Ryan String Trimmer

[zendriver]

I thought I knew everything[emoji57], but never heard of this brand. I saw this one at an estate auction it was a must-have.



Research is sketchy, but looks like the company was bought out by Ryobi.

Anyway the model is 284, anyone know about the age, where it was made and what the two stroke fuel mix is?

I was going to part it out but I dribbled on some premix on the air filter and it lit on the first pull, so it’s a keeper.


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[budmur]

It's been years since I've seen one. As I recall, they were a 2nd brand for Lawn-Boy.

 

[PittsburghTim]

I bought one as a teenager for my lawn mowing business. It was a very good trimmer, even with doing around a dozen lawns a week. I'm guessing it's from the early to mid 1980s. I know that when I rent dethatchers or aerators, the locak rental center still has Ryan equipment. Not sure if it's the same company or not.

 

[budmur]

Here's a picture of a Ryan lawn mower bag. If you look at the bottom it says "Product Group of Outboard Marine Corporation"

As far as fuel/oil mixture, 40:1 with modern oil will be fine.

 

[bpjr]

I bought a Ryan trimmer at kmart back around 1985 and still have it. It looks like the same era as yours but doesn't have an automatic clutch like in your pic. After 20 yrs it took the number 2 position behind a new echo but still starts and runs perfect. I crank it up every now and then just for nostalgia. Always ran it with non ethanol gas and Bel-Ray MC1 2 stroke motorcycle oil at 32:1. Can't remember the model number offhand but it's 31cc and been bullet proof. They were the same as Ryobi but with different branding...the only thing I've done to the engine is replace the coil and rebuild the carb several times. The gas cap is a bad design and leaks through the air hole no matter what you do.

 

[earthmover1980]

Ryan was made by IDC inertia dynamics company back in the 80s. I have a ryan 284 also. I had another Ryan that we ran to death, but lasted like 20 years doing commercial work!!!!! The old one was bought at big lots store for $40 in the bargain bin. Mixture is 32 to 1.

 

[PelicanPines]

Zen, you do know everything you know... you are just missing the things you don't know yet.

That is a cool find.