Need a decent weed whacker string trimmer

S

Shann

Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
5,251
The title says it all. My main concerns are reliability and ease of use because my son is going to be using it most of the time and neither one of us are mechanical at all.

Will be used mainly for grassy weeds around the barns and house with a little heavier fence line whacking. (No Sears products please). Around 100 bucks if possible.

Thanks fellas.
 
I have a Toro [the larger one] electric which ,unlike most electrics, has a good bit of power.You can't get more simle than that ! Don't remember the price.
 
I worked in landscaping for four years or so. The easiest to use type is the straight shaft type. It makes it very comfprtable and easy to use in all positions, but it is more expensive than the other option which would be a curved shaft type. The straight shaft needs a gear box to convert the direction of motion to be usable by the head.

In my experience one of the better brands is Echo. They make many different models and one should surley suit your needs. It would be hard to find anything for less than $100 that is a decent machine. If you are unwilling to go over that $100 about the only thing that you would be able to get is some Sears brand, which I would strongly recommend you not to get. I used a few different Sears gas powered products and had nothing but trouble with them.
 
ErikD said:
I worked in landscaping for four years or so. The easiest to use type is the straight shaft type. It makes it very comfprtable and easy to use in all positions, but it is more expensive than the other option which would be a curved shaft type. The straight shaft needs a gear box to convert the direction of motion to be usable by the head.

In my experience one of the better brands is Echo. They make many different models and one should surley suit your needs. It would be hard to find anything for less than $100 that is a decent machine. If you are unwilling to go over that $100 about the only thing that you would be able to get is some Sears brand, which I would strongly recommend you not to get. I used a few different Sears gas powered products and had nothing but trouble with them.
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I'll spend over a 100 bucks, just didn't want to. I will never buy anything from Sears that has a motor of any type again, electric or gas. I bought (1) a string trimmer, useless broke down a bunch of times, completely gave up the ghost 1 month after warranty expired. (2) a treadmill, died within one week, luckily the warranty had not expired! (3) 20 horsepower lawn tractor, it worked okay for a couple of years. By year 4 it was in the shop more than it was at my house. Considering that I have a 2 acre lawn, completely flat, it did not receive hard duty and should have lasted a lot longer.

(by the way, I might consider buying craftsman hand tools, they seem like a good compromise between cost and quality for a "homeowners" toolbox.)
 
I've got a Ryobi, and so far it's been infallible. 4 years now, never fails to start, easy to load new line, and you can use a variety of attachments.
 
Well if you are willing to spend more than $100 for a good tool that will last I will recommend you go for a nice Echo straight shaft trimmer. Really if all you plan to do is trim with the standard nylon trimmer line the most basic model will do you. However they make whole lines of other accessories that you can use on them if you need it which will drive the price up pretty fast.
 
Stihl(sp?) Got mine in 1987 still going way strong. I operate 10- 15 a week. That is alot of trimming. Straight shaft. You won't regret the extra $.
 
I've got an American-made Troy-Bilt. Straight shaft, with a swivel head system for edging and such. Can't beat it IMO.
 
Got a Ryobi SS30 (just went out to the shed to check) two years ago. Highly recommended. Whatever ya do, don't get an electric one...:barf:

Mine was ~$120. I wanted one with a bit extra horsepower and durability. I take care of my yard plus 4 more, and sometimes vacant lot's in the park I used to live in.
 
I have a Toro Brushcutter, it has attachments for line and a brush blade. It was working fine until the now inconveniet "Bump Head" came off. This means that to advance line out of the head I have to unscrew it and readjust the line by hand. Other than that, it is a pretty good whacker. My grandpa used it around his barn and property for a while, it was given to me for my lawn business. Straight shaft, not too heavy, pretty good whacker except for the dang Bump Head breaking.
 
Pick one up off the side of the road, take it to your local "small engine shop" and tell them to get it running. I'd guess $50-80. If you get one off the road definately get the carb tuned (not supposed to but...) and piston rings. ;)
 
I have a red max that ive been using for 12 years stright. Its a 2 stroke gas model and ive never ever had a problem with it. Its also a stright shaft model which is very easy to use, even as an edger.
 
well, I got an Echo straight shaft trimmer, finally. It cost twice as much as I wanted to spend, :grumpy: Didn't use it yet, but this weekend it'll get a workout.

Seems pretty nice. My Son has been doing the mowing, but the trimming is still my job.
 
Shann said:
well, I got an Echo straight shaft trimmer, finally. It cost twice as much as I wanted to spend, :grumpy: Didn't use it yet, but this weekend it'll get a workout.

Seems pretty nice. My Son has been doing the mowing, but the trimming is still my job.
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Very good choice.

It should last you for years to come with the proper maintenance.

Folks, if you need a good, solid recommendation on buying stuff, I recommend using Consumer Reports. These people buy their stuff on the open market, and test objectively. They accept no ads, nor do they accept anything from the manufacturers. They run on donations, and buy just like you or I would. I rely on them heavily for my purchases, and I've always bought what they recommend, with absolutely fantastic results. They just did lawn equipment, so they are worth checking out for that stuff.
 
CODE 3 said:
Very good choice.

It should last you for years to come with the proper maintenance.

Folks, if you need a good, solid recommendation on buying stuff, I recommend using Consumer Reports. These people buy their stuff on the open market, and test objectively. They accept no ads, nor do they accept anything from the manufacturers. They run on donations, and buy just like you or I would. I rely on them heavily for my purchases, and I've always bought what they recommend, with absolutely fantastic results. They just did lawn equipment, so they are worth checking out for that stuff.
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I just want to add a word or caution there. Consumer reports often balances price versus feature. Sometimes the products they recommend are because they are cheaper but you still get decent product. I personally frequently do not like their recommendations on tools. An example is in the circular saw category they recommend getting a consumer model and recommend against getting a worm drive. The worm drives are heavier, cut more slowly, and cost more is why. That said, I'm 30, I don't do construction work for a living but dabble a lot and do odd jobs on the weekends some times. Before I was 18 I had burned up 2 consumer grade circular saws that ran 1/3-1/2 of the price of a worm drive. Not from abuse but just because they don't last. About that time my dad got a worm drive that I used for the next 10 years before I got my own and it's still running great. I've seen this pattern repeated more than once in CR. They are great for some things but others it makes sense to take with a grain of salt. No offence meant here btw.

-w
 
Don't listen to CR reccomendations on stereo equipment. They reccomend nothing but inferior equipment. You can do research and spend the same amount of money and get separates that are far better. Congrats on a nice trimmer.
 
I find Consumer Reports very useful. I also try to keep in mind whether my needs agree with their testing objectives.

For someone that uses a drill or saw once or twice a year at most, saving 2/3's the cost is probably a good deal for the consumer. Now if you are wearing out saw blades regularly, you are probably more of a "pro-sumer" and need to upgrade your equipment.

For example, my mother was using a 200Mhz Pentium II computer to read email on AOL though a dial up line out in the sticks. I don't know what the connect speed was but, it sure wasn't that fast. I think it was around 16.8 or 19.2. Everyone is harping on her to upgrade her computer. Why? I checked the CPU load and she was running at 50% worst case.

I did in fact give her a 500Mhz Pentium III and she runs at about 12% CPU load worst case now. She still can't read or write email any faster :rolleyes:
 
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