I want to get a really high quality line trimmer and was thinking of buying a new Shindaiwa T230x to use as a line trimmer and also buy the brush cutter attachment.
I only have a small garden but I'm at the stage of life I only want to buy quality gear that will last 20-30 years.
Is this still good equipment of should I look at another brand?
Shindaiwa and Echo basically the same company now. The Shindaiwa T230x appears to be a 2 cycle version so it should have long life as long you don't straight gas it. Going with a straight shaft is also good as curve shafts tend to have problem related to the shaft being curved. The only problem that I see might be in the future is what the governmental environmentalist do as they are trying to kill off 2 cycles.
Echo and Shindaiwa both have good representation for quality products here. Anything is better than the low end consumer grade trimmers on the market.
I like Echo as well as Shindaiwa - both appear to be well built. It should be worth noting that Briggs & Stratton are the exclusive distributor of both brands in Australia, after Allpower went broke. There were severe issues with parts several months ago due to B&S having warehouse issues (stock input/transfer) which meant effectively no parts were available - all back to normal now and should be fine going forward.
Echos seem to have a propensity for clogging spark arrestors, and will not accept much throttle from cold starts with stock tuning (can probably be tuned out), but they are the only major manufacturers I know of who recommend a 2 minute warm up at idle before running - which I personally do on any machine. Shindaiwa also recommend this.
They also both suggest 89 octane fuel, however this is the r+m/2 calculation method. In Australia, this means use 95 octane from the pump with 50:1 JASO FD oil (eg Husqvarna LS+, or Echo Powerblend)
Also, a friend has a new 129LK Husqvarna, and reckons it cuts great (has a speed feed head fitted) and is the only trimmer he has ever had that he can leave on the lawn idling and can come back after making a cup of tea and still is idling smoothly - don't think that much idling is especially good but anyway.
As AVB has said, keep the trimmer gearbox greased, and make sure it has clear air, clean fuel, clean plug and good oil and it will serve you well
Tyler you something heavy try wearing the RedMax 8000 Backpack blower. Now it is a back killer; unless, you are a young whipper snapper. Definitely not for someone with back problems.
Might stick with my old late 1980s Tillotson carbed Ryobi lawn hornet with blower attachment. Annoys the neighbours but effective.
I did find a Ryobi blower vac once with the chunky outlet and Ryan engine (same design as lawn hornet) but never got around to trying to get it going. The cynic in me didn't believe I could make it run. Long gone now. Wish I still had it. Would have been a fun tinker.
I saw one just like the orange one in the last pic in my local Home hardware recently going for $162 and was toying with getting it. Not there now.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I have a stihl BG 65 that I have used for the past 18 years or so, no problems at all in the blowing department. And for trimming an Echo gt 22ges that also has been a perfect machine for 10 years or so. Neither of them have needed a thing done to them apart from cleaning them up after use. Of course, now that I have said that...haha
When I used to live in Perth I always used to borrow a mates stihl line trimmer, can't remember the model but it was a commercial grade unit and very good.
The thing that always annoys me with line trimmers and I don't know if this is just me but one seems to spend 5 minutes trimming and 15 minutes mucking around with the line on the spindle as it gets stuck, loading more, feeding more etc
Ted, I detest line trimmers I usually refuse to work on them but every now and then somebody slips one in here wanting me to get it working. Usually after spending several hours getting them running or fighting with the bump feed they usually end up in the scrap pile anyway
I had this problem (and many others) with the Ryobi weed wasp I used before the echo. Constant battles one way or the other, line feeds blocking and jamming, engine suffering strokes, changing fuel lines and go know what else.
I swore never to buy cheap crap after that, and hearing a few people I know rave about these little echo trimmers, I decided to get one. Best decision I ever made. Reliable running, easy replacement of line (I do this after every 2 mowing sessions) and I stress this last point; don't buy cheap crap line. Get some decent quality line and use it. Its lasts longer and doesn't seem to jam at all.
Just checked product review for the echo gt 22ges. 5 out of 5 stars. You can't go wrong with something written on the internet...
Hi Sapper the bloody weed wasp, I spent hours the other day fighting with the line feed it would spin out and and jam the head causing the motor to load up. In the end I just gave up, something is very wrong with the setup.
Yeah I got sick of fighting it. After a while, the plastic inside the bump head gets frayed and let too much out. And the cutting blade on the guard gets old and blunt, so the cord wraps around the shaft. I still have it as a backup, but apart from a few uses to keep it in order, it hasn't been needed since I got the echo, thank christ.
I had this problem (and many others) with the Ryobi weed wasp I used before the echo. Constant battles one way or the other, line feeds blocking and jamming, engine suffering strokes, changing fuel lines and go know what else.
I swore never to buy cheap crap after that, and hearing a few people I know rave about these little echo trimmers, I decided to get one. Best decision I ever made. Reliable running, easy replacement of line (I do this after every 2 mowing sessions) and I stress this last point; don't buy cheap crap line. Get some decent quality line and use it. Its lasts longer and doesn't seem to jam at all.
I agree, you wouldn't expect so much power from 21.2cc engine - but they just go
The speedfeed heads which you wind up are pretty good in my opinion - the later ryobi speed feeds are good as well. Much of the issue I have found is using more than 2 mm line - I had 2.4mm in my ryobi on sunday, and had to manually advance. Ryobi recommend 2.0mm line.
Originally Posted by Mowerfreak
Might stick with my old late 1980s Tillotson carbed Ryobi lawn hornet with blower attachment. Annoys the neighbours but effective.
I did find a Ryobi blower vac once with the chunky outlet and Ryan engine (same design as lawn hornet) but never got around to trying to get it going. The cynic in me didn't believe I could make it run. Long gone now. Wish I still had it. Would have been a fun tinker.
I saw one just like the orange one in the last pic in my local Home hardware recently going for $162 and was toying with getting it. Not there now.
If it was that price MF, it probably would have been the Parklands (or maybe Morrison or Yardforce) knock off as well - same weight as the aldi one, but aldi was $99. If it was echo, that would have been a great deal.
Go down to bunnings, and see if (at the far back of a shelf), they have one of the split shaft curved blowers. It sounds like you already have one, but they have been discontinued. They are now on "Stage 3" clearance - I got one for $12. no, not a misprint - apparently there are 4 left in WA
Thanks for that valuable info Tyler. You jogged my memory, it was branded Yardman. Glad I didn't pay their price when Aldi had the same thing so much cheaper. Is the original Echo lighter weight?
They're till selling those split shaft blowers??? I wonder if it would fit my late 1980s Ryobi shaft? Yep that's what I have but the original green one they were selling in the late 80s when this concept of optional split shaft attachments was a big new thing. I remember my local mower shop saying not to get them they are sold department stores and not serviced by them etc, but I was so impressed by their looks and chunky engine size I decided to take the plunge anyway. We had to wait weeks for our next tier up Weed Hornet with the primer bulb and more fancy engine cover. Fleur were so popular. In later years I saw them indeed appear in mower shops for repairs and services lol! Ours proved a reliable machine after we received it from Grace Bros in 1989. The split shaft was handy for transportation and the bump head on these early model Ryobis worked well. It seems the later the models got, the worse they became. The early Ryan blocks were better quality IMO. Those dreaded easy pull start blocks which used a slot cut into the bore were not as good. I found my blower attachment in a rubbish skip behind a mower shop along with a tiller attachment. They looked like they'd never been used, still with the yellow plastic storage hooks on their ends. I don't know what happened to the tiller. I may have thrown it out in my last move as I hardly used it but it worked great with the Ryan's low end torque and the tiller gearbox.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
We have a Shindaiwa t230x trimmer and its absolutely fantastic, although ive never fitted to steel blade, the line trimmer head cuts though just about anything. Very impressive commercial machine with typical Japanese build quality.
