String timmers, best one?

[Anonymous-0]

There was a disscusion a few months back on here about weed eaters. At the time mine was working so I didn't pay real close attention. There was a brand mentioned that I had never heard of that people seemed to like. I looked through the archives but could not find the disscussion. Open to all opinions. Don't want to break the bank but I have a lot of trimming to do.
Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

JD trimmers work real nice good quality

 

[Clint Youse MO]

round up mix it by the label and spray what you cannot mow may have to use 2 to 3 times a year

 

[Anonymous-0]

Now you went an did it...Started a weed wacker war...Everyone and their brother will pipe in and say which is their favorite...Mine is Stihl and Echo..There, take that.. I don't know about their weed wackers , but Echo has a 5 year consumer warranty on their chainsaws..Worth an effort to see if the string trimmers have the same warranty..I just bought an Echo CS-346 chainsaw on Ebay for 179.00....For a small package, It's got some real cuyones....Started on the 3rd pull right out of the box..Full warranty is in effect on this one...R.S.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Who makes them?

 

[Ryne]

dont know about the best one but i'll sure say stay away from the weed eater brand green weed wackers had nothing but problems with mine from the get go my two cents
Ryne

 

[Anonymous-0]

The best one I've ever owned is the Craftsman in the barn. I haven't been able to make it run in about ten years so no trimming for me. A guy at work brought one in he got at a garage sale. I tried to convince him not to get it working but he fussed with it till he got it running. Now he's out in the hot sun whacking weeds.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I've had terrible luck with the commercial JD ones... the centrifugal clutch linings flew off of mine within a few years.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I had a McCullugh. It was the non-startingest piece of junk you have ever seen. If you ever did get it running and it died it absolutely would not start when hot. I finally cut it into little pieces with a chop saw. It was the most satisfying moments I ever spent with it. I went to Wal-Mart and bought the cheapest one they had which was a Ryobi for $89. It has been running flawlessly for 8 years now.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I've had a small Echo trimmer for 16 years. Have only replaced the sparkplug and the fuel line once...and, of course, many yards of cutting line. My son just bought a new Troy-Built that seems to work good, but who knows for how long. However, I do like the fact that it has a 4-cycle engine, so no mixing oil and gasoline, and it runs a bit quieter than my old 2-cycle Echo. -- Tom

 

[TomCNY]

I've had a small Echo trimmer for 16 years. Have only replaced the sparkplug and the fuel line once...and, of course, many yards of cutting line. My son just bought a new Troy-Built that seems to work good, but who knows for how long. However, I do like the fact that it has a 4-cycle engine, so no mixing oil and gasoline, and it runs a bit quieter than my old 2-cycle Echo. -- Tom

 

[M Nut]

I had terrible luck with mcCulugh
(sp?), and I replaced it with a Stihl several years ago. It has been great. I use mine to trim under several miles of electric fence plus for trimming in three different yards. It has the bicycle style handle bar with a shoulder strap, and I paid around $225 for it in 2002.

 

[Lanse]

Aint trying to put anyone down, but I think that Echo and Sthil are the best. We have both and never had any problems with either.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Nobody has mentioned Red Max. A little pricy around 350.00 I use them in my mowing business on hill sides, and around rocks. I have been using .150 dia. line which will not break in heavy weeds. Only proiblem with the heavy line is one piece at a time has to be installed, and will last 20-30 min. Easy to change even a cave man can do it, and I think I have hired a few of them. Stan

 

[THEkyroastnear]

i have had good luck with a straight-shaft poulan pro had it 10 or11 yrs. on the down side parts are kind of hard to get

 

[glennster]

i have a couple different ones, stihl, ryobi and a homelite, all straight shaft trimmers. my favorite is the old homelite, i think its an st275 direct drive, no clutch. the stihl and ryobi are heavier trimmers, and they get awful heavy after a while. regardless of which one you get, use the husquavarna titanium trimmer line. it was recommended aq while back by somebody here, i tried a spool, great stuff, tough as nails, and doesnt melt up in the spool head

 

[Anonymous-0]

Toughest, easist start, longest lasting, bought one new in 1998. Have run through 2 of those large professional size spools of 095, and working on the third. Echo. Hands down. Tom

 

[Anonymous-0]

Red Max, that is the one they mentioned before and I couldn't remember. Thank you all for your replies, lots of good info here. I liked the one about the best trimmer is the one left in the barn.

 

[Davis In SC]

I have a commercial-duty Robin that was my Dad's. Ir is going on 20 years old, still has original plug.. It has cut countless miles of ditches, still starts on the first or second pull. Has never had one cent of repairs to it..

 

[Anonymous-0]

I read somewhere that a string trimmer is the one tool most likely to cause a heart attack. That said my health is bad so I hire someone to do the trimmin and the one they use is the best. I have 2 of the stihl brand a model 80 and a model 45 but they don't have enough time on them to say if they good or bad. I have flat worn out several homelite and ryobi brand and I like them. If you can pick up either of these at the big lots type deals you can't do any better. My son-in-law is presently workin one of my hand-me-down to him homelites pretty hard. When the homelite(6 year old) bites the dust he can have a go at the stihls. I personally consider the trimmers as non reparable tools but the high cost ones almost force you to attempt repair.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have used Echo and John Deere and had good luck with both. Mainly, I use a cheap Weedeater brand model because it is so light weight. If you do professional lawn care, caring a heavy weedeater around is tiring. Your don't want anything that is heavier than you need to do the job. I can trim with one hand on these models and walk as fast as I normally walk. I never install the guard because that limits the angle that you can hold your trimmer. They are so cheap that I just throw them away every 2 years. If you are going to do heavy trimming, then purchase a heavy duty dual head unit. My John Deere and Echo units always started good.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Shindaiwa. Commercial duty and very well built. They are used a lot by forestry and commercial contractors. Dave

 

[havvey]

First i would look in your area and see what is for dealers in case service is needed. Stil echo and husqvarna are about it here and husqy is very good as well. Unless you plan on doing very little i would not buy a $89 walmart brand 1. parts service are not there. 2. they won't make it in a commercial world. 3. watch ebay there is a lot of this stuff on there some of it sells very resonable and its new. Yes red max and shidiwa jonsered etc are good names but here they are scarce and the nearest dealer is hours away.

 

[Nolan]

Was using a Husqvarna last week, and found it to be quite impressive. A heck of a lot of power, and the easiest starting thing I ever ran into.

 

[Anonymous-0]

In Australia, Honda markets a very good trimmer. 4 stroke, very quiet and so smooth. I brought one, starts like a dream and is so good to use.
Not sure if you have them there,
Rex

 

[Anonymous-0]

I bought a Poulan Weedeater XR-70 in 1983. Haven't had any trouble with it and it starts easy. It is a good machine. Found out that parts are still available if ever needed.

 

[Tim in West Pa]

I have found that round up works the best!

 

[Anonymous-0]

I did the same thing, bought a cheap Ryobi six years ago and just run it. Installed thicker 095 string rather than the recommended 080 and cut away. If or when it dies, I'll buy something similar.

 

[JDB]

Whatever you can get your wife to run.
BTW haven't found it yet

 

[Tim...OK]

I won't own anything but a Stihl chainsaw,and I've heard great things about their trimmers too..seems like what most of the commercial mowers around here run..but I can't say a bad word about the cheap Ryobi trimmers..the first one I bought I used for 11 years,it quit,figured it didn't owe me anything so I went and bought another one just like it and gave the old one to a buddy of mine who likes to tinker with that stuff..he replaced the fuel line and is still using it today..the second one I bought is 8 years old now,has a double curved shaft because I ran over it with the tractor and still starts easy on the 2nd or 3rd pull..when it finally dies,I'll buy another one..

 

[Mike M]

I'm with you on that !

I do have a small cheapo Homelite I dug out of a dumpster I got running that always seems to run for me ? I don't use it much. wife seems not to be able to start it,she must be related to who threw it in the dumpster ?