I need a new leaf blower and weed wacker, stihl has one power head that can accommodate both these and many other heads like hedge trimmers. Not looking at the cheapest they have, stepping it up to the pro line. Going to demo some next week, any suggestions or advice? Thanks in advance, Joe
I've always been a bit gun shy of power heads that will fit to different tools. Seems like a good idea but unless they've improved a lot I'll still be skeptical. As for the weed whacker, I have one sitting in the barn right now that I may try to unload. Just having problems starting it and with bad shoulders, it doesn't take but a couple pulls to ruin a good day. I replaced it with a 40 volt cordless and love the thing.
Sucks to say but I would rather have two things that do their job well than one thing that does two things half azzed.
I have three gas powered ones sitting in my garage. I think the gas mix here ruins the engines. I picked up a lithium battery powered weed wacker . It is light, starts instantly,and does the job. I have a gas powered leaf blower and an electric blower. You have to be careful with the gas ones. I held it near my leg and it sucked my pant leg into the engine and shredded the cloth. The electric one is the easiest to use but I hate messing with the electrical cord. Nice when you can pick up a tool and not have to mess with cords, gas, or changing parts out. The electric and battery equipment makes the least amount of noise if that is of any concern. I am swapping out to lithium powered tools whenever it is practical to do so.
redmax is one of the top brands used by the lawn care guys. the 8500 back pack blower is the best on the market. they also have some of the best trimmers out there. they are still 2 stroke too. I sell the redmax stuff and haven't had any complaints to date.
I have a Kombi system (el cheapo KM55R). I bought it for 80 bucks non-running....all it needed was the spark arrestor removed!! Did a carb overhaul and she was off to the races. It cam with the pruner saw head.....I bought a couple extensions for it, and it does come in handy at some of my jobs....I also got a tiller head off of fleabay for 50 clams, and believe it or not, that little bastage is amazing in the wife's flower beds, and for cultivating around your garden plants... i'm wondering what a ported muffler would do for that little trimmer head......
I have a friend that runs a KM130 with the blower, polesaw, and powersweep attachments. The KM's will work well with any of the attachments. The blower works a lot better than you'd think.
Yeah, I've got the KM130R set with a blower and straight shaft trimmer. I absolutely love it, honestly it's one of the best tools I've ever owned. I get that this might be blasphemy around these parts, but frankly I would much rather have less engines to maintain and just keep one good one running well to get a lot of tasks done. I used to fight with a hoard of small gas engines every spring before I could even start on the tasks that needed doing. This kombi kit makes that a thing of the past. I love it.
We have an echo trimmer and its a beast to put it lightly. I don't know the cost difference but the quality is amazing...
My echo trimmer just got abused recently, had it for 19+ yrs. my echo blower same vintage had the muffler break off. They served me well and just wanted to see what the hoarders recommend. Most likely I will purchase new echo's
I've been doing landscapes for over a decade and echo is my line trimmer of choice. Stihl trimmers suck!!!! They are very heavy and only seem to run at idle or WOT. I do have a stihl hand blower and chainsaw. The redmax stuff is another good option.
My cs310 is crazy durable like our trimmer it has gone through a lot of use over the last couple of years and holds up very very well.
Cs310 is am echo chainsaw model correct? I was tempted to buy an echo saw but stihl has the name on lock.
Yes its a chainsaw. I have used a lot of there saws when I was working for a landscaper a while ago they are very nice saws. In fact I have a crush on them. Ok sorry defiant back to your regularly scheduled trimmer topic.
My next saw will be an echo for a smaller saw. Have a stihl ms170 16" bar but my real saw is "stihl" unknown.
Being a StihlHead, I have to unfortunately agree that Stihl trimmers suck. They vibrate too much. I read the reviews and got a RedMax TR2350S. It runs great. Starts really easy, lets out trim at a good rate, and never has any problems. I had a Stihl FS85 with the pro handle setup and we had a lot of problems with it. We also beat the living crap out of it, but... too much vibration and it broke down a lot, and was always hard to start.
