youngman, I went out and looked at the pole saw. It says Maxtra on it for the name. It is seven feet long without the extension installed. The extension adds about another four feet. I usually use it without the extension but have used it with it at full reach. The powerhead on it reminds me of the one on my Echo SRM-2601 trimmer. The choke and purge bulb are in the same place. This thing has plenty of power and has been reliable for the couple years I've owned it. I can't remember how much I paid for it but think I might have paid as much as 175.00 including the shipping. For me it was a good buy though I do not argue with those that say you should only buy the higher priced and quality tools. I feel this thing will serve me well for a long time. The engine runs very well. Starts and idles perfectly and the auto oiler is adjustable but I have left it set at default because the chain stays nice and wet. I have not had to sharpen the chain yet but I am careful not to force the cut. I let it "fall" through at it's own pace. Some time in this fall I am going to give this thing a real challenge because I'm going to be topping a couple large seagrape trees. I have a large solar power system and these trees are giving me some early morning shade until about 9:15 am and that simply wont do! LOL If I have any problems with the saw I will update you all here on the forum. My pole saw, Echo CS-370, and my faithful Troy-Bilt Super Tomahawk are going to be having a tree eating party! Oh doG, how I love my toys!

Information for consumption. Honda/Yamaha/Husqvarna/KTM/Suzuki/Kawasaki They all produced extremely high output 2-stroke racing engines in their off-road motorcycles, and these engines were put in some of the most grueling conditions you could imagine. Virtually ALL of them recommended 20:1 or 24:1 mix ratios. What the actual FACTORY mechanics did at racing events was very telling. Their teams (admittedly not running "stock" engines) but were running engines putting out even MORE power for the displacement class followed the same rules. 1) The higher the RPM's the engine turned the more oil they ran in the fuel. (e.g. a 125cc machine that routinely lived in the 10,000 - 13,500rpm range ran 20:1 or 24:1 -- The 250cc engines that ran between 6,500 and 9,000rpm ran 32:1 or 40:1, and the Open Class machines (251cc and up by AMA but they were all 400+cc engines, usually 465's, 490's, or 500cc) ran 50:1 or in some instances if the temps were cool and the loads light on the engine they ventured into the 70:1 range.) (2) Additionally Husqvarna did some testing in the mid 70's that was also very interesting. They put 3 identical stock engines on a dyno and ran them for several days at varying RPM and load conditions. Then both motors were torn down and inspected. The engine running CASTOR based oil had the least wear, followed by the synthetic oil, and finally the engine running standard 2-cycle oil. (3) A second test they performed was to run synthetic in 2 identical engines and one was run at 24:1, the other was run at 50:1 The engine that ran 24:1 had less piston skirt wear, and less rod bearing wear, but had the same main roller bearing wear as the engine run at 50:1. I personally ran my 125cc race bikes on synthetic Yamalube-R at 24:1 or ran Bel-Ray MC1 at 24:1 even though Bel-Ray claimed it was a 50:1 oil. The 250's I ran 32:1, and the brutal 500cc machine ran 50:1. The plug reading will tell you a lot. The insulator should be light tan in color. If it is white you are too lean, dark, black, or oily, and you are too rich. Changing the oil/gas ratio DOES affect the jetting settings so changing ratios will likely require carb adjustment. If you are fouling plugs then you have the fuel/air mixture incorrect for the gas/oil mix you are using. Manufacturers intentionally make the low rpm pilot jet on the rich side (so they start easier) and excessive idling will foul the plug. I am not sure if there is a low speed adjustment on the carb you have, but if you constantly foul plugs you may want to lean that out a bit, again the plug condition will tell you.

I wonder what "20 something, just out of school" moron they hired to write that garbage???? Suggesting that someone drain the oil at the end of the season but not refill immediately is a recipe for disaster. However, I'm sure that it helps increase the sales of new mowers when Joe Average forgets about the dry crankcase the following spring and proceeds to mow his lawn. What have spark plugs got to do with how well an engine "turns over"???? Certainly, they can affect how quickly it starts but that's it. And since when did batteries "unplug" from tractors??? So, let me get this cleaning sequence right. First you wipe the entire tractor down. Then you remove grass clippings. And then you spray it with a hose. Hmmmmmmm. I guess I have been doing it all wrong. And how many people are going to remove the mowing deck even once a season, let alone after each use??? And how much water volume and pressure does one need in order to get a three-blade deck to spin it's blades just from water hitting one of them?? Unbelievable!!!!!!!!

Thanks everybody for excellent points, explanations, tips and advice. Won't buy a trimmer. Would never let anything harm a bush or tree! Will have to look at a variety of tools carefully before deciding and buying. I think in our case, because there's so many thousands of slugs, we would have done just as well and saved lots of money using the erosion control mix of dwarf perennial rye and strawberry clover instead of the hundreds of dollars we spent on ecolawn fleur-de-lawn, since there are no flowers due to slug feasts. We needed the grass and self-fertilizing clover that's in the fleur-de-lawn (also available just as erosion control) as erosion control to bind the mud that was washing out of the yard daily. This thick lush green cover provides protection to the baby bushes and trees against the fierce burning sun and helps with moisture retention. Eventually the redwoods, sequoias, sweetgums, willows, maples, cottonwoods, thujas, etc -- huge trees-to-be, will shade out the grass, but by that time the tree roots will bind the earth and the trees will shade their own roots. The fleur de lawn really doesn't get higher than 6"; it's the weed grasses that poked through it that grow really tall. And the clover mounds in coils since we have to water to wet the ground for the 300+ trees' roots. At the moment I'm OK after using the hand shears and having my yard guy liberate the flagstones so the washer and dryer delivery men can find their way to the back patio and up the deck to haul away the old and deliver the new. Also liberated several baby bushes by hand. But that takes a whole lot of time and crawling around on hands and knees. When I find just the right thing I'll post the solution back on this thread. Thx everybody for all this wonderful help!