Brushcutter / strimmer

[Justme]

Sounds like they have you trained, I would stand over them until they got the message I think you should be having a serious look about the place with the view to getting everything a bit more manageable.

Bob

The "kids" are all grown up lol.

We live in a woodland. Normally I keep the area near the house better managed but over the last few years I have let it go a bit.

This session will take a bit of effort to get it back but after that it wont need much.

 

[Justme]

Battery stuff just doesnt do it for me, I can be using the tools for a good few hours and a good few acres away from anywhere to charge up, can of fuel and your off again!
The thing people forget about 2 stoke stuff is to give the tool a good shake before you start it, the oil splits out and it can be the first thing the carb sucks in so it aint gona start! servicing as well even if its just clean the air filter and plug

I am never more than 100m from home & often will run a 50m cable to near where I am working so thats not an issue for me.
Plus as its not for work having to take a tea break to let charger catch up is normally very welcome.

 

[Justme]

I'd say it's worth it only one engine to look after, and as many tools as you need basically.

Plus with the battery head there is virtually no maintenance of that one power head lol.

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

A battery chain saw runs intermittently, probably less than 30 seconds under load before it gets a bit of a rest.
By contrast, a strimmer is likely to run for several minutes continuously on full load, which is pretty cruel treatment for any battery.

Check the cost of replacing a Stihl chainsaw battery - it might make more sense to buy a cheap 2-stroke strimmer and a gallon of Aspen.

 

[James1979]

Buy a goat?

 

[J1nx]

I’ve got the Makita DUR369, it’s pretty good. As someone mentioned earlier it is heavy on batteries, your looking at 15min on a pair of 5Ah’s and they come off the tool hot! However it will wipe the floor with a base model Stihl! Ive got a few of the tools now so have a decent stock of batteries, my house is on a couple of acres but also look after 40 acres away from home, ten batteries ain’t much more than a can of fuel weight and size wise plus you can always have a 12v charger.
My only tools now, without wheels, that run on fuel are the big chainsaws, 70cc+ saws are safe for a while but not indefinitely I bet. The battery chainsaw always comes to the farm with me and I love putting down the Husky (and ear muffs) and picking up the Makita when things get small enough.

 

[Justme]

Buy a goat?

We have had lots of goats in the past.

 

[Justme]

A battery chain saw runs intermittently, probably less than 30 seconds under load before it gets a bit of a rest.
By contrast, a strimmer is likely to run for several minutes continuously on full load, which is pretty cruel treatment for any battery.

Check the cost of replacing a Stihl chainsaw battery - it might make more sense to buy a cheap 2-stroke strimmer and a gallon of Aspen.

The strimmer will be about half the peak wattage & can often run at 1/3rd of that too.
The quoted run times for the AP300s are quite long.
When using the saw to cut fire wood it will be running almost 100% of the time from full to flat.
However when using it to trim & neaten wood to go in the processor it might only do a short bit every hour.

With my shoulder / elbow using a small 2 stroke is not really an option.
If they had 4mix engines like on the blower as they are so easy to start that could be an option.

 

[Justme]

I’ve got the Makita DUR369, it’s pretty good. As someone mentioned earlier it is heavy on batteries, your looking at 15min on a pair of 5Ah’s and they come off the tool hot! However it will wipe the floor with a base model Stihl! Ive got a few of the tools now so have a decent stock of batteries, my house is on a couple of acres but also look after 40 acres away from home, ten batteries ain’t much more than a can of fuel weight and size wise plus you can always have a 12v charger.
My only tools now, without wheels, that run on fuel are the big chainsaws, 70cc+ saws are safe for a while but not indefinitely I bet. The battery chainsaw always comes to the farm with me and I love putting down the Husky (and ear muffs) and picking up the Makita when things get small enough.

15 mins on 2 x 5ah does sound like hard use.
But thats at 18v.
I am looking at the 40v ones. Even allowing for that sounds like I would need at least one more 2.5ah or better yet a 5ah to go with the 2 x 2.5ah in the kit.

The sthils I am looking at are the biggest ones they do.

 

[cocker]

I have a fsa 57 (smaller battery)
It's alright for fence bottoms /edges .
Perfect for home use .
If I had any rough stuff I would be getting the bigger battery stuff .
I regularly use the battery chain saw and hedge trimmer tidying up at the bosses big house , they're just the job .
When the two smoke strimmer gives up the ghost its replacement will be a battery job .

 

[angellonewolf]

2 stroke not starting and yes ive been there a meny times

use the 2 stroke if not being used for 4 weeks tip the fuel out in to a mixing bottle and run the engine till it runs out job sorted ive done this for the last 5 years on good quality units they then start fine unless there fuel pipes are old

ive got a sthil that now only gets used a few times a year(ive got a cheap battery version for around the grass edges as ive not got that much now ) that starts every time i need it with in a few pulls by doing the above (only thing else i do is change the fuel pipe every year when ive got an hour to spare)

round here all the council guys seam to be using battery stuff but id bet its top of the range sthil stuff not the diy stuff

 

[Justme]

2 stroke not starting and yes ive been there a meny times

use the 2 stroke if not being used for 4 weeks tip the fuel out in to a mixing bottle and run the engine till it runs out job sorted ive done this for the last 5 years on good quality units they then start fine unless there fuel pipes are old

ive got a sthil that now only gets used a few times a year(ive got a cheap battery version for around the grass edges as ive not got that much now ) that starts every time i need it with in a few pulls by doing the above (only thing else i do is change the fuel pipe every year when ive got an hour to spare)

round here all the council guys seam to be using battery stuff but id bet its top of the range sthil stuff not the diy stuff

I tend to run them dry too.
Still seem to be a pain to start especially for the first time of the year.
I have loved just being able to pick battery chainsaw up put fresh bat in, top oil up (I tend to fill that after using it) & its ready to rock.
No matter the time of day or weather you know it will cut as soon as you pull the trigger.
The units from Sthil I am looking at are the biggest they do with the battery direct mounted (new to the market).
They only real difference with the older units that used the back packs is you can go all day & not need to swap out.

 

[angellonewolf]

if the council use them they cant be bad

 

[Robbie260]

I tend to run them dry too.
Still seem to be a pain to start especially for the first time of the year.
I have loved just being able to pick battery chainsaw up put fresh bat in, top oil up (I tend to fill that after using it) & its ready to rock.
No matter the time of day or weather you know it will cut as soon as you pull the trigger.
The units from Sthil I am looking at are the biggest they do with the battery direct mounted (new to the market).
They only real difference with the older units that used the back packs is you can go all day & not need to swap out.

I use the stihl long life fuel its, brilliant stored over winter, with fuel in it, one pull of the chord come summer and off and away first time. Stihls consumer grade battery gear is best avoided at all costs the pro stuff is really good though, just was too spend when I was looking last year.

 

[J1nx]

15 mins on 2 x 5ah does sound like hard use.
But thats at 18v.
I am looking at the 40v ones. Even allowing for that sounds like I would need at least one more 2.5ah or better yet a 5ah to go with the 2 x 2.5ah in the kit.

The sthils I am looking at are the biggest ones they do.

The 40v at 2.5Ah has less energy (half) than the twin 18v 5Ah setup. The XGT is a bit of a marketing gimmick at the minute.
You can directly compare the ‘36v‘ with the ‘40v’ systems because they are actually exactly the same voltage in reality.

 

[8ob]

Backpack strimmers are good if the bones are a bit fragile, not saying buy this but may be worth looking https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32337505...MIkc2B6dS48QIVDLDtCh2lrgWiEAQYByABEgKixvD_BwE

Bob

 

[Justme]

Backpack strimmers are good if the bones are a bit fragile, not saying buy this but may be worth looking https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32337505...MIkc2B6dS48QIVDLDtCh2lrgWiEAQYByABEgKixvD_BwE

Bob

That is basically what I am replacing. Had it a few years and each year it gets harder and harder to get going. Plus my tolerance for messing with it is going down. Same happened with the chainsaw last year.

 

[Justme]

The 40v at 2.5Ah has less energy (half) than the twin 18v 5Ah setup. The XGT is a bit of a marketing gimmick at the minute.
You can directly compare the ‘36v‘ with the ‘40v’ systems because they are actually exactly the same voltage in reality.

I was initially looking at the 40v 5ah but cant find a deal with them.

 

[angellonewolf]

That is basically what I am replacing. Had it a few years and each year it gets harder and harder to get going. Plus my tolerance for messing with it is going down. Same happened with the chainsaw last year.

if your back pack is hard starting have you cheaked the price of a china carb i can get them for £7 to 9 my echo hedge trimmer was playing up started run fine but after runnning for 20 mins would be hard to re start if i had to turn off and would run a bit ruff after again 20 mins
bought a new china carb been running great for the last year and a half
when it comes for a service instead of a carb kit i will just order a new carb as its just as cheap

 

[JohnH]

I really do like my Makita DUX60Z with its various attachments. I also have a 4stroke unit but never use it these days. The hedge trimmer is a bit heavy but works well. The chainsaw is very good and the strimmer just works very well. It also has a bushcutter blade.

The Makita was a replacement for my old 2T Ryobi (black and grey) which packed up after 25 years faithful service.