Forum

Been out to a recommended machinery chap near me and asked for recommendations.

He has a second hand Lawnflite 448KJW which he's selling for a very tasty price. Having seen the machine it's obviously been used but is in tip-top condition. Apparently its previous (domestic) owner ran over the petrol cap and couldn't be bothered to wait 24 hours for a replacement part so bought a new one (the same make/model)- seems money really is no object for some people! Thing stuck me as being heavy as hell, but I was planning to get a couple of boards to drive it up anyway.

Guy also recommended the Kawasaki KBL27C strimmer. The thing seemed sturdy enough but I wasn't sure how I'd be getting on with the loop handle for long jobs, even if I went for a decent harness to spread the weight. The guy who runs the shop picked it straight out of a line of strimmers in his shop because it's the one he uses himself...

Any thoughts? You've all been at this game longer than me!

I've got a limited budget to get going with, so the lower prices of these non-Stihl tools appeals; once I know my area/jobs better I will certainly hopefully be in a better financial position to upgrade in the future!

(I'm not entering the Stihl v non-Stihl debate here; I've used a Stihl FS54 (?) with my previous employer and, despite being a little undersized for the size of their site the strimmer itself was excellent. The point my dealer was keen to press was that other brands offer excellent value for money too.)