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• PRO

  Seth Burgess June 4, 2017 at 6:42pm

  Echo's generally have the lowest vibes. However the ones you are purchasing are barely commercial machines.
• PRO

  Richard Gadsby June 4, 2017 at 6:57pm

  Loop handles in general are pretty poor on vibes and the small stihl ones seem particularly bad.
  I can't use loop handles anyway I'm so used to cow horn handles that on a loop handle my elbow want to be where the engine is and I find it frustrating
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  Graham Taylor June 4, 2017 at 7:23pm

  Had a quick glance at the Stihl vibration levels.............. I was surprised that there isn't that much difference between your FS50 and the more expensive models above until you reach the "clearing" brushcutters at about £700+ which aren't really suitable for your needs. .I've an FS94 loop handle and can't say I notice the vibrations........... I tend not to use it at full revs.... more like about half speed................ perhaps you could try reducing the revs a bit?  
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  Sam Cambridge June 4, 2017 at 7:35pm

  I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts on foam padding on the machine? I brought gloves which are ok but I think I would like to try something else too. Best wishes  Sam 
• PRO

  Richard Gadsby June 4, 2017 at 7:46pm

  I've just been and cut my grass so I thought I'd have a go with the fs40 that's sat there gathering dust. A few minutes faffing about trying to put new line in on the twist head thing.
  Anyway it's rubbish it's vibrates and the worse bit is it turns the wrong way.
  Buy a cow horn handle machine and be happy:)
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  dickyjim June 5, 2017 at 9:18am

  Thanks all for your advice. I think I may go down the route of a backpack strimmer with loop. Anyone here use one? Surely they must have very low vibes buy comparison?
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    Graham Taylor > dickyjim June 5, 2017 at 4:45pm

    Bit of an "overkill" isn't that............... thought they were more intended for banks + far more pricey particularly if finances are tight .I'm surprised you're having problems if you're just doing domestic gardens........... I find the strimmer is only going for a couple of minutes at the most.... not enough to worry about. 
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  Ben Pritchard June 5, 2017 at 12:23pm

  Stihl combi, 130r. That's my advice. I tried pipe cladding on my old Kawasaki brushcutters years ago, didn't notice much difference. Good gloves with elastic wrists definately help reduce vibes, not those anti vibe ones, they're just silly. I really notice the vibes after operating with out gloves on.
  • PRO

    Seth Burgess > Ben Pritchard June 5, 2017 at 1:47pm

     But the 130r has higher vibes than either of the two strimmers dickyjim mentioned. The strimmers he mentioned are also 4.5kg 1 ish hp machines not 5.5kg 2 hp machines.
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      Ben Pritchard > Seth Burgess June 5, 2017 at 2:03pm

      On paper or in practice? I find the lower end stihl machines much more vibey in practice, and as they are lower powered, you have to use them for longer. Something else to think about is trigger time. Take your finger off the trigger when not cutting, pulsing the trigger helps too, and switching it off when idle is another good one.
      Sorry if I'm talking about the wrong machine price bracket, the only spec I saw was loop handle. I also don't really get using low end machines commercially.