i was wondering if you could help me out sir

last year i bought a crappy homelite (yeah i know) weedeater for ~90$, worked well for the summer, then fall/winter game.

i left the oil/gas mix in the tank, as well as leaving it out on my porch (covered) all winter.

not surprisingly it won't start this year. from what i've read, the issues probably in the fuel lines.

so i'm wondering - how difficult is that to fix & replace that (if that's the case), and what might parts cost?

a few small engine places around here charge a $30 diagnostic fee just to even figure out whats wrong with something, and with 30$ being a third of what i spent on the damn thing, i'm not sure if that option to makes sense.

if i went the route to just get a new, quality weedwhacker - any brands or options to look out for?

I have had a HUSQVARNA for 15 years and it runs mint every year, I use SEAFOAM at the end of the season to prevent the issue you are experiencing now.

Check spark plug and clean carb, too.

Tip#1... never leave fuel in a machine over the winter. The ethanol eat into the carb.

Tip#2... who leaves fluff on their porch all winter - put it in the shed or garage.

Tip#3... let ford know how big your yard is because if it isn't huge, you could get away with a batteey operated model and not have to worry about gas or leaving it outside.

Yes tip #3 is a good point. Even electric ones are good with a long enough cord.

yeah, it's apparent now after talking to folks, and RTFM that yeah you're supposed to drain all the gas and then run the weedwhacker dry after each use

i'm pretty sure i got ethanol-free premade gas/oil mix, i use ethanol-free gas on my lawnmower

i left it on my porch all winter instead of my storage shed, because at the time my storage shed was overrun with hornets, and also was fairly overgrown with brush - i really dont have a good excuse there

i've used a corded electric model before, and having to lug that damn cord all over the place is what got me fed up to the point of getting a gas powered one. also, even using a 100 ft ext cord, i couldn't get all the way down to my driveway to weedwhack with

i dont have a big house, and my property isn't that big... perhaps a battery powered one would be a good option hrmm

i might've already asked this before on AT, but when it comes to a curved or straight shaft... what do i want?

that sounds excessive but im not familiar with homelite

I have an 8hp snowblower, lawnmower, backpack leaf blower, 8hp outboard, 40hp outboard, and the husqvarna weedwacker. I never drain gas (especially after each use) ..I use SEAFOAM as directed on the can and I will not say that I have never had issues, but they've been minimal.

I think its a matter of personal preference. I've only owned one weedwacker in my entire life but i have no complaints with the straight shaft. I've used curved and they might be a little lighter, but i found them more difficult to operate /shrug

Hire a mexican...

I have a dinky little snowblower just to placate the wife.
Speaking of which:
http://www.robotshop.com/...dYW6Jkq1B5ecPMaAoZK8P8HAQ

I want one.. just not for that price lol.

Personally I mulch my grass and where I live there's really no need to watering the lawn.
I have a battery operated one because I hate corded things in general but I think I only used it twice last year. Unless you are hardcore about wacking weeds and ackward grass, gas is overkill imo.

For the most part I CBA to deal with weeds that aren't in the flower bed or garden and just mow 'em over anyway. One people see my back yard they understand why mind you:P

i worked landscaping for years, line trimmer exclusively for about four seasons- curved is awful, always go straight. but as i think buttman said, its really just personal preference.

husqvarna is good. i would absolutely not go stihl, but not doing a hundred properties a week every week for eight months, stihl might work better for you than it had for me.

jayr is rarely wrong, and this is not one of the times he is: hire a mexican.

and whoever tells you you should drain the gas after every use.. well, as ford might say, they went full retard.

but all i know is about commercial use, not private.. so maybe the two are built differently, but i couldnt imagine how gas in from one week to the next would affect the trimmer at all..

The fuel lines on a weedeater is usually little more than plastic tubing. You can go buy a foot or 2 for a couple dollars and cut them to length. You need to make sure the diameter is the same though.

I would find the intake for the carb and spray cleaner in it. And try to start it a few times.

If that doesnt cut it I wouldtake apart and clean the carb and run a bit of seafoam in your next 2 stroke batch. The gas probably broke down and gummed up the sprayers in the carb. Figuring on how cheaply it was made a few seals could have broken down as well. If you don't know what you are doing I would recommend doing a lot of research before taking a carb off. They have tiny ass parts in them that like to fall out. Not to mention getting it to seal right when you put it back on.

I would give you more detailed instructions but I don't know fluff about homelite.

Curved shaft is supposedly more ergonomical for small residential jobs, but I always prefer straight. Especially if you plan on edging with it as well.

Oh, and did I read you bought premixed 2 stroke fuel? Lol. What a ripoff. But I suppose you did buy homelite as well.....

probably was like 2 dollars more than what another gas can + gas + oil would've cost :) just easier that way

he used his obama money, technically you bought him premixed two stroke and homelite..

fluff that. I like to know what is going in my small motors. I'll mix my own fluff thank you very much!

If you wanna nagger rig it then just drain everything in the tank, remove the spark plug, put some pure gas and seafoam in there, press the primer like eleventh thousand times and pull the rope a bit, then drain the tank, clear the lines by pressing the primer a ton of times, and then let it air out a bit. Check the gap kn the plug (this is a really common problem) and put it back jn, then put 2 stroke fuel back in.

If that doesnt work then do what I said earlier.

Or........ Buy a new one for $60 and drain the gas this winter

Anyone that buys a weedeater for $60 shouldn't be doing yard work themselves.

Anyone who just throws away something that won't work before trying to fix it should just give me their money. They are too lazy to have it

I got a ryobi one for $64 works great and always has

You just gotta quit being a city boy worrying about brands my $60 one dose the same thing and your $160 one lol

Anything with a plastic carburetor should be avoided.

also might buy some high octane gas. i have a leaf blower that will not start or run well on the low octane

Goats

Completely false.

Why are you using a ryobi to administer a dose? You are almost as retarded as trife.

You start caring about brands pretty quick when you depend on them to make the work easy and to start up every time. If you have a postage stamp for a lawn area then you can probably get away with a smaller model electric (battery or plug in) and be alright. Those are a fluff to load with twine though, and since you can only hold about 2 feet of the thin stuff you'll be reloading a lot.

If you have a decent sized lot and tend to let things go, get yourself a good set of gas tools. My two brands of choice are Echo and Husqvarna. My Echo weed-whip is actually a modular so it can be a weed-whip, hedge trimmer, tree limber or I can put a saw blade on it for the heavy brush. Very handy. The weed-whip head is a speed loader. They cost about $25 but you can load them with 10m of the rugged .085mm twine in a few seconds, without even taking the head apart like those cheap ones and you'll probably only have to do it once a year.

Yes, you spend some money at first but you'll only spend it once. Assuming, of course, that you can actually take care of it. ;P

echo backpack blowers are my favourites.

All you got is complete false and a spelling error
Mine trims grass around the house and weeds in the woods around the deer stand what does yours do different ford

And schilling its not electric or have thin sting 26cc and .095" string

So why do you need and expensive one again?

spelling error?

your piece of fluff might be fine for what you need it for the same way a Suzuki swift is fine for a daily driver.

have fun with your 1998 Suzuki.

i have an echo and a husqvarna weed whip. the echo is curved and i hated it so i got the straight husqvarna, both work great and for the most part start right up. the husq is a bit more consistent. the echo is also going on 8 yrs old.

as for your homelite. it sounds like your gas and oil separated and the oil clogged your fuel filter and carb. you arent the first person to ever do this but you will need to clean them.

you may have to do both of what ford said to do to clean them, but for sure check the spark plug to see if its gummed up and clean out the carb. carb cleaner and seafoam in your next couple batches of fule work the the best imo.

they SHOULD be a pretty easy fix. most weed whip carbs are very similar so pretty much any youtube video on cleaning a weedwhip carb will get you pointed in the right direction. there is likely just oil built up in it from sitting out all winter that you need to clean out.

Vehicles and weed whips ar a little different ford lol

It is called an analogy.

A cheap weed eater is built poorly and with cheaper parts. You have to run it harder to achieve the same result as a solid model. This adds up over time. Not to mention the little things that just arnt there on cheap models.

It is a free country, you can buy whatever you want, but to say a Husqvarna is the same as a homelite is stupid, and you know that.

i'd like to have the record show that i'm not a complete dumbass, i always get supreme ethanol free gas for my mower

trife isnt stupid, he just has bad luck when it comes to thinking

I had a great deal of success with a brand called "Shindaiwa", My Dad owned a landscaping/lawncare company and this is the brand I wound up buying for him to use. It was very powerful and very reliable. It also had option to have saw blades put on it and could trim brush and trees as well.

It was probably the best example of that type of tool I've ever seen, but it is commercial grade, so it might be a bit of overkill for you. However, from your tone I'm deducing that you don't want to spend a lot of money over time for this thing and thus, an investment of a 190 bucks or so would solve your problem for all time instead of just a season or two.

http://www.shindaiwa-usa.com/

Shindaiwa is a good brand as well. I've never owned one, but most commercial outfits use those. I got a special deal on Echo so I went in that direction.



That the one with the plastic drive shaft and no air filter? I had one and snapped the shaft on a chain link fence a few months after getting it. I'm sure it'll be fine as long as you don't beat on it too much.

mrford for president