My Hedge trimmer ............ it made me smile

I have a Stihl HS45 hedge trimmer, I have had it about 20 years, it gets used two or three times a year, last year it refused to start, it would not start with the pull start but for some odd reason it would always start with a drill on the flywheel, I put a new carburettor on it, no different, new plug , the same, new coil/igniter, the same, compression check fine, vacuum crankcase, it’s fine, spoke to a couple of stihl agents, both said it’s more than ten years old, buy a new one, but had never heard of an engine doing this.

I decided not to be beaten and checked everything again, Still no different.

This week I gave up and bought a new one,

Today I was in the garage tidying up, decided it might as well go in the bin, I gave it a pull for the hell of it, and it started first time, I tried it a few times since and it’s perfect.

Couldn’t believe it :-)

Ha, the idiosyncrasies of garden tools. Sometimes my Honda lawnmower refuses to start. I've discovered that lying it on it's right-hand side for around 30 seconds and then righting it before pulling the cord works every time! It's been stripped, cleaned, filters changed etc. but it's still the same. It had the privilege of a blade change today and the old one will be sharpened and kept as a spare.

I've a coule of the cheapo Mc Cullock ones, Both fuel pipes have cracked and perished!, Bought some fuel pipe off fleabay only to find it didn't actually fit! (Wrong size!!)

I now use my Strimmer with a hedge cutting attachment!


John :eagerness:

same thing happened to me last year with a 2 stroke strimmer, pulled and got nothing, kept trying, took it apart and couldn't see what was wrong, replaced the fuel line etc still wont start, eventually gave up and bought a new one, neighbour wanted to borrow it so he came over and as is normal helped himself from the shed, half an hr later i see him in the front garden strimming away with my OLD one, it started first time for him, no issues. He bought it off me

after 45 years of mending all things all things mechanical i can tell you all things two stroke are evil.when they wont start you think they have broken down, they havent,some malviolent spirit has crept up the exhaust pipe to thwart you.only when it has reduced you to a defeated sweating breathless gibbering wreck devoid of the strenght for one more pull start will it depart to torture some other poor sod with a chainsaw/strimmer/hedgecutter. i no longer work on two strokes.

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Originally Posted by greasemonkey

after 45 years of mending all things all things mechanical i can tell you all things two stroke are evil.when they wont start you think they have broken down, they havent,some malviolent spirit has crept up the exhaust pipe to thwart you.only when it has reduced you to a defeated sweating breathless gibbering wreck devoid of the strenght for one more pull start will it depart to torture some other poor sod with a chainsaw/strimmer/hedgecutter. i no longer work on two strokes.

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:-) I know exactly what you mean, I literally went from A to Z, if it had been a race engine it would have been running in ten minutes

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Originally Posted by greasemonkey

after 45 years of mending all things all things mechanical i can tell you all things two stroke are evil.when they wont start you think they have broken down, they havent,some malviolent spirit has crept up the exhaust pipe to thwart you.only when it has reduced you to a defeated sweating breathless gibbering wreck devoid of the strenght for one more pull start will it depart to torture some other poor sod with a chainsaw/strimmer/hedgecutter. i no longer work on two strokes.

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This comment made me LOL! Not a garden tool but, in my younger days, I had and old Yamaha RD350 stroke motorbike. That was very temperamental to start and in the summer I had many occasions when it would not start and, being a kickstart only, I would be in all my bike gear kicking this thing over and over slowly breaking out in a sweat. I had take off my helmet and jacket, cool down, wait for 5 minutes and kick it once and away it would go! I worked out that I had to leave the choke off, kick it over three times with no ignition and then one sweeping kick would do it!

I loved that machine and who doesn't love the smell of a two stroke - but as a young man I hadn't appreciated the value of getting it serviced by someone who actually knew what they were doing!

They're like wimmin. As soon as they think that you're sniffing around a younger model, they suddenly start doing all those things they used to do to make you happy, but hadn't done in the last couple of years. You know what I mean, suddenly war time rationing becomes a veritable banquet.

I have a two stroke multitool (hedge trimmer/strimmer/chain saw thing). I love it as it’s the loudest thing thing ever (there’s a sticker on the bottom saying warning 118dB) and it’s truly deafening. Very satisfying to use as it gets things done and annoys the neighbours at the same time, so it’s a win/win as far as I’m concerned :).

Cheers,

Plug

This is normal. Buy a replacement and the old one starts working again. Had this experience with a toaster, whisk and kettle. The new replacements are in their boxes for next time around.

I've just bought a new 2 stroke strimmer as the old one was a bit hit and miss to get going.

I'm too frightened to try and start the old one, I'm ruddy sure it will start! :grief:

Best to keep an hs45 spun up every couple of months as the clutches are prone to seizing if left too long
Good machine though..
Well worth the expense of Aspen alkylate pre mix fuel as it stays fresh for years and doesn’t gum up. Especially good for occasional users.

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Originally Posted by GOAT

Best to keep an hs45 spun up every couple of months as the clutches are prone to seizing if left too long
Good machine though..
Well worth the expense of Aspen alkylate pre mix fuel as it stays fresh for years and doesn’t gum up. Especially good for occasional users.

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This one hasn’t missed a beat in 20+ years, I always run them dry when finished, I reckon it’s haunted

Maybe you’d not put the thumb switch on, mate. :eagerness:

It is a real love story ha-ha.
I bought a Greenworks hedge trimmer a year ago and it works fine, but I don't believe it may work for 20 years even if I will change the details every 5 years lol
My congratulations to the author.

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Originally Posted by GOAT

Well worth the expense of Aspen alkylate pre mix fuel as it stays fresh for years and doesn’t gum up. Especially good for occasional users.

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I agree - I found that the fuel pick up tube in my strimmer had dissolved - I believe from leaving fuel in in the tank over winter. A friend of mine suggested I use Aspen as I'm an occasional user of my Mc Culloch machines. Since then I've not had a problem. I think the Aspen fuel is worth the money to have an 'easier' starting machine after not being used for a while.

Always empty two stroke from the tank of rarely used machines as the oil separates, causing most of these issues


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Originally Posted by Carnut

Always empty two stroke from the tank of rarely used machines as the oil separates, causing most of these issues


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

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Thanks for the tip - I must get more organised and sort my shed out!