I have commented to my wife several times how I am pleasantly surprised that my Ryobi won't die. Prime, 2 pulls with full choke, 2 pulls with 1/2 choke and she fires right up! I am even keeping it just for edging my drive. I just got a bit tired of numb, tingling hands after a while and the fact that the clutch is gone making me shut it off to change line (I installed aftermarket cutter head). I demo'd a Tanaka and a RedMax with the anti-vibe and could barely feel them running! Now I will trim every time I mow instead of every other. Thanks for the replies.

Charles, I think you may be overanalyzing a bit here. I think you would be the person to get the advice from since you have experience with each type of Echo unit. I own a Homelite ST-275 straight shaft trimmer (flex cable drive) that is 15 years old. I feel like I take care of my stuff better than the average person, but I have only lubed the drive cable a couple times in the years that I have owned it. I have even run mine on several occasions with a brush blade (I know it is not recommended with the flex cable). My point is that I believe either will last her very well, without much lubrication hassle. Maybe I am talking a whole different level of usage than she would have, but I would estimate my trimmer has about 150 hours total usage on it. With that total estimate, I have lubed the cable on average about every 50 hours usage.

I have been manicuring my yard for almost 20 years with a simple Homelite Bandit curve shaft trimmer. I'm 6'1". The Homelite Bandit is at the end of it's road, it seems, still runs well for the age. I just finished fixing an new, but old, Homelite straight shaft trimmer that was stored in my garage for over a decade and although I have always been a fan of the curve shaft trimmer, I am leaning towards the straight shaft because of the reach, it seems to keep me cleaner, and also it seems as if it is easier to turn to do edging maintenance. I think today there are a lot of choices. Stihl makes the curve shaft FS 46 model which is a foot longer than regular curve shafts. It is a good option and provides the straight shaft reach and I'm currently considering for myself. One thing I should say on behalf of regular curve shaft trimmers is that in very tight spaces they are a lot easier to use than a longer shaft. So, each feature has an application. You will have to look at your stituation and decide what is the best fit.

On a week to week basis I will be using it to edge my driveway. Every other week I'll trim the grass falling over into my mulch. About 3 times a year I'll be cutting thick weeds and brush in a 5'x50' ditch towards the back of my yard. I'll be getting under zero trees or bushes with it. Just from handling them in the store it seems the curved shaft would be easy to work with for what I need. The gentleman in the store said the straight shaft because I'm so tall and it would be easier on my back. He also said that the straight shaft models typically have thicker line....is this true with the Stihl 45 vs the Stihl 55? I can't find the info of line thickness on their website. It also seems the Stihl curved shaft (FS 45) has a less pronounced curve to it than other models. TBB