Stihl FS55 vibrations

[Chris J.]

My FS55 starts numbing my right hand after 1.5 hours of use, & I'd welcome any suggestions for ways to reduce the vibrations. I use it for homeowner chores, so the vibrating isn't actually that big of a deal.

I found it very good cosmetic condition with good compression in a thrift store for $20.00 . Once I managed to get it started (why doesn't Stihl copy the Echo starting procedure?), it wouldn't rev up. I unscrewed the outlet tube from the muffler, cleaned a bunch of carbon off the spark screen, reattached it, adjusted the carb a bit, & it runs like a charm. The FS55 is nice, but I prefer my Echo GT1100 for working in tight spaces.

 

[Woodie]

I don't have any experience with the trimmer in question, but I would recommend a good pair of anti-vibration gloves. (Don't get the "extra patch of leather in the palm to cut-down on vibrations!" model, get a good pair of gel-filled.)

I do a lot of woodworking, and there's no such thing as anti-vibe on a router or sander. And when I'm using my router out of the table for long periods of time, it can start to get uncomfortable. Since getting those anti-vibe gloves, it has been much better.

 

[Woodie]

One other suggestion...you might think about getting (or rigging) a harness. An hour-and-a-half straight is a pretty long time to be holding a trimmer, and my guess is that, since that is a homeowner-grade Stihl, it probably has very little anti-vibe built into it.

With a harness, you still have to work the throttle right handed, but at least you're not having to grip it extra-tight to support the weight as well. The tighter you're gripping, the more vibes get transferred to your hands.

Just a thought.

 

[59Billy]

One other suggestion...you might think about getting (or rigging) a harness. An hour-and-a-half straight is a pretty long time to be holding a trimmer, and my guess is that, since that is a homeowner-grade Stihl, it probably has very little anti-vibe built into it.

With a harness, you still have to work the throttle right handed, but at least you're not having to grip it extra-tight to support the weight as well. The tighter you're gripping, the more vibes get transferred to your hands.

Just a thought.

Speaking as someone who uses an FS55 with a harness, I'd say that's a very good thought.

The other thing I do is just find something else to do after about an hour... but then, I ahve attention-span issues anyway.

 

[Big feller]

If it is vibrating more than it should you might check tightness of clutch. Some of these models were subject to a manufacturer recall

http://www.stihlusa.com/recalls/recall_kombi.html