Strimmer time!

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Looking for recommendations on buying a strimmer, either electric or petrol.
I've been using my dad's old flymo one which is great but after reading alot of reviews online about new ones I'm baffled.

Currently have a petrol mower which was given to me by the neighbour which is an old focus diy one and it's still running great!

I did actually buy a qualcast 450w strimmer from Argos yesterday but it's really flimsy compared to my dad's flymo at a similar price. It also won't auto feed very well so it's on its way back at the weekend.

I'm swayed more to petrol (an electric strimmer would probably be ok just but i like the portability without having to charge it)

Any recommendations would be great!
 
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Fancy one that's easy to start? Honda UMK is the one.....straight shaft for a brushcutter conversion, four stroke engine that's very quiet.
The spool ( bump type) is dead easy to rewind, too.
John :)
 
Thanks John. It looks a sturdy piece of kit but it's still quite expensive isn't it! It's definitely one to bare in mind for me but ideally the original budget after spending 40 quid on that qualcast hunk of crud, i was looking in the region of sub 200.

Cheers
 
It is - I buy these because they are tough enough to 'loan' (read hire) out!
For sure you can buy petrol stuff from B&Q or whatever and they are good enough for what they are, but they are two strokes and can be more temperamental to start after a while.
Largely this can be overcome by using a special fuel called Aspen (Stihl and Husqvarna do one too.) This doesn't contain ethanol and is good to use even after a few years of storage.
John :)
 
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I've got a Qualcast petrol strimmer . Same as sold in Argos and Homebase . 6 years old and still going strong ( and noisily) All it's needed is a spark plug and a new fuel pipe as the original cracked. I'm wondering if those 5 in 1 strimmers on Ebay for around £100 are any good...
 
I've often thought the same with the screwfix titan strimmers. Alot 'rate' them but a few reviews refer to them as Micky mouse metal. Other thing with those are the spares are non existent if something breaks.
Definitely want an established brand. Just dunno if I'm going too overboard with buying one so expensive. (But you do get what you pay for)

Do you know what the Honda UMS mods are like?
 
The UMK models are four stroke, wet sump motors so they use ordinary unleaded fuel but you add oil through a cap on the crankcase (and change the oil every year) - they hold only a cupful anyway.
If the model has a curved shaft, its a strimmer. If the shaft is straight, its a strimmer / brushcutter. The latter is the stronger machine as its driveshaft is solid rather than the spinning cable of the strimmer. Both machines have a centrifugal clutch - which you don't get on B&Q specials.
All models have a primer bulb to help with a cold start, and setting the choke lever also sets the throttle so all you have to do is to pull the recoil starter a few times.
The machines come with a back harness and cow horn handlebars and they are comfortable for an hours use. Replacing the 3.2mm line is dead simple as you use one length of line which is halved in the middle and would onto the spool - which distributes the line when you bump the spool on soft ground.
Alternative machines are Husqvarna and Stihl - both excellent makes with the same spares back up as Honda.
Both my models came from Screwfix - sorry I don't know the model number as I'm not at home at the moment.....but they are a few years old anyway.
John :)
 

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