Educate me on string trimmers

[kickbacked]

Straight shafts are better. I havent played with the stihls but i am a big fan of the echo weed eaters. I know though with Stihl for the most part you can pull off the head and attach their Kombi heads to get all sorts of fun toys. I dont think they advertise that as a lot of the units dont have the power for some of the stuff. Im not sure if you can do that with echo. Id wager you can but IDK for sure. I like that the echos come with speed feed heads. Stihl has their own thing but I love the speed feed, you can probably adapt them though.

 

[WebSnyper]

I picked up this one this year: https://egopowerplus.com/15-inch-string-trimmer-powerload/

Already have an EGO blower.

They also make some commercial versions.

Beauty of the EGO tools is that the voltage is 56 volts across the line, so all batteries from any of their tools are compatible across the entire brand. They have different Amp ratings for run times but the voltage is the same across all.

 

[foszoe]

Definitely take a straight shaft over Peyronie.

​

 

[AtTheMurph]

Depending on the amount of trimming I would get an electric one. I have a 36v for my yard and i can do the whole yard in one charge. No worry about gas. No worry about starting.

If I had large yard and lots of trimming I would go gas, just like for a blower.

 

[snapping turtle]

We got a Milwaukee 18V battery string trimmer this year. I've had a number of gas-powered trimmers, most recently a Stihl, and I'm a huge fan of the new Milwaukee so far. No mixing gas, pulling starter ropes, or tinkering with small engines.

Milwaukee M18 FUEL 18V Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless String Trimmer with QUIK-LOK Attachment Capability and 8.0 Ah Battery 2825-21ST - The Home Depot

The MILWAUKEE M18 FUEL String Trimmer kit w/ QUIK-LOK provides you with the power to clear thick brush, reaches full throttle in under 1 second, and features a balanced design. The split boom cordless

www.homedepot.com

I have an echo straight shaft 2 cycle and the milk.(Milwaukee)
For everyday trimmer household use the Milk is great with the proper battery. I have an 11 AH and a 9 AH. One charges about as fast on a rapid charger as I can delete the charge from another. My 5 and 6 AH batteries will work but they get eaten up fast.
Now the ditch area and the fence row do not get cut often (3 or 4 times a year. You can do it with the Milk trimmers but the echo shines doing the harder weeds. The Milwaukee is powerful enough to do it but the echo eats like a big dog. The Milk blower is fantastic like a tornado you can control.

if you just need to trim around a house mailbox side of a garage and driveway the MILK wins hands down. If you need serious horsepower the echo straight shaft( never get the curved as you can not get under the propane tank or table well. )

 

[snapping turtle]

Best yet since she does not have to f with starting it the wife has been known on occasion to use the MILK trimmer.

 

[JRR85]

I have a large property with lots of string trimming. I have an older echo and just bought a Stihl FS 111 RX. Both and are good. I bought the Stihl because I wanted something with more power and the dealership is closer to my house. Both brands are reputable. Either way I would recommend something with more power if you have a lot to trim.

 

[foszoe]

https://www.homedepot.com/compare?item1=304247100&item2=304247041

then you have the best of both worlds.

you can run all of this on gas or electric

LXT POWER HEADS | MAKITA

Makita USA: The Leader In Cordless with 18V LXT Lithium-Ion. The best in class for cordless power tool technology. A leader in power tool technology for the professional.

www.makitatools.com

 

[HoughMade]

I have an EGO straight shaft.

No gas, no oil, no problem.

with the 5ah battery, will trim all of my 2.5 acres on 1 charge. With the 2ah, it needs one 30ish minute charge to finish.

Love it

 

[Tactically Fat]

I watched a guy run an older "1/2 ton" pickup truck right over a Stihl that my step-dad owns. (my fault, I set the thing down where he wouldn't see it as he left his parking spot) - and that thing hasn't missed a beat. Like he legit ran over the whole thing. Hardly even broke any plastic off it. Just barely a bend in the shaft.

I don't know yet what my next trimmer will be; because the cheap one I bought 12 years ago still runs very very well on the same spark plug. I do want one with interchangeable tools, though, whichever brand that is. Especially an edger.

 

[gregkl]

I also have an Echo with the Speed Head(I think). If it's the one you feed a long piece of string through it with equal amounts on each side and then just turn the "cap" that's what I have. The easiest method of restringing one I have had yet.

Works fine. I debated between the Echo and a stihl.

 

[Tombs]

I use a stihl FS 56RC.

It's a straight shaft with modest power, I've ran the living hell out of it for about 3 years now and it starts on the second pull every single time. I could never go back to a curved shaft or something lesser.

I don't even have to run it out of gas before storing it for winter, and I just use regular 87 pump gas and stihl oil.

I'm half hoping the thing will die so I can move up to the FS 70, but I can't seem to kill it.

I also use .105" oregon square line as I'm around rocks and fences all the time, and it's the first line I've found that I'm not eating through at an outrageous pace.

 

[cbhausen]

I picked up this one this year: https://egopowerplus.com/15-inch-string-trimmer-powerload/

Already have an EGO blower.

They also make some commercial versions.

Beauty of the EGO tools is that the voltage is 56 volts across the line, so all batteries from any of their tools are compatible across the entire brand. They have different Amp ratings for run times but the voltage is the same across all.

I bought an E-GO string trimmer a few weeks ago and in really happy with it. Plenty of power and more than enough juice with the included (small) battery to do around my house and fenced-in yard.

 

[jkaetz]

First, definitely get a straight shaft. It’s so much better.

How much do you trim?

It's about a half acre, my biggest argument is trimming the fence. Seems like it takes almost as long as mowing and I'm constantly in a fight to keep the trimmer from pulling itself into the fence. Watching the neighbor's mowing crew simply walk around the fence lines without missing a beat has me wondering if it's my technique or my tool. I've looked at the electric things as I have a number of Makita 18v things already but I'm not quite convinced that battery is the proper power source for a string trimmer or any tool that needs continuous power rather than a few seconds of intermittent power.

 

[BR8818]

I have a Stihl fs56rc and a M18 Milwaukee w/ 9AH battery. I haven't started the Stihl since I bought the m18. I have an acre 300ft of fence, two 30ft driveways, 8 trees, mulch bed around the house, and around 200ft of ditch. I can weed eat all that on half of the 9ah battery. I mow once a week weed eat every other, so a 9ah battery lasts me a month.

Also have the pruning pole attachment for it w/ extension that thing will cut some limbs quick.
I also bought the m18 blower it's equally as powerful as my Stihl sh56. It's really nice not having to buy gas anymore because my mower (tractor) is diesel.

 

[KLB]

It's about a half acre, my biggest argument is trimming the fence. Seems like it takes almost as long as mowing and I'm constantly in a fight to keep the trimmer from pulling itself into the fence. Watching the neighbor's mowing crew simply walk around the fence lines without missing a beat has me wondering if it's my technique or my tool. I've looked at the electric things as I have a number of Makita 18v things already but I'm not quite convinced that battery is the proper power source for a string trimmer or any tool that needs continuous power rather than a few seconds of intermittent power.

I am another eGo owner. I can tell you without a doubt that the batteries can do everything the gas can. I have a push mower, string trimmer with carbon fiber shaft, chain saw, blower, and a multi-tool with Tiller, Blade trimmer, and edger. Funny thing about the tools, is it is more cost effective to get a tool with a battery than to buy a battery.

What size line does your trimmer use?

 

[cbhausen]

I am another eGo owner. I can tell you without a doubt that the batteries can do everything the gas can. I have a push mower, string trimmer with carbon fiber shaft, chain saw, blower, and a multi-tool with Tiller, Blade trimmer, and edger. Funny thing about the tools, is it is more cost effective to get a tool with a battery than to buy a battery.

What size line does your trimmer use?

I chose E-GO because they seemed to have the best ecosystem. I’ll be replacing my gasoline powered implements with E-GO electrics as attrition takes its toll.

 

[WebSnyper]

I chose E-GO because they seemed to have the best ecosystem. I’ll be replacing my gasoline powered implements with E-GO electrics as attrition takes its toll.

Agreed. Hedge trimmer will be next for me. Already have an EGO blower and string trimmer.

My brother in FL downsized his yard when he moved a bit back and just picked up an EGO mower.

 

[Haven]

I have the EGO trimmer with the carbon fiber shaft. Works great. Then again I have been adding to my EGO tools. I have the leaf blower, snow blower, and lawn mower. I have a few other EGO tools I want to add.

 

[Born2vette]

You may already do this, but it must be pointed out that always running treated gas in your string trimmer is as important as the brand you buy, if not more so. Adding a fuel additive such as Stabil brand or similar is what I'm talking about. Doing that will have a significant impact on your trimmer's longevity.

Everybody in the room knows I'm a Stihl fanboy, but for some reason I've always gone cheap on my string trimmers. I just don't have a lot of edging to do so I've had trouble spending more money on a orange one. My last two have been Lowes (now Home Depot) Troy Bilt 2-stroke straight shaft. I put good gas in it, it starts on a couple pulls and runs strong. I had to adjust the idle down a bit when I got the current one broken in. I have the sidewalk edger attachment that does what it's supposed to. The trimmer sits in the garage year round and I have found it will start next spring (because of the gas I run in it). I got 4 or 5 years out of the last one, $150.

YMMV.

I also have a Troy-bilt 2 stroke. Have had for about 20 years. Came with a curved shaft that was useless but I found a straight shaft and a blower in craigslist for a few bucks. Only issue was a few years ago the fuel line crapped out. Seems the ethanol in the gas eats up the plastic tubing. Replaced it and now buy pure 100% countrymark gas for my tools. Add stabil to every new can as well as carb/fuel system cleaner. Starts every time and I hope it craps out soon as I want to get a nice battery one but won’t until it dies.