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I have the stihl FSA90 and after 3 years it needed a new electric motor in the head (£100) as the magnets had all blown during not exaclty much tough use. Im not convinced yet whether I would ever get another cordless strimmer
My only experience with battery strimmer is the stihl kma 135r kombi engine, Ive had it I think 3/4 years with no issues. I only use it for light strimming, hard stuff i still use petrol. If it died I'd probably by a new one then repair the old to keep as a spare. Always handy having two kombi engines especially if doing any clearing or renovation.
I wonder if the problem is all the electronic gubbins in the muck. Perhaps the strimmers with motor out the way will last longer. I've got a kombi strimmer attachment that's over 16yrs old which works perfectly after all the abuse.
I just replaced the blades on my hla85 cause two of the teeth snapped off. It gets a lot of use and is my favourite hedge cutter, but I don't push it to hard. It's 5 years old. Some people are so abusive to kit, all tools should be respected and not push past there capabilities.
When I first purchased battery kit even the stihl dealer referred to them as disposable. Its longevity who knows. I still won't stop using its just to nice.
I also had an FSA90, which was problematic and felt a bit experimental somehow. Was fixed under warranty at the time but was never the same afterwards. So gave up on it. They are an old model now, in cordless terms, practically an antique. The newer machines are streets ahead. Not tried the FSA120 but have the FSA130 (power supplied via cable only) and FSA135R which are like "real strimmers" in performance. And can use the batteries up quickly. Depending on what kind of work you do with them
Thanks billybop, so with the 130 & 135r can you only use it with backpack battery, not usable or not worth it with batteries? I don't really wanna get a backpack cos I wanna stay free and easy, the spec seems the same for the fsa 120 and 130 so I think I'll give the fsa 120 a go
hi the fsa130 you have to use with a cable either via belt pouch or back pack, as there is no option to put the battery in the machine itelf... the fsa135 has a battery slot however.... if doing a large area of strimming with any of the machines the backpacks are useful as don't have to keep changing battery packs over, if you have ten ap batteries already then best to go with a machine that has a battery slot
Great, thanks for that!
Have a look at the EGO Power line-up. I bought their ST1401 strimmer, and use it every day on every garden (incl 1 regular job with 2 hr solid strimming and edging).
3 years later and it still works like new, Powerload head is great, and variable trigger allows edging without risk. Batteries last really well also. Much better than similar priced Stihl, in my opinion.
Yea the ego sounds good, I'm unfortunately fully invested in the Stihl ones as I have 10 batteries and 5 tools!
Thanks for the info guys , kinda what I expected but good to get a confirmation