Ryobi 'Expand-it' range garden tools question

[Steve Jones]

Hi,

I've recently been looking at long reach petrol articulated hedge trimmers as I have a few jobs coming up in the next few months, I know there are probably better makes on the market, Stihl for one, but as this is something I wont be using more than 6 - 10 times a year I really can't justify spending 4 - 500 pounds on a machine at the moment.
So my question is, does anyone on the forum own or have used one of these and if so what do they think, good or bad.

Many thanks

Steve

 

[paininthe]

Hi, I have the hedge trimmer and strimmer. The hedge trimmer is too long and out of balance but starts well, cuts well and is powerful enough. The strimmer is better but the cutting string stuff always jams and it is lousy at edging.

All in all I couldn't recommend 100% but if I hadn't (on a whim) bought the kit at £89 Screwfix I would still be getting the extension cable out for my b&d strimmer and the neighbours 20yr old hedge trimmer.

 

[jhwbigley]

personally i wont by any thing ryobi. i would look at the stihl combi system, we've had one for 5 years, mainly bought for the long reach hedge trimer, we also use the strimer head. the trimer will cut anything, we use it mainly for shaping srubs. the strimer is great to use for small jobs, we have a few big stihl bush cutters, but the combi is handy for those small jobs. don't forget that parts! Stihl parts are easy sauced.

John-Henry

 

[Dibs-h]

personally i wont by any thing ryobi. i would look at the stihl combi system, we've had one for 5 years, mainly bought for the long reach hedge trimer, we also use the strimer head. the trimer will cut anything, we use it mainly for shaping srubs. the strimer is great to use for small jobs, we have a few big stihl bush cutters, but the combi is handy for those small jobs. don't forget that parts! Stihl parts are easy sauced.

John-Henry

Try getting a carb for a Ryobi - ain't going to happen. I've had Ryobi over the years, pi55ed me off every time when trying to start them. In the end went bullocks and shelled out for 4 stroke Honda - runs like a dream and starts quickly - even after having sat around with fuel in it for over 1 yr.

My 2 stroke stuff is all Stihl - can't fault it. If you don't want to buy new, look on Ebay.

 

[cambournepete]

When I got my Tanaka strimmer, advise I got from every shop was to avoid Ryobi like the plague...
OK, I know they wanted to sell me their product, but One reason is the location of the pull-starter. Ryobi tend to put it at the top of the shaft. If it breaks (and the string probably will one day) you have to dismantle the whole machine to change it. Better makes tend to put the pull starter right at the end of the machine, so it's a doddle to change (just a few screw/bolts to undo).

 

[jhwbigley]

we have a shed full of Stihl equipment, and if it good enough for pros like my dad then it must be good.

bought a few stihl things of bay, they have all worked great

 

[Steve Jones]

Many thanks for all the replies, the reason I was leaning toward the ryobi was because I have a petrol ryobi blower/vacuum and this has been in constant use almost everyday for the last couple of years without any problems at all.

On reading your replies I'm definitely going to give the expand-it system a miss and look on the bay, my customers will just have to wait a bit longer for there hedges to be done, trouble is I'm in the same boat as a lot of other people this season with not much money to play with.

Steve

 

[dedee]

Another vote for the Stihl combi. Mine is a four stoke with petrol-oil lubrication works really well. I have the long reach articulated hedge trimmer, strimmer (corded) and grass cutting disk.

The long reach hedge trimmer is great. Cuts the top of my 2m high hedge (150 yards long) really well. A bit cumbersome on the vertical faces but when you get the bslance right not too bad.

The advantage to me of the combi is that having just one engine it does not get left sitting around unused for too long which can be a problem with 2 stroke and 4 stroke petrol/oil mix engines.

Andy

 

[lurker]

Someone here put me onto a company called Mower Magic out Lincoln way. Check out their website.

They are Cheap, Have a large range of brands, every spare I've ever asked about & their customer service has been good.

 

[henryt]

I put my Ryobi engine aside waiting until I can do a complete rebuild. It is a year old and has had carb changed and rebuilt many times, bit still a swine to start ( just when part way through a job).
I bit the bullet and bought a Stihl km94 engine ( which always starts and runs with perfection) and adapted all the expand -it tools to fit.
The drive shafts for both are square, but the expandit tube needs to be shortened by 5mm and a slot cut ( sawn) into the tube for about 40mm or the depth of the Stihl connector. This will allow easy entry of the expand it tube into the Stihl coupling. The expandit orientation pin is now 90deg out, so I drilled a new one using a tiny self tapping screw to enable the correct orientation of the expandit heads.
It all engages very well and allows me to use the expand-it fittings that I had. Using a pole saw plus extension tube delivers much more power to the chain making the cutting easier than with the lower power of the Ryobi.
Sometimes I need to turn the Stihl accepting coupling slightly to ensure that the square drives go fully home.

I had considered a 4 stroke Makita engine, but discovered that the drive shafts are not a square type. ( 5 points)

 

[oldfart]

I have registered with this forum just to share my experience doing this modification. First of all, thanks to henryt for getting me on the right track when I was overcome with the urge to throw my Ryobi expand-it kit into the nearest pond. Luckily I didn't, instead I spoke to my local Stihl dealer who said "No, can't be done". Fortunately another more helpful dealer nearby was more amenable to trying it for fit. The result, I am now the owner of a shiny new Stihl KM94 RC machine. The Ryobi attachments do fit. The are a little tight as I haven't cut the slots henryt suggested. I think I'll live with tight. Drive shaft engagement wasn't always successful as the Ryobi drive shafts have a few mm of end to end movement. Rather than shortening the Ryobi tube, I removed the business end of each attachment to expose the drive shaft and fitted a small compression spring to prevent the shaft being pushed down the tube. So far it has worked, the drive shafts engage every time. Only took an hour or so to convert four Ryobi attachments I haven't done anything about the alignment pins yet but I think I will just rotate the business end round the tube by a quarter turn and drill a new hole for the locating bolt. Doing the mods this way, the attachments can easily be returned to standard should they ever find themselves on ebay.

Really pleased with how this turned out, the KM94 is a fantastic engine, much lighter and more powerful than the Ryobi, it starts easily cold or hot and carries on running until you hit the stop button.