Andy Hall wrote:

Each supplier had a few entry level products which were distinctly ropey
and flimsy. Most had TTI Ryobi and it was clear that this is an
in-between product, as I expected. The comment was that Ryobi could
be OK for occasional domestic use but not more. There was a big
jump in quality to the Stihl, Tanaka and Makita products and of course a
price difference as well.

By way of follow-up, I have had a bit of a play with the Ryobi now, in
both strimming, and chainsaw/pruning mode.

Starting seems quite straight forward when cold or hot - don't know if
it will get less so with age of course. Throttle response is ok as well
(offering more than just a choice of idle or full revs).

Balance when strimming is ok and the length not as short as the electric
ones. However I would not mind it being tad longer or at lease there
being an ability to change the angle of the head a bit. Most of the
trick seems to be getting the shoulder strap length tuned for most
comfortable operation. I did try strimming with the extension bar in
there, and it is ok for reaching under overhanging trees etc, but not
well balanced enough for extended use like that. The shoulder strap does
a reasonable job of carrying the weight at the balance point. The line
feed mechanism seems to work ok at the moment. Strimming performance at
full revs is quite prodigious - chopped its way through damp grass, cow
parsley, nettles and thistle and brambles with just the line trimmer
head (not tried fitting the steel brush cutting blade yet - and suspect
there is not going to be much if anything I will need it for).

The chainsaw add-on I was expecting to be a bit feeble, but was actually
quite impressive - sliced its way through anything I threw it at without
complaint - the strimmer having plenty of power for the task (which
given its only a 10" bar on a 30cc engine is perhaps not that
surprising). Seemed quite economical with the chain oil, and did not
exhibit the tendency to spew too much of fit all over the place. The
balance with the saw is not as good as the line cutter head, being
slightly end heavy. Working at a reach for higher overhead stuff becomes
a bit tiring after 20 mins or so. (I went round trimming anything dead
looking from about 18 fruit trees - was quick and easy enough, but that
was about as much as I wanted to do in one session).

I might try out the hedge trimmer tomorrow and see that that is like.

General impression of build quality is nothing to write home about, but
should last well enough in a domestic setting. Not sure if it is typical
of all 2 strokes, but it gets through fuel at reasonably swift rate
(probably about 20 mins to a tank full). Running, while not silky smooth
in good enough to not cause any vibration related issues for the operator.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/