Sthil or Honda Brush-cutter???

[ventureoverland]

OK guys, thanks for all the info, advice and words of wisdom. Generally it seems to be a split decision.

So heres the rub... Ive paid my money and made my choice!

Ended up going for the Stihl FS 94 RC brushcutter and the Stihl BG 86 C blower.

Why? Well it came down to a few simple things...
1. The local Stihl dealer is open 7 days a week, the local Honda dealer 5.5
2. Brushcutter is lighter than Honda
3. Blower has nearly 30% more volume of air flow and flows faster

I ended up spending $50 more on the 94 RC as that supposedly has the most modern of the engines in the brush cutter range. Choke is more like a switch. Turn and push, pull (twice this morning from cold), let it run for 10s and then press throttle & away you go. Pressing the throttle automatically releases the choke. Apparently you can press the prime bulb thingy all day and it won't flood it.

The blower has this choke mechanism also.

All in all Im very happy.

However, the guy in the shop suggested that I should swap out the auto-feed wire thingy that comes as standard for the tap-to-feed unit - He said the auto-feed was a PITA. This was a no-cost thing, so I did, but after using it today I think I'll be going back to the shop tomorrow and getting my auto-feed back. I do like the tap to feed when it works, I found myself very quickly listening to the head, tap, listen to the change, tap again if need be etc. Its great... when it works. The problem I found was that the bloody thing keeps getting stuck and wont feed the nylon out; I was constantly taking off the head, un-jamming it and putting it back together again.

The wire in the push-to-feed head is as wired by the dealer, not me, so I assume its spooled on properly.

I understand that the auto-feed unit can only use 2.4mm nylon whereas the tap-to-feed unit can take 3mm at a push, 2.7mm easy.

As for the increased noise of the 2 stroke over the 4, well I always use ear-muffs anyway so it doesn't really bother me.



Finally then, any thoughts on the push-to-feed? I know people have said its a PITA, but nobody has said why. Is my experience today the norm?

Thx
J

[ventureoverland]

Quick update on the "tap-to-feed" head...

I went back to the dealer and spoke to them about my problems. In fairness they were very good about it and said that the problem is largely due to users not tapping enough!

According to the dealer, the nylon needs to be kept long, not doing so increases friction and as the friction increases the heat builds up in the nylon, runs down the it into the head and sticks to adjacent strands of nylon, then breaks off at one side of the aluminium eyelets.

Personally Im not sure I agree with the friction and short nylon bit. I suspect whats actually happening is the heat gets built up at the end of the nylon, however long it is. When its longer there is more of it to dissipate the heat into without causing a problem. When its shorter the heat dissipates into adjacent strands and becomes a PITA.

Anyway, whatever's going on, keeping the cable longer is definitely better and when in grass and weeds its fine. Now to figure out how to stop it being a PITA when I'm working around the rockery


Oh, and as for the blower... thats great too. Lots of air movement and made light work from blowing all the composted mulch out of my gutters

[Pearo]

Quick update on the "tap-to-feed" head...

I went back to the dealer and spoke to them about my problems. In fairness they were very good about it and said that the problem is largely due to users not tapping enough!

Yup, this is what I do and never have problems. Tap every couple of metres and more if you at edging a chain wire fence or concrete edges.

[malb]

According to the dealer, the nylon needs to be kept long, not doing so increases friction and as the friction increases the heat builds up in the nylon, runs down the it into the head and sticks to adjacent strands of nylon, then breaks off at one side of the aluminium eyelets.

I learnt very quickly that you need to run the longest possible lines to prevent premature breakage. I suspect that the issue is more related to flexing at the eyelet than friction between line and and ground or grass etc. I run my lines at about 300mm each and can trim along 150m of ag and paling fence with a single release along the way. Because of the line length, and only using maybe the last 30-40mm of line to do the actual cutting, the line between the eyelet and the cutting zone absorbs a lot of the flex and shock, so the line at the eyelet is not working anywhere near as hard and doesn't suffer from the heat buildup from flexing that a short line would. I rerigged the guard so it sits further back from the head to allow the greater line length.

[ventureoverland]

Thanks for the replies. The problems were definitely user error! I was trying to use it like I've used every other brush-cutter over the past 20years. By keeping the nylon longer and tapping more frequently, it brilliant. I don't think I'd go back to the old-school spools now!

Thx
J


Thx
Jon

[Poppa]

I too have learnt how to use my Honda effectively. And I can even reload the spool with only a small amount of swearing. Only trouble is that my wife now wants me to actually use it regularly to trim the edges. The cheek of it.

[cava]

Only trouble is that my wife now wants me to actually use it regularly to trim the edges. The cheek of it.

You too?

[old1955]

I'm with a couple of the others absolutely hate bump feeds. Finished up getting one from Alex Brushcutter heads. Best thing I've ever done.

(I have no connection to Alex Brushcutter Heads just a happy user).

Ross

[cava]

Any update on your impressions on the Stihl whipper snipper?

As I have put off getting a replacement for the Honda for so long, it now looks as if I have to get a replacement ASAP.