Just Ordered A New Weed Whacker

Silverado12

Silverado12

Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Messages
4,623
Location
Central Virginia
I bought a new Echo SRM-225 to replace my 21 year old Stihl FS-46. The carburetor was leaking and I think that straight shaft whackers are more comfortable to use. Anyone have this machine? Echo has a decent reputation except for some chainsaws that have bad ignition coils from what I've read online. If anyone is interested, AAFES has a program through Home Depot which gives veterans and active duty members a 10% discount as well as no tax. In high tax states like TX and TN that can save you close to an additional 10%. We have 6% here in VA. Edit: AAFES only has mail order for this product as in-store p/u isn't available.
Anyways, thanks for any advice as always..
 
Silverado12 said:
The carburetor was leaking
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What was the cause of this, did you leave fuel in over the winter?
Silverado12 said:
Echo has a decent reputation except for some chainsaws that have bad ignition coils from what I've read online.
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Be careful what you read Online, a Trimmer is 1 thing, but a chainsaw needs to be cleaned up after you have used it. An Echo trimmer coil will probably not go bad since there is no debris that can mess things up. The chainsaw is different since there could be debris that does not get cleaned off and the next use just adds up junk that can make the chainsaw run hotter and mess up the coil. The people having problems with these chainsaws with the coils are homeowners. I back up to some trees that have been there for over 120 years and when stuff comes down it comes down. I have been out for many hours cutting trees that fell into my yard as well as big limns that fell. I blew the saw off with compressed air after each use and I was amazed at the junk I blew off.
 
Silverado12 said:
I bought a new Echo SRM-225 to replace my 21 year old Stihl FS-46. The carburetor was leaking and I think that straight shaft whackers are more comfortable to use. Anyone have this machine? Echo has a decent reputation except for some chainsaws that have bad ignition coils from what I've read online. If anyone is interested, AAFES has a program through Home Depot which gives veterans and active duty members a 10% discount as well as no tax. In high tax states like TX and TN that can save you close to an additional 10%. We have 6% here in VA. Edit: AAFES only has mail order for this product as in-store p/u isn't available.
Anyways, thanks for any advice as always..
Click to expand...
I have one, going on 12 years old. Has had engineered fuel all its life. Aside from replacing a worn out trimmer head, it has been absolutely flawless. And honestly, I whacked everything with it. It’s a small CC engine but surprisingly powerful.
 
A good choice for gas.

I barely use my gas one now the 60v toro is pretty good. gas power, 1/3 the noise 1/10 the vibration.

for heavy duty use I still break out the 2 cycle. you can use upto .110 thick line on it and I have the edger attachment.
but for 75% of the time or more the toro is great.
 
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grasscutter said:
If you ordered it from Home Depot, it's going to need the air to fuel ratio adjusted. The receiving area of Home Depot is littered with returned Echo string trimmers because the average consumer has no clue how to set air/fuel ratio.
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OK. I've done that before and would have thought the carb wouldn't need adjustment. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
I picked up that exact model about a year ago and could not be happier. I have a GT 225 which is the curved shaft model of the SRM and won't go back. Straight shaft trimmers are far more comfortable to use. I got the SRM mainly to have brush blade capability and it works awesome for that. I just put the trimmer head back on it last week and will keep it that way until winter.

Some folks here had mentioned that it would seem to get more powerful after break in and I do think they were right, since it has a few hours on it now it has a bit more gusto for cutting grass.

I run 93 octane E0 50:1 with VP Racing 2 stroke synthetic oil. No regrets!
 
Update: my Echo SRM-225 got here last night via UPS. I put some mix (a little rich) in it and it started right up and ran decent. It's pretty cold (46 degrees F) this morning and it had to run about 30 seconds before I could gas it w/o stalling the motor. Once it warmed up it ran pretty good. Going to use it maybe this afternoon or tomorrow.
 
Chris142 said:
I have 2 of those. Very easy to reload and have a lot of power. My only 2 negatives are that they vibrate which wears me out and its short so even my 5ft7in me has to stoop to use them.
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They come standard with the Speed-Feed 400 bump head which causes the vibration due to excessive moving mass. The vibrations seemed to get worse as the trimmer line is consumed, compared to a fully loaded spool. The vibrations bothered me so much that I replaced the Speed-Feed head with the old-school ECHOmatic bump head which eliminated 80% of the vibrations.
 
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Another update: the air/fuel ratio is non-adjustable on this carburetor; you have to remove a limiter cap so that means buying a special tool. They can possibly be removed by yanking w/pliers but not sure. It runs fine, so no adjustment needed at this time. Also, the motor has "assembled in USA" if that matters to anyone else.
 
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