Ryobi 700r.. I know its a weedeater subject.

[cybergeek23851]

What do ya'll consider to be the average life span of one of these trimmers. My trimmer that I have has been run hard for the the past 5 years. Yesterday, I pulled the muffler off of it when I was cleaning the filter, and the cylinder walls show no signs of wear at all. I cleaned and re-gapped the spark plug, and adjusted the mixture and idle speed while I was at it. Aside from in soon needing a new recoil spring, it still runs like new, considering it has about 500 hours on it . Any opinions questions comments, feel free to reply.

 

[Stumper]

The old Ryobi engine is not a high performance design- but they sure are tough.

 

[Lawn Masters]

Good machine, though not perfect its very well engineered. much as I hate to say that about a product not made by Stihl or electrolux.

 

[cbfarmall]

Is that the old Ryan/IDC engine? Saw a Ryobi that looked to have an identical engine.

Anyhoo, tough engine. While it doesn't hold a candle to my FS-85 in terms of power, I beat the crap out of the thing for years, regularly, cut down 2" saplings, left it outside, even threw it away once. I could almost always get it started. When I tossed it for good it was still running with good compression. Near the end the darn thing just vibrated so bad it hurt my hands.

All this was before I knew how to troubleshoot and repair 2-strokes.

Chris B.

 

[Fish]

The old fs36 seriesStil trimmers were IDC Ryans.
You have gotten your money's worth out of your trimmer
is rated fairly low on the useful life rating.
Long term results vary dramatically on these units,
so don't expect the same results if you buy another.
And definitely stay away from their 4 cycle models,
and be aware that since they are owned by MTD, they
can have a wide range of brand names on them.
Such as Cub Cadet, Troybilt, Bolens, Ryobi, etc..

 

[cybergeek23851]

I see it like this:

It see the following usage

500 hrs total/ 5 yrs usage

100 hrs / year

roughly 25 wks/yr usage @ 4hrs/wk

Now at 74$ for the weedeater, minus the cost of gas, It has only costed $14.80/yr to run.

That is trimming my yard, and my neighbors for a grand total of 5 acres to maintain every week. For me, since it is an apartment that we live in, it has served well. I have religiously cleaned as good as you can for a weedeater. It has cut brush, grass, a wirey grass from h%ll, the bushes (don't ask!). Sice the adjustments, it starts better and feels less gutless. Now if I had the college welding shop available to me still, I would mod the muffler some, since I would have to cut the seam open for entry.

 

[Oregon_Rob]

The Wife and i were working outside, she was running the Ryobi when I heard it go lean, before i could walk over to where she was, it quit. Piston sezed up tight, i threw it away and bought her a little Stihl.

 

[cybergeek23851]

Ouch!!!

 

[Saw Man]

Some of the units that were made by Homelylite, Muckaluck, Ryeohbee, Phewlon (Green color) were spec'd with a 'full power operating life' of average 50 hours.

Consumers could operate a unit for 3-5 years with correct fuels, line, maintenance (ha-ha) before any service issues.

That was the target market thru the box non service stores.
Still is.

Today, it's easy, real easy to confuse the 50 hour life one might call it Engine Durability Peroid (EDP) vs the Emissions Durability Peroid (EDP) which is a Federally mandated term for emissions stateside.

Some companies that are behind in engine development, and emissions standards, are playing word & marketing games.

A pissing contest has already began between some companies.
Like little boys, but sadly the dealer, consumer, and commercial, user are getting fed the confusing manure.

 

[Mike mandry]

Ive got an old lawn boy trimmer AKA: IDC/Ryan

I bought it new back in 83 & have ran the &^*%#*( out of it over the years. Actually used it doing commercial cutting when I was a kid & beyond.

Its been torn down & cleaned up several times, but still runs strong. I havent used it in 2 years (broke a fuel line) but am going to get it going again for grins.

It was the first power tool I ever bought with my "Own" money

I'm sure it will be around when my son is old enough to use it.

Amazing what proper care does.............................

 

[Lawn Masters]

Trimmers

While we're on the trimmer topic, would anyone happen to know what would make a 5year old Stihl FS85pro with about 500 hours of use leak fuel from the gas cap?
I looked at an FS85 that belongs to a friend yesterday and it leaks gas right through the threads around the cap. I cant find anything missing oor damaged but surely missed some obvious detail.

It runs great, but also seems to have a small problem with the string head rotating at idle, the last time I looked at it I only had to richen up the L screw, now I may have to do some fine tuning, but I dont think its had the carb rebuilt before, might be whats wrong. is this a normal amount of time for a carb to go without a rebuild?

 

[Saw Man]

Enough dirt on the cap & tank neck threads.

Check cap rubber insert for wear.

FS85 used all metal clutch shoes, and not an upscaled shoe with lining. If running without the shield cutting off the line the extra line length would wear out the clutch shoe spring.

Not sure but I think there was a different spring made available.

Could also have the idle spped set just a little high.

Nothing major on any of them, just simple R&R, or adjustment.