stihl combi attachment question

[ladylola]

I have the stihl combi KM 90 and use it with the strimmer and hedge cutter attachments. Works fine and I'm pleased with it. I've looked in the catalogue at some of the other attachments and some such as the lawn edger just seem really expensive for what they do. However, the tiller attachment has caught my eye although I can't see it being very effective. It just looks too light to do more than scratch the surface.
Has anyone on here any experience of using one as I'd be interested in hearing how good or bad they are?

 

[Burnerman]

Thats exactly what they are - tillers. They'll happily turn over cultivated soil and remove weeds, but anything approaching rotovator territory then they don't like it. Think of the machine as a high speed powered hoe and you won't be far wrong!
John

 

[ladylola]

Cheers John, I suppose that's what I expected. Have you used one and if so how difficult are they to hold down in the soil? To me they look as if they could do with a concrete block sitting on top to stop it climbing out of the soil.
It crossed my mind about them last week after that spell of dry weather. I was working in a garden that has quite a heavy clay soil that had hardened in the sun and hoeing it was a right pain in the blunt end.
To be honest they are probably a tad too expensive for the amount of work it would get for me personally but it's interesting to know all the same. Funnily enough I spoke to someone in a dealers shop and whilist they hadn't tried the tiller they had used the brush attachments and were very pleased and said they wouldn't go back to the old manual brush again. Now I on the other hand had viewed those brush and sweeping attachments as a bit of a gimmick, but what do I know?

 

[Burnerman]

I don't own one of these personally (hate gardening ) but I've had a few in for repair, so I test them on soil for 1/2 an hour.
Mantis are a popular make, but the Stihl is the same.
For light soil they do work well, but give them too dense earth and they seem to climb out of the hole. Pulling them in just slows the motor down.
For your situation I think I'd hire a rotavator for a day really!
I was impressed with the rotary brush though...I thought it would be useless but it did make short work of a grain covered barn!
John

 

[r896neo]

the blower is also surprisingly powerful.

 

[Porque223]

I don't think Stihl is user friendly: I tried to buy a factory manual for my leaf blower but they refused.
Fortunately a rental place tech told me how to fix the carb on my blower with a sewing needle and he was 100% correct.

 

[ladylola]

John, I've considered a rotovator although not for what I'd use this tiller for.I'd imagined the tiller is really a powered hoe. My father had a couple of rotovators the first a powered wheel two stroke thing that was great after a lot of cussing to get it started and laterly a four stroke briggs and stratton engined jobbie. Unfortunately he got rid of them before he died but he did leave me the manual version oh I still remember those days in my teens beingharnessed to the front pulling it whilist dad guided it at the rear. No child helpline in those days
Here it is-


r896neo , it's funny what I came across when reading up about these tools (the strimmers not the hand plough). Try googling "leaf blowers evil" and see what you come up with

Oh and just one more question for John seeing as you repair these tools , what's likely to fail and what should I look out for?

 

[Burnerman]

I don't think Stihl is user friendly: I tried to buy a factory manual for my leaf blower but they refused.
Fortunately a rental place tech told me how to fix the carb on my blower with a sewing needle and he was 100% correct.

Would that be one of the BG series blowers, Mr. Porque.....dead easy to repair, and the golden rule is to always decoke the exhaust - they are so quiet they block up all the time.
John

 

[Burnerman]

John, I've considered a rotovator although not for what I'd use this tiller for.I'd imagined the tiller is really a powered hoe. My father had a couple of rotovators the first a powered wheel two stroke thing that was great after a lot of cussing to get it started and laterly a four stroke briggs and stratton engined jobbie. Unfortunately he got rid of them before he died but he did leave me the manual version oh I still remember those days in my teens beingharnessed to the front pulling it whilist dad guided it at the rear. No child helpline in those days
Here it is-


r896neo , it's funny what I came across when reading up about these tools (the strimmers not the hand plough). Try googling "leaf blowers evil" and see what you come up with

Oh and just one more question for John seeing as you repair these tools , what's likely to fail and what should I look out for?

The main thing to look out for is actually a blocked up air filter....all two strokes lose a bit of compression and fuel back through the air cleaner on every stroke, so the air filter gets oily and collects all sorts of crap.
Always use clean fuel and don't let any grot get into the tank, and on the top of the tank there's an air admittance valve that needs to be kept clear.
Keep a spare plug handy, use the correct Stihl oil mix and these machines go on for years.
John

 

[Porque223]

I don't think Stihl is user friendly: I tried to buy a factory manual for my leaf blower but they refused.
Fortunately a rental place tech told me how to fix the carb on my blower with a sewing needle and he was 100% correct.

Would that be one of the BG series blowers, Mr. Porque.....dead easy to repair, and the golden rule is to always decoke the exhaust - they are so quiet they block up all the time.
John

Yeah, this one
http://www.google.com/search?client...er-vacs%2Fhomeowner-blowers%2Fbg55%2F;510;233

It would only work at 1/3 throttle and I was considering the ignition module but the parts guy said they sell very few of those so I considered other parts.
Since the jet was restricted I guess it ran lean when the throttle was wide open.
This time instead a needle I'm going to soak the jet in carb cleaner.
I finally realized I don't have to take carb off - there is just enough clearance with the housing to get the piece out.