Weedwacker advice

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supton

supton

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Bought a new house, it has a little field and then it has a wooded section. I have an older MTD 4 stroke weedwacker which wasn't running quite right last I looked... sitting outdoors for a few years might not have helped it. Anyhow. Neighbor was doing a little tree work on his side of things, I went over to help, and it looked like he had a setup from Lowes or Home Depot, Craftsman or similar--but with the pole saw attachment. So now I'm thinking of upgrading! For an acre of work (I have 5.5 total but only about 1 is "open") would the $200 or so equipment at Lowe's be just fine? And is the 8" saw attachment "good" or "gimmick"? [I feel like I have enough friends with real chainsaws that I'd rather borrow it or them for any real tree work.]

Undecided on if I want to mess with 2 stroke or 4 stroke; I might buck my usual trend and go 2 stroke. I don't like buying "expensive" canned gas but for something like this I doubt I'll use even a gallon per year--so just live with that price.
 
The equipment at Lowes is fine for homeowner type stuff. I bought a brand new Toro 2-stroke powerhead pretty cheap on eBay, then went to Sears/Home Depot for the attachments I have which are a brush cutter, pole saw, and a hedge trimmer. The little 8" pole saw is no gimmick that's for sure. It is one of my favorite pieces of equipment I own. Coupled with the extension pole (just goes in between the attachment and the powerhead) it makes trimming branches super easy. I would definitely go 2 stroke. I haven't really used a 4 stroke weedwacker I've liked. They seem much heavier and just a different power band, but it could just be what I'm used to. The pole saw is also super handy for cutting limbs off a tree that has already been cut down. I helped my father cut down a tree last weekend and the pole saw made quick work of taking all the branches off while he cut the logs with the chainsaw.
 
For a weed whacker only I would look at some of the cordless ones. I have a Milwaukee as I have many Milwaukee M18 tools so I could buy a bare tool. They are not toys anymore.

I have a house in the woods and have grass right around the house and then woods. My recent purchase was a brush cutter to handle the wild rose bushes, etc. The other handy thing I bought was a 10" cordless chainsaw. I already had two 20" gas chainsaws.
 
X 1 on the brush cutter pole saw combo. I have the Ryobi from Home Depot for the saw. WOW! Makes those annoying limbs come off easy. The brush cutter on the 2 stroke Toro weed wacker gets those scrub trees go easy and won't wear out the chain on a chain saw if you hit the dirt.
 
Cool, thanks. I don't mind buying better things but I prefer to wear out "lesser" equipment first to determine if better was needed in the first place. My small cheap 4 stroke weedwacker was just fine at the last house (I used like once a year!) and better really wasn't justified. Here, I think I'll use it more.

Cordless, hmm, I'll look into that, but I suspect I'm in the cost vs amount of usage problem. A cordless drill is a must-have these days but for light usage I'm finding corded tools are just fine (and cheaper) for my light usage. Sure would be nice to justify a nice set of tools though! you know, for all those projects that I might do, someday...
 
Look into a Troybilt 4 cycle TB525EC (29cc). Pretty rugged for the price. Under $200. Replacement bump heads (high wear item) are only $15
 
Leaning towards this lower end RY253SS and their polesaw at the moment. The Echo SRM225 is really tempting but I'm not sure the usage justifies the bump in price.
 
My 10 year old gas powered Stihl has been perfect. At some point it'll give it up and when that day happens I'll be looking at cordless. I'll start with the Stihl brand.
 
When it came time to replace my 25 yr old Mitsu powered AirCap, it seems like the two premium brands are Stihl and Echo (Yamabiko).
I've read that Stihl is difficult to get parts for so I bought an Echo SRM-225.
It's really well built, on the heavy side, but that is due to robust construction.
I've only had it for a year, but I'd give it top marks.
 
Yeah, I'm looking at cordless now. The Milwaukee Fuel looks decent--pricey, but pretty cool. I might have to deliberately avoid that one though--way too many tempting tools that I'll have to have next.
 
Acme Tools has run a deal off and on over the summer where you buy the M18 Fuel Trimmer and receive and attachment or blower for no additional cost. It looks like there is no deal now, but check in a week or two and it may be back.

I purchased the weed trimmer (with blower) and its good. It is far better to use for general trimming than my Stihl FS90, mainly because it's quieter.

Originally Posted by supton
Yeah, I'm looking at cordless now. The Milwaukee Fuel looks decent--pricey, but pretty cool. I might have to deliberately avoid that one though--way too many tempting tools that I'll have to have next.
 
As I had posted prior, I run a Troy Bilt 29cc 4 stroke (TB590ec I think..), detachable, straight shaft brush cutter/trimmer. It was cheap and does what I ask. Other than some cheapness, it was a decent purchase. Aside from usual carb issues, I can run it wide open for a full tank and it cuts what I throw in front of it. It has enough power to hit thick, waste high weeds and keep going.

My work has one similar and had carb issues. Had to open up the main jet and now she starts and runs great. Mine needed the jet opened but I havnt the time to figure why the carb syphons from the tank. I now just store it empty. When needed, I fill it, hit the primer bulb, it fires up and away she goes.
 
Originally Posted by BrianF

My work has one similar and had carb issues. Had to open up the main jet and now she starts and runs great. Mine needed the jet opened but I havnt the time to figure why the carb syphons from the tank. I now just store it empty. When needed, I fill it, hit the primer bulb, it fires up and away she goes.


Check the diaphragm, needle, spring, and lever on the metering side of the carburetor.
https://www.walbro.com/tech-tips/metering-lever-setting/
 
It's been 10yrs or so since I owned a Troy-Bilt 4 stroke string trimmer from Lowes, but I hated that thing. It was heavy and all around unpleasant to use. It had a head that held a piece of pre-cut thick line. I replaced it with a Husqvarna 125L 2-stroke (from BLowes), that's been excellent in every way.

Maybe they've improved the tiny 4-strokes by now, but that thing was awful. You had to be careful with the position it sat or the little oil sump would drain out the carb or exhaust.
 
Have a 20yr old straight shaft Deere with a Made in Japan 2 stroke engine. Never touched it, however, I never use anything but pure gasoline, no ethanol at all. Does 2 big lawns a week.
 
I went with the Ryobi, seemed mid range and "felt good". RY253SS, and their Expand-It brush cutter and pole saw. We'll see how long it lasts. The Echo felt good but I didn't think it was that much better. Plus the Ryobi was green--that got an automatic spousal approval, and sometimes that's all that matters. Also got the Echo CS 310, the 14" chainsaw--that I thought was better than the 14" Ryobi, plus a friend of mine really likes his. This weekend the woods are mine!
 
I bought a Troy-Bilt XP 4-stroke, the kind you can change attachments about 2 years ago and it lasted about a year and a half before failing. First it stopped running once it got hot, after about 15 minutes of use. Would do this repeatedly. Very soon after the pull-rope mechanism broke so now you can't start it. Can't find my receipt and too lazy to deal with the warranty hassle, so it's junk to me until I get time to fiddle with it and possibly repair it. I wouldn't recommend any Troy-Bilt trimmers, it was a $270 mistake for me-- should have listened to the rather poor reviews.
 
Bummer on yours. I definitely flipped through a number of reviews.
 
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