The last straw...and I wrapped the SUM B*TCH around a peacan tree!:mad:

The string got hot, followed by the owner.

lol! Maybe salvage the engine, make one of those motorized skateboard things?

That was the last straw. The engine would not run, probably something simple, but I had had it with the POS.

I make an effort these days to avoid imported throw away junk. I'm always thinking about the landfill. In years gone buy, equipment would last 20 / 30 / 40 years. Now its one or two and you just go get a new one because its not worth repairing.

Well I do, I don't like waste.

The paradox of inflation.... we pay more and get less.
If you have been in construction for a long time then you have been witness to
the quality of the parts needed to put things together, i.e. bolts, nuts, washers. flanges, pre-fab boxes, lids, chains, levers, and what-ever else have become
shoddy. Grade 8 should still be grade 8 I would think.
Maybe they used to re-tool after so many widjits were punched out and now they just keep on using the old mfg equipment longer. I don't know what has happened but it is frustrating when things don't "line up" like they used too or break because the material is thinner or just made with weaker materials.

The biggest problem is finding the stuff that isnt.:(

Not to hijack this thread. But some of the things that are good and made in America.
Cucto Knives, All Clad Pots and Dillion Reloading Equipment. All of these items have a lifetime warrenty and they honor it. All of these items went underwater (salt water) during Hurricane Katrina. Called each mfg. they said send them back and we will replace or repair as needed. Everything was replaced. Dillion was the best by far. When I called them, they said sure it's under warrenty, No BS. My cutco knives were 35 years old. My Allclad was only one year old.

and that makes sense if the cost of resources is low and the rate of advance of technology is fast -- that means there will soon be something much better

not sayin' it ain't really driven by the consumer's desire for the lowest up front cost possible tho

I'm surprised about the Stihl -- cool down and see if you can't fix it; or give it to some poor starving homeless person (so they can use their leisure time to fix it and then get a job trimming stuff).

never thought they'd warranty against hurricanes!

I hope things are more settled now & you were already in Slidell and did not have to evac. there.

I'll add that there are lots of engineers who are paid just to save pennies per product -- even a joke about it.

I think that is part of why I am so mad. I bought a product because of its reputation and it was no better that if I had gone to Wally World and bought one for $60.

I can remember when they made stuff that didn't fall apart. I had a grass trimmer I used for years and years, and it was very inexpensive. Started right up every time, and I would run out of gas before it did. Of course you had to squeeze it to make it work, and you crawled around on the ground while it was running. I bet you can still buy them, and they'll be durable enough to give them to your grandchildren. Durability is out there, and inexpensive as well, but it can be inconvenient.

A lot of snobs, including some here, run down Cutco knives. I have a big block of them with the meat cleaver which is amazing. I bought most of mine on e-bay for around 45-50% of list.

peppy. sorry about the stihl.

but....i dont suppose i could talk you into taking off the carb and mailing it to me? my POS leaks somewhere from under the bubble thing you pump to prime the carb. i cant find the leak. i had the bubble changed, the green fuel line changed..it still weeps.

i'll be happy to pay shipping :)

I'm having no problems with my Stihl 110, but I believe the higher models are built in the US and the lower # models in China.
I though they had the same trimmer heads, but I guess not.

Planned obsolesence....

Its a nasty spiral of customer demand verses what the market price will stand. I am in product development and we are constantly challenged to innovate through augmentation (new bells and whistles) but forced to hold or lower the current market price. Often to incorporate new technology or features something has to give and typically it is the quality of the materials we employ.

Take a look at a 50s vacuum cleaner then look at a modern version. The old one had sturdy aluminum castings and decent electrical connections. But it weighed a lot more than the current generation of cleaners and was a lot more expensive compared to what we will pay today. The problem is that now customers will not pay for that kind of durability so manufacturers simply do not bother to offer such products.

When we conduct typical focus groups with customers and rank the features and benefits that they value, durability is often well down on the list of needs. Lightweight and low cost is always near the top so unfortunately, we get what we deserve and we get the quality of products we are prepared to pay for.

But when we look at automobiles the reliability and quality far surpasses what was acceptable in years gone by. These days even the cheapest car is truly reliable for 10s of thousand in the areas where the technology is mature. Axles, Engines, Transmissions are in essence the same they were for decades and now they are very reliable. Now where new technology is applied you can see early failure.

If something is too good to be true (lots of wonderful features at a low low price) then its too good to be true.

before the engine conked out and you wrapped it around a pecan tree, were you using ethanol free gas? if it was that would be under user error.

Peppy,

My current Stihl is an FS55, similar to yours. In my experience, if the line is melting together, it is because I an hitting stalks which are too thick or tough to be cut by the edged line. It seems the energy transferred along the line is enough to spot weld it when it wraps momentarily around the stalk. When that happens, I leave that area for the trash blade.

Sorry you had problems. Even more sorry you lost your temper with the thing.

All the best.
Les