Stihl SH-86CE Product review

[exotion]

I bought my Stihl sh86 a few months ago it was the most powerful handheld blower advertised. I decided to get the shredder vac model thinking I could find a use for the extra feature.

The blower is fantastic it has the power I need. After a lot of use I am starting to notice a few things it has never once started on the first pull but always started untill the other day it took forever to get it started in the midst of trying to start it I notice when i pushed the primer it wasnt filling with fuel thinking it was starving for fuel I loosened the cap where you could hear the pressure escape and a bit of fuel sprayed out. To much pressure? Soon after i got it started I inspected the cap it appears to not be the venting type wondering how air is allowed into this machine I took the air filter housing off and saw the little vent. It appeared clean and It started up and worked later that day it did it again Kinda strange anyone have an opinion of whats this is?

The shredder vac attachment is basically useless for commercial application my original thought was for small jobs I could switch it over and use it. It takes at least 5-10 mins to switch over the tubes to vac mode and the plastic fan guard you need to put a tiny screw drive and pry the thing open seems like a bad idea if someone was actually going to use this feature alot that the plastic tab would eventually break.
I did try it out tho and it does a fantastic job of shredding leaves it took a very long time to actually fill the bag. Down side I noticed is that you need to be right on the leave to suck it into the tube and doing so allows the machine to suck up alot of dirt to. over time I think this will dull the blade, it also clogged the smaller tube leading to the bag a few times which takes even more time to disconnect the tube getting a stick or screwdriver to unclog it and reattach it. Basically for me I am just going to grab a rake and a bucket.

The other little features such as the cushioned grib and the vibration thing makes it easier to hold for a long period of time these things I never thought I needed but I was very wrong... This product changed my view on equipment and I think I will be slowly upgrading to stihl equipment if nothing else for the shear power of it.

My echo equipment which I take very good care of is disapointing me not by performance but the carburetor is junk. My first weedeater the carb died last year I just happened to have another one. And this year the edger i bought brand new this time last year the carb is showing the same symptoms I think when my PE225 dies I am buying the FC 110... and then I will be upgrading my trimmer to.

I highly recommend this product except the starting issues... I need to get that worked out before I actually sell my old echo PB2100

 

[Ric]

Your starting issues can be fixed by leaving the primer bulb alone, stop using it, just flip on the choke and pull the starter rope until it fires, then flip off the choke and it will start. That's pretty common on the Stihls. I know it says in the book to use the primer bulb and pump it five time even if there's gas in the bulb but ever time I did that it floods the machine. If you do what the book calls for and it doesn't run pull the spark plug and I'll bet you find it soaked.

 

[exotion]

I will most certainly try that tomorrow. I know I hardly ever used the echo primer bulb. And I don't think I've ever used the echo blower primer I remember because I was cleaning it one day and was surprised to find one .

 

[Mad Mackie]

I retired my 86 several years ago when I bought a BR 600 back pack unit, lots more airflow!
I also found the vac almost useless and soon stopped bringing the vac components in my trailer to jobs.
The pressure in the fuel tank is normal and the fuel cap is not vented, if it was, fuel would drip out during operation. I ran it for 10 years, did have to replace the carb once, and also had to replace the ignition switch twice.
None of my Stihl or Husqvarna hand held equipment has a vented fuel cap. My 86 was never a quick starting machine and I usually had to give it a quick choke to get it to full RPM unless it was hot.
Mad Mackie in CT

 

[exotion]

Ya backpacks destroy hand held in stats. But I don't want a backpack right now just not feasable for what I do. I needed a handheld that gave me as much power as it could and that's what this dose

 

[Ric]

Ya backpacks destroy hand held in stats. But I don't want a backpack right now just not feasible for what I do. I needed a handheld that gave me as much power as it could and that's what this dose

You say a backpack wouldn't be feasible for what you do now but in reality it would do everything you need it to do now as well as everything you may do in the future. Your theory will cost you more money in the long run to buy two blowers when you could have done everything just buying one backpack and using the pb-2100 echo you already have for a back up.

 

[exotion]

My echo is on its last leg. Lost compression rings are leaking and carb is tired. Needs rebuilt its currently on my winter project shelf.

While I agree a backpack would be one more piece of equipment I need to make room for on the trailer. A hand held is perfect grab pull cord blow put back. I Will need a backpack later on but I definately needed to replace the echo so I figured I would get the most out of it.

 

[Mad Mackie]

No doubt about the 86 being the strongest handheld unit available. I had picked up several customers that have large paved parking lots, so I went with the backpack unit. It still takes me about 30-40 minutes to blow down the larger parking area with the backpack. When there are vehicles in the parking areas, I take pics of the cars, having been accused of damaging a vehicle that actually wasn't there one time when I did the lot. I eventually dropped that account which has 7 residents all of which are "dirt bags"!!! Tough to do guard rail damage to a car with a backpack blower made of plastic!!! All of my current customers are great folk which makes life more pleasant!!
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

 

[exotion]

Thanks ric! Your advice was spot on started up all day long no problems. It does sometimes want to idle for a few seconds before you go to fill throttle when its warm have to play with the throttle for a few seconds to get it going full again.