SteveBell wrote:
How come they don't make 'em like that anymore?

Same reason they don't make much of *anything* like that anymore.
Stupid consumers want everything absolutely as cheap as possible, and
stupid manufacturers want you to buy a new whatever every couple of
years.

If I had first seen the Hoffco in a store with other brands of similar
prices, I would have thought the Hoffco was of lower quality.

The carburetor lacks a squeeze bulb for cold starting.

It's less powerful than is typical of a large trimmer. (The power is
adequate, and more power may have meant a shorter motor life.)

Its driveshaft is a flexible cable. (The cable has held up fine and may
mean less weight at the head.)

The most important feature is the wide handlebars. I don't know why I
don't see it on other trimmers. I wouldn't try to control a motorcycle
or a manual scythe with my hands as close as the grips on most trimmers.
Wide handlebars allow my to trim along a fence without beating up
the line, to trim close to flowers with confidence, and to cut a wide
swath across a field without fatigue.