I have a Stihl Kombi, with two attachments: a string trimmer, and a curved-shaft edger. There are lots of other attachments available, should I need a power hedge trimmer, power sweeper, or cultivator in the future. Works great for me. You’ll spend more up-front on a Stihl, but they work ten times better than what you’ll find a Wal-Mart. You’ll probably pass it down to your kids.
I’d suggest a 4-stroke gas trimmer, they don’t require the gas/oil mixture.
In any event you are better off with ethanol-free gas if you can find it, and use fuel stabilizer on any fuel you store for more than a few months. Drain the tank of the trimmer for the winter and run it until it runs out of gas.
That brings up a good point, you probably don’t want to have an additional mixture you’ve got to prepare/have on hand. At one time I had 3 different blends going. If you can limit all your tools to one mixture, it’ll save a lot of hassle.
I need one with electric start but gas motor. I’m just not good with pull-start things. I’m quite strong for a woman, so I don’t know why I have this trouble, unless it’s because I’m short, and can’t get a good straight pull on the cord. I’d consider electric, but my fenced yard is over 1/2 acre, plus I have 14 acres of fenceline for the horses.
StG
You are right. My roomie’s job is to do the trimming now (he lives here for free so I put him to work) and he did tell me that the fence sucks for that type of replacement wires. I’m actually going to be Round-Up-ing along the fence now, so he doesn’t have to worry.
I haven’t tried a bump head or anything else with the Echo yet. Since roomie broke the Toro and I bought the Echo, I just kept with the default head it came with.
A few years ago I got a 18V cordless trimmer. It does what I need it to do and goes quite a bit on a charge, much further then I though. Also you normally store the batteries apart from the trimmer, so it’s safe around children.
I also read about a 36V cordless trimmer that people claim in reviews can hold it’s own against gas models.
Stihl trimmers can be fitted with an “Easy2Start” pull starter for about $20 more; I have one on my Kombi. Basically, rather than having to give it a mighty yank to start the motor, you do a long, easy pull that winds a spring of some kind, which is released at the top of the pull, starting the motor. If you go to a Stihl dealer (which you’ll have to do to get a Stihl trimmer anyway), they should let you try it out in the store.
Troy-bilt has a plug-in electric starter for their string trimmers, other manufacturers have similar things out now.
I’ve got a lot of area to take care of, and I’ve been happy with my Troy-bilt 4 stroke for the past few years.
Thanks for the feedback so far. I’m starting to think that I could probably get away with a battery powered one, which my wife could also use and maybe even the oldest bambina.
This onelooked good and the Amazon reviews were all pretty good. Any one have feedback on Black & Decker LST1018 12-Inch 18-Volt Lithium Ion Cordless String Trimmer/Edger with Quick Charger? It charges fast, is light, and probably works for what I want
I don’t know what model my dad has (it’s 5+ years old anyway) but as I said, he loves his Black & Decker battery-powered trimmer.
It’s one of those things where once or twice a summer he says to me “You know what I am so glad I bought? That battery powered weed whacker.” Honest.
That’s basically the model I have and am still impressed by the power and long run time 2 yrs later on the original batteries. Again it’s not a gas model but it’s more then enough for what I need it to do. Also when I got mine B&D had a try it for X days, and if not satisfied they will take it back (not to mention I’'m sure Home Depot would also).
After that, being so impressed, I also got their 18V hedge trimmers, which are also very good and have a equally impressive run time, and able to handle what the whacker can’t.
Another thing that makes the cordless models so useful is it’s so easy to use that you use them whenever you want, not thinking about starting a gas motor or the noise or exhaust, or a electric cord.
The hedge trimmer is much more impressive than the string trimmer. Not sure why but the cutting action is a more efficient use of the battery than the weed whacker. In no way does the string trimmer compare to a gas one when tough weeds are involved.