Cheap Weedwhips

Lily'sDad

Lily'sDad

GMC, They Said
Senior Member
There was a time when I got tired of fooling with cheap weed eaters. So, I bought an Echo brand. It cost more than the others and lasted maybe a year longer. So, I bought a Poulan Pro. It lasted 2-3 years.

Has anyone else used a cheap weed whip that they recommend?
 
We have 2 Stihl line trimmers. One I bought when we moved out here 24 years ago and it is still going but starting to get a little tired. Bought a new 4 cycle Stihl 3 years ago and that is my workhorse for line trimmer. Traded for a Poulan several years ago we just use in the lower garden area. Have another Poulan for a pole saw and line trimmer combo. Line trimmer is still new. My be a bit more expensive but will stay with Stihl for all the smaller outdoor tools.
 
Lily'sDad said:
There was a time when I got tired of fooling with cheap weed eaters. So, I bought an Echo brand. It cost more than the others and lasted maybe a year longer. So, I bought a Poulan Pro. It lasted 2-3 years.

Has anyone else used a cheap weed whip that they recommend?
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We find the mid-range B+D trimmers at yard sales. Much of the time, it's a rusted motor inside as people wash these trimmers with a hose. 14 small screws, swap motors $12 from Amazon and it's back in business. The OE motors are made by a company called Johnson Electric Automotive in Mexico. I have 4 of these trimmers, and about 16 battery packs now. Got 8 of the batteries for free and the other 8 for near nothing. And trimmer line is not cheap either. Close-out at Ace Hardware late last Fall, I got a few packs for $1 and B+S engine filters for 50-cents each! SCORE ! Now try to but those B+S filters, they are $16 !!!!
 
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Echo all the way for me. I bought a 210 used about 15 years ago and still runs like it should. I bought a new 2620 about four years ago and love it. I put a brush blade on the 210 now that stays on that one. I use the Echo Black Diamond string which takes a lot of abuse before breaking away. The 2620 also has the speed feeder head where you can load the string easy.

I have several Stihl brand tools and love them. I researched them before buying and found the newer Stihl tools aren’t made as well and are loosing their long reliable reputation.
 
I hate to admit it but old age and poor upper body strength have reduced me to using the smaller battery powered weed whips. The Black and Decker ones I'm resigned to using last about two years if I'm lucky. By the time the battery no longer takes a lasting charge "they" change the design and I have to get a whole new unit. Talk about a disposable society....rant over!
 
I’ve only had two gas weed trimmers in my married life time. Both were Stihl. The last one must be close to twenty years old and still going. I think I’ve changed the fuel line and spark plug once. Been a good unit.
 
If you buy cheap you get cheap. I had a friend looking for a trimmer and I told him to go buy a Sthil and he went and bought a Husqvarna. Two days later he called me and said the Husqvarna was not working I told him to take it back and buy the cheapest Sthil that he could find at the hardware store. It's run flawlessly for 3 years now.

I bought the biggest Stihl trimmer I could find when we bought this property and I have yet to have a minutes trouble out of it.
 
Years ago Stihl did sell a weed eater that had an engine that was made by another company. The engine end of the machine kind of looked like a bread box. They were meant to compete with the likes of Sears and Remington. It was not something that Stihl should have been proud of. Nobody is perfect. I heard a Rumor that even GM made a bad car once. Probably just a rumor though.
 
Cvans said:
Years ago Stihl did sell a weed eater that had an engine that was made by another company. The engine end of the machine kind of looked like a bread box. They were meant to compete with the likes of Sears and Remington. It was not something that Stihl should have been proud of. Nobody is perfect. I heard a Rumor that even GM made a bad car once. Probably just a rumor though.
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Heard that rumor too....!
Only Dodge.....
 
My Stihl has a shoulder strap but I don't use it.
I remember when they had the oversized bicycle handlebars too. Usually the ones that came with a blade instead of a string head.
Speaking of which
The head on my Stihl is the only thing I don't care about on my unit.
My wife bought me an echo one 20ish years ago and was just starting to have problems with the starter clutch slipping/not engaging right/ but once I got it to catch that thing still runs great, but my son bought me the Stihl for fathers day about 3 years ago and so I've been using that one ever since. Just before that I found an identical one to my echo at an auction for almost nothing, I put gas in it and it started.
So I kept the original one as "parts" even though it still ran... But again since I got the Stihl the echo's have sat.
 
I use to be strictly a brand person but not near as much now. Everybody makes junk to be sold at certain stores. I learned this back when the Hi Fi VCR players came out. Lol I was looking at some Sony players that looked the same but prices were different. The sales guy came over and I told him I was strictly a Sony person and he kind of laughed. He pointed to the tiny color bar that was across the face plate which was the only difference in the players other than the price. He said this one is okay this one is junk and this is the one you want. They were all made in different countries and the cheapest one was made just for their big sale but all were Sony’s. By the way I still have that VCR and it still works like it should.

The same Samsung TV you get at Walmart is not the same as you would get at an electronics store. The tools you get at the box stores are not the same as a dealership. We all know the Cub Cadet and John Deere tractors at the box stores are junk compared to the dealership models. It’s a buyers beware, do your research and compare prices.

You really can’t count on customer reviews anymore either because of the corrupt marketing tactics. I have found that YouTube searches is one of the best ways to find out what’s going on out there with real customers that compare products. Stay away from people that promote one brand and fail to mention at the beginning they are not affiliated with that product.
 
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