Stihl FS130 initial review

[Ausfahrt]

I live in Florida for most of the year but my wife and I keep a summer cabin in Vermont. Keeping the jungle at bay in Florida is almost a year round endeavor but I have learned that the growing season in Vermont may be short but it certainly is vigorous!

When we arrived last month, our lawn portion of the property around the cabin had been encroached by the woods to a degree that I had to do something since my yard was getting smaller and smaller. So I paid a visit to the local Stihl dealer and he recommended a FS130 that, depending on the attachment, could whack weeds or fell small forests.

After two weeks and about 10-12 hours of use I can say that this thing is a beast.... in a good way. I have always been a Stihl fan and used them for years but my weedwhackers always seem to be really hard on my back to the point that I can only use one for about 15-20 minutes before I need to rest but the full shoulder harness and bicycle handle made this much easier on my back.

I love this thing and there are only two negatives that I can think of: It uses a lot of gas compared to my old small whacker and it sure ain't cheap! I ended up paying just shy of 5 bills OTD. But enough chatter, here are the pics.....

 

[freshcopedawg]

I have the 130R and love it. The only negative is it's hard to feather around delicate spots. Takes some getting used to. It pretty much has no throttle and full throttle.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: freshcopedawg
I have the 130R and love it. The only negative is it's hard to feather around delicate spots. Takes some getting used to. It pretty much has no throttle and full throttle.


Try adjusting the carb. I just did and it's a lot better as far as feathering. I'd like to say it's as close to a 2 stroke as you can get. lol

 

[Vern_in_IL]

What do you mean by feathering?

 

[freshcopedawg]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
What do you mean by feathering?


The 130 has huge power and torque so if you're cutting down a stand of privet you just hold down the throttle and take it to the ground. If you're touching up sod around a culvert or flower bed it's difficult to just trim a little off or shape the area. It's either full speed or idle. You can make it work but it's more of a clearing machine than a touch up machine. The 240 2 stroke is much easier to operate in these conditions and has even more power but is considerably more expensive.

 

[freshcopedawg]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: freshcopedawg
I have the 130R and love it. The only negative is it's hard to feather around delicate spots. Takes some getting used to. It pretty much has no throttle and full throttle.


Try adjusting the carb. I just did and it's a lot better as far as feathering. I'd like to say it's as close to a 2 stroke as you can get. lol


I'll try that. Just bought mine a couple months ago. It took some getting used to cause it'll make a mess if you're not careful.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I hope that your adjustment helps because something doesn't sound right. I have no problem moderating power and RPM's on mine. Good luck.

 

[The motor guy]

Mine was running super rich, it took 2.5 turns to get it to start to run lean. The fuel consumption is better now since it's not running so rich. Merkava helped me out with adjusting it since I always forget how.

 

[The motor guy]

It still lacks power big time compared to my echo 266, but I guess it's good enough. The light weight makes up for it I suppose you could say. I'm just glad I got it to have smoother acceleration and more power than before. My guess is they set them rich for break in.

 

[freshcopedawg]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
It still lacks power big time compared to my echo 266, but I guess it's good enough. The light weight makes up for it I suppose you could say. I'm just glad I got it to have smoother acceleration and more power than before. My guess is they set them rich for break in.


Are you sure you have a 130? It should have considerably more power than an Echo 266.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: freshcopedawg
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
It still lacks power big time compared to my echo 266, but I guess it's good enough. The light weight makes up for it I suppose you could say. I'm just glad I got it to have smoother acceleration and more power than before. My guess is they set them rich for break in.


Are you sure you have a 130? It should have considerably more power than an Echo 266.


It's an FS100rx but it's still a bigger engine than the 266. The 266 is a 25.4cc engine and the 100 is like a 31cc engine. I was just expecting it to have more power than my 266 not less. I can let so much line out on my 266 that it wraps itself around the head occasionally and I have to let off the throttle and unloop the line. It must be the gear reduction gearbox on it that makes the difference. It's like twice the size as the echo's.

 

[freshcopedawg]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: freshcopedawg
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
It still lacks power big time compared to my echo 266, but I guess it's good enough. The light weight makes up for it I suppose you could say. I'm just glad I got it to have smoother acceleration and more power than before. My guess is they set them rich for break in.


Are you sure you have a 130? It should have considerably more power than an Echo 266.


It's an FS100rx but it's still a bigger engine than the 266. The 266 is a 25.4cc engine and the 100 is like a 31cc engine. I was just expecting it to have more power than my 266 not less. I can let so much line out on my 266 that it wraps itself around the head occasionally and I have to let off the throttle and unloop the line. It must be the gear reduction gearbox on it that makes the difference. It's like twice the size as the echo's.


Yeah neither of those machines are in the same power league as the 130. There's not a whole lot of power difference between the Stihl 90,100, and 110 but the power jumps way up with the 130. Doing a little research the difficult feathering is a common complaint with this machine.

 

[mjoekingz28]

The 90 is a joy to use.


If it bogs down, you get to hold down the throttle and just cut slower. It accepts attachments.


I think it is the entry level for having bike handlebars.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
It's an FS100rx but it's still a bigger engine than the 266. The 266 is a 25.4cc engine and the 100 is like a 31cc engine. I was just expecting it to have more power than my 266 not less.


I've generally found Echo engines to produce more power than their displacement would lead you to think. I have the PAS-225, Echo's attachment series equipment with the smallest engine they make (21.2cc), yet it slices through absolutely anything I feed it, including inch-thick cattails and small trees (with the blade kit).