Ryobi Brush Cutter Clutch Wear Question

[johnathon281]

I agree with Dan about the common issues found on the price point units.
But i also have to say that i have seen this type of wear on clutches, due to the idle RPM's not set proper,too high, causing the clutch to ping to much, and also this results from too many throttle changes during use.
Always run these units at TLN RPM's during use.
These type of brush cutters are designed to cut from blade speed, not engine TQ.

[norm]

if you intend to do some serious brushcutting
that piece of equipment is not intended to do hard work

clutch/overheating/melting are all common problems on that opening price point trimmer

good brush cutters sell at $250/ to over $1000
that one is in the $100 bracket
see gardnerinc.com
look at recon tools

if you work that unit hard.... you will be posting photos and asking question a lot

Any homeowner that would pay $1,000 for a line trimmer either has serious mental problems or more money than he can spend .

[Dan Swami]

if you intend to do some serious brushcutting
that piece of equipment is not intended to do hard work

clutch/overheating/melting are all common problems on that opening price point trimmer

good brush cutters sell at $250/ to over $1000
that one is in the $100 bracket
see gardnerinc.com
look at recon tools

if you work that unit hard.... you will be posting photos and asking question a lot

Any homeowner that would pay $1,000 for a line trimmer either has serious mental problems or more money than he can spend .

agreed mostly

but

She did most of her trimming with a fleet of 5 seperate trimmers and brush cutters.

might I sugest that this is the one really wasting their money
5 @ $110= about $600 with tax
about $200 in repair bills over 6 years
so what about $700
and all they have is a pile of crap?
This is so common its unreal
and dont crap now
but you can spend well over $1000 on a nice clearing unit

stihl fs550a is $1349.95
stihl fs450a is $949.95
they come 28 to a skid if you want a few


i used one last winter clearing a pond of brush and small trees
it sliced thru stuff up to two inches in dia like it was nothing
you could cut stuff 4" thick with one if you walked around it
i kept 4 guys hauling and stacking for one hour..about 4 tanks of fuel and two blades
and we had one big fire on the ice

[briggsguy]

Any homeowner that would pay $1,000 for a line trimmer either has serious mental problems or more money than he can spend

Most of the high end units are meant for pro landscapers. There are however many units in the $300-$500 range that will outlast some homeowners. As Dan pointed out, it is cheaper to buy quality first rather than keep replacing the el-cheapo stuff. Unfortunatley, in today's world people only care about cost and are unable to look past the clearence price at the box store.