After using a corded weed whacker for years, my husband decided it wasn’t enough, he needed the power of a gas model. We picked this one up at Costco.com.

This one has a 26cc, four-cycle engine with overhead valve technology (I haven’t a clue what this is, but he says that’s why it’s got so much power). It has an outboard starter, with a fixed-jet carburetor which is supposed to make it start easier—that it must do as it starts the first time, every time. Even I can get it going!

It has an 18” cutting path--nice and big! The head rotates, and locks at a 90 or 180-degree angle— perfect for doing edge trimming. What I like about it is that it doesn’t take a gas and oil mix—I don’t think I would have been up to going to that much trouble. It has the older-style bump head line release, which means you tap the head, and it sends out a pre-measured bit of line.

It can be used left-handed or right. The handle is as comfortable as a plastic handle can be—padding would be great, but not practical. I wear gloves when I use it. It’s only 12 pounds but that 12 pounds gets heavy fast. It also, unlike electric models, requires more balancing as its top heavy because of the motor. For my husband the fire fighter, it’s no problem at all, but for someone like me in less-than-great-shape it gets tiring quickly.

Meant for trimming grass, light weeds, and doing edging, you can add optional attachments, which are purchased separately, are an edger, trimmer, blower, blower/vacuum, cultivator, pruner, hedge trimmer, or snow thrower.

This unit does have a factory equipped spark arrestor that is required in California, Maine, Oregon, & Washington (I’m in WA so this was an important feature). For those in California it does meet the 1995 to 1998 California emissions regulations.

It has a limited two-year warranty on parts and labor against defects, but since we purchased it from Costco.com, we’re covered by their customer satisfaction policy as well.

New line cartridges are about $10 and found at most large hardware stores. The instruction manual does warn that you should only us 0.095 inch (2.41 mm) diameter Ryobi replacement line and never use metal-reinforced line, wire, or rope, etc/ as they could break off and become a dangerous projectile. As with all trimmers, you should wear safety goggles while operating it.

Always use clean, fresh, unleaded gasoline. Avoid touching the muffler while in use as it gets very warm!

Maintenance—you’ll need to change the oil approximately every 25 hours of use, and clean and re-oil the air filter very 10 hours of use. We’ve had ours for about a month now and used it weekly—even the teenagers are able to use it and have had great results. We’ve not had to do any maintenance so far and except for a few broken strings (trying to go to deep or getting it stuck on things) we’ve had no troubles with it. The advantage over our old electric model is the freedom of movement, other than that, I wouldn’t mind still having the lighter weight electric model.

SPECS
Engine: 26cc, 4-Cycle
Carburetor: Fixed Jet
Ignition: Electronic Solid State
Operating RPM: Up to 7,800 RPM
Throttle: Variable Speed
Cutting Path: 18"
Cutting Line: 095" Diameter - Dual Line
Handle: Deluxe D-Handle
Centrifugal Clutch: Yes
Unit Weight: 12-7/8 lbs.

SERVICE
For service call 800-345-8746 in the US or 800-265-6778 in Canada.

$219 at Costco.com


Recommended: Yes