OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Edgers Four Stroke Edgers Jetfast Edger - worth refurbishing?

Hi All,

I have acquired a Jetfast Edger (made by Jetfast Industries, Sydney) and i was wondering if anyone has an opinion as to their effectiveness. I have never had an edger before so i do not know exactly what to expect. I have seen the excellent job that edgers do but the poor old Jetfast seems a little lacking. I am wondering if the blade is too short from wear. Is this possible? Is it worth pursuing?

I had my first go of it today; first i turned the blade over, because one side was very blunt - the other edge cut my finger!

I should mention that it is powered by a Honda G100 motor. I checked the two oil dipsticks (why are there two? Because of the belt drive?) and the oil seemed a little low and very black. I probably should have drained and refilled but i was impatient to see the thing working.

It cuts through the buffalo grass OK but seems not to cut through it all.

I just went outside to measure the blade length and it is about 7 inches in length. I notice now that i have turned the blade over there is a bit of a product sticker left on the blade and i think it says "WONDER". Presumably this means that the blade is for a Little Wonder brand edger? Is that a suitable blade for this edger?

Well that will do for now. Any thoughts or comments gratefully received.

Thanks,

paul

Hi Paul, to be able to give you the best advice, could you please upload some pics of your Jetfast.(Instructions on how to upload photos are in the Board Help Area on the main forum page) This will help identify your particular model and aid in problem diagnosis.

Re the Honda G100 engine, I have one on my Scott Bonnar Model 45 cylinder mower, they are a great motor and a strong little engine for their size. If the oil is really black, it sounds like it has not been changed for quite a while and /or the engine has done a lot of work.

Firstly, get yourself some good 4 stroke oil.(I personally use Honda 4 stroke motor oil,but any good 4 stroke oil will do. Not car engine oil, as this type of oil is not suitable for the Honda.) Now with the edger on a level surface, top up the oil so that it is at least up to the threaded portion of where the oil filler plug screws in; (the reason there is 2, is so this engine can be used in many different applications) Start the engine and run until it is good and warm. Grab something to catch the used oil and a suitable spanner for the oil drain plug (underneath the oil filler plug) Stop the engine,remove the drain plug and drain the oil. When that is complete, replace the drain plug, and refill with oil to the correct level immediately, because if we leave it till later you may forget and start it with a dry sump....Not good!

Secondly, check and replace the air filter element if necessary. Dirt and dust is the enemy of outdoor power equipment.

Paul, your blade sounds as if it has worn down rather a lot. That makes it impractical to penetrate very far into the ground, which is probably the reason you are not getting right down under your buffalo grass. I find I need to go one and a half to two inches below the surface of newly-mowed grass with either kikuyu or couch to cut right through the roots - I haven't tried buffalo, but it will be at least as bad. Sometimes I need to go deeper than two inches. However most of the blade wear comes from cutting dirt, not grass, so many (most?) users prefer to cut more frequently to a lesser depth, leaving the roots in place.
The blade does not need to be sharp to work properly. It will wear into a specific shape whatever you do, but the engine has more than enough power to do the job with square, flat edges on both leading and trailing sides. The blades wear fairly quickly if you cut right down below the roots, depending on how deeply you are cutting. However if you attend to the edges regularly you can form a sort of groove in the dirt that persists for a while.
The main frustration I have (apart from trying to cut around curves, which is slow and difficult) is that the edges of the concrete (paths, mower strips and curbs) are usually rather wavy and rough. I can only cut a straight line that touches on the high spots of the concrete. Couch in particular is prone to lurking in the low spots, sprouting again the moment I look away. The most practical solution seems to be a well-aimed dose of glyphosate after completing the rest of the edging process. However I've also found some benefits from a combination of a brick bolster in one hand and a sledgehammer in the other, to adjust the quality of the edge of the concrete. A large angle grinder with a masonry disk is then used for fine polishing.

Thanks for coming back to tell us the outcome, Paul. It sounds as if you have everything working well, and can expect it to keep on working for a long time to come (with an occasional blade replacement). I urge you to change the oil in your Honda engine, though: that is a lot less work than rebuilding the engine, which is what you will eventually be up for if you keep running it with dirty oil.

Referring to your initial post, the G100 has two dipsticks but both are for the same oil sump. It seems this is done because the engine is used for many different applications, and in some of these one or other dipstick may be difficult to reach. Here is the owner's manual for your engine:
http://engines.honda.com/parts/ownersmanuals/g100
Note the odd way oil level is measured in all of these small Honda engines: you press the dipstick against the top of the thread but do not screw it in, when measuring. If you screw it in you will think the oil level is a lot higher than it actually is. Because you said the oil level is low and the oil is dirty, I am concerned that if you had screwed the dipstick in, you might actually have much less oil than you should. It sounds a bit like your engine may be running on the foul dregs at the bottom of the sump.

For the Australian climate Honda's recommendation includes a good quality, ordinary 20W-40 automotive engine oil. Make sure it conforms with an API standard for petrol engines, such as SG, SH or SJ. If the API designation begins with a C instead of an S the oil is intended for diesel engines. Note that the SG standard was introduced in 1989 and SJ in 1996. The second letter is moved onward when new standards for additives are developed. Where an oil is rated for both petrol and diesel standards it is suitable for both types of engine. Do not use oil rated only to an S standard (not a C standard) in a diesel engine: diesel service is considerably more severe.

Hi again C4R 100N, many thanks for coming back and telling us how you got on....I'm glad to see that you got a good result....BTW, I am still using the genuine Honda 4 Stroke oil, and the little G100 is still purring like a kitten.
Best wishes and great edges!
I will close this thread. If anyone needs to post to it, just PM a moderator.