Weed Eater Model 609 Shaft Compatibility

BrianX128

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Hey all, first post. Just skip this paragraph if you want to go to my actual weed eater issue, just figured I'd say hello first. I love messing around with small engines / tractors / trucks. I uploaded a couple photos to my gallery of some of my stuff. I have a couple of somewhat rare things too I believe (a "Lawn Rov'r" and this weed eater being 2 of them). I'll try and give the shortest hello possible, I'm a network admin from western PA. Grew up messing with engines as my grandpa was a welder and when he retired, he started doing small engine repair for people just for something to do, and I was there a lot after school until my parents got off work. He was nicknamed the "carb wizard" which I can assure you I did not inherit that. I did end up inheriting my grandparents place after they passed, I love the property and having a 4 car garage (2x2) with an upstairs for all of my yard equipment. He kept everything, and when my fiance and I decided we were going to live there I had a lot of cleaning up in the garage to do because he kept everything. 75% of it was super useful, some of it I knew I'd have no use for but as you can see by the pictures in my gallery I have a good stash of mowers, chainsaws, weed eaters, pressure washers, snow blowers etc. Another quicker way to look at it is I post a ton of videos of stuff as I get it working on my youtube Channel (just in case anyone wants to look, I don't do it for money or anything weird so I'm not promoting it) usually it's just to show some of my friends on the oilburners.net forum where I'm always tinkering with my old IDI ford diesels.

Anyways, my "Weed Eater Model 609" was one of the weed eaters my grandpa had laying around the garage when I started reviving them. So far, I got 8 running but had to sacrifice 3 more to get to that 8 and make some "Frankensteins" somewhere along the line, I tried to take the shaft from this one which you can see here (after 20 minutes fighting to start it with a drill because it was just all kinds of messed up):

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I tried to mate it with another ryobi which had the gears stripped at the end by the head, but it didn't work at all. I just tossed the shaft as I remember it looking weird and wasn't compatible with anything I had in the pile of weed eaters. Now I wish I had it more than anything, because after fighting a carb that just wasn't meant to be on it and would only start with starting fluid and carb adjustments that weren't ever going to be useful for actually using it + either and a drill, I found a new carb in a box one day that with some "trimming" for the idle adjustment screw went on perfectly and had the right fuel line configuration for no primer bulb etc.

Now it runs (just super smoky):


But I have no idea what type of shaft I can even use, because inside the hole the cable area looks like this:

20190912_121140.jpg

The slot for the cable itself in the middle has 6 sides and is not square. I can't figure out what I'd be able to mate up with it to get it to work.

If I somehow can get this thing to hook up with something, it's the last one in the "pile of weed eaters" which I somehow don't have a picture of but they're all on my youtube somewhere. I already fixed all of the chainsaws, mowers, etc. I won't know what to do with myself now that everything is in working order. One of my trucks will probably blow up, there seems to be no such thing as free time but I love tinkering with this stuff so I'm ok with that. Just as long as it isn't too expensive.
 

upupandaway

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Your trimmer looks like a re-badged echo SRM200da or at least a close relative. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL_oRL-9Azk)

As to the shaft, u r missing the adapter. I'll look if i can find the adapter. When i had it, i set it up with a current echo shaft.
 

BrianX128

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Your trimmer looks like a re-badged echo SRM200da or at least a close relative. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL_oRL-9Azk)

As to the shaft, u r missing the adapter. I'll look if i can find the adapter. When i had it, i set it up with a current echo shaft.

I actually have that exact trimmer you linked just with a saw blade on the end of it. I never gave it any thought that it was close because the shaft that is on it is straight where the shaft on this thing was curved, and the spark plug is on the top of my SRM where on this thing it's on the bottom. I guess the more I look at it it looks like the same engine just flipped upside down.
 

upupandaway

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...looks like the same engine just flipped upside down.

Yeah it is like the Stihl (original)FS80 and FS65 - same motor but the 65 is "upside down" putting the fuel tank on top.

I saved my 65 for parts if\when my 80 needs them.

FYI: if in the future you want to be able to turn your trimmer upside down like to do edging, or just use a current carb with primer, u can drill a new hole in the fuel tank and add a second fuel line(with grommet). This video mentions this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2y_BIO88-w

The fs80 and 65 only had 1 fuel line. Originally could not turn it on its side before it dies so i could not do edging and the like without this mod.
 

BrianX128

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Yeah it is like the Stihl (original)FS80 and FS65 - same motor but the 65 is "upside down" putting the fuel tank on top.

I saved my 65 for parts if\when my 80 needs them.

FYI: if in the future you want to be able to turn your trimmer upside down like to do edging, or just use a current carb with primer, u can drill a new hole in the fuel tank and add a second fuel line(with grommet). This video mentions this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2y_BIO88-w

The fs80 and 65 only had 1 fuel line. Originally could not turn it on its side before it dies so i could not do edging and the like without this mod.

That's really interesting, I have an FS80 also never realized how similar it was to these two.

I'm just curious what this "adapter" looks like that is supposed to go in there. I'm half tempted to try and take an old stihl shaft and cut the drum part of the clutch into the same shape as the hex part that inserts into there and see if I can get it to work that way, because I can't even find a picture of this "adapter" anywhere online even using the SRM models as a search instead.
 

BrianX128

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Well turns out you can take the cover off a srm2000 and mate it to a 609 and make one good working device haha.
 

upupandaway

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Well turns out you can take the cover off a srm2000 and mate it to a 609 and make one good working device haha.

Cool. Makes sense.(still looking now and then to find the echo adapter.)

BTW- it sounds as if it is running a hair rich or hair too much oil.
 

BrianX128

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Cool. Makes sense.(still looking now and then to find the echo adapter.)

BTW- it sounds as if it is running a hair rich or hair too much oil.

It is a little too rich, it just will not idle at all if I don't turn the idle mixture that far but then it is just a hair off at wide open. I can get it to idle and rev up half choked but if you open the choke it sounds like it struggles to pull fuel and you end up adjusting it right back to where it is now.
 

upupandaway

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it sounds like it struggles to pull fuel and you end up adjusting it right back to where it is now.

Mine (with the original 1 fuel hose and after installing a walbro carb) would not run right unless it stayed perfectly still.
I would say with the tank on top, loosen the cap and test it.
If i moved around aka used it, it would run erratic.
While the carb has a fuel pump in it, mine i resorted to adding the second "fuel line" to get my trimmers to run normal and reach its normal?!?! high RPMs.
 
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