Hi.. Had a couple of these and both had the same problem.. the throttle cable wont stay in place. Has anyone else had this problem, and how did you fix it ?
I reckon the Homelite half cranks are are china's major revenge - worst trimmers I have ever had the displeasure of using. Run as rough as hell, gutless and just plain annoying to use. I had about 4 of them, ended up putting them for $40.
Again, I got idiots who offered $10, ended up selling to people for $35.
Not worth my time or effort - especially having to explain what a 2 stroke is.
So I have 1 left in the shed - and hate gumtree as much as you do
I like the TM251 as they are so nice and light - relatively gutless but run pretty smooth
Remember when Homelite was a respected solid brand that made nice trimmers and chainsaws? They are now synonymous with plastic rubbish to avoid. I found one of their air blowers and it worked but was noisy and made a terrible vibratory noise from one of the plastics, not to mention weak air flow compared to my Ryobi blower attachment that goes on the 1980s 31cc Ryan powered stem.
I was glad to get rid of it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF - I have several Homelites that are perfect to use. My hatred is aimed squarely at the TTI 'engineered' Half crank 2 stroke. Ryobi also sell them.
Need a shop press to get the piston out
The previous HLT25CS that finished up in about 2010 is a fairly good half crank, then going back to the old mid 00's 'Zip start' Homelites were quite good.
Go back further and you see the engines from the 90's back when John Deere owned Homelite - great engines
Back in the 80s they even had Kwaka TG18 & 25 - some of the best engines you could want.
I have a 90's homelite (same engine used on black and decker 'whipper snipper' models). They called them 'Bandits', but I think mine just says sx135. Smooth 1/2 crank engine, good power. It had been in a shed for 20+ year - still had the price tag on it:
$219 back in the 90's
Would use it over a modern one any day of the week
The TM251 is also fairly well made, and has the credit of being the only domestic line trimmer engine I have ever seen where the engine was physically worn out - it wasn't turfed due to a stuffed ancillary part; the engine physically wore out with no signs of scoring or anything.
I know someone who had a Dolmar (his dad's) with a busted shaft rendered useless. Engine was fine. It was a bent shaft model and a really good one. Such a shame. His father had bought a Kawasaki 17cc in the early 80s as their first trimmer and he told me how gutless it was and his dad went ahead and bought it even though he was warned it wasn't anywhere near as good a more expensive models.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF, 17cc is plenty for trimming a regularly mown lawn edge - fairly sure at least 5 of the trimmers I have are 17cc or there abouts (Couple old echos, Ryobis and Stihls from early 80s).
But yes, gutless if the going gets remotely rough
Was using my only 4 st line trimmer (90s Ryobi 875r ) the other day - much less vibration than many newer half crank 2 strokes, and went perfectly over the lawn edges.
Only needed enough throttle to lock the clutch and the high torque pulled through really well
Then went at the side verge where some strappy weeds have popped up with the rain - full throttle it revs exactly on spec but is thoroughly gutless since its 4 stroke
Sounds like you could have done with a metal blade for that verge. You had me confused when you wrote 4st until I read on and realised you meant four stroke not four string lol. Never knew Ryobi released one.
The Ryan era Ryobis are all about low end torque too. The higher end power of the Mitsubishi FC 2st on mine really comes into it's own for string trimmer duties. Absolutely love it's performance, but there are or were probably just as impressive devoted line trimmers at much less cost, e.g.: Ryobi full crank 2 strokes you talked about a while back.
Speaking of Ryan era Ryobis, the early green ones seem to sound better and more vital than the later models with white or grey fairings, especially the easy pull series with the notch cut into the cylinder lining-ugh!
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Have a metal blade one MF - it really wasn't that thick; which goes to show how little top end guts they have. I could have smashed through it with a 25cc 2 stroke, and this is a 26cc 4 stroke.
They made them in the late 90s and early 00's - 30cc 4 stroke pushrod OHV engine with wet sump - only takes 100ml of oil
Ryobi still sell 4 stroke trimmers in the USA - but OHC timing belt driven. AVB has mentioned how useless the oiling systems are on them
I still can never get over my old TG25 kawasaki (1980s model ex council) every time I use it - really powerful and so light (which is important to me due to an issue in my arms causing me grief)
