cordless weedeaters????

Here's the scoop....I now have a homelite sx-135 weedeater.
It doesn't run very well. I have re-mixed the gas and even put a rebuild kit in the carb with no luck. New spark plug didn't help either. Frankly, it's time for another weedeater.

I am looking for a cordless weedeater with some power. And long enough run-time to cover an average yard. Right now I am looking at a Ryobi. Any Advice???

I can't stand those small gas engines myself either. I decided to avoid the weed-eater issue all together and I sprayed round-up on anything I would otherwise have trimmed with a weed-eater. I still have to use a manual edger along the driveway, but it works out well.

I had a Ryobi cordless and they're pretty good if A. you don't have a 1/2 acre backyard like I did and B. you don't let your weeds get too big. Some of the stuff your gas weedeater would blow through the Ryobi won't.

I hate the electric weed whackers, have had 3 or 4 of them, each more expensive than the previous, and none were worth a dime.

What I do, is about every two or three years buy a "new" reconditioned gas one from Harbor Freight- every few months they have a sale for $59.97. The ones I have bought from them ran better than any actually new ones I have bought from Home Depot etc, and are cheap enough to simply replace when they get worn out.

Have had a lot of "yard care pros" recommend Homelite, but I think that almost any one brand is as good as another if you are buying a "low end" machine.

Yeah...I hate electric too. Weed wacking isn't as fun if I don't get to rev the engine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I have a gas powered echo which has run flawlessly for 3 years now. It gets used at least once a week and I have over an acre. It's got the edging attachment as well and I live on a corner lot. I have to edge both sides of the sidewalk, the street, my driveway, and the walkway. It runs for a good solid hour each time I use it. I like it so much I bought an echo blower with the same engine.

The electric/re-chargeable wackers just don't have enough oomph for me or the St. Augustine grass.

my echo has been running 50 hours, more or less, every summer for three years, too. it''s had one 'overhaul' - new plug, cleaned air filter, a loose part removed from the muffler..you have to get the hang of starting it though; just 3 or 4 priming pumps, then 1 or 2 start attempts with choke in without pulling the trigger. If that doesn't work, then open the choke and pull the cord and the trigger..if you flood it, remove air filter (and spark plug too if you want to) and pull it a few times to get air in, and let it sit a few minutes..
I saw a variation on the string wacker at the shop the other day; a Kawasaki with two sandwiched counter-rotating discs, with teeth /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
any one tried one of those?
also what about the 'hedge trimmer' design, would that work for brush clearing ya think?

Is there an Echo in here or is it just me?

I originally had an electric one. It was craptastic... I would also recommend a good gas powered one. They aren't even much heavier than the electric ones!

You do want to have a good pair of noise protection earplugs though, they are noisy as heck! And wear long pants as they will cover your pantleg with weed juice...

I have a 3/4 acre yard with some flower islands, some trim around the trees, etc, so weedwhacking is an imperative part of my yardwork.

I first tried a Toro cordless rechargeable weedwhacker. It sucked. Zero power.

As far as the pull-the-cord-around versions, I can relate a tale of woe about a similar yardwork device. I had a Black & Decker hedge trimmer that was electric. I used to hate the job of trimming the hedge because unwinding, yanking, and winding back up 150' of extension cords was a complete pain in the @ss and it took so very long!!

Then I bought this Stihl weedwhacker and fly through the job. You can buy other heads to put on too. I trim my ~100' long hedge with an angle-adjustable hedge trimmer accessory thingy. It's such an obviously perfect tool that people frequently stop and ask about it.
Oh yeah. And I've had the thing for 3 years, never serviced it (just routine maintenance like clean & grease, sharpen the hedge trimmer blades) and it starts up reliably every time.

Now the yardwork is actually relatively fun if you can believe it because the tool is so perfect for the job(s).



Here's the hedgetrimming head. There are lots of other things available, from a limb-trimming chainsaw to a power broom. There are tons of varieties of hard cutter blades too.



That's my story. YMMV.

[edit]Oh yeah. Just be sure to wear earmuffs (and eyeglasses but you'd need that with an electric thing too) because this thing is L-O-U-D!!! But using it is like compressing time. I just did the hedge yesterday afternoon and had to rush before the rain came. Gave it its 'high & tight', cleaned up the clippings, ran back inside just before the downpour started. Sorry to go on and on, but my appreciation for that thing grows every time I use it. When I was choosing what to get, I read similar raves about the Echo ones as the Stihl and obviously from the posts above that comes across here too, so I hope I didn't sound too brand-specific.

[edit2] TedTheLed -- Yup! I use the hedge trimmer for brush clearing. Works great but (a) you need to be more careful near rocks & things than you might if you were using the less expensive sawblade attachment (b) after a summer of hard use whacking down saplings perhaps a little too aggressively sometimes, the blades will need resharpening.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the info. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I used to use electric (corded) all the time, and just put up with the cord issue because we always had small yards, but a couple of years ago we moved back out to the country, and now have a little over 3/4 acre of land, and our lot is long and narrow, at 90' x 390'. Last Christmas there was a sale at Home Depot, and I got a Homelite rechargeable kit with a weedwacker, hedge trimmer, two batteries, and a charger for around $85-90. It is light duty stuff, but I really hate the idea of messing with the small gas engine, mixing gas and oil, etc. The Homelite stuff uses Ryobi 18V batteries, so I bought a (new) Ryobi cordles sawzall on ebay for $50, and it tackles anything too big for the hedge trimmer to handle. I'll eventually break down and get a gas weedeater, but for lighter dury stuff, the cordless battery powered weedacker I have is great.

-Keith

I own a vegetation management business and weed eaters are a daily fact of life. I run all top of the line Stihl. Echo and Husqvarna are just as good but there happens to be a Stihl dealer close by. BY FAR the biggest problem encountered when using home owner type weed eaters is not the tool but the fuel. Mix only enough for two or three weeks, maybe out to a month during the cooler part of the year. Use a small clean can, fresh name brand gas(right out of the pump), and a quality 2-cycle oil. I would suggest you never mix more than one gallon even if this means you have to go to the gas station every couple of weeks. Clean the air filter before each use and check the spark arrestor screen once a month.

I can't stress enough how fast gasoline goes bad. Always use fresh gas and don't keep your mix beyond a month. BTW all my 2-cycles run Opti-2 oil. Good luck.

Yeah...that's my biggest problem. I only get about a gallon at a time, although I usually have to end up disposing of half of it. I spent a few hours working on my chain saw wondering why it was smoking so bad, turns out all it was is bad gas. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Maybe we should start a tangential thread on the +/- of fuel "stabilizer".

"Yeah...I hate electric too. Weed wacking isn't as fun if I don't get to rev the engine."
What about a weed wacker with a speed control for the motor?

wow 2dogs, I never have that problem because I add the oil to the wacker gas tank evry time it gets refilled. I use a big plastic syringe marked in ratios when mixing up 32 ounces of fuel (just what the tank takes) I just draw up the oil to the 1:50 mark through the tube attached to the syringe and squirt it into the Echo.. no problemo! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

one more thing, it would be GREAT if there were a powerful electric wacker. I'd happily pull 200 feet of cord around to avoid the fuel mixing and noise and ice engine problems..!

[ QUOTE ]
star882 said:
"Yeah...I hate electric too. Weed wacking isn't as fun if I don't get to rev the engine."
What about a weed wacker with a speed control for the motor?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well...the sound and smell are a big part too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I just happen to have a love for gas engines...kinda like you guys and your LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I am a certified Briggs and Stratton master service technician however...so keeping them running nice is fun for me...

Ted, I read your first post and you defineatly know what you're doing. I gave one of my older Stihls to my father in law. It was running fine, everything worked. Within a month it couldn't be started. He refused to buy fresh gas and used some from the lawnmower can to mix with oil.
Bad gas-no run. Oh well.

I have a 60 horse power weed eater that will take down 2" brush. lots of fun.

Hi Guys,

I never mix more than a gallon at once. I always use Poulan 2-cycle oil. It also contains fuel stabilizer.

Kev