I bought one about six years ago from HD, still working fine. Just fed
it gas and string so far.

I bought Homelite because years before I worked for a lawn maintenance
outfit that had purchased five of them, two of which could be counted
on to work at any given time. Because the owner was cheap and they
were always breaking down (pull cords, springs, carbs, trimmer heads,
etc.) I had to cannabalize the non-working ones all the time for parts.
I always kept them in the truck.

But being able to tear them down and build them back up in a pinch to
get the job done was a specialty of mine so I guess I got suckered by
nostalgia.

I guess to Homelite's defense, we abused the heck out of them on our
jobs. They really weren't built for 10-12 hours of continuous use day
after day.

Robert11 wrote:
Hello:

Was thinking of getting a gift for a friend of a Homelite gas string
trimmer.

Home Depot seems to sell them in the price range I'm in ($ 100 or so)

I have a 5 year old one, and it's worked pretty well.

But, i've heard that Homelite is (essentially) no longer in business, or
viable, and that
parts and repair are no longer available.

How true is this, and how concerned should I be about buying one ?

Thanks,
Bob