I need a new weed eater - suggestions for a hassle free model?

Have run Stihl for years (commercially) with no problems- and own one personally. Just switched to Red Maxx at work, and have no complaints so far.

Never had a problem with Stihl or Echo products. Most of it comes down to how well you maintain them and the quality of the fuel/lubricants you use.

Echo

Echo

I have a thirty year old Stihl.

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Another one to look out for is Hitachi. Don't see it very often except for the leaf blowers but it's all Tanaka (or rather Tanaka is all Hitachi).

I'm a Stihl fan. A Stihl FS90R is what I suggest to everyone who weedeats their yard like a maniac. I run mine like a rented mule and it hasn't given me any problems. I like the auto-cut head a lot.

Echo makes good stuff also and they have some good straight shaft models that are very reasonably priced.

It just depends how you run them. If you go slow and don't have any bad stuff to deal with pretty much any cheapo rig will work and you can buy whatever kind of head you want for it. If you weedeat like I do (pretty close to running), you need something with a speed feed head and a lot of arse on it.

Echo 230

My T242 is going on 5 years of abuse and torture and it still runs like the day I bought it. Best 2 fiddy I ever spent.

The T242 is a great bargain.