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Hi Jim
i purchased the rm650v next size down last spring used till end of last year good finish and mulch... wet cut/pick up exallant....
However the last month I used it the drive on take off went slow not sure if its a gearbox problem or maybe stretched drive cable....any advice anyone ??
Hi Mark
Thank you for your reply
Hi Jim, I'm really pleased with mine.
I'm garden maintenance rather than lawn specialist so can't comment on heavy usage, but do work in quite high quality gardens and lawns.
Seems very robust, collection is really good wet or dry. I was disappointed with speed but had it sped up and much much better. Limited height adjust options, and large jumps in height but 2 and 3 settings good for most lawns.
Low noise and vibrations even tuned up.
I also use a weibang legacy 56 v. The weibang leaves a better finish if being picky, but the stihl is 100% acceptable. But the weibang is just too big to keep getting in and out of the van, whereas the stihl I find very easy.
I did have a problem, the roller bearings failed after only a couple of weeks, but replaced under warranty, and no problems since. Just a dodgy set I guess.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Glen
Hi Glen, what do you mean by 'had it sped up'? We have a couple of RM655 RS and they wouldn't hurt for being a bit faster. Did they just increase the rev limit?
I did on my RM655RS, much quicker now
Evening Tim, yes just upped the revs. It's a 5 minute job for your mechanic.
It's great at picking up and filling the grass box in the wet, on the slow side but my main issue is the blade engager lever often disconnects when your mowing making you stop and reengage, tried tightening screw/bolts but nothing seems to work! We only bought it for the small van as took up less room than the honda and the folding handle very useful but gone back to the Honda pro again for productive reasons.
Thanks Busy Bee
I really rate the 545 series of Stilhs ... Game changers in that size being so lightweight, well balanced and unbelievable wet grass collection so last year i added a 655v .... The good news its pacy in full speed (i speed up rpm's a bit) and collects brilliantly .... Good mower for up and down larger square lawns.
.... However less good for me on small to meidum lawn or a lawn with obstacles etc ... Its manoervrwability is compromised as it feels very bottom heavy to me, the drive engage handle is the wrong side so if you get it caught under a bush then it will take off on its own, and because of the weight of the mower impossible to control and runs away from you (i went thru a greenhouse lower window as result of this) and when the box is full of wet grass (and it will fill to the brim) it becomes very very heavy to empty and it compacts the grass so well quite a job to empty ... finally the cut heights are very strange ... level 1 is pretty much unuseable as too low, 2-4 are much of a muchnes and the highest cut isnt high enough. Mine will be sold on after only using for a couple of months
So in summary -
545 Stihl = brilliant
655 Stihl .... although a great collector of wet grass there are too many downsides