I’ve been considering the Stihl FS250 and then saw this. It looks a lot like the Stihl functionally but after reading the first review on Amazon, I’ll take a pass.
I wouldn’t be swayed by one lousy review. It is a Tanaka, and it is a 2-cycle, things will last forever if properly used. I’m willing to bet someone didn’t mix the 2-stroke oil/mix incorrectly/used bad gas. Anything else that ‘breaks in 5 minutes’ could be fixed by anyone with a simple set of tools and a little brain smarts.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Stihls are great, too, and if anything broke on me in under a year I’d be wanting a warranty repair.
IF you need a brush cutter, get it. IF you have a .2 acre lot and only need a consumer grade weed eater, go Ryobi, mine’s a beast, and was under 100 bucks with a 3 year warranty.
I bought this a month or so ago when it was offered on Woot! for the same price. I also wrote one of those comments on Amazon about parts falling off during use. I would buy this again even considering my experience with the product. This thing clears my blackberry bushes quickly and with ease. I was going to buy an aftermarket string head anyway because I don’t like the bump feeds. Beyond that, all of my other issues could have been solved with some Loc-Tite on the critical bolts. I had a good experience with Tanaka Customer Service - they sent me all of the parts I asked for, free of charge. And I bought some Loc-Tite for reassembly. I don’t expect any further problems. If you’re in the market for Stihl/Echo, consider this Tanaka. Learn from my experience and the reviews from others and you’ll be happy with your purchase.
How hard is it to pull start? I’m a small woman and have a hard time pulling the cord on my old weedeater. I have 14 acres of hot wire fencing that I need to be able to trim.
My Bump head broke within 10 mins of ownership, but customer service is amazing and based in the USA.
They sent me a new version of the bump head free of charge. Def a good weed wacker 100X better then my Cub Cadet 4 cycle.
The one I purchased, from the previous woot, is a very easy pull start. Plus it has is a priming bulb. The most complicated part is correctly setting the choke. The choke has a special lock, interlocked with pulling the throttle wide open locking the throttle and then releasing it, that keeps the choke engaged. The choke is only needed for the first start, once its warm your good (as it should be!).
The cutter harness may influence your decision. It makes it really easy and light to carry, but does looks a bit ridiculous in suburbia. For the amount the land I am caring for the harness is a justified overkill but its definitely not for everyone.
I am able to start mine while wearing the cutter+harness, but not everyone may be able to.
If you purchase just be sure to have a spare cutter head easily available. Mine shattered within three minutes of use and I had to spend a few hours finding the right part and driving to the big box store to get a new one.
What can I say, Tanaka is a good brand, but received mine last time it was for sale and it was missing the breather tube on the gas tank. Got it fixed at a Tanaka authorized dealer,which was equivalent to a Ferrari dealership, cost me $45. Emailed Woot about it and received NO REPLY till this day!!!
Thanks Woot
Larry B
Ok after reading here I am in for one. I figured it would probably cost me at least $100 to get my Ryobi serviced as it is currently not running. And I do have a heavy brush grown back yard so this should make short order of the clearing.
I bought one the last time out, so let me describe my experience thus far:
I live on the side of a hill, with the backyard sloping down. There are three terraces: #1 I just replanted with grass. #2 has a few bushes, a bunch of weeds, and pine straw. #3 is basically wild jungle. I got this with clearing #3 in mind.
This thing comes in a huge box, so be ready for that. There is more than a little bit of assembly required, and it isn’t completely easy. Some hints:
Read the directions thoroughly.
Have tools handy
Be patient and take your time. If you follow them well you won’t make the mistake I did by putting the brush cutter on backwards.
It also took me a few tries to figure out the harness, too. Once I did I discovered that (aside from looking a bit silly) it works very well, and holds the machine in a ergonomic position.
There is also a specific starting procedure that is somewhat atypical. First, pump the prime engine prime bulb 10 times. Then close the choke and pull the starter cord 3 times. Then pull the throttle cord halfway and engage the button on the handle which keeps the throttle in the starting position. This also will open the choke. Now pull to start.
I realize that this seems very complicated: writing it is worse than doing it. The point is that the procedure isn’t intuitive.
Once I got this beast going it worked as advertised. This completely cleared all weeds, ivy, brush, and saplings that were growing in the area. That and a bunch of Roundup and it looks much better.
One other thing that may have really helped was that I used Trufuel the first time out:
I am fully confident that it will work with a circular blade, although I have not switched to one yet. This thing is truly a beast and does a pretty good job with the blade that comes with it, but a saw blade would definitely be an upgrade.