything, and it would get under treees great

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Mith, I had the biggest DR trimmer/mower, electric start, etc. on the farm, and they're great, although expensive. But what I used a string trimmer for now is as much edging as trimming, and for the kind of edging I do, I'd rather use a string trimmer than a real edger. And it's all very light duty stuff; a cheap electric works just fine, but I don't like dragging that 100' cord around and having to move the plug to 3 or 4 different outside receptacles.

 

[otus_branch]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( i have a stihl fs 80r trimmer and i have all stihl chain saws so its simple to mix one can of fuel and use all. )</font>

This point has got me to wondering about two questions.

1) I've heard in the past that each manufacturer's 2-stroke oil is engineered for their own cylinder heads and other parts. Therefore it's best to use Stihl oil in a Stihl machine, Husky oil in a Husky, etc. Right now, the only 2-strokes I own are the Stihl 036 and a little Olympic (i.e.-Oleo-Mac - an obscure Italian brand that I hope never breaks because I may never find parts for it...) arborist saw, so I buy Stihl oil. The Olympic has run fine with it so far, though I've only got 25 or 30 hours on it.

For this reason, should I stick with Stihl for the next string trimmer? Any red flags out there from people who used Stihl oil in an Echo string trimmer with bad results?

OK, and question #2:

Last time I brought the chains for my Stihl 036 in to get sharpened, I started talking to the guys there - both sales and service techs. Both said that the 4-mix engines are holding up well, but I am still skeptical. Since I'm in the market for a larger trimmer/brushcutter, I was looking at their 110's (a 4-mix) and 250's (still 2-stroke). Although the 250 is probably more machine than I need, I may go for it (one salesperson at another place had told me that the 036 was more than I needed, but I have absolutely no regrets). My question is has anyone used a 110, and how is it going? Anyone used a 250 too? Thanks,
-otus

 

[1962]

otus
i have used the stihl brand 2-cycle oil since back in the 70's. i like it and have no complaints.alot of the saws i have still say "made in west germany." i still mix the older saws(40:1) instead of the new ratio(50:1). the people at the dealership said i didn't have to do that ,but i figured it worked fine all this time why change.. my brother uses amsoil in his chainsaw,which is a little more cost but is a supurb oil. i can't help ya too much with the second question,but i can add "ya can't go wrong with stihl products."

 

[Mith]

otus_branch
1) the maufactures oils will naturally be best with that machine, i beleive that with stihl oil it is a 1:50 mix, if you use other oils it is a 1:25 mix. from this you can see that the stihl oil is giving the same lubrication in half the amout, so you burn less oil, less emissions, cheaper, ect ect ect
i would recommend using stihl oil in stihl trimmers
2) noticably the 250 has twice the power of the 110, yet they are about the same weight. i had a play with a 250 last weekend (may have been a 300 UK one) it sure had some power behind it, seemed unstoppable, it was in to have a 6.5mm (1/4'') line spool put on it /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
there was a thread a little while back on 4 stoke v 2 stroke may be worth a read
thanks

 

[Bird]

Well, after much shopping and looking, and hoping to find something cheaper that I liked, I bought a Stihl FS55 today; probably full retail price /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif of $239.99 plus tax with the Easy Start system, although the dealer did throw in a couple of shoulder straps, a gas can, and 6 pack of two-cycle oil (safety glasses are included with all of them). It does seem to have more vibration than I'd hoped for, but should do OK. I just couldn't bring myself to pay so much more to move up to one with their anti-vibration system.

 

[rbeitz]

Bird,

I bought the FS55 summer before last and paid right at $220 for it. I have been real pleased with it and I do not notice any vibration problems with it. I use mine about 45 minutes a week to edge my driveway and landscape beds and to finish trim around my 2 acre property. So far it has performed flawlessly.