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I've got a Homelite trimmer that is probably 10 years old. The manufacturer's plate on the engine says John Deere, but I'm relatively certain JD didn't make the engine and it was made for them by someone else. So I've got a 25cc engine of unknown manufacture made for John Deere then rebranded as Home Depot's brand Home Lite. Anybody know who actually made the engine on this thing? I think Ryobi makes the HomeLite stuff now, but did they 10 years ago?

Oddball said:

I've got a Homelite trimmer that is probably 10 years old. The manufacturer's plate on the engine says John Deere, but I'm relatively certain JD didn't make the engine and it was made for them by someone else. So I've got a 25cc engine of unknown manufacture made for John Deere then rebranded as Home Depot's brand Home Lite. Anybody know who actually made the engine on this thing? I think Ryobi makes the HomeLite stuff now, but did they 10 years ago?

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Post a pic...odds are it's a Ryobi, my 2003 Homelite had a Ryobi engine. The vast majority of Weedeater gas trimmers are also Ryobi powerered.

Oddball said:

I've got a Homelite trimmer that is probably 10 years old. The manufacturer's plate on the engine says John Deere, but I'm relatively certain JD didn't make the engine and it was made for them by someone else. So I've got a 25cc engine of unknown manufacture made for John Deere then rebranded as Home Depot's brand Home Lite. Anybody know who actually made the engine on this thing? I think Ryobi makes the HomeLite stuff now, but did they 10 years ago?

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Good pics....what is weird is that your trimmer looks like a different version of my Y2K Muculloch Mac 2816...and for the life of me, I don't know what make of engine THAT one has myself....

And I sure cannot understand why the information label on yours would say JD...what a mystery.

Thanks JD, there's a John Deere dealer just 2 miles up the road from me. I guess maybe I'll take it by there and see if they can tell me anything about it. It works fine, I've just always been curious who made the engine in case I ever need to do anything to it.

Oddball said:

Thanks JD, there's a John Deere dealer just 2 miles up the road from me. I guess maybe I'll take it by there and see if they can tell me anything about it. It works fine, I've just always been curious who made the engine in case I ever need to do anything to it.

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Odds are, if the engine ever needs work, the parts alone will cost more than a replacement new trimmer will !!! I recently posted about the broken choke pivot for my dad in laws Homelite, the choke pivot shaft is not available as a part, instead one must pay $90 for a complete new carb assembly plus shipping...and you can buy a brand new, comparable sized and powered trimmer for $75 with tax. Go figger !!!!

JDgreen said:

Odds are, if the engine ever needs work, the parts alone will cost more than a replacement new trimmer will !!! I recently posted about the broken choke pivot for my dad in laws Homelite, the choke pivot shaft is not available as a part, instead one must pay $90 for a complete new carb assembly plus shipping...and you can buy a brand new, comparable sized and powered trimmer for $75 with tax. Go figger !!!!

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Yep, its a racket. Charge a fortune for parts, that way the company makes more money by making it necessary to buy a new machine because a tiny $1.00 part was broken.

Looks just like my Ryobi.

Oddball said:

Yep, its a racket. Charge a fortune for parts, that way the company makes more money by making it necessary to buy a new machine because a tiny $1.00 part was broken.

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Fully agree!

Henry Ford said he could give his cars away and still make money selling parts.

Quality equipment cost a bit more because the warehouse keeps all those $ 1.00 parts so you can fix your stuff.
Cheap stuff have no warehouse, strait from the factory / ship / container to the shop saves a lot of money and makes them cheap enough for cheapskates to buy.
No racket, simple economics.
The $ 1.00 part will end up costing $ 20 in warehousing after 10 years x 35,000 parts, not economic.
A capacitor that was 2p in 1952 when it went into stock had $ 72.00 of warehousing costs on it by 1999 and then there is a wholesale mark up, delivery & retail mark up before you get your hands on it.


And Ford could make good money on parts because there was not many of them and a rapid turn over as T's were not the best made of vehicles.

Oddball said:

I've got a Homelite trimmer that is probably 10 years old. The manufacturer's plate on the engine says John Deere, but I'm relatively certain JD didn't make the engine and it was made for them by someone else. So I've got a 25cc engine of unknown manufacture made for John Deere then rebranded as Home Depot's brand Home Lite. Anybody know who actually made the engine on this thing? I think Ryobi makes the HomeLite stuff now, but did they 10 years ago?

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I dont know how many different models JD sold but the one i have mothballed above my garage (as a spare if my dad ever needs parts) there were many identical trimmers under the many brands Ryobi sold- well at least the 3 i have come across so odds are every name Ryobi sold it under.