Buying Advice 4-cycle trimmers

Are the new 4 stroke trimmers any good??are they any easier to start over 2 strokes? Do they have enough power?

I have a Stihl and mine is great! I know this is going to sound strange but it takes mixed gas just like my chain saw. Starts first pull with tons of power! Highly recommend!

I have a Stihl kombi-motor 110 with the string trimmer attachment (hope to add to that this year). Mine never starts on the first pull but it's no worse than a 2-stroke. It runs quiet and has lots of power, I like it. I may bring mine in to see if something is up with it starting hard but other than that it is good.

I have a Troy Bilt, and even though the motor is a cheap Chinese motor, it starts really easy, most of the time first pull. It's nice to not have to have two kinds of gas.

Which begs the question regarding the Stihl. What's the point of a 4 stroke if you still have to use mix gas?

I am glad this thread got brought up.

With a 4 cycle trimmer, does it have a dipstick, and crankcase oil, like any other 4 stroke implement engine does? If not, I wonder if the Stihl is like an R/C plane engine with valves, and is 4-stroke, but uses the same nitro fuel (containing oils) that the two-stroke nitro engines do.

If there is crankcase oil, what about angles of use? I'd think that'd be critical.......I mean, the whole reason they were 2 stroke to begin with was because they would see unforseen angles, and crankcase oil would run out in some cases......depending on how the owner held it - and the height of the owner- etc......

Yes, mine has a dipstick. And I think they get away with the angles thing because the crankcase is small enough that the oil gets splashed around enough to lube it. i have no idea what makes the Stihl tick.

Some of the advantages of the 4-stroke are greater torque, smoother running (usually), much less emissions and much quieter operation. It has it's disadvantages too but the EPA is really pushing to eliminate 2-strokes. They do have valves which is good but some of the early ones had valve issues, especially in the high power, high stress backpack blowers. I am told that has been corrected a few years ago but Stihl is still smarting from the black eye it got from that. I am told that my Stihl will need a one-time valve adjustment at 50 hours or so which should be covered under warranty but it also supposed to be incredibly simple and easily done myself if need be.

One reason Stihl, Shindaiwa and others use mixed gas in a 4-stroke motor is the angle issue. Since these little motors are not going to run a pressurized crankcase running them sideways and upside down like I often do to edge or fight back small prickers is a problem for them. I had a 4-stroke Troy-Bilt when they first came out that I liked a lot but I killed it running it sideways because I didn't think it through that the oil was not going to get where it needed to be that way. Maybe they have fixed that somehow or maybe some folks just haven't run it sideways long enough to cook it yet.

I had a 4-stroke straight-shaft trimmer for a day, but the taller engine fought for space with my right elbow to the point of thoroughly pissing me off and stopping the show. A curved shaft trimmer might be a different story, but as it was I swapped for a 2-stroke trimmer.