String trimmers

I work for a commercial landscape and lawn care company and we only use Stihl straight shafts trimmers, edgers, augurs and bushcutters. The first thing I noticed when I picked up one of the high end trimmers was how light they were compared to cheaper residential models. I have no clue if they actually are but if they aren't that's a testament to their ergonomics. Makes your arms much happier after using it for a while.

Power is great and we run em wide open all day long and they seem to sip fuel. I believe they are FS240R's.

 

I've been using a Troybilt 4 stroke straight-shaft weed wacker. Excellent power. I usually only have to run it at half power to cut through thick stuff. It came with a really awesome head on it. (I got it from someone else, who couldn't handle it.) 4 thick plastic blades, looks like a helicopter. The head is called Aero Flex. Easy to replace "line," and they'll take a good bit of abuse before becoming too worn down. I have this one massive yard (2 acres) all fenced in by chain link, with lots of buildings and sidewalk and whatnot to weed wack and edge around. The guy only has me take care of it once a month, so it gets pretty tall and thick. So it's a hard yard for weed wacking, it tears up string. But I can do that yard on one set of blades and have enough left on the blades to do my own yard, which isn't much better than that guy's. Only crappy things about this weed wacker is that since it's a 4 stroke, it' got some weight to it. Gets pretty tiring lugging it around on long jobs. The other thing is that it's like $10 for a 12-pack of blades, so 4 sets of blades. Probably not ideal if you were to ever decided to run a full-time lawn business, because you'd be going through a pack a day.
But for someone who doesn't use it constantly, but wants to be able to do both regular and heavy-duty weed wacking, it's pretty darn good.

 

Thanks for the input guys, gonna go to the local Stihl dealer tomorrow morning after work and talk to them.

 

I have 87 acres and what seems like never ending horse fences... I have burned through miles of trimmer string, best string I have found is Husqvarna titanium force. I swore by Stihl line for decades, its great stuff but the Titanum force lasts WAY longer. Also, I know it sounds crazy but if you keep your spools in water (I cut my string to length and keep them in a Tupperware container full of water), It increases the durability and life length of the string. I know I didn't believe it either, but I tried it and it really does work.

My go to trimmer is a RedMax, but my Stihls are good too.

 

http://www.al-ko.com/shop/de/

 

I use a Stihl FS90R all day long and it never skips a beat. You won't be disappointed with Stihl.

 

I copied this from consumer reports.

Q. I keep hearing that a name-brand product purchased at a big-box store (i.e., Lowe’s, Home Depot) is slightly different from one you may purchase at a local dealer, even if it is represented as being the same model. Is this true?—Herb Schulken, Pawleys Island, SC

A. It’s an urban legend. For example, the John Deere 100 Series riding mowers sold at Home Depot is exactly the same as what you get from any other dealer, despite news reports and blog posts that say the Home Depot line is inferior. One exception: When a big-box store sells a relatively similar product under its own brand name—Sears Craftsman and Kenmore brands, for example—the store often pays manufacturers to include extra features or other, usually small, details.

I have always heard that there is a difference too...then others have said you pay for better service at a dealer and that is the difference.

 

Stihl products here. 2 chainsaws, trimmer & leaf blower. Same oil/gas mixture for all, 50/1 I believe. My dealer just repaired a chainsaw (no spark) free of charge even though it was 3 yrs old. I had only used it a few times.

 

While I don't disagree with you, I didn't include all the details in that original post.

Yes, a 100 series is sold at Lowe's it is also sold at a "dealer". But big box ONLY carry a 100 or 200 series for example. They don't typically carry extensive lineups like dealers do, nor do they offer a "commercial series" in a lot of cases.

People see the name and buy the name. Normally they don't actually know what they are getting as far as internal components.

 

I'm in the process of trying to sell my troy bilt 4 cycle straight shaft trimmer just so I can go buy a Stihl or Echo. I have the same problem with my Troy Bilt...it bogs down on every cut.

 

I have an echo and love it. Back when I was landscaping the company had shindaiwas and those were light as a feather and had great power. We had a stihl for awhile too but I always avoided that one. It was heavier and didn't seem as balanced. I know stihl makes great stuff I just preferred shindaiwa for the trimmers.

 

I run a echo 266t trimmer and edger as well.....just upgraded to the 266t last year from my 2601.....had that one for almost 12 years with zero problems.....the only thing that will stop it is a grapevine....haha

 

I just had my 27cc Troy Bilt "fixed" twice at the local dealer and it still won't run right. I've used Troy Bilt products in the past with pretty good luck, but after this trimmer, I will be purchasing something higher grade like Stihl or Husqvarna.

 

back in the day my wife told me she would do the weed eating if I bought her one that was light. I bought her a weed eater brand from k-mart for about 79 bucks. That thing lasted 10 years I never did anything to it but add the gas and oil and some years I didn't even run the gas out at the end of the season. Always started right up in the spring on just several pulls after choking it. A friend of mine gave me an old stihl straight shaft That thing was so heavy that I was glad when it quit working.