Cutting grass in wooded area of garden

[CageyH]

Echo SRM3610TU has arrived.
I put it to use yesterday afternoon and cleared the woods in just over three hours. I spent a bit of time messing around getting the harness etc. set up.

It is an awesome machine, with plenty of power. Only issue was I got through the supplied trimmer line rather quickly. Fortunately I have a stock of some 3mm line, which did the job quite well. The only issue was loading the line, which is a bit fiddly compared to my old speed feed head. I may look at replacing the Z5 supplied with something a bit easier to load. It was down to operator fault, but it is annoying when the line unspools and you have to start again...

[Mick]

The nylon heads have always been the weak point on all the Echo strimmers to be honest, they could invest in those a little more imo. 

Unless you're happy to keep taking the head apart to refill the line, perhaps try and find a decent universal through feed one where you literally push a length of line through from one side until you have two equal lengths each side and wind it in.

Glad you like the machine though.   

[CageyH]

I have a Tecomec Bump and Go speed feed head on the Ryobi. This is pretty robust, so will probably get transferred over before I give the old Ryobi to the brother in law.

[CageyH]

Just over a year on, and the Echo with the Tecomec head is doing a great job, as long as some decent line is fitted. My favourite so far is Oregon Techni 280, in 3mm. It seems quite durable and cuts well.

I still have not got my starting technique right yet, and I can take several minutes starting the machine when it is cold.
Once it has warmed up, it is a great machine. I cleared the woods in 4 hours yesterday.

I really just popped back in to thank Mick for the purchase advice.