Strimmers/brushcutter's

GEORGY101

Hi,
Thinking about purchasing a stihl fs100 strimmer, does any one have experience with this model or recommend another brand. Have heard they can be problematic to start and the carbs can give trouble. It's mainly grass, briers and rushes around the farm I'd be cutting.

Thanks

td5

I have 2 Sthils Fs 200 and F 250 used solely for clearing Bramble, Willow herb etc all fairly sturdy stuff and the Sthils takes in their stride.

Oldtree

Never had any problems with my sthil FS450 unless it needed a new sparkplug. I use a blade on it. Very easy to fix and get parts etc, and no I don't have shares

awnow

Hi
I bought a Stihl FS 260 C brush-cutter strimmer last season and I'm very pleased with it....a serious machine indeed and is fit for any type of scrub. The bike handles and the use of the body harness leave it easy to use with minimum effort required. A simple adjustment to the balancing screw on the shaft means that the strimmer sits parallel to the ground therefore the only effort required is to drift the machine from side-to-side by holding the bike handles.

However, I'm trying to source a brush knife attachment but struggling to find anything online and any local dealers I have tried do not have them in stock. If anyone knows where I could buy one online would appreciate it....or PM details to me. Tks.

Awnow.

Nekarsulm

I have an Oleomac 740T strimmer. bought in 2000. Its been very good, its about 38cc and with the strong nylon cord will fly through nettles and long grass. Easier if the grass is dry. Couple of years ago it lost power and brought it to the dealer. Had to get a new barrel and piston, as a piece of carbon had scored the cylinder. The dealer warned me against putting too much oil in the 2stroke mix (the extra "dash" for luck...) and recommended a dealer service every 4 or 5 years. Other than that, very happy with it. If you have a good dealer nearby, buy whatever he sells, it more important than the actual brand, I feel.

littlevillage

I was buying a Stihl chainsaw some years ago and it was a good bit more expensive than the more generic brands. (so bought a cheaper Olemac and have it still and no problems). So I can only assume that Stihl Strimmers are also a bit more expensive than generic brand stuff. The big chain stores, B&Q, Woodies etc. have sales all the time on generic brand strimmers. They are often about half the price of branded stuff.

I think the reliability, is more about the user and the amount of use.

I have two strimmers. A Homelite and a Ryobi. Both about 30cc. I think any bigger and its gonna be too heavy for long periods of work and any smaller its too puny to cut anything.

The Homelite is prob 10 years old now and was getting very hard to start, so I have effectively disgarded it.. it prob just needs some TLC. The Ryobi is about 3/4 years old and is a great yoke as it comes with Multi attachments, which means it can be a brush cutter, hedge trimmer and a small chainsaw. Believe it or not the small chainsaw is incredibly useful for cutting high branches of trees.

CJhaughey

Ryobi are only OK, probably fine for light usage but anything demanding will quickly find them out.
The only have a half crankshaft so no support bearing on the non-drive side.
Regarding oil mixing, best thing you can do is get a measure and use the ratio recommended, personally I use 40:1 with good quality oil but emissions require newer stuff to use 50:1
Using an extra dash of oil will result in a leaner than normal mixture causing problems with overheating and carbon deposits particularly with cheap mineral oil.
Stihl have a good dealer network but suffer from being overpriced, their marketing has to be paid for somehow!