New Weed Whacker!

[RogerAS]

Hey Y'All,

Long time no post, so hopefully this will amend that.

Living in the midst of a hardwood forest in the Ozark mountains, and combating the near tropical growth rate of weeds and grasses I need one of these machines. One major reason is to create a zone of opening where the numerous venomous snakes don't care to hunt. This opening surrounding my house also helps us moderate the prodigious insect population, more than half of which want a small taste of human blood. If this undergrowth is not controlled it creates a fuel source in the fall when the leaves are added. So, with these needs one part of our solution is a gas powered string trimmer.

We had a Husky 132R for over 15 years, with abuse as its workaday world. That machine was an old heavy horse with bike handle bars and could not be safely operated without the harness. A couple years ago the carb failed and it did so again last Sunday. The old trimmer was losing compression and just needed retirement. So... today I bought a new trimmer. I went with the Stihl FS70 RC like the one pictured below. Supposedly these are the industry leaders in low fuel use.



What I can say about mine is that it is a very smooth and extraordinarily powerful machine that is very light and nimble. I find the engine easy to start and the shutoff switch is pretty cool. I have run about 3 tanks of fuel and it seems to be getting better power and less vibration as it breaks in. While this impression is early in the ownership phase, and the "new" factor must be considered, I like the way it works.

I also looked at the Echo, Shindaiwa and Husky trimmers. I have read that all of them are great machines in the light end of the professional models. The Echo just seemed too bare bones, or more like a dirt bike. I didn't hear it run but I imagined more noise. The Shindaiwa felt heavy, or out of balance. The Husky that I needed was the 335 and I can't see where the price they ask for that trimmer is justified. I liked the idea of a network of dealers I have used in the past when dealing with my Stihl chainsaws. I paid $302.XX and the dealer threw in a big spool of line and 2 big bottles of gas mixing oil (enough for 5 gal of fuel).

The modernization Sthil has put into this product is amazing. I actually like the loop handle as opposed to the handle bars. I find this combination of higher power to weight with more nimble handling to be just what this old dude needs to face another boiling summer of keeping some of mother nature at bay.

Some of you may not agree with the idea of a fossil fuel powered machine doing this at all. Fair enough, but my carbon footprint is very small. I do not use any electricity I do not create. I am running all our electrical loads, today, on 100% solar and wind. I have not consumed one drop of fossil fuel to power my house for the past 36 days. The gas I burn in this little 27 CC engine falls well sort of the average total carbon most folks produce when they toast bread every month.

Some may not agree with the wanton whacking of botanical life, and the tiny little bugs hiding therein. My wife and I love the environment and proactively act to minimize, or positively influence, our impact. Did I mention the bugs wanna eat us? My wife has formed rock walled terraces for flower beds and her experiments wild extant angiosperms. One of these is the cultivation of wild Spigelia marilandica ("Indian pink" (s): woodland pinkroot)(not her photo);



I don't attempt to control an entire forest, but less than a half acre at most. We have a healthy population of frogs, lizards, toads, and other delicate life forms. Butterflies, bees and a million other insects allow us to live only because they do not form a collective. Were I to die and this place were not maintained the forest would claim it soon enough.

I'm a child of a time when there was cheap gas distilled from the best crude to extreme octane ratings burning in high compression push-rod engines. My tiny little machine uses the same poison, but very very little. I could be ripping the woods up with a dirt bike with no constructive benefit. I really don't think my environmental impact is nearly as intense as most people living in a technologically advanced society, and far far less than the vast majority of my peers.

Besides, it's sortta fun to turn a grove of polk (southern US weed) into green mush with one sweep of the magic wand.

RS

[Ronmar]

Good string trimmer.  We have 2 of them at work.  I have 3 older homelites that will keep me in trimmers for a long time to come, but when they fail, I will get a Stihl..