. . .I signed up with WalMart to be emailed when the 1200 watt Weed
Eater ($40.00) would be in stock at my store. I received the email, the
next day they were in stock in my store, so I drove the 27 miles. There
were none in stock. Dirty word. At least I got a Chev Geo Metro a year ago
and now get up to 53.8 mpg. Been doing 48 mpg going a little faster. Going
to put 42 psi in my tires and get even better mileage. 4 tires just cost me
$140 mounted, balanced, installed. That's 35 gallons of fuel. I can afford
to wear out tires now.
.. . . .I had ordered a Toro 1200 watt blower/mulcher from TARGET and then
found another site where users reported their experiences. At that site
those who had the Toro machines for a longer time all experienced motor burn
out. Target was real helpful when I attemtped to cancel my order. Just
refuse shipment they said, and when they receive it back they will credit my
credit card.
.. . . .My GFIC is okay, the motor smelled and slowed down and one could see
the arc between the brushes and the commutator. GFIC did its job and shut
down on the high amp draw. A 1200 watt unit should draw 10 amps...since one
hp is 6.8 amps (I'm pretty sure) those are real little motors to be rated at
just under 1.5 hp. They are quite small (small bearings) and must be at
least 3600 rpm...Doesn't take much to break one down.
.. . . .It seems all electrics have common problems, just like the Weed Eater
gas models all have starter recoil rope problems soon after purchase. I
canceled my order for the Toro electric and went to Wal Mart and paid $100
for a Poulan (Weed Eater) gas blower/mulcher. So far I have not used it and
I am running it for 10 minutes at a time at reduced speed to 'break it in'.
At top speed I don't know what the rpm is, but they really fly. It feels
too fast for long engine life. I can see why they use 40:1 fuel/oil mix...
.. . . .My gas Poulan has the primer bulb and it seems to flood real easy.
But it clears easy too. Since it is built by Weed Eater, I can expect
recoil start problems. I live at 5300 feet asl, and I imagine I should
adjust the carb (it has to be running rich), and cut down on the rpms. Man,
those 2 cycle units really scream. The electric Weed Eater had a serated
plastic impeller and really did a job mulching (16:1). My gas Poulan does
have a plastic non-serated impeller, and they claim 14:1 mulch rate. It
also has a variable speed throttle trigger.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **