what weedeater...
 

do you use as a weedeater?

Just curious on what you guys that have a real choice (assuming you are like me and have at least 10 on hand that aren't completely stripped) on a weedeater actually use in it's intended form...

Personally I have 3 for different purposes:
-Echo SRM 2100 straight shaft 21.2cc, put a Homelite blade on it (free at a garage sale), have $1 for the left handed nut into this one, works GREAT for the tall grass around my creek
-newly acquired Ryobi 4 stroke with interchangable attachments, have a string head and cultivator, got it for $15 because the guy folded the fuel pump diaphragm so the pump had a leak, fixed it in like 15 minutes.
-tiny little 18cc featherlite for small jobs, need to change the shaft though as the bushing is DONE, don't now where I'll find another... :)

was just curious while I was weedeating for a couple hours...

RE: what weedeater...
 

I'm running a Tanaka and interestingly found the purchase invoice recently showing the weed trimmer was bought in 1982 so is 28 yrs old. It has been used every season all season long and continues to run fine though it has required a few carb rebuilds over the years. It is a straight shaft model with geared foot and has been used with a saw blade occasionally.

RE: what weedeater...
 

I have several Weed Whackers

The ones I liked the best for torque and low end power were the McCulluch 32's with the straight shaft but the throttle cables tend to break in the MCullochs. I've also had two that the crank pin came out of the counterweight.

I've got a couple Ryobi's that I've never had any trouble with.

The Homelites didn't give any trouble

The Weed Eater brand 21's were more of a little toy job and no a real entity as far as a weed whacker goes

all these are now obsolete types and no longer available as I have them

RE: what weedeater...
 

I have a Echo leaf blower

I also have a 16cc Homelite hedge trimmer that I had to replace the cutter blade assembly some years ago

I also have a weed Eater brand hedge trimmer that was better than the Homelite but there is something wrong with the engine and it will not start.

RE: what weedeater...
 

All of mine are Husqvarna, the smallest is a straight shaft 326.

RE: what weedeater...
 

Of all the ones I have I like most of all my older Ryobi 31cc long shaft, I don't remember the model off hand but it runs good and has great torque. I have a Homlite 385 BC long shaft and unless you are winding the piss out of it it bogs down in heavy grass.

RE: what weedeater...
 

I can't keep from tearing every machine I get apart for airplane engines!!

But..... I had a McCulloch 32cc power head that I probably wasn't going to convert, (though they do make an easy conversion), so I mated it to one of my "discarded" weedeater shafts and that is what I have been using for the past several years.

Luckily, my chainsaw is an older Craftsman model that is not really suited to conversion, so it is safe. I did come across a nearly new Poulan 42cc chainsaw that has the new two barrel carb smog setup, so I just repaired it to use as a chainsaw. Runs great.

For a blower, I have a pancake style Craftsman that I didn't steal the engine out of, because I have a little plan of using a five gallon bucket and making it into a combo blower/shop vac. It's pancake style will lend itself well to that application, but it is missing a muffler so I have to make one up for it.

AV8TOR

RE: what weedeater...
 

P.S.

If I had to go buy a weedeater to use, I would probably buy a Ryobi. Good quality overall for the price. Stay away from "Weedeater". Very cheaply made.

If I were doing yard work professionally, it would be either Stihl or Echo all the way....

AV8TOR

RE: what weedeater...
 

I forgot about the chain saws of which I have several

I have an old Mac10 USA style saw 32cc with a 14" bar. It is made well but has a manual oiler and is not as ergonomically friendly as the newer saw. It is not a good candidate for conversion as the carb is in the wrong place
I have a 32cc 14" Mexican McCulloch that I use for pruning. It is a plastic case saw and the engine is made up like the beam mount power heads.
I have a 38cc 18" Japanese McCulloch
I have two 20" Homelite Timberman 45cc saws but they are different models I like one as well as the other
I also have a 60cc 22" Poulan 3400 saw is a real powerhouse with a Mahle cylinder

RE: what weedeater...
 

That is an interesting coincidence. I have been running a MAC 32cc for about 20 years. My throttle cable broke too. For years I used a string instead, it never broke. Once I got to fooling around with this junk I had spares and properly fixed the cable. I recently took it apart and cleaned out a the dirt. One of the gas lines needed to be repaced. IT has been pretty trouble free.

RE: what weedeater...
 

If you notice, the original Mac throttle cable is in a bind at the trigger assembly and causes it to break at the end.

RE: what weedeater...
 

yeah, I know the weedeater brand are cheaply made, but they don't weigh anything, and come in handy at times.

yeah, as far as chainsaws both of my preferences are homelites, a little XL top handle with a 16" bar (handy little guy), and a 330 with a 24" bar

RE: what weedeater...
 

I have a Echo string trimmer. I had done some work for a friend and I was given the Echo trimmer, she said it was way too hard to start because of the high compression & had bought a more easy to start trimmer. It has super compression and is a strong runner. I do use it on the heavy grass here & there! capt,n

RE: what weedeater...
 

I use a Toro 25cc weed whacker, a Toro 30cc leaf blower, a Homelite 42cc chainsaw that was a replacement for my 53cc Homelite chainsaw when it was stolen. Oh, and a featherlight 21cc weed eater that was a freebie.

If I had it to do over again I would have bought something other than the Toro string trimmer and leaf blower. they are light though.

I also see that Yard Machines brand equipment now seems to be using an engine that looks to be the Ryobi (MTD) 31cc engine.

RE: what weedeater...
 

I know now what trimmer I will never buy for myself. I used a friends Bolens 25cc strait shaft trimmer from Lowe's today. What a gutless piece of Cr#$^&(*&%. The first five minutes you have it running you have to run it with partial choke to keep it from sagging when you pull the throttle and the clutch slips sooo! bad it just wraps the grass around the shaft.

RE: what weedeater...
 

Hi HunkaJunk, Whose engine does Toro use? You don't hear much about them and even less about converting them for our use.

And TwinStar, I agree about Bolens. Our club has one and I won't even use it, it is such a hunkajunk (oh, Sorry HunkaJunk!!!). Even sounds bad.

I have two Mac Eager Beavers, but I use mostly a Weedeater 25cc HO SST. Starts right up, idles good and transitions well. Never touched the needles or rebuilt the carb. I am trying to resist the temptation to convert it. I have an echo on a Mantis tiller, and a spare engine for it also that will likely sucumb to conversion if I get a round tuit. Lots of other engines waiting conversion. I would like to play with a Stihl 4-Mix, anyone have one (just the engine)?

Sincerely,

Richard