Hi all,

I got myself a Ryobi whipper snipper which starts ok, however when i rev it to use it it vibrates heavily from the gearbox/shaft outlet to the point it is almost not usable..

any suggestions?

Thanks

There is a good chance the centrifugal clutch between the engine and the output shaft has come apart. Don't use it in that condition, you'll break the crankcase mounting or the plastic at the top of the shaft. Separate the powerhead from the shaft, remove the clutch housing, and take a look at the clutch.

If it's not the clutch it will probably be a failure of the shaft at the bevel gearbox at the bottom of the drive shaft. That usually causes loss of drive rather than unbalance though. If it is a slippage in the drive, focus on the gearbox. If it is a vibration up at the powerhead, but the drive is steady, focus on the clutch.

Thanks Grumpy! Drive is good but there is vibration on the powerhead due to imbalance. if the clutch is broken is this a big fix or relatively minor? both in cost and effort.

A problem with the clutch is more likely to be a broken spring than anything else, and if you shut it down instantly and replaced the spring, there might not be any other damage, and it is a simple ten minute job with just ordinary hand tools. If you've run it like that for a while, chances are the plastic housing around the clutch is a goner.

This thread shows what may have happened (the Atom edger uses an ordinary Ryobi powerhead)

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...rds=stitch+in+time&Search=true#Post32432

its been running like that for a while at least half dozen times.. does this mean a new clutch is in order? what are these worth do you know?

Check the picture of what may have happened, in this thread:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...rds=stitch+in+time&Search=true#Post32432

If the plastic housing has now been eaten like that, I think your trimmer is probably a goner. You need a whole new upper housing.

will check over the weekend and report. Many thanks for assistance!

Here is what you might expect to find, this one has a problem with driving non stop with no disengagement.

Interesting must be a common issue, as I pulled 3 ryobi machines apart today and 2 of them had broken springs...

If it eats that major housing each time a spring breaks, and the springs are defective, there are going to be a lot of Ryobi whipper snippers on junk heaps before long. The broken spring is trivial, what matters is the collateral damage when it happens. The way the design worked in that Atom edger was just crazy, the machine was a guaranteed write off if the leading end of a spring broke (no real damage if it broke at the trailing end).