Gas Trimmers Brushcutters

I have had a echo SRM 210 trimmer in the past.
Gave it to my dad a few years ago because it started so easy.
Thing has to be 8 or 10 years old and still going strong.

Have been using a pump up sprayer with roundup the past few years as my grass trimmer.

Now I am ready to buy a new one for myself so I was looking at the SRM 225 (replaces the 210) at the full service dealer the other day.
It is on sale for $199.99 with the instant rebate.
Comes with a 5 year warranty when used by a homeowner.

The salesman kept trying to push me to buy the Stihl FS56RCE for $219.95
Said it is a much better machine.
It comes with a 4 year warrant with the double your warranty promotion for homeowners.

So now I am on the fence.
The Echo I had in the past work flawlessly for years with only going to the shop 1 time for a gas line recall.
That makes me want to go Echo again.

So without making this a color war what do you guys think about the Stihl.
Is the salesman feeding me a line because he makes a better profit off the Stihl;
Or is it really a better trimmer?
What one would you buy and why?

I am thinking they are both equal and the salesman makes more off the Stihl.
The Stihl does have a little bigger motor (27.2cc to 21.2cc) and weighs a 1/2 lb less.

Thanks for you input
 
For $20 you are getting a good machine with Stihl. Had mine for 8 yrs. - not one problem. Use the .105 line. HTH
 
Thanks
The $20 has nothing to do with it.
Warranty is about the same 4 or 5 years.
The dealer sells both brands so it is not a choose dealer problem.

I'm thinking the trimmers are about the same quality but really do not know;
Hence the reason for my questions.
 
I'd go for the Stihl. Bought the cheapest Stihl trimmer made, on sale for $99. That was 25 to 30 years ago. Other than the usual fuel line, primer bulb, bump spool, not anything else has been done. Still works as good as it did new.
 
I think either machine with good maintance will last a long time and give you good service. One thing to look at is what kind of supply of parts and how fast dealer gets parts if you would need parts. Sounds like your dealer handles both Echo and Stihl. I have a Stihl FS-90 ( bottom of pro line) and have had no problems with it.I went with Stihl because ther are very few Echo dealers in this area.
 
I just bought a new Stihl FS90 Tuesday. We have had great success with Stihl in the past for saws, I like my dealer, it felt good. Not a lot of shopping done here. Stihl manufactures all their parts, even bought the carburetor manufacturer some time back to rectify some quality issues. Coworker was a service manager/mechanic at a large Deere dealership, swears by Stihl for need for and ease of repair vice the other brands.
 
i bought the commercial line stihl fs90r about 4 years ago, straight shaft trimmer. have the brush blades for it too. runs 50-1 mix but they call it a 4 stroke. no problems whatsoever, really happy with it. i have 2 srm2500's . 2 ryobis that are in the recycle bin and a small troy built. the stihl is my favorite.
 
(quoted from post at 13:23:23 05/22/15) Stihl manufactures all their parts, even bought the carburetor manufacturer some time back to rectify some quality issues.

They own ZAMA? I just finally replaced the carb on my 3-4 year old FS55R. The dealer replaced the carb once under warranty because it started terrible. I rebuilt it once. and just replaced it with a Chinese ZAMA clone....
 
(quoted from post at 12:40:46 05/22/15)
(quoted from post at 13:23:23 05/22/15) Stihl manufactures all their parts, even bought the carburetor manufacturer some time back to rectify some quality issues.

They own ZAMA? I just finally replaced the carb on my 3-4 year old FS55R. The dealer replaced the carb once under warranty because it started terrible. I rebuilt it once. and just replaced it with a Chinese ZAMA clone....
That's what my coworker told me, I'll verify that tonight at work. He said they bought whichever carb supplier and gutted the management due to supply quality issues. Told of the training sessions with Stihl rep bringing in brand new units which they then tore completely down and rebuilt for practice. I liked that my dealer took my unit of the wall, took it out back, fueled it up and showed me how to start it, then ran it to be sure there were no issues before I left with it. The engine is a four stroke with valves, but uses a mixed oil/gas for lubrication, eliminating an oil sump, which requires maintaining the trimmer in an upright position. I think there was a thread here not too long ago about how to store your trimmer- some must be horizontal so as to not drain crankcase oil.
 
Both have decent reviews around, so doesn't look like either one has a major defect in the design. In my area I've heard nothing bad about either brand, aside from the usual fan boy talk. If I were looking, I'd just pick up both of them and see if either feels better. I always preferred the double handlebar kind myself. The only chainsaw shop around was selling both kinds last time I was in there, but I haven't needed in there in years so I don't know if they still do.

I had a LOT of weed trimming to do, so I switched to a wheeled one. Looked at the cheap ones in stores and ended up getting a DR about 5 years ago when they still had the all aluminum frame. Priced higher of course, depending on what you have to do probably not worth it and not practical, overkill. But reliable, heavy enough replaceable bearing assembly in the front (haven't had to yet), simple design, and it cuts through just about anything without wrapping up or bogging down. After a few hours, the handheld kind always got heavy on me with the strap digging into my shoulder. This is easy to cut large areas in a fraction of the time a regular trimmer takes. I also got a "Beaver Blade" with it, has a regular replaceable chainsaw chain around a disk. I've spent many days cutting small to decent size cedars out of the pasture with it. It can cut to ground level, but of course it's easy to get it in the dirt and needs sharpened regularly. I'd have an atv shear for cedars but what I've seen and heard I haven't heard many good things about them. Basically what I'm saying, used it very hard and it holds up just fine, don't see getting a handheld one again.
 
I bought a Echo 225 PAS last year.Got a trimmer head,brush blade ,and hedge trimmer. Best trimmer I've ever owned.
 
John I would just go with the one that "felt" the best in your hands/arms. They both are good trimmers. I have a Echo trimmer that is 10-15 years old and it is great. I also run Stihl chainsaws. The dealership support seems to be the same for you. I have 3-4 choices for Stihl and one for Echo.
 
I just bought the SRM 225 Echo 2 days ago, with the sale price of 199.99 from full service dealer. This is to replace the SRM 2400 Echo that I bought in 1998. Seventeen years of very good service and much use by multiple operators. I looked at Stihl this time buy opted for the Echo, which I believe to be of higher quality. I have both Stihl and Echo chain saws. Tom
 

I bought a Stihl string trimmer a few years back. It's been a giant pain from day one. I'd go with the Echo myself.
 

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