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Weed eater -2 cycle or 4?

Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Other Topics
Forum Name: Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks
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URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=199410
Printed Date: 05 Oct 2024 at 8:21pm
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Topic: Weed eater -2 cycle or 4?
Posted By: Adam Stratton
Subject: Weed eater -2 cycle or 4?
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2024 at 11:19am
In the past I've had lots of issues with 2 cycle engines. I bought a new Stihl chainsaw and have always bought the premixed fuel and had good luck so far. I would like a weed/brush trimmer (for fence lines and heavier stuff than just yard use) and a pole saw. I can get that combination from Stihl, but is pretty pricey. There are cheap import 2 cycle options but I wonder about their reliability. I noticed there are a lot of tool kits that use a Honda GX50 motor. A tiny 4 cycle unit. Has anyone had any experience with them? They aren't much more than the import 2 cycle units and much cheaper than the Stihls. For occasional use, what would you recommend? Thanks!



Replies:
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2024 at 11:42am
Stihl later engines are "4Mix" essentially a four cycle runs on two stroke fuel.  I have a Weed eater that is damn near to unstoppable a FS117? maybe?  Love it as with any form of blade will take off sprouts and small saplings and not stall.


Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2024 at 12:09pm
I was given 3 Sthil weedwackers, all would kinda start but NO RPM.sigh, 2 stroke jokes.....
the CURE was to remove the 'spark arrester' from the muffler, CLEAN the buildup of soot/fuel off it, reinstall, vrooooooooooooooooooooooooooom !!!
I gave one away, as I really don't need THREE.


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3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112
Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor)

Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water


Posted By: DonBC
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2024 at 1:26pm
I am usually pretty handy when it comes to small engines. A few years ago I spent an hour trying to get a 2-stroke string trimmer to run. My wife said that she would pay for a new string trimmer as a birthday present. I came back with a Toro battery powered trimmer. What a beast. double strings that would almost take down small trees. 

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Jack of all trades, master of none


Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 1:49pm
I have a 4cycle troy-built that you can use your battery powered drill to start. I use sta-bilt fuel additive. I have to use it one month a year to trime around sign that they put in the church yard. But I think a battery powered one would be nice. 


Posted By: DanWi
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 3:37pm
I do all the mowing with a zero turn. Wife does the trimming around the house. After fighting with starting gas trimmers for years she bought a 110 volt at a rummage sale. We have outlets on each side of the house and machine shed and she can reach everything with a 100 foot cord. When that one died she bought another.


Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 4:56pm
I'll quote Franklin on this one...

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after thesweetness of low price is forgotten.” - Benjamin. Franklin - 

I like the stihl Combi-system, it has option of buying other tools, which you may want later.  I also use Coleman camping gas, to run.  Its naptha, costs about $14/gallon, but that's cheaper than a new carb, when the junk they sell as gas, today turns sour from age.  The only electric weedeater I have experience with is the lil ryobi 18V that I carry on the zero turn, for trimming around the odd telephone pole, that ends up being 1/2 a mile away from the trailer...

While on the subject of battery weedeaters, I say buy the one that matches up with a battery that you already have powering a drill, or other such tool.  That way you can buy the bare tool, and usr a battery that you already have...Wink


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Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need!


Posted By: Darb210
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 6:10pm
I may get ridiculed for this...  but I was tired of fighting gas powered small engines the 3 times a year I needed them and bought a Milwaukee 16" chainsaw 18V battery powered. after about an hour of use I gave my old Stihl saw to a neighbor & I won't look back.  I'm a huge fan of this new battery equipment! 


Posted By: bigal121892
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 6:50pm
I second the Milwaukee M18 yard tools. Had the string trimmer, with the edger attachment, and the leaf blower. I would never go back to gas powered.


Posted By: Lars(wi)
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 7:24pm
About a month or two ago, had big branch split off a tree during the night. Later that morning unpacked my Stihl ‘Farm Boss’ chainsaw which was still packed away from the move 10 years ago. Went and got premium gas, Stihl synthetic 2-cycle oil, filled the tank, filled the bar oil, 4 pulls later the saw was running, ran perfect the whole time I used it.

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I tried to follow the science, but it was not there. I then followed the money, and that’s where I found the science.


Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2024 at 9:47pm
Doesn't matter WHAT one uses, if it isn't maintained carefully, it will be a failure.

Battery powered tools that don't get regular use, wind up with batteries that self-discharge, then won't charge, so as noted above, pick one that uses the same batteries as your cordless drill, impact, and stuff.  DON'T park a battery in the charger and leave it for months... even a fancy and expensive tool system (like my Metabos) will wind up with ruined batteries because they need to be EXERCISED in order to stay electrically 'pliable'.

Tiny 2 and 4 strokers share the circumstance of tiny carbeurators, and they're usually made of a die-cast zinc that does not withstand ethanol, water, and fancy 'additives'.   Running one without being particular about the fuel and oil will result in a very short service interval for your machine, and as the engine gets smaller, the orficies within the carbeurator will be more susceptible to clogging with debris from fuel, or even parts of the fuel filter, lines, tank, seals, and corrosion within the carb  itself, and with that, more frustration.

As also previously noted, the exhaust flame arrestor screen (in the muffler) will get fouled with carbon soot, and as it does, it slowly chokes off the engine, making it run really bad.

To combat these situations, use good fuel.  The premix'd stuff on the store shelf, albeit advertised heavily as 'good', is NOT my suggested first choice, and if I HAD to use it (at the equivalent of $18/gallon), I'd at least SHAKE IT UP good... but my impression of the stuff I used, is that it's a really nice can, full of overpriced nothing. 

Yeah, I could see a guy using White Gas (Coleman fuel) mixed with proper 2-stroke oil.  I've also seen guys who visit the local race track or airfield for their fuel, but I generally avoid using those simply due to possible presence of Tetraethyl Lead (TEL)... these little engines really aren't designed with the presence of TEL...  instead, I'll go visit the store chain that sells lots of 'no ethanol RV gasoline'... and I START by running a couple gallons into my car or truck, THEN direct it to the 1-gallon can (with oil already in it).

This way, if there's any debris, contaminants, or remnant of some OTHER fuel type, it gets run out'a the hose FIRST...

Pick good oil... don't use generic, and get your mix right.  Most of my stuff is Stihl... I do have a few others... 2 Echo blowers, and 2 Echo saws, one Shindaiwa 575... and some outboards.   The saws and blowers are all at the same ratio... the outboards are either 40:1 or 50:1, but need an Outboard Oil, as it's got a different operating criteria for the liquid-cooled circumstance.

The next two things are really important:

Don't baby the small engine... scream it.  When they're not working, they're fouling... if you don't run it hard, the combustion will be too cool, thus, incomplete, and plug that #@$ flame screen.

Next... when you're done, DUMP IT OUT...  put it in the Zero Turn, or something else that's much bigger, or use it for some other (safe) purpose, but get it out of the tool.  If the fuel is more than a week old, consider it expired.  Yeah, it might run fine, but keep the fuel fresh, and those seals and gaskets will last longer.

Expect that every two seasons or so, you'll pull of the shrouding, pull the muffler, burn out the oil soot from the muffler, pull down the carb, clean it with spray, drop in a new needle and gaskets, pull through new fuel and vent lines, a new pickup filter, new primer bulb, new air filter and spark plug.  Clean all the crud out of the shrouding, scrub any corrosion off the recoil starter, check the magneto gap.  On chainsaws, clean or replace the oil pickup screen, oil line if needed, and oiler pump... blow out all the residue, clean the groove, file the burr off the bar (and flip it), and put on a new chain, and sharpen and reset the depth gauges on the old one.

Do this process on all your little tools, and they'll do fine.  If you REALLY want good performance, look up each tool and look for the performance modifications that people have done to make them breathe better.  Typically, the emmissions requirement of 'noise' means the muffler has excessive baffling, retarded ignition, and a lean mixture setting...  correcting these things may make it a little louder, but you'll only need a fraction of the time to do the job.

On your weed trimmer, take that head off and find all the string, fishing line, and fine weed stems that've wrapped around the shaft right by the gearbox or shaft outlet, take 'em out... look closely at the seal (make sure it isn't damaged).

Now, the OTHER option is to put a generator on a small trailer behind your mower, and have a long cord on a reel, and your 120v trimmer and chainsaw there.  I have a Miller welder-generator on a trailer specifically for pulling to places where people need on-site welding assistance, and it pulls nicely behind my zero-turn.  If I need to do tree trimming, I back the trailer under my mobile platform, and use the hoist on the platform to lift up the weld-gen trailer and suspend it beneath, then I run an extension cord up to the platform deck for my electric pole saw.  I just drive the platform through the trees, and use the pole saw to knock off all the low limbs... so no need to have gas chain saws up there, unless it's a really big limb.



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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.


Posted By: dr p
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2024 at 6:20am
Dave needs a podcast. But no pictures of him in that red rockstar jumpsuit


Posted By: Greg (Hillsboro, OH)
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2024 at 8:57am
I am closer to being an "occasional user" of the weedeater, blower, hedge trimmer, etc, and have reached a point that always having to fool with the gas powered ones to get them to run became more work than benefit.
Last year I  purchased the EGO brand of tools for my weedeater (which has a power reload function for new string.... love it...) and my leaf blower.   This spring I will buy the hedge trimmer as well. 
Batteries are all interchangeable, so I'm never short of power for my needs.
I have been very pleased with these so far.  I didn't move to battery/electric to be "green" but soley because of less maintenance and can just pick up and go (assuming I kept the batteries charged).   



Posted By: Bull
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2024 at 10:17am
After fighting cheap trimmers for years I bought an Echo trimmer which has been extremely reliable for around 10 years. I have replaced the string head twice. My daughter has an EGO 56 volt which will keep up with my Echo but it is heavy. It has a power wind feature that loads the string using the motor which is nice . I have a Stihl leaf blower that I have had for many years and it always starts and runs perfectly.
I recently bought a Kobalt 40 volt chainsaw which I really like so far but have yet to cut anything over 10 inches in diameter.

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WD45 Diesel, RC,CA,IB, B, G, 616, Early B-10, D-10, Terra Tiger, 95G spreader, SC blade


Posted By: DanWi
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2024 at 5:50pm
When the niece and her boyfriend were renting the farmhouse they got a new battery operated trimmer, maybe Ryobi or something along those lines. When the battery went low the operator was in need of a recharge also.


Posted By: captaindana
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2024 at 6:57pm
Lol drp

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Blue Skies and Tail Winds
                          Dana


Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2024 at 9:07pm
Oh Halll noh... if I"m gonna play, I'm gonna be comfortable when I do it...

Saturday In the Park... (Chicago)  on July 4th 2022:



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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.


Posted By: Adam Stratton
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2024 at 2:47am
Thanks for the input! I hadn't thought about the battery powered option since I was looking for more "horsepower" but might be a good idea to consider. We've used the black and decker "grasshog" plug in trimmers around the house and yard and they do a fine enough job on thin grass but seems like no torque for heavy cutting and I go through a lot of string. My kids are old enough to do a better job helping so I'm looking to do a better job around fence lines and places a cord won't reach well. Thanks again


Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2024 at 4:39am
When it comes to that kind of trimming, Adam, skip the string.  I use a Stihl FS-80 with a metal grass-mowing blade.  If you have lots of saplings over an inch, use the type with finer teeth... if it's just grass, use the 3-blade mower, it will clean itself out faster.

IF you're gonna be getting into the fence alot, you can use a cutting head with swinging type blades, they're available in plastic and metal types.  I use both, and I wear them out rather fast... but regardless of how you go about it, if you've got lots of area to cover, and lots of material to cut, you'll probably find that liquid fuel power is much more effective in that context.


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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.


Posted By: DonBC
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2024 at 11:39am
My 60v battery Toro trimmer out performs any gas trimmer I have ever had. I am on a 1/4 acre residential now so it is a bit overkill. It is possibly a little heavier than a gas trimmer but I never noticed the difference in weight.

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Jack of all trades, master of none


Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2024 at 12:38pm
I gave up on TRIMMERS 15 years ago... ROUNDUP is the sure fire way to do EDGING and FENCE Rows. !!  Wink

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Like them all, but love the "B"s.


Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2024 at 7:54am
Originally posted by DanWi DanWi wrote:

When the niece and her boyfriend were renting the farmhouse they got a new battery operated trimmer, maybe Ryobi or something along those lines. When the battery went low the operator was in need of a recharge also.

I usually need a recharge LONG before these new batteries do!

I asked my local Stihl (and AGCO) dealer about the battery-operated trimmers. His response was that it depends on what you are doing. 
He says if you are using it (even chainsaws) for hours every week, stick with gas. But if you are like the average homeowner (which is me), he recommends battery operated. 
He said this wouldn't have been his recommendation a few years ago, but the battery powered equipment has come a long way.


Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2024 at 1:26pm
Steve roundup is all I use at home, use it to weed flower beds just don't spray a wide spray in them 



Posted By: Lars(wi)
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2024 at 2:36pm
Originally posted by steve(ill) steve(ill) wrote:

I gave up on TRIMMERS 15 years ago... ROUNDUP is the sure fire way to do EDGING and FENCE Rows. !!  Wink
gasoline & diesel fuel work good too.

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I tried to follow the science, but it was not there. I then followed the money, and that’s where I found the science.



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