Recommendation: String Trimmer

[knot]

Does anyone have experience with weed whackers? I have a large sloping. grassy backyard with a lot of weeds. I cleared most of the blackberry bushes but they will be back. I'm thinking a weed whacker would be the most useful tool to prevent their return and keep the grass trimmed. What brand and model would be best suited for this type of maintenance?

 

[Flying Turtle]

I've had very good luck with a Ryobi weed trimmer for more than ten years. This is a model 720r with a 31 cc. engine. It has a detachable head and will convert to a blower, edger, and tiller. I have the blower head, which does okay on driveways, patios, walks, but is not strong enough to move leaves in the yard. Some of the new models will also convert like this one.

Geoff

 

[knot]

Thanks. It's strange that the more expensive models at home depot have smaller engines.

 

[Dutch]

I've run my Echo pretty hard for ten years and it's still going strong today.

Stihl also makes a great trimmer.

Dutch

 

[smokinbasser]

Being a former lawn and garden equipment mechanic I will give my nod to the Echo and Stihl weed eaters. You might want to check out the DR brush and sapling machine to avoid getting tangled up in thorny limbs. I would kill to have blackberry overgrow my land.

 

[cy]

got a Stihl FS 85 that's a real workhorse!

use it to knock down 2-3ft overgrown grass before mowing down with Yazoo brush mower. works great as a std weed eater too...

 

[allthumbs]

Find your local small engine dealer and see what he sells because you will not get any customer service from the Borg`s (home depot, Lowes, etc.) The best meaning what the commerical lawn service people use are Stihl, Shindaiwa, Husqvarna. I used a Shindaiwa for 3 years never pulled it more than twice to start. The only maintainance was clean and lube the cutting head every xx many hours clean the airfilter regularly and change the bump head center. Never put a plug in it, never had any trouble starting. One of the bonuses is that the commerical stuff uses a heavier string that lasts longer. For homer owner use this will last you a lifetime. >Pay the money ONCE!<
Also get the Straight Shaft, no curved shaft.
Hope this helps
allthumbs

 

[binky]

Like Cy, I also have the FS 85. The engine part has been indestructable, meaning I think I've done zilch for it since I bought it except fill it with exactly the right ratio of gas & Stihl oil. I actually use it more to trim my 100+ foot hedge (my property's not that big -- it's kinda triangle shaped) by replacing the string trimmer head with an angle-adjustable hedge trimmer. I can swoop the thing along the side of the hedge to get a nice straight line.

The hedge trimmer also works great for trimming & clearing small bushes & low-lying crud like shaping holly trees around my porch and clearing some wierd bamboo-like junk and pricker bushes that grow near the "wetland" at the back of my property. The string trimmer can't handle that stuff. The 85 motor has nearly nil low-end torque, but as long as I keep the rpm's up it'll cut through anything that'll fit between the trimmer's huge teeth.

Whatever you get, you might want to make sure it has the attachment options you might want to use in the future.

I'll second the suggestion to get it from a small engine dealer. I have had the hedge trimmer sharpened and its gears checked. My shop also has given me really good advice -- it was on their suggestion that I get the FS 85 because it's the most adaptable. BTW -- I don't know what the new model number for the FS 85 would be. I think they're heading toward 4-cycle engines too. Looks like it might be the FS 90 R.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the pro brands, though. Might be more important to pick a shop you want to deal with rather than primarily focusing on the brand.

The more expensive ones might have smaller but more efficient engines? So the operator doesn't have to lug around so much all day. Kinda like, uh, some flashlights. I'm not sure though. I didn't even bother looking at the lower end when looking for my hedge trimmer. I had already made that mistake when getting a chain saw and I ended up buying the second one, a real pro model which also happens to be a Stihl, just one year after suffering with and hating the first which was an upper-end but department store brand. Unlike allthumbs recommends above, I ended up paying the money more than twice on that one and learned a hard lesson in that small-engine realm.

 

[knot]

I would kill to have blackberry overgrow my land.

Hehe, trust me - you wouldn't want that. It's a huge pain in the *** and it wants to take over the entire yard.

Thanks for all the replies. In the interest of discounted prices due to chain store buying power, i'm limited to the brands: Weedeater, Ryobi. And Echo.

 

[TedTheLed]

I fill a 40 cu. yard dumpster with grass and sumac every year. My Echo (srm-3100) is on it's 4th or 5th year. I use it with the thickest 'string' available for grass and with a metal tri-blade for the mustard..
I hear blackberries are very good for you.

 

[BIGIRON]

Echo, Stihl, Husqvarna.

I got excellent service from an early Ryobi 4cycle. Just wore it out, but it lasted lots longer than I expected.

Tried a later Ryobi 4cycle, I guess after MTD took over, and it was junk.

Finally ordered a Husq 4 cycle from Northern Tool. Expensive but worth it.

Two cycle or four cycle, try to get one with a full crank instead of half crank. (The starter will be on the outer end of the engine, not between the engine and shaft).

 

[ABTOMAT]

Echo, Stihl, Husqvarna, Redmax, Shindaiwa, Dolmar, and a couple (Robin maybe?) I'm forgetting are all excellent trimmers. I'd get something from the middle of any given lineup. Choose by local dealer support.

The reason the better trimmers have smaller engines is that they're simply better designed. More power for a given weight, to they're smaller while outperforming the cheap ones.

I would entirely skip any consumer brand. Poulan/Weedeater, Ryobi, Sears (made by the previous two), Homelite, McCulloch, etc. At best you'll have a poorly performing, flimsy tool, at worst something that'll fall apart and can't be fixed.

 

[knot]

Neighbors are starting to complain so I have to do something


How about this one?

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0541292378.1177976457@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccefaddkkmffiejcgelceffdfgidgkj.0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc/searchResults.jsp&MID=9876&N=2984+5234&pos=n20

Oops that link won't work -

Echo
21.2CC Straight Shaft Trimmer

Model SRM210sp

Price: $199.00/ea

The SRM-210 is a light-weight trimmer ideal for medium-duty jobs. Starting is made 30% easier than conventional trimmers because of ECHO's i-30 recoil starter. Its high-output Power Boost Tornado™Engine provides ample power to the cutting head through its strong 4-layer cable and all-metal gearbox. Other features include a heavy-duty air filter for long engine life and debris shield w/adjustable cutting knife. Shoulder harness and brushcutter attachment is optional. The SRM-210 is backed by a full two year consumer warranty and includes operator's manual and engine oil. All ECHO engines are certified with the longest engine durability rating. (California Certified Model SRM-211)

• 21.2 cc Engine • Certified to the highest engine durability period by the E.P.A. • Starting Effort Reduced by 30% with i-30 System • EchoMatic® Line Feed System • Heavy Duty Bearings for Improved Power Transfer • Commercial Grade Air Filter Provides Outstanding Engine Protection • Padded Edger Style Handle For Increased Control • 2 Year Consumer Warranty
Internet/Catalog #100087111
Store In-Stock SKU # 306575








**********edit********

*/slaps self back to reality*/

It saddens me but I really must shelf my "tool time testosterone" urge for the macho "best" in this case and get the $129.00 Ryobi as the slope in the backyard is only a 2-4 time a year job. Sorry for wasting your time. :shakehead

Internet/Catalog # 100016356 Brand Ryobi Model # RY30140 Assembled Depth (In Inches) 11 In. Assembled Height (In Inches) 38.750 Assembled Weight (In LBS) 17.64 Assembled Width (In Inches) 11 Attachment Capable Yes Cut Width 18 In. Engine Size 30 cc Engine Type Power StrokeTM 2-Cycle Feed Mechanism Bump Fuel Type Gas & Oil Mix Gas Mix Ratio 50:1 Horsepower 1 HP Line Diameter (In.) .095 In. Shaft Type Attachment Capable Straight Shaft Shoulder Strap Included No UPC CODE 046396410047 Weight(Lbs.) 11.1 Lbs.

 

[BIGIRON]

But it IS a reason (excuse?) to buy a new tool.

If that's all the use it will see, be sure and drain or treat gas when you're done. We've all learned that lesson the hard way.

 

[Trashman]

The gardeners around here all seem to be partial to TMC and Kawasaki. I'd guess those are two great choices. My grandpa use to have a decent sized piece of land (decent sized, for city folk standards--1 1/4 acres) and I noticed he had a TMC and a Makita.

Last year, while driving home from my floral design class, I saw a lady putting a bunch of stuff out on the street. I went to investigate, because I saw a big aluminum ladder. Guess what I found? A commercial string trimmer! It was excellent condition. She said her dad had just died and that she had 1 month to clear out his house, and so, didn't want to be bothered with trying to sell stuff. She said people were stopping buy all day long, picking up the good stuff she was throwing out. Well, the string trimmer was missing the string head, so I brought it down to the local lawn mower shop sales and repair (it's called Marunaka's) and the owner (and repair man) offered to buy it. He asked if it started, and I said, yeah, try it--it started on the first try, like it always did. I was planning on selling it for $80, but the head was $20, and he offered me $60, so it ended up being the same amount of profit. I took the deal. Man, was he happy! This is a guy who has sold and repaired hundreds, if not thousands of string trimmers. The shop has been there as long as I can remember. He sounded like a kid on Christmas when he exclaimed to one of his regular customers, "It's a Maruyama!" "I could never afford one of these!" He said he was taking it home for his house. I thought it was a Kawasaki, because it had a Kawasaki engine, but he knew what it was when he saw it, and his gardener friend mentioned it was just like what he had. So, based on the excitement of this experienced gardening machine repairman, I'm going to guess that a Maruyama would be a very good choice, too!

http://www.maruyama-us.com/products/

 

[Sway]

I highly recommend what the others have posted by going with an established local power equipment dealer where you can get sales and service.

I am on my second Echo string trimmer, the first was a manual feed head bought by my parents in the mid 70's to use on their property and it went with me when I built a house in 1991.

This trimmer was cantankerous from the beginning, hard to start and problems with string head but after a few modifications and several carb rebuilds I got over 20 years of heavy use out of it.

When I finally gave up on rebuilding the Echo around 1997 I picked up a new "Super Duper" Craftsman with an auto feed head "Oh Joy I Need That" mainly because I had a Sears card and was still strapped for funds from building the house. I will keep it short but it was the biggest piece of junk I had ever bought. Problems with the auto feed head after the first week, take it back to Sears and they have to send it off because they don't work on them, return time 2 weeks.

I get it back and still the same problem, bump the head and line feeds out all over the place, so I take it back and tell them it has the same problem and it hasn't been fixed.

3 Weeks and the weeds are still growing with no consideration for my frustration and my parents told me it would be nice if I came by their place with the weed eater things were getting a little bushy

Two weeks later Sears called and said my weed eater was ready to pick up "Oh Happy Joy" I really needed it!

I picked it up from Sears "out of gas" no way to test it out so I bought it home and put some fuel in it, after a few pumps and pulls it fire right up. I will say it had a good running motor on it, rev it up and hit the bump feed and string flew all over Hell and Half of North Carolina…POS!

I took it back to Sears and got a full refund with no argument, this was in the days before they became Sears/Mart…YMMV Now.

That day I went and picked up an Echo SRM2400 from an established local power equipment dealer, I think it cost around $269.00 then (1997), they asked me to bring it back in after one month of use for a free check up and adjustments. It hasn't missed a lick since then.

I have added a Stihl FC-85 stick edger, RedMax EB7001 back pack blower and a RedMax LRTZ2401 long reach hedge trimmer to my arsenal of equipment, all have performed flawless.

Pay a little more to an established power equipment dealer with quality products and service and it will cost you less in the end, in many ways.

Later
Kelly

 

[axolotls]

don't buy the black and decker groundhogs no matter what. I've been through 3.

1st one died but got a refurbished one in warranty. Then that died after warranty so I went to the Black and Decker Outlet and got another for $39 or so.

The edger piece always disappears. It's really crappy workmanship.

 

[ringzero]

Does anyone have experience with weed whackers? I have a large sloping. grassy backyard with a lot of weeds. I cleared most of the blackberry bushes but they will be back. I'm thinking a weed whacker would be the most useful tool to prevent their return and keep the grass trimmed. What brand and model would be best suited for this type of maintenance?

I've been using a Stihl electric trimmer with rechargable lead-acid battery for the last few years. I've been pretty happy with it so far and it has been quite reliable. Uses the thicker diameter string and so it cuts pretty well. Battery endurance is sufficient for my medium-sized yard. The charger is a wall-mounted hanger and keeps a trickle charge on the battery. The main reason I like this trimmer is the reliability and lack of hassle.

The same thing applies to my Black and Decker electric lawn mower. After four seasons of hard use, whenever I squeeze the switch it just works. No gasoline, oil, filters, plugs, etc. - zero upkeep costs so far. No fire hazard, no air pollution, and much less noise.

Electric yard tools lack some of the mobility of their gasoline-powered counterparts, but if you intend to use them at just one site they have significant advantages.

.

 

[RebelRAM]

The Stihl FS85 was replaced by the FS80. I have been using an FS80 for 3 seasons now. This thing flat out screams! I have used many of the cheaper weedeaters and they worked ok, but didn't last very long. This Stihl is awesome! I was thinking I needed a 30+cc engine. Nope, Stihls and Echos have figured out how to make excellent weedeaters with smaller engines. Plenty of torque and power. Definitely buy from a dealer and not a big box store. If you have any problems the big box stores will not help you. Same thing goes for riding lawn mowers, big box stores sell a lot of them, but they provide absolutely no service or support on them.

 

[TedTheLed]

yup i bought my Echo from a store with a repair department out back..

string self feeders don't work for me, I replace the string one piece at a time by hand..

I tried a Stihl (apx $90.00) plug-in electric for quiet cutting of the grass around the house, it worked well until it kilt itself after one season..it was pretty funny; the head popped off and the 'guts' (drive cable) popped out like a can of snakes..! Worse; the store said it wasn't worth repairing. They gave me $20 back for it which was nice.. I'm not sure what went wrong, and this incident may be merely anecdotal, but I've been unwilling to buy another..