Your are right humbleman when dealing with grass and not weeds you need little power so any of the cc above will trim grass just fine. actually you wouldn't want to run the trimmer wide open anyway, use just enough power/RPM to cut the grass and NOT wear down the line real fast, you can also use low power or RPM to let the trimmer line whip in and out of chain link fence without cutting the line off as it would if you use high rpm for that task. I seldom run my trimmers at full throttle to trim grass or weeds. IMO the faster you run it the quicker the trimmer line wears down or breaks off, so in IMO you won't have to put new line in or on that often....

Hi,

I think that extra power in a trimmer is OK. The issue is weight. I have a Honda and it is 31 cc. I use it with a heavier line 0.105 inch. I have never used a saw blade with it. So long as you are happy weight wise then I would go for a more powerful one. The honda I use to hack weeds too.

I saw your other posts too. I think straight shaft is better unless you really like the curved shaft ones. A curved shaft tends to have more wear, because you have to transmit that power round a corner. The other thing I was apprehensive about a curved shaft is that the spinning head is nearer you. When you cut lots of debris tends to be spun off. You want to be away from that safety wise.

No matter with trimmer you end up buying I recommend also getting the following items:

1) Eye protection, goggles. Essential in my view. CHeap $US 3.00 Home Depot
2) Ear muff hearing defenders. Cheap about $US 10-16 Home Depot
3) Old baseball hat to keep all that grass out of your hair :)

Warmest regards, Mike.

One equipment manufacturer uses the phrase "Less Weight Feels Great" and I am starting to believe it. A quality 20-25 cc unit will be ample. You may want to consider an edger to edge with, or a combination system of a wacker and edger.

Hi!

Thank you so much for not dumping on me for asking
so many questions. I think I am going to get a
Stihl FS 55 gas line trimmer and buy a spool of
.105 line for it. Yes, I agree, straight shaft is
the way to go and like you suggested, make sure
you are well protected while operating that grass flaying machine.

Thanks again,

humbleman

Make sure you have a head that can take .105 line. I wonder how well the FS-55 will be able to drive that size head. Someone else would have to comment on that, I thought Stihl used to post recommended line sizes about their trimmers. Since they do have a head that will fit the FS-55 that can take .105 line I assume that it can handle that size line. Check with your dealer to make sure your head will take .105 and if it is recommended. At worst you would have .105 line that you could not use.

Check out the Stihl cutting heads chart

Masiman is on target. A smaller diameter line will also give a cleaner cut in grass. I only would use .105 for ditch clearing. Heavier line puts a little extra strain on the clutch as well.

I never thought about how a smaller diameter line would
give you a cleaner grass cut. Thanks for your very valuable info masiman and weed eater. The Stihl FS 55 uses .095 line. I guess that would be the best way to go unless I should go with an even small diameter. My main concern is
not having to deal with the line breaking constantly.

humbleman

I have the Honda HHT31S 31cc trimmer. I actually gone down to 095 line and I like it better.....Even for cutting tall and thick weeds....waist high stuff. It is just smoother.

I don't think you need a big one for edging either. I think for edging with trimmer, weight is more critical because you will be holding in a straighter position. I can not see you need more power. I saw a lawn guy use a straight trimmer and hold in vertical and walk very fast and the edge came out nice. Lighter the better. Lighter ones are Kawasaki, Husky 326 on the commercial end to Stihl FS55, Shindy home pro. Those are all below 10lbs.

Thanks yungman

humbleman