I’d like a petrol strimmer folks,

I’ve got a Qualcast one that’s 2 years old and utter crap.

After something less crap, more reliable.

ime it take something to beat a stihl.

I have a Stihl for work (not sure on exact model) – low maintenance, reliable, sometimes a pain to start, but they may all be. We’ve had it for 10 years, still gets the job done.

stihl all the way here, the one linked has done us well for the last three years with just a quick clean up and fresh fuel at the start of the season.
Be honest with what you want it for though, just to trim around the lawn before mowing? Small and light wheight, poss electric, is more than capable.
Were keeping rubbish at bay around the garden, outbuildings, paddock and roadside so went for a bigger one (you can go even bigger/commercial use if you want!), but you can tell when you’ve had a long session with it!

Stihl, Husqvarna or Echo, all good. The ergonomics on cheap strimmers are carp! OK for 10 minutes occasionally but for prolonged & regular use get something proper or get backache, sore hands and mightily pi**ed off when you have to change the cord or disconnect it from the harness. DAMHIK 🙂

We have had a Stihl for donkeys years. Does huge amount of work and never misses a beat. Bought it second hand off a mate for around £125 10 years or so back. If possible though make sure you buy one with a straight shaft and not one of the light duty ones with a bent shaft which are only designed for light occasional usage.

Stihl are spendy though and I couldn’t justify the cost. I have 1 and a bit acres of garden and half of it is pretty rough for which I use a brushcutter (which is a beefy streamer really). My local garden machinery place suggested MTD or Echo. MTD cheaper and Echo more expensive but not as much as Stihl. In the end I went with the MTD – a 1043 brushcutter and its not missed a beat in 3 years. I’ve used the strimmer head, saw blade and also one of the mulching type heads too – all with no problems at all.

We have a stihl FS40 I think it is and it’s been perfect. The other thing about stihl is that they also sell a huge range of spares (from what I remember) so if you’re technically minded you can fix just about anything on them.

Stihl FS55 here, bought used about 8 years ago…. runs perfectly.

Stihl are spendy though and I couldn’t justify the cost.

Buy a decent used one and chances are you’ll get your money back at the end of the day.

Another Stihl FS40, excellent bit of kit and works well on the steep slope it was bought for!

Stihl FS90 here. It’s by far the coolest and most over-the-top-for-what-I-need thing that I own. Plus it comes with a harness; who doesn’t love a Sunday wearing a harness.

I have a Stihl fs200 2 stroke that is over the top for doing the edges around the lawn, that I probably should sell if you are in the West Midlands

It’s a matter of budget/use. Not much point spending ££’s on a Stihl to whizz around a grass border is it? Unless it’s cheap.
FWIW I had an ex council Mitsubishi affair some years ago that would chop trees down, (but it got nicked) used for heavy duty stuff with a brushcutter blade.
Now I’ve got a little McCulloch twin line job that does the long grass stuff, reliable & does It’s duty. (it was given to me though)

Cheapest Stihl here – four years in, nowt but chuck fuel in and add new line.
It only cost £30 more than the (cheap) one I was looking at, bought from local dealer not DIY Barn, with lots of freebies like fuel mixer, glasses, gloves and line.

I’ve got a Honda 4-stroke that I’ve had for a few years. A world apart from the cheapish 2 stroke Strimmers I’ve used in the past. It starts first time after a winter of neglect and runs quietly and smoothly.

another Honda user here…… it was spendy, but well worth it . 4 stroke motor so no premix mess/oil and its quiet and very smooth to use.

Another Honda 4 stroke here. No messing with mixing oil etc, starts every time, obviously all strimmer are noisy but the 4 stroke is easier on the ear than the equivalent 2 stroke whine.
Think it was about 130 quid second hand off ebay.

The newer stuff we have is Stihl. Quiet, smooth. Older ones are Husqvarna with lovely wide bars that just run and run.
Mulching heads are really good if you have a lot of bramble, lot less stress on you and machine (if it can power it).

No messing with mixing oil etc

It’s not really though …. buy 5L of unleaded, add 1 x bottle Stihl oil, done.
[helps if your chainsaw is Stihl also]

Are 4 strokes heavier than two strokes? (I’d have thought so) Plus more bits to go wrong, but quieter.

if you have to buy new, Tanaka are very good. made by Hitachi, just lower grade parts than a stihl and a 5 yr warranty.

It’s not really though …. buy 5L of unleaded, add 1 x bottle Stihl oil, done.

We use aspen, saves all that faff, but may be more expensive.

I bought an ex-council Husqvarna from Gumtree about 5 years ago… it’s now like Trigger’s broom in that quite a few bits have been replaced. That said, a new fuel filter, spark plug and a bit of carb clean go a long way. Now it’s pretty bombproof and doesn’t miss a bit. I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again; a heavy-duty cutter but second-hand to keep the price reasonable

Honda user here – light, quiet, reliable, easy to start and plenty powerful. Came with a spool and 3 point blade. Fantastic. Would buy again if I needed to.

+1 for Honda. Light enough not to need a harness. Probably because I can do everything I need to do in an hour.