With my back problem, my carry string trimmer is beginning to really wear me out. My nephew suggested I consider getting a walk behind style trimmer. Are the walk behind trimmers worth it? If so, what brand do you recommend?

I've been satisfied with the Craftsman I got several years ago from Sears. I have back trouble and using a conventional weedeater is out of the question. I like the 4cycle engine and power of the walk behind type. I probably wouldn't buy another Craftsman though, with Sears about to slip into oblivion.

Don't waste your money on the DR. No better than the Craftsman at half the price.

Don't worry too much about Sears going Tango Uniform, they don't build any of that stuff anyway, it's mostly MTD or Yardman.

I have both. The walk behind is more powerful and can tackle grass up to my waste pretty easy but don't think it does not require considerable work. They are heavy even with the large wheels and you will constantly be pushing it in and pulling it back towards you to get a smooth cut.

To be honest, I think my Echo line trimmer with the shoulder harness is easier and faster to use but it just can't do all that the walk behind can do.

I have 7,700 feet of fence line here in Central Florida, plus buildings on site. Of course, for the fence line, that's linear distance. Double that if I trim it all (2.9 miles).

I have used both hand held string trimmers and the wheeled kind. Unless the ground is very smooth, the wheeled kind is still pretty heavy going. Changing out the strings in it when they break is a bit of a pain also, requiring bending over or crouching down. For the most part, those machines don't have a line feeder, they use strands of line, cut to length, and threaded into mounts.

At this point, I have given up on both methods. I use either a tow behind 25 gallon tank sprayer, 4 gallon back pack sprayer, or one gallon hand sprayer, mixed with 3 oz. glyphosate (concentrated, generic roundup) per gallon of water, and spray a narrow path with the wand, maybe 6 inches wide, along the base of the fence line and along the edges of the buildings. Then I can just run my mower down the killed line, and get a clean look. As long as you control the spray and don't make your kill line too wide, it looks just fine and is a fraction of the work.

They make bolt on wheel kits for regular trimmers. That would be a middle ground compared to a dedicated wheeled trimmer. Much lighter, and would eliminate the need to carry it.

We've had the DR trimmer for nearly 10 years & it has performed very very well. Think the coast was around $350 new, had to haul it to the dealers to tune it up a couple times.

A couple of wear-items needed replacing, which the Diligent 'Yes Dear' Operator-Enabler was able to accomplish with his own 10 thumbs.

SWMBO uses it in her efforts to hack paradise out of our 1+ acre of rural jungle chaos.