So my property has a few fence posts. Or a few hundred. Whatever. For 5 years have enjoyed the incredible fortune of a tenant who used to string trim on his uncle's landscaping crew, and he sometimes likes to get out and do the job. He's very good at it and his uncle has loaned us an aging Echo SRM-225. But he and his wife are moving out sometime this year and now I have the excuse to buy the "perfect" power tool. When you have to walk/dance around hundreds of fenceposts, every ounce matters. But I also intend to turn it over and edge trim my driveway (a few feet long. Or a few hundred feet long.) and flowerbeds. I'm looking at: SRM-225 - Lightweight and not expensive at $200. SRM-230 - Just a bit more machine at $290. SRM 2620T - Still a bit more machine, but with the higher reduction head giving "more torque at the cutter head". Looking for experienced opinions here. Is the higher torque model (lower speed) the best at cutting? Thanks, David
The 2620 is definitely the hotrod of the bunch .... also has plenty of muscle for when you may need to use a cutting blade. Build to handle extended run times like it sounds you will have.
For cutting blades I have a Honda 4 stroke my brother gave me. It's very torquey but not safe to use near a fencepost. I guess that's part of my question - does a 2620T give up any performance in regular duty trimming?
If the grass and weeds get tall, you will need a lot of power. You may be disappointed with a cheaper one.
I own a 225 and it does everything I have asked off it and I ask a lot... Right after I bought it an older friend of of mine asked me to help knock his weeds down I said sure. When I got there his weeds where more of a forrest! 2 acres to be exact. I said let's get a brush hog which he rented but that 225 did a lot of the grunt work for us and took one heck of a beating! It did all of it no issue at all. I'd say you can't go wrong with one!
I have a wheeled string trimmer and last fall late bought the DR trimmer XXL posted. Will know more about it as I use it this year.
I've used my SRM-225 commercially for the past 5 years and it hasn't let me down yet. Starts right up every time. I bought a tune up kit on amazon for like $12 and did the tune up last spring. I'd recommend getting a speed feeder head for it too. I run mine with this line: Rotary Item 12179, Vortex Trimmer Line .095 X 1140' 5 Large Spool
Funny you mentioned Redmax, the tenant who knows string trimmers prefers them over Echo. Unfortunately Redmax has poor sales coverage in my part of PA, and really Echo is quite good. This afternoon I stopped out at a local lawn and garden place and picked up a SRM 2162. It's slightly more meaty than a 225 (two models higher to be precise) but should still be adept at dodging fenceposts and light "mowing" of tall grass which I need to do in the areas that are too wet to run the riding mower. He had very few customers who chose the T model and he felt the height of grass jamming the machine is always the limiting factor, not torque.
I have had the 225 for about 4 years now and have used it to service both my MIL's yard and our own yard as well as about 200' of (common with our neighbors) driveway at our house. I use a premium string and have never had any negative issues with my setup. We have a lot of edging to do and I can't imagine doing it all with a too much heavier machine. If it was me (and I was understanding your situation correctly), I would go with the 230 to give you a little more snort around the fence posts and in any tall weeds but still be light enough for a lot of edging without killing your arms and shoulders! I had my doubts about the 225 in the beginning (I had never used Echo power tools) but it has never let me down!
I have had my echo trimmer over 25 years. It's only had fuel lines and it wore the square off the drive shaft a couple of years ago. The new ones are probably even better.
Well my srm225 was giving me problems running today. It started getting tough to start last week and I gave it a tune up. Ran fine but once it gets hot its a PITA to start back up and keep running. So I picked up a srm266 today. Wont be able to use it until later this week. I broke a deck belt at a property I was working at this morning. A small piece of sheet metal was hidden under the tall grass and it jammed my blade and messed up the belt. Luckily I was 95% finished w the mower when it happened.
Fixed it : the model I bought is the standard SRM 2620. Not sure where that other number came from. David
THe Oregon Gator line will turn any trimmer into a monster i reall like it. It cuts razor sharp which helps keeps the RPMs up.... it may be thinner than the max diameter you can run but it works great. Also thinner means you can load more on the spool between loadings.... https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oregon-G...AhNcNd3Ae-chtVuqCwgapQzcR1g5fcxIaAuxkEALw_wcB
Edit...Did a few hours of trimming last weekend and now can hear what sounds like a piece of metal banging around in he engine somewhere!! Probably cursed myself.
