I'm extremely happy with my brusheless 40V Ryobi.

I live on a corner lot with sidewalks and St Augustine grass (runners try to grow across sidewalks, over curbs, and into landscaping) so I have quite a bit of weedwhacking to do. For sidewalks and curbs, I can turn it to any position (no stalling gas engine due to gravity) and have the string running vertically. After weedwhacking, I still have enough juice in the battery to use the 40v blower to blow off the driveway and sidewalks.

Ryobi also has the expand-it attachment system which saves money and saves wall hanging space versus buying stand-alone tools. One of the reasons that I bought Ryobi instead of Ego is the Ryobi expand-it tools are less money than stand-alone tool (e.g. stand-alone hedge trimmer is ~$10 more than hedge trimmer expand-it), but inexplicably Ego charges approx more for the expand-it tool vs stand-alone tool (e.g. stand-alone hedge trimmer $50 less than hedge trimmer expand-it).

I will say this: IME, most small-engine problems are due to bad fuel. I know, I know: This is the "excuse" you hear from small engine mechanics all the time and it sounds like bullshit, but, IME, it's true.

I've never had much trouble with my summer small-engine equipment--other than my Stihl 025 chainsaw being difficult to start. But my winter stuff, snow blowers, have always been problematical.

In the past I used whatever the pump had. Now I use nothing but recreational gasoline. Have always treated with Sta-Bil. Have always used Opti-2 2-cycle oil--recommended by one of my two small-engine equipment dealers--in everything.

Ever since I switch to rec gas, my winter gear no longer gives me trouble and my summer equipment starts even more easily.

I used to run tanks and carbs dry at the end of a season when I used ethanol-tainted fuel. Now I no longer do.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I will say this: IME, most small-engine problems are due to bad fuel. I know, I know: This is the "excuse" you hear from small engine mechanics all the time and it sounds like bullshit, but, IME, it's true.

I am not very mechanical, but this what I was told after needing to have my snowblower carburetor cleaned out.

I talked to the service tech and asked him to explain to me what the problem was. He said, first, the gasoline in our area (Chicago) sucks because of the ethanol. Second, he said, is at the end of the season lots of folks (like me) don't do enough to get the accumulated crud out of the carburetor that builds up during the season from the ethanol-added gas.

What he told me to do at the end of the season is to drain the regular gas, get some ethanol-free small engine gas, then run some of it through the engine until it runs dry.

That's what I did with the snowblower this spring. I won't know if he's right until next winter.

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:
What he told me to do at the end of the season is to drain the regular gas, get some ethanol-free small engine gas, then run some of it through the engine until it runs dry.

Just stop using that Ethanol-polluted garbage in your small engines, period.

Check pure-gas.org, buyrealgas.com, or the like for a location you can buy real gasoline. If it's inconvenient, just buy more at each trip.

Real gasoline must be getting increasingly popular, because I'm seeing more and more stations adding it to their pumps. Station near me expanded not long ago, just to make room for the additional tanks. Now two of their four pumps have both real gas and ethanol.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Just stop using that Ethanol-polluted garbage in your small engines, period.

Check pure-gas.org, buyrealgas.com, or the like for a location you can buy real gasoline. If it's inconvenient, just buy more at each trip.

Agree. The last time I checked one of those sites, the closest place was a 30 minute drive. But, that was a while ago and I need to revisit.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
My cheap Ryobi has had no problems for six years, when it dies i'm going battery powered

My Ryobi is pushing 20 years old. On it's 2nd or 3rd spark plug, and replaced the fuel line a few years back. Other than that, zero problems! I only run 100% gas with Husqvarna 2-stroke oil with stabilizer... my late brother was an amazing small-engine mechanic and put me onto the Husqvarna oil products many years ago, and he was right!

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
My Shindaiwa had started up for me every spring for the over thirty years I've owned it.

I may have replaced the plug two years ago. Not certain.

Same. Couple primes. A pull or two on full choke. Move up to the first notch after the first hit. It starts, warms up a minute then move to full open for the rest of the day. Used them for years commercially then bought my own when I got a house.

Did the gas can shuffle for years, finally dumped the two stroke tools and went E-lec-trick and there is no way I'm going back.

Not saying two strokes are not good tools, or that there are good manufacturing companies of two stroke yard implements, just that, with E, you eliminate all the problems listed here, why deal with those issues. E-Tech has come a long way.

Just pull a battery off the charger, slap it on trimmer and go. Quiet, powerful, light, never gets hot, for cordless, EGO etc are the way to go.

Best of all, you won't have to shut it off, pull of your ear covering, in order to hear your wife tell you that you missed something... then restart a hot two stroke...

If I can't get it with the ztr then it gets hit with round up.

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
If I can't get it with the ztr then it gets hit with round up.

I use Ortho Garden clear. NOTHING will grow there after a few squirts of that stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
At my age, I am not a big fan of yanking that damned cord. Despite the fact that I only use the factory canned, non-ethanol fuel with stabilizer. Every Spring it's the same thing. I follow all the starting procedures in the manual and even put in a new spark plug. I even used that ether spray. NO LUCK! It started with a Stihl and after several bad experiences, I gave it away and bought an Echo. Worked fine for a season or two, now it's doing the same thing.

If were you I would dump the gas out of the tank. I would can get some fresh gas (non ethanol gas is by far the best) and mix it with some good 2 stroke oil and Ethanol Shield. The key here is fresh. I only mix enough for 90 days at a time. Some of those synthetic pre mix gas can be on the shelf more than two years before you even buy them. Some brands are better than others from what I've seen. Hint..not a fan of TF at all.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVipAna4kYA

Something that I have found by trial and error , don't cheap out on the two stroke oil . I bought some generic stuff from Home Depot and the weedeater ran like crap . Dumped it on the burn pile and bought some Stihl brand oil . Much improved .

I have run my Honda for 10 years now. Only thing I have had to replace is the little plastic bubble to prime gas into it before I start it.

At some point this year I'll kill all the grass and rock it all out, full xeriscaping. At that point all my lawn equipment will be sold or shot at a private range with boxes of slugs.

I looked at the 4 stroke one at my last purchase but they were all noticeably heaver then the 2 smoke equivalent so I went with an Echo 2 stroke and it has been great. About 8 years old now it has never been in the shop, never had the carb cleaned or even adjusted. Starts on three pulls. I run regular 10% ethanol gas in it but I do add a dose of Sta-Bil in every can refill along with the 2 stroke oil.

My next door neighbor's back yard is seriously overgrown with weeds and wild blackberries and whatnot. They apparently have elected to deal with the problem by bringing in a pair of goats named Larry and Bob. Which annoys my dogs to no end.

Stihl stuff running Stihl oil mixed with 100 LL Avgas from a local airport.
That stuff has been flawless for decades of use.

Starting issues are bad enough, but for me the real headache is trying to fill the spool with replacement line - I constantly get tangles. I now tend to use trimmer heads with precut lines or plastic blades.

quote:

Originally posted by kidcop:
...for me the real headache is trying to fill the spool with replacement line...

I have the Echo head... it is fantastic, I carry an extra 10 foot length of cord in my pocket in case I run out mid task somewhere on my ~4 acre lot and reload in under a minute. No tools or disassembly required.

I have the ECHO brand version of this... it came on the trimmer OEM

https://youtu.be/kqO3kKZttWc

Embrace electric and don't look back.

The newer generation ones have plenty of power and battery life, and there's little to no maintenance needed. (Just be sure to get a higher tier brushless model, not the cheaper brushed models. The brushes in cheaper electric motors will wear out periodically, although they can be replaced/rebuilt.)

I have a number of other Ryobi battery powered tools, so by grabbing a brushless string trimmer from the same family, I already have a good stock of batteries. Not that I need more than one... I can trim the fenceline and edge the perimeters of my entire quarter acre property, and go back and blow off the driveway and sidewalks with a battery leaf blower, all with just 2/3 of a charge on a single battery.

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
If I can't get it with the ztr then it gets hit with round up.

I use Ortho Garden clear. NOTHING will grow there after a few squirts of that stuff.

I use both depending on the situation. Roundup is neutralized when it hit the soil and in my experience is not harmful to the desired trees, bushes etc you might spray around/next to.

I nearly killed some bushes of mine by spraying the ground clear on the grass around them.