Topic: Petrol strimmers

[posie]

Ok Argos have a 30cc Spear and Jackson grass trimmer for £59.99.  It has 1hp, 40cm cutting width and a low vibration 2 stroke engine.

I know nothing about petrol strimmers, but it's clear my cordless rubbish one from B&Q isn't going to work up the lottie, there's just not enough battery strength or power in it.

Does this one sound ok?  I'm limited cash wise so can't really go above this.

The cordless one I have at the moment is a B&Q own brand and is something stupid like 18v - which i think is about 250w possibly. 

Am I going to be buying a better one or is there going to be no difference?

[FRY]

Hi all new to all of this but we use sthil strimmers & found the to be the best might cost a bit more but last a lot longer & will still run after the others have died  :)

[posie]

Welcome and hello Fry and thanks for the advice.

[Ant]

I have the Ryobi One cordless strimmer and its great. Once you have the majority strimmed down and are just doing maintenance I can get round the whole plot easily.

Might be a bit out of your budget though at £80 for the strimmer, charger and 2 batteries (18v)

Regarding battery voltages, the important value is the battery's Amp Hour (aH) rating as this os a much better indicator of how it will last. Unfortunately, very few sites list this info, not all 18v batteries are created equally  :)

[posie]

Well I can tell you Ant mine lasts 20 minutes on a full charge so just isnt up to the lottie unfortunately.

[betula]

Posie, we have bought this one from Argos.It is still in the boxLOL but I will let you know what it is like ,hopefully soon ;D

[posie]

lol - cheers Betula, planning on getting it on friday all being well, so we may well be finding out together!  Need to get it sooner rather than later or I can guarantee the money will end up getting spent elsewhere!

Anyone know how much petrol I'd need for it??  I really am rubbish with this stuff and Argos doesn't tell you that bit!

[compo49]

try netto's if you have one offer on at moment £39.99/spare spools £1.99 (limited stock)about same comparison Compo49

[Ant]

the tank capacity on petrol strimmers is about a pint  :)

[posie]

Oh cool!  I think there's a Netto's in Cardiff somewhere.  thanks Compo.  Edited to say - Hmmm maybe not.....I remember we used to have one in Barry but now the nearest is in Kidderminster!  Oh well......

Cheers for that Ant.

I love this site - you can guarantee no matter how obscure the question, somebody somewhere will have the answer! lol

[ACE]

the tank capacity on petrol strimmers is about a pint  :)

If you are new to these things, don't forget  the two stroke oil to mix with the petrol.

Make sure you use the goggles that are usually supplied with the strimmer. Also no bare arms or legs.

A little cheapie is just what you need as you will only use it 8 to 10 hours a year, just make sure you do not leave any fuel in the tank or carb when you store it. Sthil strimmers are for serious work and I would not use anything else, but as I said, a cheapie should be all you need

[glosterwomble]

Hi Posie, I bought one of those last year from Argos and it is BRILLIANT!! I wrote about it on my blog ...

http://fork-in-hell.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-bought-myself-toy.html

I had used a rechargeable one until then but it used to run out after 10 minutes. This strimmer is great and has an ample big enough tank for the petrol. It comes with a little mixing bottle to mix the oil and petrol to make 2 stroke and also a small bottle of oil to start you off. Go for it, you won't regret it!

[posie]

Well I guess I'll be buying one then!  Thanks for the tips ACE because I can guarantee I wouldn't have done the oil thing lol - now computers I can do, machinery I seriously can't - one day I will learn!

Thanks for all the advice guys.

[Gazfoz]

I bought a Homelite petrol strimmer from b and q.
Took ages to start, then the cord for the pull start snapped. I repaired this myself not an easy task I can tell you but I used to do that sort of thing for a living.
The cord snapped again before I could start the bloody engine.
Into the car, back to b and q for a refund, money back in my bank account.
The photo of the strimmer from Argos looks suspiciously similar to the Homeshite one in B and Q for about the same price.
Cheap strimmers..... Not for me.

[Trevor_D]

We bought a couple of the Spear & Jackson from Argos last year for the Society. I agree, they're good - but if it's only you using it! One of ours is already out of action because the pull cable has broken. (It was actually me wot did it, but it had been used - and mis-used - quite a bit before me, so they don't seem to have much staying power.)

Cheap stuff is OK if it's one careful user, or if you can fix it when it goes wrong.

[Gazfoz]

To my way of thinking, for what we do you need something that you can throw in the car, throw in the garage, throw some petrol into it and off you go for anything between 20 mins to 1 hour plus depending on the time of year and these machines really aren't up to that in my honest opinion.
I wish they were because I am now scratching my head because I don't want to spend £150 plus. I may try a high end battery job if that is cost effective. It would probably need to be Lithium though.

[Ant]

To my way of thinking, for what we do you need something that you can throw in the car, throw in the garage, throw some petrol into it and off you go for anything between 20 mins to 1 hour plus depending on the time of year and these machines really aren't up to that in my honest opinion.
I wish they were because I am now scratching my head because I don't want to spend £150 plus. I may try a high end battery job if that is cost effective. It would probably need to be Lithium though.

My Ryobi with its 2 NiCads will last an hour or so...

Lithium, double the run time, double the cost unfortunately... Maybe invest in the NiCad version, then as the price of the lithium batteries drops, replace the batteries with those? (With the Ryobi One range everything is swappable)

That will be my plan anyway  :)

[Gazfoz]

Hi Ant,
Say hello to sparkly for me.
Have you got a model/price for your ryobi. They aren't bad I seem to remember.
Ta,

Gaz.

[Baccy Man]

Why not get a sickle instead they are a fraction of the price, don't need any fuel, they are just as effective (once you get used to using one) & the only maintenance needed is a spray of wd40 after use to keep the blade clean & rust-free & the ocassional sharpening.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/bristol-reaping-hook/path/garden-hand-tools

[Gazfoz]

Well I for one am frightened of cutting my leg off!!