Hi all,

Just bought a secondhand FS400, it seems to have a slight leak from one of
the fuel pipes, the short crinkley one, on top of the fuel tank, it seems to
have been stretched a bit to the point where the rubber seal end of the pipe
is slightly above the tank.
Of course I am only guessing here but I suspect it may have been shortened,
as its very taut, by a diy repair merchant.
Is this a common fault, is it really worth bothering about, if it is a
serious fault, where can I get a new tank.

Thanks.

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 23:33:53 +0100, "Chris"
wrote:

Hi all,

Just bought a secondhand FS400, it seems to have a slight leak from one of
the fuel pipes, the short crinkley one, on top of the fuel tank, it seems to
have been stretched a bit to the point where the rubber seal end of the pipe
is slightly above the tank.
Of course I am only guessing here but I suspect it may have been shortened,
as its very taut, by a diy repair merchant.
Is this a common fault, is it really worth bothering about, if it is a
serious fault, where can I get a new tank.

Thanks.



Slightly off on a tangent but ........... I have a petrol driven
strimmer McCulloch MX310 that I am ALWAYS CONSTANTLY have to stop to
'adjust' the cutter feed ............ this replaced an electric thing
that was the same ........... 'Just gently tap on the ground, and the
self adjusting / self monitoring / fully automatic / fully patented /
foolproof mechanism will ensure trouble free adjustment....... rubbish

Lasted about 20 mins on both items (bought new) if it worked at all on
the petrol jobbie.

Now the bloke with the council strimmer goes on ALL DAY without EVER
looking at his nylon cable, for months on end .......... where can I
get one ???? (a strimmer like his I mean and not the council bloke)

What about 'brush cutters' are they any better?? 1/3 acre of wild at
the sides garden (all open crop fields)

Taa

"AndWhyNot" wrote in message
s.com...
On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 23:33:53 +0100, "Chris"
wrote:

Hi all,

Just bought a secondhand FS400, it seems to have a slight leak from one
of
the fuel pipes, the short crinkley one, on top of the fuel tank, it seems
to
have been stretched a bit to the point where the rubber seal end of the
pipe
is slightly above the tank.
Of course I am only guessing here but I suspect it may have been
shortened,
as its very taut, by a diy repair merchant.
Is this a common fault, is it really worth bothering about, if it is a
serious fault, where can I get a new tank.

Thanks.



Slightly off on a tangent but ........... I have a petrol driven
strimmer McCulloch MX310 that I am ALWAYS CONSTANTLY have to stop to
'adjust' the cutter feed ............ this replaced an electric thing
that was the same ........... 'Just gently tap on the ground, and the
self adjusting / self monitoring / fully automatic / fully patented /
foolproof mechanism will ensure trouble free adjustment....... rubbish

Lasted about 20 mins on both items (bought new) if it worked at all on
the petrol jobbie.

Now the bloke with the council strimmer goes on ALL DAY without EVER
looking at his nylon cable, for months on end .......... where can I
get one ???? (a strimmer like his I mean and not the council bloke)

What about 'brush cutters' are they any better?? 1/3 acre of wild at
the sides garden (all open crop fields)

Taa

Just be thankful it was not the space shuttle, I recommend Stihl as my
little pup is now up and running trouble free after a little TLC.

Now the bloke with the council strimmer goes on ALL DAY without EVER
looking at his nylon cable, for months on end .......... where can I
get one ???? (a strimmer like his I mean and not the council bloke)

What about 'brush cutters' are they any better?? 1/3 acre of wild at
the sides garden (all open crop fields)

Taa

The make most contractors go for is a Robin. Despite the naff name, it's a
very good, reasonably weighted tool with the ability to be used as a strimmer
(with a good weight of strimmer cord that won't be breaking every few seconds)
or as a brush-cutter. It's about £250 new, but well worth the investment if
you have a large area to look after and need something 'man' enough to do the
job. Just one thing, I'd recommend getting a hard hat with visor. Dogs mess,
stones, and even bits of shredded weeds get thrown up into your eyes/face and
can be very nasty in many and varied ways. Well worth getting and not due to
VAT as it's considered safety equipment.

Hope this helps.

Dave.

On 26 Jun 2003 17:57:26 GMT, (DaveDay34) wrote:

Now the bloke with the council strimmer goes on ALL DAY without EVER
looking at his nylon cable, for months on end .......... where can I
get one ???? (a strimmer like his I mean and not the council bloke)

What about 'brush cutters' are they any better?? 1/3 acre of wild at
the sides garden (all open crop fields)

Taa

The make most contractors go for is a Robin. Despite the naff name, it's a
very good, reasonably weighted tool with the ability to be used as a strimmer
(with a good weight of strimmer cord that won't be breaking every few seconds)
or as a brush-cutter. It's about £250 new, but well worth the investment if
you have a large area to look after and need something 'man' enough to do the
job. Just one thing, I'd recommend getting a hard hat with visor. Dogs mess,
stones, and even bits of shredded weeds get thrown up into your eyes/face and
can be very nasty in many and varied ways. Well worth getting and not due to
VAT as it's considered safety equipment.

Hope this helps.

Dave.

Hmm that sound good Dave ......... any idea where I could get some
more info on Robin (has it got 3 wheels ???)

On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 18:37:17 GMT, AndWhyNot
wrote:

On 26 Jun 2003 17:57:26 GMT, (DaveDay34) wrote:

Now the bloke with the council strimmer goes on ALL DAY without EVER
looking at his nylon cable, for months on end .......... where can I
get one ???? (a strimmer like his I mean and not the council bloke)

What about 'brush cutters' are they any better?? 1/3 acre of wild at
the sides garden (all open crop fields)

Taa

The make most contractors go for is a Robin. Despite the naff name, it's a
very good, reasonably weighted tool with the ability to be used as a strimmer
(with a good weight of strimmer cord that won't be breaking every few seconds)
or as a brush-cutter. It's about £250 new, but well worth the investment if
you have a large area to look after and need something 'man' enough to do the
job. Just one thing, I'd recommend getting a hard hat with visor. Dogs mess,
stones, and even bits of shredded weeds get thrown up into your eyes/face and
can be very nasty in many and varied ways. Well worth getting and not due to
VAT as it's considered safety equipment.

Hope this helps.

Dave.

Hmm that sound good Dave ......... any idea where I could get some
more info on Robin (has it got 3 wheels ???)

Get a Delboy special from Peckham Market

--
martin

Hmm that sound good Dave ......... any idea where I could get some
more info on Robin (has it got 3 wheels ???)

Get a Delboy special from Peckham Market

--
martin


Most good stockists of garden machinery should stock Robin strimmers or be able
to get hold of them for you. Afraid you'll have to go elsewhere if you want a
Reliant Robin. No wheels on the Robin strimmer!

Dave.

Just be thankful it was not the space shuttle, I recommend Stihl as my
little pup is now up and running trouble free after a little TLC.

Chris,

"Strimmer"?, "little pup"? The FS400 is classified as a "clearing saw".

I mention this because, as you bought it second hand, you may not be aware
of its full capabilities. Although you can use it with a strimming head and
a brushcutter head, you can also use it with a clearing saw head for the
really big stuff (felling small trees). Just to give you an idea of the
potential power, I use my FS400 with a brushcutter head almost exclusively.
I have a number of fields with a problem with blackthorn etc at the edges.
The brushcutter head copes perfectly with blackthorn up to about 1inch in
one cut but I have cut blackthorn up to 3 or 4 inches thick with three or
four "chops". The engine does not have any problem with this sort of abuse.
I am quite sure you will soon learn to love your FS400.

Regards

Howard Neil

"Howard Neil" hneil@REMOVE TO REPLY.co.uk wrote in message
...
Just be thankful it was not the space shuttle, I recommend Stihl as my
little pup is now up and running trouble free after a little TLC.

Chris,

"Strimmer"?, "little pup"? The FS400 is classified as a "clearing saw".

I mention this because, as you bought it second hand, you may not be aware
of its full capabilities. Although you can use it with a strimming head
and
a brushcutter head, you can also use it with a clearing saw head for the
really big stuff (felling small trees). Just to give you an idea of the
potential power, I use my FS400 with a brushcutter head almost
exclusively.
I have a number of fields with a problem with blackthorn etc at the edges.
The brushcutter head copes perfectly with blackthorn up to about 1inch in
one cut but I have cut blackthorn up to 3 or 4 inches thick with three or
four "chops". The engine does not have any problem with this sort of
abuse.
I am quite sure you will soon learn to love your FS400.

Regards

Howard Neil


Thats some power Howard, grrr grrr, I'm lovin it, lovin it, lovin it more
every day, it makes sushi out of thick scrub using the strimmer head, I have
ordered a brush cutting blade as back up in case I meet any heavy gorse
material, it purs like a kitten in idle and roars like a lion when its
cranked up, I like it so much that I am almost tempted to go out right now
at 12.45 am to give it a little run but my neighbours might go ballistic.

I probably bought the wrong one, the head I ordered has 4 points, is that
the right head for heavy material? The bloke in the shop said the head
covers all types of material that I am likely to meet, theres also a head
with 3 points and one almost like a circular saw blade which I assume is for
heavy bramble type tree material.

On 27 Jun 2003 08:01:25 GMT, (DaveDay34) wrote:

Hmm that sound good Dave ......... any idea where I could get some
more info on Robin (has it got 3 wheels ???)

Get a Delboy special from Peckham Market

--
martin


Most good stockists of garden machinery should stock Robin strimmers or be able
to get hold of them for you. Afraid you'll have to go elsewhere if you want a
Reliant Robin. No wheels on the Robin strimmer!

Dave.

Apparently they are made by Fuji (Fuji Robin) part of the Subaru 4WD
group !!

Thats some power Howard, grrr grrr, I'm lovin it, lovin it, lovin it more
every day, it makes sushi out of thick scrub using the strimmer head, I
have
ordered a brush cutting blade as back up in case I meet any heavy gorse
material, it purs like a kitten in idle and roars like a lion when its
cranked up, I like it so much that I am almost tempted to go out right now
at 12.45 am to give it a little run but my neighbours might go ballistic.

I probably bought the wrong one, the head I ordered has 4 points, is that
the right head for heavy material? The bloke in the shop said the head
covers all types of material that I am likely to meet, theres also a head
with 3 points and one almost like a circular saw blade which I assume is
for
heavy bramble type tree material.

Hi Chris,

My brush cutter blade has three points. I am not sure how a four pointed one
will differ in performance but I suspect that cutting the big stuff may be a
little harder as there is less gap between the points. If you move the blade
into small trees slowly, it will try to burn its way through and quickly
damage the tip of the blade. If you chop at the tree, the blade will take
chunks out of it.

The blade needs to be a substantial one. Some of those available are little
more than bent tin. Try to make sure that it is made by Stihl to be certain
(although there are other good blades available).

The circular saw blade is the clearing saw blade that I mentioned. This is
for taking out trees up to about 6 inches diameter. I use the brush cutter
blade for everything unless needing to cut close to something that I do not
wish to damage (e.g. stock fences, trees I wish to keep, etc) or which might
damage the blade (e.g. stone walls).

The blade on this machine runs anti-clockwise as seen from above. When
cutting things that might throw off big bits (such as small diameter tree
stumps), try cutting from left to right. This will throw the bits away from
you. Otherwise, invest in some sort of leg shield. :-) A full face visor is
also advisable, particularly when working near animal excrement.:-)

I know the enjoyment you are having with it. I started off with a "normal"
brush cutter and this was hard work. I then took a forestry course at a
local agricultural college and was introduced to the Stihl. I bought one
myself and it is now one of my most important machines.

Regards

Howard Neil

"Howard Neil" hneil@REMOVE TO REPLY.co.uk wrote in message
Hi Chris,

My brush cutter blade has three points. I am not sure how a four pointed
one
will differ in performance but I suspect that cutting the big stuff may be
a
little harder as there is less gap between the points. If you move the
blade
into small trees slowly, it will try to burn its way through and quickly
damage the tip of the blade. If you chop at the tree, the blade will take
chunks out of it.

Hi Howard,
You are probably right, It looks like I did get the wrong head, I have just
visited/ found a stihl website and they describe the blade I bought as being
for quote "Metal Blade
Steel, 4 cutting teeth, for working on large areas of tough weeds and heavy
grass".

Oh well, looks like I will have to get another blade for brush and scrub.



The blade needs to be a substantial one. Some of those available are
little
more than bent tin. Try to make sure that it is made by Stihl to be
certain
(although there are other good blades available).

I ordered it from a Stihl dealers so I assume its going to be the right
make.



The circular saw blade is the clearing saw blade that I mentioned. This is
for taking out trees up to about 6 inches diameter. I use the brush cutter
blade for everything unless needing to cut close to something that I do
not
wish to damage (e.g. stock fences, trees I wish to keep, etc) or which
might
damage the blade (e.g. stone walls).

Might get one of these as well



The blade on this machine runs anti-clockwise as seen from above. When
cutting things that might throw off big bits (such as small diameter tree
stumps), try cutting from left to right. This will throw the bits away
from
you. Otherwise, invest in some sort of leg shield. :-) A full face visor
is
also advisable, particularly when working near animal excrement.:-)

Thanks for the warning.


I know the enjoyment you are having with it. I started off with a "normal"

brush cutter and this was hard work. I then took a forestry course at a
local agricultural college and was introduced to the Stihl. I bought one
myself and it is now one of my most important machines.


I think its a fantastic machine.
I was using an Echo multi tool with a strimmer head, it really was hard
work, really noisy, I used to have to make several passes before it would
cut a few blades of grass near walls and then I would end up tilting it to
compensate which resulted in ripping a chunk of turf out of the ground, no
such problem with the Stihl, one pass and its gone, cuts as good as a mower.

Heres a link to one of the Stihl sites, it shows the different cutting heads
you can get, pity I did not find it before I went to the shop.

http://www.stihlusa.com/trimmers/blades.html

Regards

Chris.

Heres a link to one of the Stihl sites, it shows the different cutting
heads
you can get, pity I did not find it before I went to the shop.

http://www.stihlusa.com/trimmers/blades.html

Regards

Chris.

Thanks for the link, Chris. Just to confirm, the Brush Knife is the one that
I have.

The Polycut Head looks as if it might be useful for thinner stuff, mind. Now
you've got me started...... :-)

Regards

Howard Neil

"Chris" wrote:

Hello Chris

C Just bought a secondhand FS400, it seems to have a slight
C leak from one of the fuel pipes, the short crinkley one, on
C top of the fuel tank, it seems to have been stretched a bit
C to the point where the rubber seal end of the pipe is
C slightly above the tank. Of course I am only guessing here
C but I suspect it may have been shortened, as its very taut,
C by a diy repair merchant. Is this a common fault, is it
C really worth bothering about, if it is a serious fault,
C where can I get a new tank.

These pipes perish with age (don't know the model, unsure if it's a
new one or not). They perish most often at the nipple to the tank or
carb and the bodgers choice method of fixing it is to cut off the
split and reattach, which can make it shorter and tight.

They're generally quite interchangeable and most garden machinery
places will be able to replace it out of stock if you take the old one
in (and mention you need it a few mm longer).

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/

AndWhyNot wrote:

Hello AndWhyNot

A driven strimmer McCulloch MX310 that I am ALWAYS CONSTANTLY
A have to stop to 'adjust' the cutter feed ............ this
A replaced an electric thing that was the same ...........
A 'Just gently tap on the ground, and the self adjusting /
A self monitoring / fully automatic / fully patented
A / foolproof mechanism will ensure trouble free
A adjustment....... rubbish

Yeah, I hate those things!

A Now the bloke with the council strimmer goes on ALL DAY
A without EVER looking at his nylon cable, for months on end
A .......... where can I get one ???? (a strimmer like his I
A mean and not the council bloke)

Normal rig for a professional strimmer is:

~40cc engine.

Twin string cutter head with 3mm round string running at about 6".

The smaller engined strimmers won't have the oomph to push 3mm string
around at a length long enough to cut well.

Once you've got such a strimmer and head, technique plays a big part
in how long the string lasts. Cutting grass alone it rarely needs
twiddling, but up against fences or through 2nd year brambles and it
can need constant attention.

A What about 'brush cutters' are they any better?? 1/3 acre of
A wild at the sides garden (all open crop fields)

Brushcutters used to be simply oversized strimmers that used a metal
cutting blade, but now the term's been watered down to include
anything beyond the smallest petrol strimmers. Blades can work well on
medium sized strimmers too since the momentum is more constant and the
drag lower.

However, for cutting grass they're slower, more inclined to jam, don't
clear the cutting site like a strimmer and need to be treated with
more respect, not just to your toes but also the slightest dig into
the ground results in a blunt blade. They're very good for woody scrub
and bramble patches, though. Can even get cutting tooth ones that can
fell small trees up to about 3-4" diameter.

How often do you cut your field?

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/