I bought this new a month or two ago. Stihl had a $50 off sale. I opted for the next larger battery. If you are just doing regular maintenance trimming around the yard its perfect. It will also do surprisingly well in deep grass. Its super light and the shaft is adjustable for length. So far I really like it. https://www.stihlusa.com/products/t.../fsa57/?aqid=67cbb4f56bb04ccaf2fcd87e53a17dc0
Locally, that is showing as $229 with the larger battery/charger...and then bet I can get a lil discount off that, some way or another...so zero % chance of me buying HF at this point!
Thanks for sharing. That’s tempting. I’m considering a smaller curved shaft Stihl to replace my 20+ year old Homelite for basic trimming duties. That battery unit may fit the bill.
We got it for $179.99 plus tax with the AK 20 battery and charger. It's not a cut hay for your horses trimmer, Ohio, lol, but its perfect for yards maintenance.
I sold my Stihl FS45 gas unit after buying this. I had won that at my local online auction for $6 and it came with a new hippa carb in a box. Ran perfectly but, I have issues with vibration now from this neck BS, so it had to go. I don't miss it. Plus, if need be, I always have gas trimmers here if I need one because I buy them to test oil on. I currently have three here plus my brush cutter.
Yeah, when the toro sale went away at the hardware store, then I started all over. I'll take a look at everything now. I can't see spending as much or more on a HF tool as a Stihl, even of the battery/ system isn't as much voltage
Yeah I recall seeing the fathers day ad at that price with the AK20 battery/charger...I did ponder on it for a second, then my inner cheapskate kicked in and that was that! If I hadn't just bought that Ryobi brushcutter/trimmer...I really don't need to use them very much at all anyways...
I hate trimming. I normally do it monthly at most. With this unit I do it every mow. Mainly because, for whatever reason, it doesn't completely cover me in grass / weed debris. I think its because the shield is a better design than the other trimmers I've had and its not spinning at 10,000 rpm.
My decision for going with the stihl was only because of weight and the telescopic shaft so my wife could use it if need be. I also didn't want a lesser brand like black and decker or worx. I had a worx trimmer before. The battery lasted one year.
Electric trimmers are definitely more suitable for the average home owner. 20 oz of gas will get me full throttle in nasty stuff for 40+ minutes with the 2 strokes. I can’t imagine anyone in town would have the demand or will to trim for that long. I know some who think gas is a pain and it smells and they can hardly yank the cord hard and fast enough to start the machine. That is if they remember to put gas in it or prime/ choke it. If you own acreage it’s another story altogether. Or in my case cutting a half acre of overgrown grass so I don’t have to mow it every week.
Exactly! There are a lot of really steep slopes in these parts, your options are to weed eat it, do some sketchy nonsense with a mower or tractor or neglect it. The weedeating and neglecting being the two most popular options.
Funny story. It’s under the right of way of the power lines. I had never lived with power lines going across my property before. When I moved in I fought the briars and Russian olive back out front under the power lines. I still had about 1/2 of the area left. The power company came in with a mulching machine and ground all of it to nothing. So not doing anything would have paid off. Luckily I hadn’t cleared all of it. I think they only do it every 7 or 8 years. They’ll probably push it back to ten years now that rates have gone up. You’re a wildflower.
Good catch bud. We have started seeing them more frequently the last 2-3 years. Last year we had one trying yo bury eggs in our back yard. We thought she did in fact. We put a fence around it to keep coons from digging them up. Turns out she must have found the ground to hard and gave up.
Eggshooterist , I found that northern tool has the Stihl fs57 with the ak20 battery for 180. How is refilling the trimmer head with line? Now I have a bigger issue in that the belt that the 2 outer blades on my Ariens mower deck broke after 40 years and admittedly a lot of abuse. Apparently you can't just sneak a new belt in it, you have to take the top plate off to swap belts. No wonder my dad or I never swapped belts on it before. Lol Not my deck, but the whole center top section that has the gearbox on it needs to come off. Looks like several 3/8" bolts and surely I'll break a few since they've never been off since 84
I haven't had to put any in since buying it. In fact, its using so little line, I'm probably going to buy the pre loaded spools. I can trim the whole yard and haven’t had to bump the head more than once each session. I use it enough to use 1-2 bars of the battery out of 4.
Does it not break line because it runs lower rpm? I would imagine it would not turn as fast as a gas unit.
