What Stihl trimmer should I get?

[Sloughfoot]

Desert Extrusion is the manufacturer of all of the “Desert” products of trimmer line. It’s been a minute, but I believe the square line was called Diamond Edge.

X-Line cuts grass better, to be honest. The big square line coming out of the Autocut 40-2 just cut stuff like reeds, pigweed and even stuff like Virgin’s Bower better.

Guess I'll get some X-line.

 

[rpmtim]

Your FS 91 is a 4 mix, that’s why it does not rev as high as a traditional 2 stroke. A muffler mod is not going to give you the return it would with a 2 stroke trimmer.

Haha I'd had completely forgotten about that, and honestly didn't realize the difference when I bought it. Picked it off the rack only because it was the "smallest" trimmer that would run all the blades.
It does run like a 4 stroke, but runs circles around the 4 stroke Troybilt that had just passed away.

 

[Wilhelm]

Small spools white line, true sharp edged square, heavy duty & hard - goes through undergrowth & doesn't break.

Yellow, Husqvarna Penta, star shaped, 5 cornered , kinda soft - cuts really nicely. Will get one OD size up when I use up this spool.

Blue, Dolmar true sharp edged Square-Twisted, silent & very sharp, a bit soft. Unfortunately likes to weld itself within the line head. But a great line for soft grass.

Orange top right, Dolmar "dull" true square. Haven't tried it yet.

The other orange & red lines are all round profile of different OD. Some are quite soft, others rather hard.
They all perform moderately well - no wonder everyone uses them.

Edit:

 

[Inlineforagoodtime]

Haha I'd had completely forgotten about that, and honestly didn't realize the difference when I bought it. Picked it off the rack only because it was the "smallest" trimmer that would run all the blades.
It does run like a 4 stroke, but runs circles around the 4 stroke Troybilt that had just passed away.

10 years ago I went to do a muffler mod on my new fs110. When I took the muffler off all I saw was the exhaust valve. Lol, put the muffler back on and went to the internet to figure out what I had bought.

 

[LAWN BOY]

I haven’t seen anyone mention a Shindaiwa T302. Literally everything on my property is done with it, too many lava rocks for mower. Easily cuts through anything I throw at it.
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I run this line with no problems.
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I have no Shindaiwa sellers near me at all. I’d have to order online or buy used. I love the idea tho and if I did find a Shindaiwa trimmer for sale I’d buy it in almost any condition. However they seem rare around here. I do love Shindaiwa products and have a model 300 chainsaw.

Do you like that oregon gator line? I have a spool of the .85. I don't like it at all. It breaks off way too easy. It got good reviews on Amazon but I don't like it.

I use Oregon line in the blue color and love its durability and all.

I have a FS91R, depending on how you are going to use it, it has the option for bike handles (FS91) for about $40 more. I like the ability to swap between trimmer head or metal blades. If you are going to be using it for a while at a time, I recommend the backpack strap over the sling strap. I also have an EGO trimmer which is battery operated. My wife doesn't like using gas trimmers, but really likes the EGO. It also has an easy loading string head that allows you to feed in a length of line half way and then hit a button on the head and it sucks it in. Ready to use in about 30 seconds.

I don't care for the FS94 with the adjustable trimmer speed, I can adjust speed with the trigger just fine.

Okay Thanks for letting me know what the speed adjustment is for, lol, I haven’t found it useful just like you, I mean the throttle works just fine like you said

 

[LAWN BOY]

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That’s cool Bill. I do want a brush cutter as well.

 

[LAWN BOY]

I’m sorry for forgetting about this thread, must’ve missed a notification. Anyways, I started using the new Stihl FS91 brush cutter with bike handle at work and love it. It’s so much better than a weed whacker for thistles and burdock. Eventually I’ll Ave to buy one. As far as weed whackers go, I would definitely buy a Shindaiwa if one came up for sale locally, but they are rare around here like I said.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Much as I love my Echo and Shindaiwa stuff, I think my next one is going to be an FS-91 with bike handles.

 

[hacskaroly]

I started using the new Stihl FS91 brush cutter with bike handle at work and love it. It’s so much better than a weed whacker for thistles and burdock.

It is good that you are getting to experience the FS91. Just remember if you feel that you might need more power for what you are doing (your personal use), the FS 111 and 131 are just steps up in power from the 91. They all use the same trimmer heads and blades. If you go into any of the professional trimmers above the 131 then the arbor size changes and you will have to get different blades due to the arbor size difference)

 

[Bill G]

That’s cool Bill. I do want a brush cutter as well.

I have a FS350 I might be persuaded to sell.

 

[Bill G]

It is good that you are getting to experience the FS91. Just remember if you feel that you might need more power for what you are doing (your personal use), the FS 111 and 131 are just steps up in power from the 91. They all use the same trimmer heads and blades. If you go into any of the professional trimmers above the 131 then the arbor size changes and you will have to get different blades due to the arbor size difference)

True but easy to work around. The smaller homeowner machines use a 25.4mm bore (1 inch) The larger professional models use a 20mm (0.787") bore. Although O-chit would not advise it you can easily use a 25.4mm bore blade on a 20mm machine with an adapter washer. I do it.

 

[full chizel]

I had a nice FS 250 but someone needed it more than i did and helped themselves to it. My fault for having it in the bed of my truck.

 

[Bill G]

I had a nice FS 250 but someone needed it more than i did and helped themselves to it. My fault for have it on the bed of my truck.

Wait till the meth head bastards bust out a window in one of your rental properties you are working on and steal your tools. Flickin theives

 

[HokieJoe]

As has been stated, in my opinion the best trimmer Stihl ever made was the FS 75/80/85 line. The new ones just aren't very great. Redmax would be another good look.

Eh, I've got Stihl trimmers. No problem whatsoever with them.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

I bought a fs56 a few years ago because it was convenient. Every hardware store around here sells stihl. It runs good and cuts good but it's very uncomfortable for me to use. I was at my brother in laws and he was using his echo. It's much more ergonomic than my stihl. I wish I would have waited and got an echo.

I love my fs56 honestly bought it to replace my fs 46 that ran 20 years before cable drive broke. 56 is 5-6 years old starts on 2-3 pulls cold all the time only negative is it’s only a weed trimmer can’t run a brush head.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Do you like that oregon gator line? I have a spool of the .85. I don't like it at all. It breaks off way too easy. It got good reviews on Amazon but I don't like it.

Soak it in water, the nylon is probably too old and dried out. It will become more pliable and not break as easily after it’s soaked.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

My 2 cents. I bought a used FS45 curved shaft years ago and it has had it‘s share of issues. I have probably spent enough on it to buy a new one and then some. Although used, disappointed with it when compared to their chainsaw quality. The Milwaukee straight shaft electric has been good other than getting rid of the head it came with and replacing it with a Husqvarna one. Based on research done here I started using the Echo black diamond line this year, it lasts and performs well.

That’s crazy you’ve had issues with the fs45/46 series, they were sold by the semi load up here and 90% of the issues they had were self inflicted. I bought my mom one for their lake place that was all rocks and hills. It ran 8 hours a weekend for close to 20 years than something happened to the carb. Something inside the carb fails and they won’t take a rebuild but later on Stihl came out with a cheap replacement carb for like 45$ so I put one on it and my brother used it another 5/6 years till shaft snapped finally. Mom went through one easy wind head a year from pounding on the rocks to feed line out. This said I do agree echo is a good option if you have dealers around unlike us yes you can order on line and odds are you won’t need warranty but if you do where you bringing it too.

 

[stretch5881]

Okay. I don’t have many ECHO dealers near me, Stihl is everywhere.

There is an Echo dealer on the west side of Wausau. Home Depot also sells Echo.

 

[Joe Kidd]

SRM-225 is my fav.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I ended up with a bike handle FS-91 as I got 15% off the end of season sale price. I think the 4 mix is the way to go if you're mowing instead of just trimming. It will never have a line head on it as I have other machines for that. This one will be for mowing with a weed blade in areas that I can't use the push or riding mower.