Lawn Equipment

[UserX]

Another vote for Stihl & Honda.

[sdun]

I would put Echo and Stihl in the same class. I run both with little problems. Echo stuff might actually start a little better than Stihl. Stihl chain saws and Echo string trimmers. They are pretty close in price, Echo is not "about half of the price" unless you are buying the consumer stuff at Home Depot. You need to find a place like Four Brothers in Royce City that carries and stocks a ton of both brands. You can look, touch, and feel all that you need in one location.

[bcoop]

Echo isn't bad but I kind doubt they'll have the longevity..

My father has two Echos that have held up well over the years. 10+ years old. Stihls will go longer, but the Echo is still a good value.

They are pretty close in price, Echo is not "about half of the price" unless you are buying the consumer stuff at Home Depot.

$229 vs $389 last I checked for comparable models.

[sdun]

At Four Brothers they are hanging side by side and they are about the same price. The Echo srm266t is 339.00 and the Stihl fs90 is 319.00. Stihl has more models and you can get a bigger motor in the more expensive models.

[TexasT]

I have echo stuff(straight shaft trimmer, blower, tiller). Easy to find and get parts.
I think stihl goes on chainsaw rep . Good stuff, over priced imo. Tanaka, shindiawa, red max all good brands. Look what the commercial guys have on their trailer. That's what works. A good dealer is more important than which brand.
Go try some out and develop a relationship with a dealer. A good dealer will take care of you.

[BlackGT]

Between these two, which would you pick?

$2,000 Craftsman 42" zero turn - 22hp Briggs and Stratton V-Twin
$2,300 Toro Time Cutter 42" zero turn - unkown HP, Toro brand single cylinder engine.
Same with Kohler V-twin is $2,600 and with Kawasaki V-twin is $2,800.

Will the toro be that much better in the long run?
Any others around same price to consider?

[Txstang1]

Bought an echo blower about 5 years ago and it's been great, so I bought an echo weedeater last summer.

My only bitch about it was the line feeder. It came with the feeder that takes those short pieces of line, so I switched to the echo bump/feed head and didn't like it either. Ended up putting a stihl bump/feed head on it and it works like a champ. Very happy now.

[Rreemo]

I have a big lot, so I spend a lot of time on my yard in the summer....literally about 2:00 hrs every week with the line trimmer. After the first 5yrs I finally got sick of constantly repairing/replacing those shitty big box store weedeaters.....I went to a Stihl season before last, and have not looked back. I should have bought one the first year I was here.

The first year we were out here I bought a used Husqvarna 48" lawn tractor for $1K. Overall it was a good mower for the money, but I kept it well serviced. I did have to replace the belts on it a couple times, and one spindle. Also had some carb issues with it a few times, and had to put a starter on it....it was easy to work on, though. It had just over 170 hours on it when I bought it, and when I sold it ~6 years later it was a little over 800 hours (To give an idea how much use it saw). It still ran good when I sold it, but was starting to smoke a bit, especially until it warmed up.

I replaced it with a brand new Gravely Zero Turn (commercial)...it's a 48" with the Kawasaki engine on it. It was pricey, but worth every penny so far....I'm coming into my third season with the Gravely now, and I still love the thing....no issues whatsoever, it'll blaze through anything, and I've literally cut my mowing time in half since I upgraded from the old lawn tractor.

I bought the Gravely and the Stihl from this guy - http://www.0turn.com/ it's a small family operated shop, great people to deal with and they are pretty competitively priced too.

[shumpertdavid]

Brandon, give Dennards a check on the Gravely's they usually offer pretty good pricing and it's a good product. I've not been to the Pilot Point store, but Whitesboro will have 40-60 on the lot at the beginning of the season and generally get rid of them quick. We picked up a 250 hour 48" light duty commercial last year for $2300, they get some decent trade ins on the new ones from time to time. I just picked up a Murray 38" 12 hp rider to sell if you want something cheap hit me up.

[BlackGT]

Thanks David!
Still haven't made up my mind on what I'm doing/getting... I know I don't want to spend a good chunk of my Saturday doing yard work. That's why I'm leaning towards spending a little more now and getting a zero turn and a good line trimmer to get it done quickly. They should last me a good 10years with regular maintenance.

[Sgt Beavis]

Between these two, which would you pick?

$2,000 Craftsman 42" zero turn - 22hp Briggs and Stratton V-Twin
$2,300 Toro Time Cutter 42" zero turn - unkown HP, Toro brand single cylinder engine.
Same with Kohler V-twin is $2,600 and with Kawasaki V-twin is $2,800.

Will the toro be that much better in the long run?
Any others around same price to consider?

I've got the Toro with the Kohler engine. Lot's of people swear by the Kawasaki engine but I've never had an ounce of trouble with the Kohler. I've had it for almost two years now. My only complaint is that it is a bit of a pain to put air in the front caster wheels.

I have no knowledge of that Craftsman, but many times they are just rebranded versions of other equipment. Find out who really makes it. Briggs motors are usually bullet proof but you have to worry about the differentials, quality of metal for the deck and frame, welding, etc... I just don't trust Crapsman anymore.

I got the mulching kit for my Toro. It makes quick work of just about anything. I use blower to get all the leaves out to the back field of my yard and spread them out. I then go over it a few times until the leaves are down to fine peices. It's great!

[BlackGT]

I've got the Toro with the Kohler engine. Lot's of people swear by the Kawasaki engine but I've never had an ounce of trouble with the Kohler. I've had it for almost two years now. My only complaint is that it is a bit of a pain to put air in the front caster wheels.

I have no knowledge of that Craftsman, but many times they are just rebranded versions of other equipment. Find out who really makes it. Briggs motors are usually bullet proof but you have to worry about the differentials, quality of metal for the deck and frame, welding, etc... I just don't trust Crapsman anymore.

I got the mulching kit for my Toro. It makes quick work of just about anything. I use blower to get all the leaves out to the back field of my yard and spread them out. I then go over it a few times until the leaves are down to fine peices. It's great!

Exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, thanks! Looks like the store Rreemo posted has the Kawasaki model for the same price that Home Depot has the Kohler model.

[SMKR]

eXmark ECKA30 is what I am looking for, great mower.

[LS1Goat]

I bought both my Craftsman gas weed eater and self propelled 5.5hp mower new in '06. Both still work like the day I bought them. Winterizing is the key to reliability for any lawn equipment.

[Gasser64]

Where's o SEB when you need him??

lol yeah where is he? From what ive read id like to hear what he says on this issue. Need to buy a couple lawn equipment myself