Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I am choosing/deliberating/agonizing among a few different replacements for my electric trimmer and edger duo.  I desparately want to ditch the cord, and the split-boom (attachment) setups are appealing.  The candidates I'm looking at currently are:

• Echo SRM 210SB
• Echo PAS 230
• Echo PAS 260
• Stihl KM-55R
• Stihl KM-110R

My only concern is that, to the best of my knowledge, all of these are cable drive.  Is this correct?  For "regular" household use, does this matter?  I won't be clearing shrub or anything with it -- just edging sidewalks and trimming around flower beds.  The option to add a light-duty tiller or hedge trimmer is nice, but I'm realistic about the functionality versus the respective dedicated equipment.  I would rather go slightly overkill on my choice and not have problems later.  This would be my first foray into gas-powered edgers/trimmers, and I know of several people with "bargain" units that they were replacing annually.

Any insight would be appreciated.  Local dealer sells both Stihl and Echo, and was basically telling me to forget the Echo line altogether.  Not sure if this is because dealer spiff is better from Stihl...

Thanks!

Two pros I work with love their Echo string trimmers - they are medium-prices models.  One of them uses the string trimmer for edging and he's happy with it.   There also is one nearby homeowner who bought the split boom Echo model three years ago; he has nothing but praise for the string trimmer and edger.  I know no one who has any other attachments.  The Stihl reviews are mixed, all from homeowners.  Most like it and but a few are had problems when their dealer dropped the line or Stihl dropped the dealer.    Stihl is not discounted and the company will not allow discounted sales on the web or via eBay.   Shindaiwa has the same problems as Stihl  - in addition to weak dealer network, the machine is too difficult for good repairs, parts impossible, extremely poor factory support (first-hand experience).  Stihl and Shindaiwa are not worth the extra money unless you want the most expensive equipment  and want the dealer to like you  they are not the best buy, but are the most expensive.  If you want a great machine, look at the Honda 4-cycle for $309 on line from www.wisesales.com    For a split  shaft / spilt boom, the Echo is the better choice.   Good luck with whatever you chose.   PS  I am not employed by any of these companies (same for my relatives).

I have several pieces of equipment from Stihl and have been quite happy with all of them, including the gas trimmer with brush blade and tree trimming attachments. I don't have any experience with Echo so I can't comment.

Interestingly enough I was talking to a guy whose father owns a Stihl dealership, here's what he said were the standards that they had to meet to keep their dealership.

1. Yearly factory training for the mechanics, generally about two weeks long;
2. Every unit that is worked on or sold has a log kept of all work and all parts used during servicing;
3. Successfully pass regualar factory audits ( don't remember how often).

The Stihl equipment that I have has all worked very well, any problems have been due to poor maintenance ( turns out you have to change or at least clean a chainsaw air filter more than once every ten years - go figure) or normal wear and tear ( you also have to sharpen the chain every so often). I've never had a problem with parts but then the L&G place I go to is a Stihl dealer and there are others in the areas that I work in.

Others have posted good reports about the the Echo units.

I would suggest looking at how much you expect to use the unit and how much maintenance you intend to do yourself. This will determine how much you will be using a dealer's services. Parts availablility and access to good mechanics might help you choose, good luck.

The specific gas trimmer that I bought was chosen because is had was large enough to handle brush blades and clearing saws. In addition you could get an attachment that would turn it into a small pole saw. I'm glad I got the extra power and the attachments work quite well. In particular the pole saw configuration works quite well, the only problem is the controls aren't quite as convenient as a true pole saw's. So if you are looking at the unit with the intention of also buying attachments try each configuration out before deciding, the devil is in the details and what I'm happy with you might not like.

Most dealers in my area will match or undercut home depot prices.
Dealers also assemble and prep equipment.....HD wont even throw out the box for you.
Dealers will register and keep a service history of your purchase.
Dealers also stock, sell parts and handle any warrenty issues in house.
Although I work in a stihl dealership.......I would have no problem with recommending an Echo product. Either choice is a good one.

I own an Echo PAS 260 and have used it for three seasons.It has been absolutely trouble free.I have the String trimmer attachment along with the Lawn Edger(blade)attachment which will also take the brush blade.I believe the PAS units are only sold through OPE shops and not available in box stores.I'm sure the Stihl is a good piece of Equiptment as well but you can't go wrong with the ECHO.
Marc

I bought an Echo SRM-210SB and the edger attachment today. I based my decision on all the glowing reviews of Echo equipment, as well as the attachment capability. I went from using a B&D cordless GrassHog for 3 years, so a gas trimmer is new to me. All I can say is, "What was I waiting for?" Really, I was waiting for the GrassHog to die, which it yesterday. The Echo started on the first pull and did the trimming in half the time. I haven't used the edger yet.

-Scott

i have an echo from the mid to late 70's that is stil running strong. it is an srm-400e with a serial number of 00000015! the only thing i have had to replace on it other than the general maintainence was the starter spring which tend to go out after a while on any piece of power equipment. i would highly reccomend echo over stihl any day. my expericen with the technitions has also led me to lean toward echo aswell because all the echo dealers and technitions have better atitudes. most of the stihl deals i have run into dont even want to look at anything unless it is a stihl. this is not true with the echo people. both are not going to break on you but echo's last quite a while and are in my book the better bet . i believe they are also cheaper and unlike the srtihl the echo comes with a string head while the stihl you have to by all the heads seperatly. the olny gripe i have( and this may different in your area) is that i have to drive about 30 minuites to get to a repar person. stihl is closer whiere i live. go with the echo.

Just to follow up: my new Echo SRM-210SB is running perfectly. And the edger attachment is great. Highly recommend Echo.

-Scott

Did a google search and found this thread as I am in the market to upgrade me weed eater.  I bought a John Deere model that lasted all of about 3 years.  It was a model with the split boom design.  I purchased several different attachments for it, and now that I am looking at purchasing an ECHO my question is, will the attachments I purchased work with the ECHO?

Hard to say for sure. 

Take one of your attachments to the Echo dealer to see if it is compatible.

 do the locals  sell AND service.   from what ive dealt with in the shop, i would run with an echo.