Stihl edgers

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kbgfarmer
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Stihl edgers

Post by kbgfarmer » August 31st, 2016, 10:25 am

I'm looking to purchase a stihl edger and was looking to see if anyone had any experience using these? Currently looking at the 56-CE which is part of their homeowner line. Would people recommend this or should I go with something from the professional line like the 70 which is about 50 bucks more expensive. Right now I edge using a stihl homeowner string trimmer turned upside down but to be honest I'm not very good at it and it's time consuming so I edge if I'm lucky maybe every 6 mows. I can see edging more if it was easier because it looks so neat and good from the street. Thanks in advance for the replies.

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ENVY23
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by ENVY23 » August 31st, 2016, 10:43 am

I don't have any experience with those two models in particular, but I do have the Stihl FCS-KM edger with a KM130 engine and I love it. I would say the edger part is the same as the one found on the FC95 or FC110 edgers. I would suggest trying both the curved shaft and straight shaft models out at the dealer before buying to see which one you prefer. Both styles have their pros and cons, IMO.

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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by Shindoman » August 31st, 2016, 10:53 am

I struggled trying to get a clean edge with a string trimmer also and considered a Stihl edger. I ended up buying an old fashioned Power Trim lawn edger. It is incredible. Leaves a clean perfect edge not only along a concrete sidewalk like everyone thinks but it works great along the dirt edges of all our garden beds. String trimmers just hack and chew up everything. The wheeled edgers make it easy to run a clean straight edge. New edgers are expensive but you can always find them cheap on Craigslist.

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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by rydaddy » August 31st, 2016, 11:49 am

I have the 56 ce. It does the job. I went in there thinking I would walk out with a higher prices model. Sales guy talked me into the 56ce and I think it was a fine choice.


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tlinden
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by tlinden » August 31st, 2016, 12:07 pm

There is also the edgeit pro, you use it as your trimmer guard and it's basically a rotating circular guard so you roll it on the ground as you trim.

If you have a lot of edging to do then the stick edgers are better, but if you have a small yard it might still be a pain having to switch from trimmer to edger.


kbgfarmer
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by kbgfarmer » August 31st, 2016, 12:42 pm

Thanks guys. Just purchased the 56 ce. Will post about initial thoughts when I use it today.

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kbgfarmer
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by kbgfarmer » August 31st, 2016, 2:40 pm

Well used the stihl 56ce edger for the first time. Little bit of a learning curve for sure in terms of dialing in the depth of cut and getting close to the sidewalk edge without causing a ton of sparks. My edges were really overgrown since I fired my lawn care company last year and really had neglected the edges. I would have to say the stihl 56 ce is a great homeowner edger. It did get bogged down a few times and didn't have quite enough power to cut through the really thick stuff but that was more because it hadn't been edged in so long and I had to take the edge back quite a ways. I'm very happy with the purchase however. Here are a few pics of the final result. Pardon the amateur work but it was my first time. Another bonus was mulching all that extra grass using my Honda HRX 217 into the lawn. Definitely an organic matter boost.

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tlinden
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by tlinden » August 31st, 2016, 3:08 pm

Nice job!!

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kbgfarmer
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by kbgfarmer » August 31st, 2016, 3:35 pm

tlinden wrote:Nice job!!

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Thank you! Very rewarding experience! Goes a long way in dominating my neighbors' yards!

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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by nhyrum » August 31st, 2016, 11:06 pm

Having worked on stihl engines, they are light years ahead of other companies in terms of their engine. That 56 ce should serve you a very long time given you maintain it. They are also very easy to work on

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kbgfarmer
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by kbgfarmer » September 1st, 2016, 12:03 am

nhyrum wrote:Having worked on stihl engines, they are light years ahead of other companies in terms of their engine. That 56 ce should serve you a very long time given you maintain it. They are also very easy to work on

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Great! What are things I should be doing for maintenance on the engine and other parts? Being a two stroke engine there isn't oil to change so change spark plugs as needed and.....? I'm pretty handy but these are the first trimmer and edger I have owned. My trimmer is the 56 rc which has the exact same motor.

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ENVY23
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by ENVY23 » September 1st, 2016, 12:25 am

I would recommend non-ethanol gas, and if you buy a 6-pack of Stihl HP Ultra 2-cycle oil when you purchase your equipment they will double your warranty. Since you just purchased it today, I would run back down to the dealer tomorrow and find your salesman and see if maybe he could still get you the extended warranty if you buy some oil. If you can't find non-ethanol gas near you(check pure-gas.org), Stihl sells some pre-mixed non-ethanol 2-cycle fuel. It's more expensive than mixing your own from non-ethanol pump gas, but it will save you headaches from dealing with a gummed up carb later on.

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nhyrum
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by nhyrum » September 1st, 2016, 12:34 am

I'm not entirely sure if that particular model has their 2 stroke/4 stroke hybrid(2 stroke with natives l valves like a 4 stroke. Or a 4 stroke that uses gas/oil mix) either way, carefully measure the oil you put in the gas and use the specified concentration.don't do what I did as a kid and eyeball it. It doesn't work. Too much oil will foul the plug fast, too little and excessive wear on engine parts, which is no good with a 2 stroke wrapped out. Use a good quality gasoline, with minimal ethanol content. Basically, go by the book.

Let the engine fully warm up before any throttle, most engine wear occurs in the first 8 ish minutes (that's from a rather lengthy article I read on oil in cars, but same principle applies) until everything comes to temperature, it's best to let it idle.

On a side note, look into getting a replacement head. Those "tap" on the pavement heads are garbage and end up being "smack them on the pavement as hard as you can" heads to release the line, and when they finally do, they let a foot go. But that's an "Upgrade" you can do later when the head starts to not work so well.

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kbgfarmer
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by kbgfarmer » September 1st, 2016, 1:02 am

Wow thanks for the great info guys! Luckily I can get ethanol free octane 91 pretty easily around here! That's all I use on my cars, mower, and edger and trimmer.

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nhyrum
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by nhyrum » September 1st, 2016, 4:23 pm

kbgfarmer wrote:Wow thanks for the great info guys! Luckily I can get ethanol free octane 91 pretty easily around here! That's all I use on my cars, mower, and edger and trimmer.

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Just be careful. My highschool auto shop teacher worked as a mechanic on an Air Force base and made a decent living repairing damage from everyone running the avgas in engines that weren't build for it. Don't run much higher than the book says. Pure-gas.Org also lists the octane ratings of the gas sold at that particular station. I'd look into seeing if the recommended octane is available locally.

On a side note... Something I've learned pursuing chemical/petrolium engineering. Higher octane does NOT ALWAYS burn slower. Perfect example of this. Boosted drag bikes. Insane compression(high octane required) with INSANE red line(fast burning fuel required to get complete burn). Some around 20k. Think about how fast that little piston is moving. They need very fast burning gas, but also high octane, so the saying that high octane burns slower is false. It can be made to burn as fast or as slow as needed.

If people challenge that, I can add documentation

Hell, I couldn't resist reading it again...
http://www.sunocoracefuels.com/tech-art ... ond-octane

Just for fun.
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GregoryMorton3
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Re: Stihl edgers

Post by GregoryMorton3 » October 18th, 2020, 1:19 pm

I can't say anything good or bad about the Stihl brand, since I have not used it. I myself use the Greenworks is line at a higher price, because I think it is better to buy a high-quality product once than three not high-quality ones. Of course, you will tell me that the price is not an indicator of quality, but before buying I spend a lot of time looking for a good tools. Helpful blog is here https://grass-killer.com/reviews/best-lawn-edgers/ in this matter. I often use their ratings and buy tools based on their recommendations.

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