# Professional Grade trimmer/brushcutter ?



## ccm (Jul 5, 2015)

Due to the rain this year & my work schedule my yard/pasture has become an overgrown nightmare. My craftsman 33cc trimmer/brush cutter is just not up to the task of cutting through the thick vegetation, small mesquite, & black locusts thorn trees. I've been looking at getting either a Stihl FS 240 with it's 37.7cc engine or an Echo SRM 410U with it's 42.7cc engine. The Stihl 240 is a little over $600 & the Echo is about $580. What I'm looking for is longevity in the machine that I choose to buy. There are servicing dealers for whichever one I choose so that isn't an issue. I have found lots of reviews for the Stihl but very few for Echo. I would like more power but I'm a little uneasy about pulling the trigger on the Echo due to this. If anyone has any experience with either echo or stihl products good or bad I would like hear about your experience. Thanks in advance from ccm.


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## lovedr79 (Jul 5, 2015)

I broke down last summer and bought a FS70R. Has way more power than i expected. I would go with stihl as there are dealers everywhere and have great reviews. The fs70 replaced my stihl mid 80's stihl brushcutter that still runs. Hence why i bought another stihl


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## JMichael (Jul 5, 2015)

Echo has been making commercial grade lawn maint equip for years. They've got a great reputation for making tough equipment. I see a lot of the lawn service companies use echo. Stihl makes a nice chainsaw but I'm not sure how well their other equipment holds up or preforms. If you're wanting to go bigger, I wouldn't hesitate to go with an Echo. One thing I do know and that is that Stihl uses a lot of plastic vs metal in their chain saws and they've taken some criticism from users about that. So you might want to do a little research in that dept for both brands.


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## lovedr79 (Jul 5, 2015)

I do know that the professional grade stihls are made in the USA and their homeowner grade is made in china.


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## lugoismad (Jul 7, 2015)

I have a professional grade Echo. Its 20 years old and will not die. Parts are cheap. I've had to replace the primer bulb and the little rubber stopper for the gas tank that the gas hoses go through.

I clean the carb every few years, and thats it.


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## duckfish (Jul 7, 2015)

I have a number of Stihl small power tools. Chain saws, leaf blowers, brush cutters, and demolition saws. Mostly all professional grade tools. My experience has been that the newer tools, say past 5 - 8 years does not hold up well and recently I've been having problems finding parts, especially card rebuild kits. To some degree, I blame ethanol gas, even tho we add treatment to all gas, but I'm done buying Stihl products for the foreseeable future. My one Stihl FS76 trimmer just got it's second carb rebuild in 4 years. Waited 4 months to get a carb kit till I finally found a shop 45 minutes away that had one in stock.


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## PA Delaware Fisher (Jul 7, 2015)

I use both stihl and echo and they both do the job. Stihl is a little heavy compared to its competitors but powerful and will last forever. Echo does everything a stihl will but seems a little lighter. Maybe more balanced? I do landscaping on many residential as well as commercial properties 6 days a week and i prefer a redmax trimmer over stihl or echo, they are half the weight but have the same power. Just my 2 cents.


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## JMichael (Jul 7, 2015)

PA Delaware Fisher said:


> I use both stihl and echo and they both do the job. Stihl is a little heavy compared to its competitors but powerful and will last forever. Echo does everything a stihl will but seems a little lighter. Maybe more balanced? I do landscaping on many residential as well as commercial properties 6 days a week and i prefer a redmax trimmer over stihl or echo, they are half the weight but have the same power. Just my 2 cents.


Wasn't it Redmax that bought up some of the Green Machine patents or maybe they bought the company out? I've got a Green Machine trimmer and backpack blower and even though they are almost antique, they run and preform fantastic.


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## PA Delaware Fisher (Jul 7, 2015)

JMichael, I'm not really sure of the history of redmax but i do know that i started using the their trimmers 4 or 5 years ago, which was the first time I've ever heard of them, and I'll pick one of them off the trailer over the stihl and echo any day.


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## JMichael (Jul 7, 2015)

I know some of the parts for my green machine are identical to what the Redmax equipment uses. And I'm not talking about part that "will work" I'm talking identical. If I had to guess, I'd say they took the Green machine designs and modified some of them where minor parts like outer covers are slightly different. But things like cylinders/pistons, mufflers, gas tanks, and recoil starters just to name a few, are interchangeable. My brother in law introduced me to Green Machine and he's been buying all the NOS parts for them off ebay for years. I actually built my weed eater and blower from his collection of parts. He's got enough parts to build at least 2 more blowers and 1 more weed eater. :lol: He's a Green Machine fanatic and after owning mine I can see why.


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## mgros483 (Jul 16, 2015)

I have a Stihl FS110 and I'm extremely happy with it, not sure why you'd need more power than that model. I use it with all of the available attachments regularly and it's fantastic. I haven't used the echo models, so I don't have any input there, but I'm a big fan of the Stihl.


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