I am kc8prz (ham call), Mikey. I have been around a long time and I am currently retired thru disability. So hello everyone. Thought I would give my two cents worth on the new Hitachi trimmer, as also found, part for part identical to it's brethern Tanaka. This would be the Hitachi (Deluxe) CG22EASSLP straight shaft grass trimmer with an extra long 60 in. solid steel drive shaft and an anti-vibration system we are to talk about. This is about my 20th trimmer to date with a handful of them being gas. To start with, and get it out of the way, the trimmer is done in a stinky ass, sick looking, slightly grayish tinted, green with gray, black and orange accents on various parts. John Deere looks good in green and Weedeater does green real well too. But this is a very sad shade of green. This shade of green would need lots of vitamines and a psycodilic acid trip to improve it's image. Enough! Now the good stuff.. I tried to find as many of the starting lineup trimmers that the various companies offered and did extensive research on each. Some of the outstanding things about this Hitachi are it's industry leading 7 year warranty for consumers. Also a solid steel drive shaft with a lifetime warranty, as with a lifetime warranty on it's solid state ignition system, according to the service reps I talked to in this area. Shoot me if I misquote something that was told to me. It comes with a special "EASY pull assist" to crank it over and at no added cost to get it that way as was not the case with the Echo trimmer @ $50 dollars extra. Also, I think, it has a Walbro carb on an industrial rated motor. I weighted mine at a hair under 10 lbs. with fuel (outstanding). My stature is small so weight, size, and balance were very important to me having 12 bad disc's in my spine. I found the trimmer to be lite in operation and well balanced. The 21.1cc rating is a fooler as the unit has gobs of power. I bought the Tanaka manual feed head and tried some Hitachi .095, some Oregon with the arimid fiber in it at .118, and some Oregon Max at .130, all being round. All performed very well and lasted a long time. My propritary 2 cycle fuel mix is a one third Lucas, two thirds Sthil Ultra (was what I had left laying around) at 32 to 1 ratio. Plus some Lucas ethenol helper and the standard StaBil. The Hitachi liked it a lot. Unintentionally thrown together but it seams to work real well with no smoke.. This unit is a high reving HOT little monster so I made sure it had a little heaver oil ratio w/silicone and 93 gas grade octane. Dealing with Cincinnati "Summer blend" gas here, UGH!. The Hitachi whipped and hacked it's way through everything without a sweat. Modifications?? Well I did order a mid shaft Echo handle (new) for $12 online. The Echo handle is covered with a cushier grip surface than the hard plastic the Hitachi has. I did find the unit running very well balanced but hardly perfect though better than most. A bit better than average noise level. Lots of torque reminding me of the days of the old 1968 Plymouth Hemi Roadrunner. Above average gas mileage and ultra easy effort to start only needing one pull. For me and my ergonomic fitup puts the off/on switch in a bad location. I bumpted it to "off" a couple of times.. Uh, pardon me if I made it sound like the trimmer is just for little frail people because it's not, it's for everybody. A large commercial Lawn Care service could do a lot worse with many other "so called" commercial/profesional products then owning a bunch of these Hitachi (Deluxe) CG22EASSLP's.. To note, I also own a Gravly Zero Turn mower Im nuts about. A very durable, well thought out and built mower. So in conclusion, The Hitachi is easy to drive with lots of power. The unit is well designed, heavy duty, lite weight, ugly, and overall well built. I am very very impressed. I bought this online for $189 at Home Depravation,.....ah (Depot). This thread is getting long in the tooth otherwise I would tell you what I diden't like about all the others. Let me know if you want that. Also, one more thing I want your comments and opinion on. I bought this from Amazon today. $38.78 Only 16 left in stoc Arnold Extreme WLX-3105 Professional Grade String Trimmer Line .105-Inch x 660-Feet .. order soon. FREE Shipping too. Delivers the durability and performance the professional landscaper demands Cuts nine times more area than residential lines Tough enough for edging and cutting through think vegetation One reviewer wrote the following: I've only used this line a few times so far but it's incredible compared to the line that came with my string trimmer (Husqvarna titanium). I rarely have to bump the head for more string even when going through very heavy grass and thick weeds. I was even able to take care of small wild rose bushes (Word of warning. This string is incredibly hard and durable. This can be dangerous around trees with soft bark or otherwise, fence posts, etc. Don't go anywhere near vinyl siding. If you can keep a trimmer head loaded with the softer stuff for delicate areas. If not just be extremely careful. Updated: I had the opportunity to try some edging with this string on a Husqvarna 327ldx. It worked amazingly well. My word of warning should be extended to include brick! I have a brick lined garden and found this string will actually chip brick. I don't mean it will abrade it, it chips it. I tilted the string to the soil and just edged the garden to the ground making sure not to hit the brick after the first instance. Edging the sidewalk was super quick and long overdue. Awesome string. Whatdoyathink about deal and line type and quality?.....Thanks to all, Mike.

Being Honest! My 225 has not been Truly serviced since purchased in Approx 2000. I should talk approx hrs which would avg 3 per season (36 hrs in 12 yrs). I use a hard bladeâÂÂs 95% of the time (every 3rd cut if possible). LOL! I know I have checked the grease in the head. Most needs will give indicators (if you pay close attention) but I recommend and try to live by schedules. 1. Bad Spark arrest w/n allow a good exhaust output and reduce power. 2. A bad plug will affect starting, fuel use and power. I expect my mower to start 1st pull and 2-3 on the trimmer. 3. A bad fuel filter will starve fuel and power. A bad air filter will cost you more gas as a bad plug. 4. I do check my oil and gas before every cut with my mower even though I expect and get two cuts. Otherwise Red light Comes On! A friend called when his Zero Turn Nixon locked up. Naturally, I ask what is the oil level showing when I saw it was locked solid. The sad reply was,âÂÂitâÂÂs not showingâÂÂ. When did you check it last, âÂÂI stopped because it never showed low in over a yearâÂÂ. He got lucky, as the Nixon mechanic told him to put thin oil directly in the cyl and force it to turn. That was the middle of a 100 deg day and he was idling to his trailer which I feel influenced more heat and maybe saved his mower. To lock, I feel some damage occurred somewhere but itâÂÂs on a 2nd season with no indications. How can you not check your oil Every Fill-Up???

I am on the Stihl Bandwagon because they went way out of their way to take care of me when they could have turned their back. I had a friend by my saw in the States and ship it to me in Germany. Even though they are made here, they cost almost twice as much as you folks pay. After about 30 minutes of use, the connecting rod came loose. Took it to my local dealer and with a bottle of Jack Daniels for the mechanic and got the saw back in 3 days. I just bought a trimmer from them because they checked the suggested price on the Stihl USA site and discounted me half the difference then loaded me up with goodies that more than covered the other half. I'm always in a hurry so got the FS130 with the 4-mix engine and harness/handlebars. So comfortable to use that if you had a third hand, you could drink a beer while mowing. They told me that the straight shafts are less maintenance than curved and of the straight shafts, the solid shaft is best (at least FS90). I wrote to the Stihl website awhile back and desribed my situation (about 8 miles of fence, some ditches and a couple of right of ways) and a guy suggested that if I had the FS90 or FS110 (depending on how heavy the growth) that I wouldn't have to do more than routine maintenance (spark plug and filter) for a long time if ever. Good Luck

Ehh I.M.O both Stihl and Shindaiwa are neck & neck "hybrid-4 is just a fancy name like 4-mix is for Stihl" they both work exactly the same. Ohh yeah and a correction I have Br600 blowers not 500 it just says magnum on the cover I thot they were 500's this whole time.. Since we've been looking at some interesting engines lately that take the road less traveled, a comment by rafe03 on this story about this hybrid engine that needs no oil in the crankcase and no oil pump either, but it operates as a 4 stroke. The fuel mix lubricates the engine like a 2 stroke. The fuel mix is drawn in through the crankcase and, by a very roundabout way, makes its way to the intake port, lubricating everything along the way. There's an animation on the Stihl site. "Cue Link" (http://www.stihl.ca/4mix/english/stihl4mix/mixprinzip.htm) And now you have whats called a 4-mix engine. Which is just basically a hybrid 2-stroke engine posing as a 4-stroke and with the power 2 back it up. Life used to be so simple, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, diesel. Now we have 2 and 4 stroke hybrids, 6 strokes, external combustion engines ..., and turbines and electrics and hybrids.