Strimmer recommendations, if you please.

Fairly heavy use, but not industrial. Powerful cable powered or petrol considered, not rechargeable. Also needs to be fairly light so Mrs CFH can use it when the gardener is away. Reliability and value for money are important.

TIA.

Honda 4 stroke.

Smooth, powerful enough. Couple of engine sizes. Reliable starting.

2 strokes are angry nasty bastard things, tiring to listen to all day. And can be temperamental starting. VFM may be a stretch, but she’s worth it.

Stihl all day long, find one in suitable budget and get that. Also get a roll of spiral cord, cuts easier than normal round cord and therefore fewer revs and less fuel used, oh and don’t forget a harness

The 4 strokes are quite heavy aren’t they? I bought a Husquavana 525RX last year to replace a Sovereign (Argos) 2 stroke whatsit I had for 20 years. Night and day. On paper, not much difference in power/cc, in practice…. Might still be a bit much for a fragile gender neutral person of slight stature though…

Stihl, I’ve been through various brands expensive and cheap and my Stihl has by far been the best, starts every time even after hard use and plenty to choose from in the range.

Stihl with a harness . Get the harness adjusted right and the weight becomes less of a problem .

Hyjack. Did for a decent rechargable? Pref with a battery I can also fit to a hedge trimmer. I’m aware this may be a bit of an ask…

Try a wheeled strimmer. Can be more powerful, and less weight to carry.

Stihl fs250 here, repaired many times but still goes.

Why does spiral cord cut better, cord deffo keeps the revs down. I now use the attachment allowing 4 pieces of cord.

Wear shin pads it really hurts when stones flick up. Also mask, goggles, ear defenders.,

I’d recommend a Honda 4 stroke with harness and bull bar handles. It’s what I’ve had for. Many years. Starts very easily after a winter of neglect.

Stihl FS35 here.
Cost £135 from local shop with free fuel bottle.
Five years of 15 mins every 10 days or so, I’ve just sent it for £35 service and tune having left fuel in over winter.
Mrs_oab can start it first pull. It’s never not started first pull until a month ago with the dodgy fuel.
It’s an angry wasp in use, but glasses and ear defenders I don’t hear it…

I’ve a Stihl FS55 that replaced a Jonsred GR50 (I think). The Stihl is much poorer just because it hasn’t got a handle fully isolated from the engine vibrations. I get sore wrists and elbows after a tank of fuel.

Moral – if petrol ensure there is a system for isolating vibrations from the handle.

don’t go for a titan. mate of mine left fuel in his over the winter….silly man…ought to have known better….being a car mechanic he has he skills…..to waste a day of his life stripping and cleaning the worlds smallest carb 3 times and still not getting it working.

Get one with a straight shaft. They hold a proper drive shaft. The curved shafts just have a cable drive. Cheap, nasty and not long lasting.

And don’t get one that says you can extend the strummer cord by bashing the head on the ground. That just knackers everything.

Consider a spilt boom. That way you could upgrade to other attachments…a long range hedge cutter for example.

Leaving fuel over winter is bad practice, that the fault of your mate, not Titan. Volatile petrol evaporates leaving gum in the carburettor.

Anyone who doesnt use enough fuel (whether in the 4 or 2 stroke) or “forgets” to drain the carb for winter should consider getting Aspen fuel

Uses

Its a little more pricey, but its not a bad price for the pain relief.

For cutting cord, 168m on a roll of this stuff
https://www.outdoorspares.com/genuine-stihl-3mm-x-551ft-168m-round-strimmer-brushcutter-nylon-line-st00009302542

will last you a lifetime. Its what the Council chappies use round these parts. Strong, but still pliable to load in the head.
If you dont like the auto advance heads, you can buy fixed metal heads with slots into which you feed short lengths of line. Personally, Ive never head a problem with the Honda tap-advance heads. They take a good few feet of line and extend reliably.

After going through a cheapo diy-store own-brand strimmer, then a McCulloch, I finally shelled out for a proper one. Husky 525RJD. Starts easily every time, reasonably light, but the best thing is the vibration damping grip, they use a great ‘floating’ handle system (I also have a Husky leaf blower with the same grip, it is also superb).

I bought an electric Ryobi one – if you can live with a cable it’s a million times better than a petrol one IMO.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01DZUR0LS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

also got this to go with it which makes it a doddle to use for a decent amount of time:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006HV9ZM0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got it to deal with 6ft high brambles covering my back garden – worked really well (with the metal blade), haven’t used it as a strimmer since but can’t see there being an issue.

I’ll buck the trend, and say corded strimmer with command feed. Had ours nearly 25 years ! It’s light and does the job – mainly edging the lawns now. Used to use it for trimming a large area of grassed slope, but we leveled that off a long time ago.

Weight might be a consideration for Mrs. and also bear in mind any back issues – I find using the heavier blower and extending chain saw, with harnesses, quite painful on my back due to weight.