No wrote:

Ah, OK. Makes sense - My homelite trimmer has interchangable parts with some
JD equipoment but its circa 1996. I'm waiting for the damn thing to die so I
can key a Stihl or Husqvarna trimmer. I only feed the thing gas and string,
replaced the head once or twice and maybe a spark plug.
....

From the referenced annual report apparently Homelite was bleeding $$$
big-time.

My JD-branded trimmer is some 20 years older yet and still going
strong--it's one of the Japanese makers (I forget who, it's anonymous)
and parts are still(!) available--the gas tank had to be replaced last
yeat because it cracked simply from age-hardening and, to my surprise,
the same identical one was available regular parts route in two days...