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String trimmer time

6K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  grandpajay 
#1 ·
I just went to fire up my JD 260G trimner, and it wouldn't start. Had spark, compression....nothing. about 5 minutes of looking at everything I found a mud wasp nest in the exhaust. Ah ha, no air flow. Pulled the plug and airfilter, covers the intake with my hand and blew compressed air in the plug hole.

If fired up 3rd pull, and the funny part is now the start stop switch works for the first time in 25 years. I had chased that for hours when it first broke and have up, and just choked it out all these years. I guess it wanted me to get rid of the echo I've had hanging next to it that came with the house. They both have shared duty at about 1 tank each per year. The echo is on its way to a new home.


What are other members using?

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#5 ·
My friend at as tractor junk yard gave me this one saying it was stuck. It would be something for me to play with. About 2 pounds of mud dauber/wasp nests removed later it started right up. After the first start it blew pieces of nest and dirt out of the blower housing for about 5 minutes. This one will be a keeper for me. Roger
 

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#6 ·
I guess I should add a pucture.



I've never done anything since I was given this by my grandmother around 92. I chased the off button, but didn't replace or fix anything.

It's got a couple hundred miles riding in a card from yard to yard. When I got one of my first apparments with less lawn then my house I used it for the entire mowing. I'm as strong as ive ever been overall but back then I could mow the whole yard one handed, now I'm happy to still have the neck and chest strap, I only use the neck strap, but it helps get a smooth arc. I also have the original Burch kit unused.

It sat atleast 10 years untouched before I got my house and I don't even recall dumping the gas. The mud nest was my first problem. It has way way more power then the echo, which you don't notice until it torques in concrete or something similar.



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#7 ·
Worx trimmer. I don't like air cooled gas engines very much and like two stroke even less (even though I do have a few of all). So a couple batteries for the trimmer, blower, branch trimmer and I am good to go without worrying about rotten fuel, plugs, pull starting till I am blue in the face. Lowest on my list of favorite engines is pull starting vs electric start (few chain saws and a Kitty Kat are the only non-electric start at my place).
 
#8 ·
JD XT140 & Stihl FS250. Both older models that perform as designed. No issues, I use them often, I maintain a rural cemetery and 3+ acres at home. I use (and always have used) non-ethanol farm fuel in all my gasoline OPE. Farm diesel in the 2240, regular station E10 in the cars & the truck. Regular service, no issues noted. I change fuel filters as recommended.
 
#10 ·
I have a Sthil FS45 I believe,bought it for the wife
 
#11 ·
Around home, I use a 40V Core trimmer, we recently got the wife a little Worx battery trimmer to use, we'll see how much it gets used. At the farm I use a Husqvarna straight stick with string head, plastic blades, metal brush blade or saw blade, depending on what I'm cutting!
 
#12 ·
Had a Homelite bought at Agway for about 20 years. Couldn't kill it until gas tank/hoses fell apart on it. Got a Cub Cadet from TSC now. It is very finicky. If you don't have the fuel mixed right, it doesn't want to run. Takes a awhile to warm up too.
 
#14 ·
Nice Roger! I really love the XT140, I even put some leftover handle bars from another older 85G Deere trimmer that I had for parts. It was a kick to run it with the bars, but it's light enough with the ring handle that I took it back off. The big Stihl has the handle bars, and it needs it if an old guy wants any control at all...! It's a beast, but I do use it heavily at the cemetery, things get neglected there and the brush it heavy so the big one is the answer. The old 85G had a 4-line head and I could cut a swath 2 1/2 feet wide with it. The problem was with the weight, it was heavy and wore me out after a couple of hours. The saw blade worked great on small saplings and heavy brush but I only used it a few times.

I do like the idea of multi attachments, that's something to think about for the future.
 
#15 ·
I hate string trimming! Loud and messy! But I also hate long grass along things where the mower cant reach.

I have a Deere 100G I got from my dad (he uses roundup instead of a trimmer).

Last fall I put stabil in the tank for the winter and the first pull the recoil rope broke...Will have to pull that out sometime soon.
 
#17 ·
What I learned was good feeding line was better then long lasting or good cutting.

Ive got JD line from the 80's that's spoiling out smooth and i loaded it around 93. I'll go and try to get their new offering to replace it. That trimmer was offline for 10-12 years. I went through many other lines and free then out. Trying to have the cool one failed. The box it came with was best, but I haven't seen the rest if i didnt use the end of the end of the spool.
 
#19 ·
Me too.

I've had an FS110 for over 10 years and I've only replaced line and the spark plug because I felt guilty for not doing anything else. I use it constantly and hard. It always runs good, has planty of power. and is quiet. My Father has bought a box store trimmer every year or every other year since then. How much did that cost him? He's just cheap. Maybe I need to buy him a Stihl for Father's Day. :good:
 
#20 ·
I have a Stihl FS85 that I bought new 13 years ago. This is the bike handle model, with the harness. I have the Polycut head with three plastic blades, which is the only head I use. String just doesn't make it on my place (nor on the neighbors'---we all have the plastic blade heads). About half the use I put it to is mowing along open irrigation ditches.
With the bike handle and harness, I just rev it up to max and walk slowly along the ditch, swinging back and forth.

This thing has just plain been a running fool. I did have to re-diaphragm the carburetor because of ethanol fuel, but we now can get ethanol-free. And right now it is down because the gas tank is leaking (new one should be here next week). Don't know how long a spark plug will last---I just change it annually. I use the Stihl 50:1 oil.

Hank
 
#21 ·
Who made the deere 100G? Anyone have a complete recoil assembly for one, been fighting to get the spring back in and done messing with that!
 
#23 ·
#24 ·
I just replaced the head on my 260g. After an 8 hour run I emptied the spool and 3 more, each dumping faster then the last. I went to my dealer to order a new spool, not in stock based on my JD parts, but their version got a new entire head for the same price as a spool right off the echo rack. It took 2 large pipe wrenches to get the reverse theads appart, my trimmer head plastic spit out it's steel core, before breaking free, it's just been there 20 years atleast.
 
#26 ·
ECHO SRM-260S which I purchased from my local JD dealer back in 2001. Definitely not your HD variety ECHO. Have worn out a few heads over the years, replace fuel lines and primer bulb but no issues whatsoever with its performance. Engine still starts on first or second pull and runs like the day I bought it. Would estimate it easily has 300+ hours on it.
 
#27 ·
I've got a 20+ year old Stihl FS81. I got it for free, seized. Was able to find a new cylindar and piston on fleabay for $30. Took it apart, re-assembled with eBay parts, got a BADASS powerful heavy duty trimmer for $30. Also have an old homelite that I payed $5 for, not running. Only had to replace the fuel line and its a good runner. I use stuff called gator line, metal with nylon around the outside, darn tough stuff!

Dow
 
#28 ·
I have a Stihl FS90 from about 1986 that still runs strong. But it has always taken 6-8 pulls to get started no matter what I do for plugs and carb work. I love that it has enough power to spin the string nicely just off idle to be gentler on the tree bark. Recently, I solved the irritation of getting down on my hands and knees to start it and built a trimmer holding fixture that plugs into the hitch.
 

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