Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best weed eater to buy???

I soooo wanted to like a battery line trimmer. It just couldn’t work for me. Ran it one day and ended up returning it and getting another gas model.

I have a Stihl that's on the lower end of the pro models. It's cold blooded and hard to start cold but once it's running, it goes great.

Shindaiwa T2XX Series.

Looked at all of them a couple decades ago. Most have a single piston ring. My T242 has 2 rings and a chrome-lined bore, is nimble and powerful. One shop I went to back then had quite a few different manufacture's engines with 90 degrees machined out of them so you could see the bore/piston/crank that could be rotated by hand. Compared to the favorites mentioned here, the little Shinny was built like a Swiss watch. Take a gander at professional landscaper's trailers in your AO and you'll most likely see the old, red T242's for good reason. Heard that Echo bought them out some years back, so besides the displacements, I don't know if they changed them internally....

[quote=Salty303][quote=wilkeshunter]My Stihl weedeater is the worst piece of power equipment that ai have ever owned. Never seen a small engine that floods so easily.

Mine is the same way. Hard to rewind the spool and make it work right. Generally a POS. Pretty much done with Stihl chainsaws and weedeaters.

A fence and half dozen goats!

Had a pro model stihl that I was constantly rebuilding /messing with carb. Vapor locked when hot. Got a lemon. Upgraded to pro model husky with no issues. Run high octane non ethanol and good mix

I have a Stihl that I have been using about 10 years. Never done anything but put gas in it and string on it. They just work.

I use a brush and tree cutter more than I use a grass cutter. The big strong steals with the handlebars and the proper blade are very very effective at clearing brush and small trees. I've taken down pine trees up to 4 in and hardwood in the 3 inch range. If I had to buy a new I would probably get an echo or Stihl... just be careful of those eco-friendly carburetors I heard they're real Nightmares on the chainsaws. All my stuff is old school

this thread reminded me I either need to clean or replace the carb on my Stihl FS model after using it maybe 10 times

A new carb is $11 so I just ordered one for it

Had an old craftsman that I kept for at least 15 years, never gave it a second thought, always started. Cheap gas, never was too particular about the oil ratio (close enough) - just a workhorse. Got rid of it when the cable broke on it.

This Stihl is finicky. I do everything I'm supposed to do (other than use it sparingly) and its a pain in the butt.

The Stihl I have been using for the last 6 years is the same way. Its just the nature of the beast with some of them. With mine, you put the choke on and pull the rope till it sputters.....usually two or three times. If you pull the rope again without taking the choke off it will flood. When I first got the thing I flooded it so bad the little air filter was soaked with gas because my previous one would start with the choke on.......I was ready to wrap it around a tree until I saw what was happening. So its pull the rope two or three times till it sputters, take choke off, pull two or three more times and it fires up.

Can't remember the number of mine but at the time I bought, it was the smallest Kombi motor they had. I had an FS-250 (a hoss) which subsequently got stolen and I figured I would wear out the little one before I got another. Haven't worn it out yet and I work it pretty hard. Its all you need to cut with a string or the plastic cutters, but its not a "brush cutter".

I did allow the carb on mine to gunk up....totally my fault for letting it set up over winter with ethanol gas in it and no stabilizer. I bought another carb from the Stihl place for about 30 some odd dollars and installed it myself.

Oh, almost forgot. Whichever brand you get, consider one with the handlebar set up. Its a lot easier on your back.

My buddy owns a large lawn and garden equipment shop. I asked him this exact same question - Stihl, Echo, or other. His answer was absolute - get a straight-shaft Echo. (Do not get the cheapy Home Depot one.) He set me up with a mid-high grade weed eater, and it is a cutting sumbich. Never an ounce of trouble with it. I'd buy another Echo in a heartbeat.

My old cheapo Troy-Bilt lithium -ion powered trimmer died last spring. Wound up getting a DeWalt lithium -ion that I love, even though it's only been used one season so far. Got some other DeWalt electric stuff that's first rate and if this trimmer is as good as other DeWalt stuff I should be all set for a long time.

I have a stihl blower that's approx 17 years old and trimmer that's approx 15 years old. Have added treated gas and trimmer line as needed and nothing else. Both start and run the same every time.

Satan's first act was to create the small 2-stroke engine.

Get a couple of goats.....

That won't start.

What BarneyFife and Daveman are saying. Barney Fife seems to have the same experiences as me. I bought a kit but ended up having mine rebuilt last year. Guy said it was better than going to a new cheaper Echo so if going Echo - take the advice and get a 'real' one with the bigger engine..

I don't have acres to cut or mow with my stuff. I use premixed because I might only go through two or three cans in a summer and it stores a whole lot better. I am even using the 4stroke fuel from the hw store. Yeah it is more expensive but the new Honda likes it and want yo keep it happy. I don't have ethanol-free place near me. Costs me an extra what ....ten - fifteen bucks a year? Plus removes the beating of a gas can and mixing and Ace is even closer than the gas station.

my old lady said she'd like a goat.

I've used Echo since 1987. I have a straight-shaft Echo I've used since 1998. The only thing it needed was fuel lines due to Ethanol. It's the only brand I'll buy for a trimmer. I'm also impressed with their chainsaws.

My Stihl is the same. It was hard to start until I started buying the canned pre-mix fuel. Now it usually starts first of second try.

TO OP: Spend a little money, buy a Good Stihl, not a box store consumer model, and you will probably never have to buy another, if you take care of it.