String trimmers, which do you use, are you happy?

[hillslider]

About a month ago I bought the Stihl FS250. This is a great trimmer. I use it alot around the farm. I have cut down knee high thick grass/weeds with ease. It is lighter than my old Red Max and has three time the power. I can now cut in half the time. Only gripe is that she sucks the fuel.....but that just lets me take more breaks.

 

[v8dave]

I started with a Roybi curved head 4-cycle. It had .065 string and I changed that to .090 string and still went through a spool each two tanks of gas.

I bought an mid weight Husqvarna that can swing .180 string and it cuts quicker and doesn't use up the string at near the rate of the Roybi. It is heavy enough to use a shoulder strap which I do. I've been real happy with this. It starts with about the same drill posted above for the Stihl. Starts quiclky using this procedure.

I run out the gas of all my machines after each season (Spring in California, nothing grows much, except star thistle, after June). Except the chain saw, which I run empty after every use. I always add a gasoline preservative to all my small engine gasoline even the gas/oil mix. I have a two can system for the small gas motors. One bigger, 2.5 gal container, which if not used in 6 months goes into a car. I mix up only a gallon of pre-mix at a time. I don't seem to have gasoline problems although a can doesn't last more than six months before being refilled.

I asked my kids if they wanted the Roybi and they both passed. I'm glad they did because I later bought a chain saw extension for the quick disconnect. It works great for trimming out the low and medium height hanging branches that are always to high to get with the chain saw and to much huffing and puffing to use the extension saw on.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Stihl FS86, love it.

 

[DannyD]

I was at the bota dealer today for my service at 50 hours. He had an Echo display with some neat little weedeaters. The 200I was priced at 189.00. A check on the internet found 199.00. Anyone have any first hand advice on these, are they good, easy to use and most importantly, will the wife really use a lighter one if I buy one.

 

[Aragon]

Definitely WeedEater. I have had mine for 15 years and CANNOT kill it, and it was CHEAP. Would like to buy a new unit with a decent string feeder but I can't part with this one until it croaks. Ended up putting a Grass Gator head on it and it does the job well enough even though I had to upgrade to the heavy duty model after destroying the midgrade model.

 

[1bush2hog]

I have had a stihl fs85 for several years, with no problems to report. I use the automatic feed head and brush blade on it. I recently upgrade to the FS250 - Whoa! Now that is a machine! I personally do not like the bicycle handles as I am 6'3" tall. Both models are a little heavy, but the power is worth the extra weight.

My back wishes stihl offered a longer shaft though.

 

[rozett]

I bought the Ryobi 790r a few years ago and it has performed well. It has a 31cc 2-cycle with the 'click-link' system for attachments like the blower, edger, etc (but I've never used any). It did come with the brush blade. I did buy the aftermarket string that has a star cross section. It seems to work better for me than the round. I do a lot of trimming against the barn and stone.

 

[fractal]

I have two that I still use.

First is a ryobi click system with the 31 cc motor. I use it for trimming around the house and gardens.

Second is a craftsman wheeled trimmer with a 4hp motor. I use it for general brush clearing and working on the hills.

I would not change this arangement for anything. The only thing I would do is get a better wheeled trimmer. The craftsman I bought on clearance for less than 200 bucks (i.e. cheaper than the price of a good quality hand held trimmer) leaks oil and is not the highest quality, but it works like no tomorrow. I can clear a half an acre of steep hillside with it in a couple of hours. The same job took me several days with a hand held trimmer.

 

[Kelvin]

I have two string trimmers, both of which are 4-cycle so that I don't have to mess with mixing oil and gas:

(1) Honda straight shaft, which I've had about 4 months now. So far, it's been really great. It supposedly weighs about 1 pound more than the nearly-equivalent 2-cycle Shindawa that I looked at. Takes about 3 or 4 pulls to get it started when its cold, then starts first pull from then on. Pretty quiet. There are blade and handle-bar options which I didn't get.

(2) Swisher brand big-wheel trimmer. This did most of what I wanted to do but was not good on hills. The offsetting head makes trimming along fences pretty easy.

Kelvin

 

[RICHARDG]

I just bought my first good weed eater this year,had most of the throw away brands,weedeater,robio,etc,,,yes,these are throw aways,,,bought a echo model 260s,,,now there is a trimmer,it will cut 1/8 branches,with string alone,easy start,little heavy,but I'm big,,,shindawa is a good brand as well. thingy