String Trimmers

[LBrown59]

So I got permission to get a nice string trimmer today, and I didn't even ask!

I don't have a big yard (just under 1/3 acre), but the trimmer will back up my riding mower since I skipped getting a push mower.

Any thoughts or advice on good string trimmers? If cost were no object, I'd get a top of the line Stihl. However, cost is an object and I really won't be abusing it like a Stihl likes.

I'm thinking $150 is about as much as I can spend. Lowe's had Troy-Bilt trimmers with interchangeable heads that seemed pretty nice. Especially since I can get an edger, blower, & cultivator attachments for about $50 each. Seems like a good way to get several tools for less money than buying them all separately. Of course, my experience is a tool that does a little of everything never satisfies at anything. Would that be the case here or, since I'm a light duty user, would something like that fit the bill for me?

Then that ain't Troy-Built.

 

[LBrown59]

Don't just assume a Stihl is out of your price range.

I believe the FS-45 is well within your price range, and will still be going strong when that MTD you looked at is in the dumpster.

Been There Done That.

so have I and got the T shirt but it didn't fit.

 

[LBrown59]

Actually, I expected and hoped to get advice on non-big box options. It's why I posted here. It seems as though plenty of "hard-use" consumers frequent this board, so I figured there would be a good body of experience on trimmers since they seem to go hand-in-hand with garden tractors.




I guess I was mostly wondering if that Troy-Bilt was too good to be true. Is Troy-Bilt just rebadged MTD any more? I'm guessing it probably is. It looks like Stihl makes a similar unit, although it's about twice the price.

I like Stihl, so I might just have to drop by the dealer and poke around.

I've had a Stihl trimmer for About 7 years, Best one I've ever owned .Wouldn't trade it for 3 Box store trimmers.
Bought a Stihl Chain saw last fall like it real well so far .

 

[LBrown59]

I paid about $240 for my FS55RC two years ago. I put a new spark plug in it and checked the air filter last month is the first time anything's been done to it other than adding the gasoline/oil mixture. My next door neighbor's 4 year old $80 Craftman bit the dust. He said it would run, but he broke the starter rope and Sears said it would cost more to fix it than a new one cost. So, instead, he bought a Stihl FS45.

I'm sure there are different opinions, but having a considerable amount of experience with string trimmers; 3 brands of electric, 4 brands of gas, both straight and curved shafts, I can't imagine ever buying one again without the straight shaft. To me they're so much easier and more efficient that they're worth the cost difference. And I guess I'm not alone in that opinion since I've never seen a commercial operator use a curved shaft.

My FS 46 has been going strong for around 7 years now.

 

[LBrown59]

Bird,

We're a little smarter now than we were then. Actually I don't mind using my swing blade for small jobs. It's good exercise and doesn't make much noise.

There's a big difference in using it because you want to instead of using it because you have to.

1*...........I'm sure you remember seeing those guys on the "gun crews" working the ditchbanks......?

Anyway, I'm taking this thread off topic, I apologize.
2* Nobody wants to hear the ramblings from old timers.

hud

1*I remember When I was a kid the Township Road workers working on the road bank in front of our house. Will never forget hearing the sound of the men sharpening the blades of the scythes.
2*Yer fellow old timers do.

 

[LBrown59]

I still use an old swing blade like the one on the right sometimes.

1*They're easy on gas and rarely need servicing.

I think mine is about 40 years old!

hud

1*But my arms do.

 

[LBrown59]

Bird,

We're a little smarter now than we were then. Actually I don't mind using my swing blade for small jobs. It's good exercise and doesn't make much noise.

There's a big difference in using it because you want to instead of using it because you have to.

...........I'm sure you remember seeing those guys on the "gun crews" working the ditchbanks......?

Anyway, I'm taking this thread off topic, I apologize. Nobody wants to hear the ramblings from old timers.

hud

We never had them here in Ohio. Guess that's why it always fasinated me to see them along the roads when mom and dad took me on vacations down in the Smokies during the summers of the 1950s.

 

[LBrown59]

. I saw a Homelite straight shaft at Home Depot for today, $89.

That's about 80 dollars to much.

 

[LBrown59]

I swear by McCulloch.

I swore at my Mc Culloch trimmer and dad swore at his Mc Culloch chain saw.

 

[LBrown59]

I got a troy built trimmer. It's heavy. It's also dead after three seasons. It had enough power, but I can't get it to start. I need to spend some time on it to find out why, but
1*I'm seriously considering something lighter and dumping it.

Eddie

1*sounds like a good idea