Your needs are not of the same as a contractor, which is actually important. Many brands will do the trick, despite many telling you their favorite (just like a love/hate Snap On thread).
Stihl - top brand that many pros use, and the brand (like SO) everyone compares to.
Echo - on the Pro forums, probably 2nd most owned.
Tanaka - now owned buy Hitachi,
Shindaiwa - owned by Echo for 3-4 years now, but for now still maintain distinct line ups.
The above I mention because I have all of these and work great, any issues have been more me than the unit. Redmax, Husqy, and many other pro brands to choose from. Things to consider....
- the deal you can get is important, but make sure if you need parts or someone to fix down the road, there is someone in your area. Stihl, Echo/Shin, Husqy should not be a problem. Tanaka, RedMax and others can be harder depending your area.
- Paying a couple of $$$ more to support a local dealer is good, as long as it isn't too much more.
- the most important thing for long term ease of use is what you do when you don't use them. The blowers less of a problem except for the off season. Chainsaw is another story.
First, always get a good quality synthetic 2-Stroke oil, all the above have their own and are top quality. You mix them 50:1 and this is good for all your oil mix products. Never mind if the manual says 32:1 or whatever. With synthetics, always mixed on what the oil manufacturer say and it is good for all. If you want to go high end, get Amsoil Sabre and mix it at 80:1, been doing this 5 season now, no more exhaust screen or carb problems. (hint, any oil that has recipes for multiple mixes like 32:1, 40:1 etc on the label is not a synthetic)
When the season is over, dump the remaining gas from all tools and get a can of TruFuel 50:1 pour just a bit into each tool and et them run about 5 minutes, turn off and leave fuel in the tool. Running tools dry leads to dried lines and seals.
In the spring you make a new batch of fuel and you are good to go. You should make an amount that will last no more than 3 months. Gas varies from state to state, make sure you are getting either ethanol free or as low as possible, for the amount of gas these tools use, always spring for premium gas.
If you maintain them, just about any of the top brands will work great for you, and if you follow these gas guidelines, you will never have carb or exhaust problems and probably never need to change you spark plug. I had a Solo line trimmer, made in Germany and built like German tank, till I had carb problems and my dealer was not able to get parts for it. Had a Stihl line trimmer that also worked great till it had carb problems. Since going to Sabre in the summer and TruFuel in the winter, 5 years no issues on 2 Shindaiwa line trimmers (one is a 4 stroke hybrid mix), 2 Echo blowers and hedge trimmer, and infrequently used Stihl 14" concrete saw and relatively cheap Homelite chainsaw that starts every time, for the once a year times I need it.
This was my 2 cents to say, you like the Echo's, go for it, I like mine very much.
. Thank in advance.
