flushcut
Well-known member
These are also very problematic. They work great for a while then the **** the bed.
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Yard gas tools
- Thread starter cheechi
- Start date
These are also very problematic. They work great for a while then the **** the bed.
vavet
Well-known member
I had a Troy-bilt 4-stroke trimmer. It sucked. I hated using it. It was slow to wind up to speed. After a few years, it always needed something when I went to use it. I finally sold it on CL and bought the cheapest Echo straight-shaft trimmer HD sold at the time - approx 2007. I still have that one and I use it more now because we have a much larger lot and 300' of road frontage. It's still doing great. I use ethanol-free gas mixed with the Echo oil at 50:1. I use the canned fuel for the last few ouces of the season and let it run itself dry to try to get it all out of the carb. It usually starts quite easily in the spring.
My blower is a Husqvarna backpack pro style I bought on CL for a song. I replaced the carb with a cheap amazon knock-off earlier this year and its done quite well for me. I've had it about 12 years. I don't know how old it is but it's been great for me.
My Honda walk-behind is also about 12 years old. Oil, air filter, spark plug changes - that's all it's needed. It's close to needing some new wheels, but most of my cutting now is done on my Cub Cadet lawn tractor. The CC is my least favorite of all my power equipment. It's the XT1 GT50 - the heaviest duty model in the big box store lineup. I wish I'd have ponied up for an XT2 level or even all the way to the John Deere X-series, but those all would've been at least $1000 more to get a similar sized engine and cutting deck.
I also have an Echo chainsaw from HD. I looked at Stihl at two local dealers and couldn't find anyone to wait on me. I figured if they couldn't/wouldn't help me when I was ready to buy, service was going to be an issue. It's been fine, but I've only owned it a couple years and haven't used it much.
Spend the money for decent stuff. As I need to replace things, I will probably give serious consideration to battery powered units as I believe they've come a long way. They might not be viable for your situation, but at least you know you won't have starting issues.
My blower is a Husqvarna backpack pro style I bought on CL for a song. I replaced the carb with a cheap amazon knock-off earlier this year and its done quite well for me. I've had it about 12 years. I don't know how old it is but it's been great for me.
My Honda walk-behind is also about 12 years old. Oil, air filter, spark plug changes - that's all it's needed. It's close to needing some new wheels, but most of my cutting now is done on my Cub Cadet lawn tractor. The CC is my least favorite of all my power equipment. It's the XT1 GT50 - the heaviest duty model in the big box store lineup. I wish I'd have ponied up for an XT2 level or even all the way to the John Deere X-series, but those all would've been at least $1000 more to get a similar sized engine and cutting deck.
I also have an Echo chainsaw from HD. I looked at Stihl at two local dealers and couldn't find anyone to wait on me. I figured if they couldn't/wouldn't help me when I was ready to buy, service was going to be an issue. It's been fine, but I've only owned it a couple years and haven't used it much.
Spend the money for decent stuff. As I need to replace things, I will probably give serious consideration to battery powered units as I believe they've come a long way. They might not be viable for your situation, but at least you know you won't have starting issues.
rlitman
Well-known member
These are also very problematic. They work great for a while then the **** the bed.
For what seems to be a very vocal subset of their customers. But that's the case with EVERY product sold today that is reviewed online, since one bad review always counts more than thousands of good ones in the eyes of people solely hunting for bad reviews.
My anecdotal evidence contradicts yours, as I got my machine in 2006, and it still works flawlessly. Or is 12 years not enough to be called "a while" yet?
454ragtop
Well-known member
Since this threads inception 6 years ago, cordless tools have come a long way. IMO, anyone considering gas powered tools for limited home owner use needs their head examined. It's one thing if you're using them professionally every day, something else completely if we're talking once or twice a month or less.
I bought all new, mostly gas powered stuff when i got my house 5 years ago.. no regrets on any of them. I think its worth spending a little more for more powerful equipment, makes everything easier.
Stihl BR700 backpack blower, thing is a beast, always starts in 1 or 2 pulls, cold or hot. My dad has the big REDMAX and they are pretty evenly matched.
Honda hrr216vka mower, changed the carb, spark plug & air filter this year, have changed the blades twice, i beat the **** out of this thing going over stumps, bushes, ivy, Belgium blocks, it keeps on going & mulches very good. Whatever you get make sure its self propelled, push mower *****.
Stihl MS261CM chainsaw with 20" bar, so far has cut everything like butter, if you dont have a lot of trees or live next to woods you could probably go with a non pro model instead. I rented a big Makita chainsaw from Home depot once and was very impressed with that too.
Ryobi cordless string trimmer 18v, works great for edging and light weed clearing. With the 4ah batteries i only charge it once every 2 or 3 weeks, yard is 100x150. For $50 on sale you really cant beat it.
I do have a Craftsman gas powered string trimmer that someone gave me for the heavy stuff.
Ariens 24" 250cc deluxe snowblower, goes through 30" deep drifts with ease, the auto power steering on mine was fine right out of the box.
The harbor freight 9" electric pole chainsaw is also a decent tool and cheap, just keep the chain sharp & store it over some cardboard cause the bar oil does leak a little.
Stihl BR700 backpack blower, thing is a beast, always starts in 1 or 2 pulls, cold or hot. My dad has the big REDMAX and they are pretty evenly matched.
Honda hrr216vka mower, changed the carb, spark plug & air filter this year, have changed the blades twice, i beat the **** out of this thing going over stumps, bushes, ivy, Belgium blocks, it keeps on going & mulches very good. Whatever you get make sure its self propelled, push mower *****.
Stihl MS261CM chainsaw with 20" bar, so far has cut everything like butter, if you dont have a lot of trees or live next to woods you could probably go with a non pro model instead. I rented a big Makita chainsaw from Home depot once and was very impressed with that too.
Ryobi cordless string trimmer 18v, works great for edging and light weed clearing. With the 4ah batteries i only charge it once every 2 or 3 weeks, yard is 100x150. For $50 on sale you really cant beat it.
I do have a Craftsman gas powered string trimmer that someone gave me for the heavy stuff.
Ariens 24" 250cc deluxe snowblower, goes through 30" deep drifts with ease, the auto power steering on mine was fine right out of the box.
The harbor freight 9" electric pole chainsaw is also a decent tool and cheap, just keep the chain sharp & store it over some cardboard cause the bar oil does leak a little.
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seber
Well-known member
My wife bought me a Huskvarna at Lowes last month. I took it back the next day. It may have been really bad original line or it might have been because it was made to Lowes price point but every couple of minutes the line would break at the head. Meaning disassembly and restringing and cut the unbroken side. Went to the local Stihl dealer and picked up an FS70. It isn't quite as nice as the Shindaiwa I used for 30 years but I certainly can't complain. The newer starting and stopping systems are very nice.
I have an overly large yard. Used to be a 2-cycle guy. Converted over to 4-cycle. I have a Makita 4-cycle blower (Subaru-Robin engine) that has started 1st or second pull every time for two years. I have a Husky 4 cycle trimmer with a Honda engine, I believe it's the 324L, and it has been a gem. Stihl still doggedly refuses to sell mail order and steers all of its on-line sales to dealers, a practice I find to be archaic. The cheaper consumer level Stihl products in my experience are not notably superior to their retail peers. Step up to Stihl prosumer or commercial lines and they have no equal.
Well ,Since I asked the question was there "Ever a 4 Cycle Hedge trimmer" ? All I can find is on Ebay there is a 4 cycle hedge trimmer in England (Challenge brand).It appears to be about the same size and weight as a 2 cycle model. But I Don't need one that bad ! I am looking at a Poulan Pro PR2322 2 Cycle for about 140.00 . I had a Weed Eater Excalibar GHT220 that has been running so-so for the past 10 years. I used it last week for some boxwoods at my house and it worked well, until it overheated, stalled and the starter broke. I wanted to try a 4 cycle version but I can't find one new or used in the USA. The weed eater had 22" Stainless blades that were in great shape and sharp after all these years and is a factor in looking at the poulan,which appears to be an updated version of the weed eater model.