Weedwhackers and Fred

Here's a completely unrelated post on the state of Ryobi weed whackers.

I owned a nice Poulon weed whacker for eleven years. It worked fine, until it died. But I must admit, for the eleven years I owned, and really worked it, it was a fine machine. I had no complaints. Ever. Pleasant. Reliable. Clean the plug and filter, fresh gas, and away she went.

Fast forward.

When the Poulon died in 2006, I went and bought a Ryobi whacker. It was one of those cool ones, where you switch the bottom piece thingy for weed whacking, blowing, edging, etc. Home Depot had a reasonable deal, so what the heck.

Big Mistake.

Ready? Here's my complaint...

For starters, Ryobi should design a product that works without causing a chiropractic dream. Either you're bending over to cut the weeds, and hence, KILLING you back, or you're weed whacking your ankles. I know, you'll say I just don't know how to adjust the strap. I've got news for you...I can figure it out, and no combination makes this comfortable.

The muffler sits right under one's right forearm. The good thing is you get a nice red burn mark on your right forearm, and it's bothersome when you're using the tool. The good news? Oh, there is none. This design is horrible! The Poulon...never an issue.

Changing the line? If you've got a degree in mechanical engineering, it's a snap. Otherwise, use a special tool to unlock the spool, wrap the line in opposite directions, depress the spring, thread the lines through opposite sides of the housing, secure the reverse threaded spool, etc., etc., etc.. My god...what a waste of time, effort, and thought. Now that I know better, almost everyone has a more efficient system.

And when you mix the appropriate oil/gas mixture, rest assured that it will run too rich, and you'll need to restart the engine every five minutes, or earlier, if you tip the engine anymore than two degrees from horizontal. Oh, and forget about running it on Run. Half choke is the best you'll do, so count on dogged power, to the point that some dandelions stall the motor.

All in all......Shame on you! But really, shame on me. I'll spread the good news to all my friends.

Ryobi? Never. Again.

Just too much work for the product. Poulon, where art thou? Or really, where are me?

And lastly, this has nothing to do with Fred; I just thought I had the venue, and I'd kvetch!