New Ryobi strimmer/brushcutter

Baggy Trousers

I have a large site, largely overgrown with grass/weeds/blackberry bushes.
I need a strimmer/brushcutter and saw a Ryobi 2 in 1 in Woodies today for €179 (down 70).
Is Ryobi a good make for strimmers?

Audioslaven

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

I have a large site, largely overgrown with grass/weeds/blackberry bushes.
I need a strimmer/brushcutter and saw a Ryobi 2 in 1 in Woodies today for €179 (down 70).
Is Ryobi a good make for strimmers?

Stay away for that. Pure rubbish

Baggy Trousers

Audioslaven wrote: »

Stay away for that. Pure rubbish

Thanks, seemed too good to be true.

Any other recommendations for a strimmer?

Fatswaldo

Ammm, I have a Ryobi brushcutter for the last 5 years, use it maybe 5 times a year - still perfect! Might be fine for occasional use?

BadCharlie

I got one about 4 years ago maybe 5. I use the strimmer once every 2 weeks for over an hour each time and find it good.

lazybones32

I'd advise against Ryobi: I got a 2 in 1 from Woodies and it didn't last long.
Tanaka are a durable brand and won't break the bank.
I recommend buying a straight-shaft machine and not one with the bent-shaft.

Strawberry HillBilly

lazybones32 wrote: »

I'd advise against Ryobi: I got a 2 in 1 from Woodies and it didn't last long.
Tanaka are a durable brand and won't break the bank.
I recommend buying a straight-shaft machine and not one with the bent-shaft.

+1 on this. Stay away. Mine broke after less than 6 months and brought it to a guy to get it fixed. He showed me a shed load of them he had been asked to fix:mad:

BadCharlie

I guess I must be lucky so. Just after spending 30 min using mine now have at least another 30 min work before I'm finished.

Can I ask what part of the machine broke?

Strawberry HillBilly

The engine itself, p**sed out a plume of black smoke and then kerput. Bloke I brought it sort of laughed when showing me the stack of strimmers identical to mine and said something like....another one with engine gone...LOL (him ..not me )

pawrick

I also got a 2 in 1 from woodies the 26cc Stimmer/hedge trimmer - bought it last summer just to do small jobs around the garden (haven't used the hedge trimmers part yet so cant comment on that) - it's fine for what I use it on, light trimming near walls, trees etc. but I think anything more demanding could burn it out. It's also a pain to start up but I haven't used any other type so maybe that's normal for things with a primer. So in your case I would be wary of buying a similar powered one for heavier stuff like blackberry bushes as it could be a false economy. Maybe rent a heavy duty one out from a local tool hire.

CJhaughey

The biggest problem with Ryobi is that they have a half crankshaft,
The leverage on the crank eventually causes them to fail or to blow crank seals which makes them run lean and seize.
They don't last.


Maruyama and Tanaka are the real Japanese brands are good quality machines and will last a very long time if fed fresh petrol and quality oil.
You can go with Stihl and Husky but they have a big marketing budget to pay for and are consequently more expensive.