Why keep throwing hard earned money away?

If you're not happy with the cheapo Craftsman, you're going to be really disappointed with the Homelite (or Weedeater or Ryobi or others). You need to add another Ben Franklin and look at the Echo GT-200 or similar Stihl FS-45; or bump up to the $200 class like a straight shaft Echo SRM-210 or Stihl FS-55.

Also, I suggest you buy Echo thru a dealer rather than HD. Echo's wholesale pricing allows dealers to be competitive with HD, and they provide better set-up and after sale service. Stihl only sells thru dealers, and they're competitive with Echo, Tanaka, Redmax and the other pro and semi-pro brands.

Agree with the other posters. I have had both a Homelite Mighty-Lite AND now a Craftsman Professional (although I struggle to understand what "professional" would ever tolerate or pay for this piece of work), and both have left me ready to pitch them into the retention pond adjacent to our lot on COUNTLESS occasions. I am no mechanic, but have learned to tear down and clean out carburetors more times than I care to recall in spite of vigorous care and routine maintenance. Stick with one of the better-quality models. Will cost you more upfront, but reduce the headaches in the long-run.

I don't know much about new Homelite products. Thier old products are outstanding in my opinion. I use a little WeedEater SST25 Featherlite straight shaft. Once you tune them they start easy and run great. I would get the the little Homelite, I like to make the cheaper stuff run right, take care of it, and it will last a long time.

I will add another vote for Echo. I have 3 of their products and they are all excellent. I have the GT200i trimmer and it works great.

Echo would be fine. I would like an 8-9lb trimmer. What do these GT-200 run? Why avoid the Home Depot Echos? ARe they a cheapie version?

Nothing wrong with Echo equipment at Home Depot. Problem is that Home Depot won't set it up, show you how to run, etc. Also, if the Echo needs service, HD will tell you to go to an "Authorized" dealer for warranty or any other service.

Then you'll be complaining on this forum because the dealer will put his regular customer, who bought from him, ahead of you if the shop is busy. Of course, the guy at HD making $9.00/hr will be lucky if he knows how to use box cutters to open the carton your Echo was shipped in.

As for GT-160, Home Depot gets $169, which is generally where the independent dealers price. Same is true if you go upmarket to a straight shaft SRM-210 at about $200 or so.

I recently decided that I'd had enough with the consumer grade power tools and started researching this subject myself. I'd been using a mccolloch gas trimmer and a poulan pro (what's pro about it?) p446t with attachments and wanted something more. I looked at echo, tanaka, shindaiwa and stihl. I ended up getting the stihl km 90r kombisystem and now I'm wondering why I waited so long to do it. The stihl exudes quality and power and it never bogs even at part throttle because it's gotta go through 3 tanks to break in. The stihl dealer is helpful and always stocks replacement parts. Go to a big box store and try to find a replacement part. If you are truly looking for a tool that will last you for many years to come then stop looking at consumer grade stuff.

You have convinced me to get better trimmer. I took a look at the Echo at HD. They didn't have the GT-200 series, though.