Buy an Echo? That's what I wound up doing when my Troy Bilt started acting up. MTD (Troy Bilt, Cub Cadet, Yard Man, Ryobi, etc) products, especially the trimmers, don't seem like they're designed to be repairable. Maybe you get one season, maybe you get three but when it's done, it's done. You might have been able to get it replaced under warranty with a receipt, but I've heard bad things about their service as well, that they don't want to cover anything that DOES go wrong, even if it's a defect.

Sorry I don't have better news for you.

You have to keep and hold onto that sales slip especially if you buy it from a big retailer. Otherwise how would they know how old it is or that you didn't buy it from a yard sale instead of Lowes?

I have a wooden cabinet on the wall of my garage that I keep owners manuals and I always staple the original receipt to the manual right away, and put it in the cabinet. The trick is as soon as you get the item home, staple that receipt onto the book, and put the book somewhere you know where it is.

Also, I recommend to register the warranty and serial number online at their web site and then the manufacturer has a record of it.

Or I suppose you could buy another one of the same model, use the new receipt to return the broken one for your money back, and keep the new one. Some people might consider that pulling a fast one.

Well, I'm actually very religious about keeping receipts for stuff like this. Prolbem is we just moved and God knows where it could be. Just my luck - the one receipt that I need.

However, I don't consider a consumer losing a slip of paper reason enough to not honor a warranty. The model I have came was released last spring, so it's obviously still under warranty.

I would not hesitate to buy a new one and return the old one for a refund, but the new ones have a different styled head on them. I still might try that...and no, I don't consider that sneaky. I pay $200 for something that doesn't work, I'm NOT gonna be the one that gets the short end.

Some people might consider that pulling a fast one (but I am not one of them). Just trying to help you out here.

I bought an Echo SRM-210 at Home Depot and the salesman wanted to sell me a 1 year HD extended warranty for $29 bucks, that starts after the Echo 2 year warranty expires. Obviously you would need the slip for that, and also remember when you bought it. Home Depot will replace it free or give you your money back if it has any problem at all in the 3rd year of ownership. I said no dice, don't need it. So the salesman said "Well, what if I knock 30 bucks off the price and sell you the warranty for 29 bucks? You will have the warranty for free, and are ahead by $1." So I said sure, why not. So the warranty contract and sales slip are in the cabinet.

MTD-made trimmers are crap. If you want a good light trimmer, get a Shindaiwa F195s (curved) or T195s (straight shaft). It's $199 very well spent. If you need something bigger, that can handle brushcutting, get a Shindaiwa T242.

What I like about local power equipment dealers and Stihl is that you don't need the receipt. My dealer registers the sale for me. I believe I can take it anywhere and they can look up it's warranty info. I say I believe that because I think I have read someone else doing that. I have never had to do a warranty service on my 4 pieces of Stihl equipment in the 3 years I have had them. I don't know if any of the other makers do that.

Unfortunately I stay away from the big boxes if possible. I hate ending up in situations like yours. Believe me, I have been there with my old Ryobi. $230 later and I still have a worthless trimmer in my shed that will go up on Craigslist for parts at best offer.

Just today I drove thirty minutes out of my way to an equipment company that caters to arborists, fire, rescue, police and tactical professionals. What did I need? A wheelbarrow. The Jacksons, True Tempers and Ames are all fine but I got it in my head I wanted something with better than average rigidity and two wheels. I found a wheelbarrow online that fit that (Cariola) but they did not have a distributor and wanted a minimum order of two. So at this little hole in the wall, I was talking with the owner. He straight out told me that I could do better at the boxes for the generic wheelbarrows but I wanted to try to find something better. He said he could get me what I wanted but it would cost me $400, about what the other company wanted. He had a set of solid steel wheelbarrow handles but the rest of the kit had probably been parted out. I started to take measurements on the holes to see if I could get the feet fabricated and mount an aftermarket dual wheel setup. I noticed in the corner a box of mixed wheelbarrow parts from different manuf. that had be parted in the past. I eventually pieced together an almost perfect solid steel, two wheeled setup with zerk fitted bearing wheels. I almost went for the no-flat tires but they were $50 a piece, so I took the tubed versions. He was impressed with the cobbled beast and glad to have some parts out that he was never gonna sell. He said $150 and its yours. I have to bend a few pieces when I get home to make it all work. I have a place where I know I can get what I need for a reasonable price and no questions about warranty. Same with my power equipment dealer. I have a hardware store that is the same. Real old fashioned. The only thing they are missing is the squeaky wood floor. The garden counter people always have a cookie or chips for the kids when they come in. I don't do power tools there but anything else hardware related gets bought there.

I'm not trying to say you were wrong to buy from the big box, just letting you know what you might find at a small dealer. There are some bad apples, but it can be like finding a good mechanic :).

A couple of responses have really hit on it regarding how you do things in the future. Full service dealers register equipment you buy for you, box stores are suppose to but most times don't. When you purchase something find the factory registration info in the owners manual and use whatever manner they provide to register things yourself. Once the factory has you on file it won't matter if you lose the sales slip.

It may take a few days for the servicing dealer to get that info from the factory but at least it will be there.

SUCCESS! I have been relentlessly calling Lowes, TB, and my local dealer, and finally talked to someone from TB that asked for the SN. I gave it to him and he told me that it WAS still under warranty until 12/31. Phew - what a hassle. But, thank you for your kind instructive words - no more purchases like this from chain stores!

I am really glad it now has the possibility of being resolved mjm. Hopefully the actual repair work will be timely and hassle free.

If you do shop a full service dealer, you'll pause at first if you the higher price (sometimes they are the same or cheaper). But you'll know you did the right thing when you get that sales help. If you don't get that good feeling, try a different shop. Hopefully you'll be able to get a recommendation from someone local about which shop they like. Then go join the family!

It is kind of wierd. I live in the DC area, i.e. this is not a small town store, and the power equipment shop I go to 4 or 5 times a year calls me by name at the counter. I have spent maybe $800 total there over 3 years. I think they make their money on the commercial guys but they call me by name. Maybe I'm a PITA, lol.

I bought the same model. Mine also quits after 10 minutes and when I turn it sideways to edge. I was happy to find that someone else is having the same problem. That's all I needed to decide to return it tommorow and get something else. It appears the gas does not stay primed. As soon as it stalls out, I prime it again and it starts right up.
I'm definitely not putting up with this inconvenience. BACK IT GOES.

The truth is, even if those trimmers are advertised as multi-position capable, they are not.

I own a TB475 for 4 years. Carb die once and I have to change it. Works really well. I don't use it enough and I don't drain out old gas, I think that's the reason for the problem. Start easy and runs good. It is not exactly a cheap one, I don't understand why people keep putting Troy Bilt 4 cycle down. I have an Echo hedge trimmer and it does not start as easy and get flooded easy. not to mension it smells.
Anyone actually use one of this 4 cycle model before saying a lot of bad things about how cheaply it is? I would like to hear their openion and their experience not just bad by it's name.
Thanks