Buying Advice Need Some Advice About Buying A String Trimmer And Backpack Blower For Next Year

[metz12]

Hi everyone,
I have one season under my belt with my Husqvarna ride on mower, but because I spent so much on the mower I made do with a cordless battery operated Ryobi trimmer which did maybe half the yard before the battery died and an electric corded Toro hand held blower. Both items are grossly underpowered and while they were fine for our old townhouse, they are essentially useless in our new yard. As much as I would love to get an Echo or Stihl or Husqvarna trimmer and blower, I can't justify $200+ for a trimmer I'll use for a half hour twice a month or $400+ for a backpack blower I'll use for a few times in the fall. Sorry for the complaining and rambling, anyway I was at Tractor Supply recently before Christmas and they had Cub Cadet trimmers on clearance. They had a 25CC 2 cycle straight shaft one for $99.99. Would it be adequate or is it garbage? They also had a 50.2CC backpack blower from Jonsered that got to 191mph and 667cfm for $299.99. Is that one any good? I've never heard of Jonsered, is it a house brand? If I was going to splurge on a better brand for one of the items, which is more important a good trimmer or blower? I would rather buy from as dealer over a big box store but I also need to keep my finances in line. I also wanted to mention that I want a trimmer only not one of those head and shaft combos that you can attach a million different tools to.
Thanks for your help in advance,

Dave

johnsered is owned by husqvarna. ive only heard about their chainsaws but the older ones. my dad used to run them back in the day when he used to cut wood for his house. they were a good saw, idk about the new ones or their blowers though. but there is only one way to find out!

 

[jekjr]

The cub cadet trimmer is junk if you only want to spend a &100 get a ryobi I know you said you don't want a combo unit. I use a ryobi about 10 hours a week. It is a good cheap unit.

Have never used a jonsered blower but have not heard anything real bad about them.
You can get a good husqvarna for the same price.

For what you need I would get a handheld blower and get a better trimmer.

I disagree on the Cub Cadet Trimmers. Get the BC 210 Cub Cadet trimmer. It is one size up. I have one that I have run a lot. For a home owner they carry a good warranty. Get the extended warranty and you will have a good trimmer if you keep good gas in it and run it often. We have two. One is down now but there is no telling how many hours it had on it. It is a split pole so you can run all kinds of implements on it. We have used the string trimmer, brush blade, pole saw, hedge trimmers, edger, and even the cultivator on ours. We are switching to All Stihl equipment to run commercially but because of warranty but I would not hesitate to buy the Cub Cadet for home use. Like I said we run them commercially. I fact if they have not sold them when we go back on Tractor Supply I might buy another one off the clearance.

Unless you just have to buy a back pack blower get a Poulan Pro hand held blower. 200 MPH over 400 CFM. Normally they are under $100. We have run gallons of gas through one commercially with no problems other than having to adjust the carb on it which you can have done at any reliable shop.

 

[DPuro329]

With regard to blowers what does mph and cfm mean and what minimum amounts would you want when you buy one? My yard is hilly and has a good amount of trees and pine needles and ideally I would love to blow everything into the woods behind the house. I think I may have missed out with the cub cadet trimmers from Tractor Supply. I was in another Tractor Supply after Christmas and the only trimmer they had left was a weed wacker brand one that a store employee advised against buying. There are a bunch of other locations near me however. Someone at a dealer told me that handheld blowers are mainly good for blowing off sidewalks and they typically aren't powerful enough to clear leaves from yards and I should definitely get a backpack blower. Any thoughts on this? Over the summer I was looking at a stihl trimmer that came with a padded shoulder strap which I liked because I'm not particularly in good shape and I've found trimmers to be heavy after using them for a while.

Dave

 

[Ric]

With regard to blowers what does mph and cfm mean and what minimum amounts would you want when you buy one? My yard is hilly and has a good amount of trees and pine needles and ideally I would love to blow everything into the woods behind the house. I think I may have missed out with the cub cadet trimmers from Tractor Supply. I was in another Tractor Supply after Christmas and the only trimmer they had left was a weed wacker brand one that a store employee advised against buying. There are a bunch of other locations near me however. Someone at a dealer told me that handheld blowers are mainly good for blowing off sidewalks and they typically aren't powerful enough to clear leaves from yards and I should definitely get a backpack blower. Any thoughts on this? Over the summer I was looking at a stihl trimmer that came with a padded shoulder strap which I liked because I'm not particularly in good shape and I've found trimmers to be heavy after using them for a while.

Dave

MPH (Miles per hour) CFM ( Cubic Feet per Minute) It basically means Velocity and Volume of air flow of the blower. What you need depends on the job your doing or debris your moving. What your dealer told you about handheld blowers being mainly good for blowing off sidewalks and they typically aren't powerful enough to clear leaves from yards and you should definitely get a backpack blower is right. With a a good amount of trees and moving pine needles you'll need a blower with a greater CFM/Volume. The Stihl BR 550 or BR600 would be your best bet for the job your trying to do. The 550 is I believe 500cfm with 199mph and the 600 is 712cfm with 201mph. The thing to remember when buying a blower is volume moves debris not mph.

 

[DPuro329]

So then I probably want to look at backpack models with a minimum of 500 cfm and around 200mph?

Dave

 

[Ric]

So then I probably want to look at backpack models with a minimum of 500 cfm and around 200mph?

Dave

You should always buy a blower based on the CFM not mph with or at the tube not the housing, keep that in mind because the housing cfm and mph are inflated figures which are of no use to the consumer. If I were doing or had the job that your describing and had the budget the BR 550 or BR 600 would be my choice, but that's just me.

 

[DPuro329]

Ok, I've started doing a bit more research including visiting a couple dealers. I think I'm going to splurge for decent equipment for both the trimmer and blower. I think around $200 for the trimner and between $350-$450 for the blower. This isnt set in stone as I initially wanted to spend under a grand on my tractor last year and well that didn't happen. In everyone's opinion for string trimmers and backpack blowers, husqvarna, stihl or echo?

Dave

 

[Ric]

Ok, I've started doing a bit more research including visiting a couple dealers. I think I'm going to splurge for decent equipment for both the trimmer and blower. I think around $200 for the trimner and between $350-$450 for the blower. This isnt set in stone as I initially wanted to spend under a grand on my tractor last year and well that didn't happen. In everyone's opinion for string trimmers and backpack blowers, husqvarna, stihl or echo?

Dave

I'm a Stihl Fan so if you're looking to spend $200 on a trimmer I'd go with thr FS 56 RC-E for $219.95 it would be the top of the line Residential unit and for the Back Pack I'd buy the BR 430 Professional unit for $409.95 It will give you a 183 mph with 500 cfm/ air volume and both would probably take care of anything you would need as a homeowner. You could go a little less money on the blower and go with the BR 350 residential unit for $359.95 it's a little less velocity and volume than the 430 @ 168mph and 441 cfm volume. Personally for around my own house I use the BR 200 it gives 132 mph @ 406 cfm it's only $279 and it's plenty for doing drives and sidewalks but if you're going to be moving yard debris then the BR 430 would do the best job for what your spending.

 

[gabowman]

If you buy a husky now all youre getting is a suped up Poulan since they bought out Husky (so my mechanic told me).

 

[Ric]

If you buy a husky now all youre getting is a suped up Poulan since they bought out Husky (so my mechanic told me).

You've got that backwards or your dealer does.The Husqvarna Group purchased Poulan. Husqvarna also provides the lawnmowers and tractors and other yard equipment to Sears that are sold under Craftsman name. Most mid-level Craftsman products are slightly altered Poulan products.

Here's some other stuff The Husqvarna Group owns http://husqvarnagroup.com/en/about/strategy/strong-brands