# Best Walk Behind STRING TRIMMER



## snowkraft (Apr 12, 2015)

Hey All--- I have a powerful Husqvarna handheld string trimmer, but with the new trails I'm making I'd guess it would make sense to have a walk behind. It seems like the best walk behind is the DR model. It looks like the DR line is directed more towards homeowners, with products that cut corners here and there, but their string trimmer looks OK. Looking at reviews of their self propelled model, it appears that the self propelled system is not w/o some inherent flaws- it is only mediocre, especially in rougher terrain. And, the wheels on the SP model are smaller, at 14 inches, than the non propelled unit, with 16 inch wheels.

Anybody have the propelled unit and can recommend it for rougher terrain, or better to go with the standard non propelled?? The non propelled is $300 cheaper- would rather spend less and buy this model if it works OK.

Of course, if anybody knows of something betr than the DR mower, I'm all ears!!! thanks, ...tom


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## snowkraft (Apr 12, 2015)

Bump, LOL. Nobody uses string trimmers?? Looking to buy one soon, want to know if the self-propelled model is worth getting. Thanks.


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## twright205 (Oct 2, 2011)

snowkraft- I will just speak to my own experience, if you have a lot of grass or fast growing weeds that require being cut down once a month, then perhaps the walk behind will work.

on the trails I volunteer on, it was logged 12 years ago some skid roads still have tall grasses, but it is the blackberry and thorn bushes that we are attacking... a hand held is best for this.. i bought a walk behind non propelled one, and it did ok on the skid roads but getting into too many roots, humps, berms, log overs etc. it was a pain.. I borrowed a self propelled one, and pretty much the same thing..

so my take away... sold them and invested in a well balanced hand held with the handlebar deal.. I find it cuts faster, more strategic and I can cover more ground than the walk behinds..

but as I said, if you have a couple of miles of trail that requires being cut back several times a ride season, and it's not filled with obstacles.. the walk behind could work.. I didn't go DR... I didn't want to invest that much... so I went..Swisher 6-3/4 Gross Torque 22 in. Standard String Trimmer - Tractor Supply Co....

but like I said, I went back to hand held.


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## snowkraft (Apr 12, 2015)

Thanks!!!!!!! Nice review. Interesting that your impression is that the handheld cuts faster. I have a powerful string trimmer and will give it a go with that and see how it does. It makes sense to try with that b4 buying a walk behind. It does a good job on the 2.5 miles of trail I have now, hopefully will be OK with 13 or so miles. 

I'll try to find a walk behind to rent to see how it does. If it works OK and saves time on my trails, then may get one. But, judging by what you found out, it won't!!! 

Thanks again ....tom


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## Loren_ (Dec 3, 2006)

We have a HUSQVARNA HU625HWT - Lawnmowers that works fairly well, especially for more open areas like around our pump track. It's light, easy to throw in a car trunk and so gets used a lot more than a bigger, heavy unit might.


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## Moe Ped (Aug 24, 2009)

Once the grasses start to turn brown at a local (California) park I volunteer at we're not allowed to use standard mowers (fire hazard from steel blades striking rocks) so it's line trimmers or nothing at all. We use a mix of hand-held and walk-behind; they each have their strong points.

For hillside trails the hand-helds are best; for larger and nearly level areas the walk behinds have an edge. (pardon the pun) The much heavier line used on the walk-behinds will take down brushy stems (some types of thistles) that will stall the hand-helds. If the weeds aren't too heavy the hand-helds can cut more acreage per hour if the operator is fit.

Neither design work as well as advertised cutting around rocks and structures (fences); short trimmer line life. And holy cow the walk-behinds can throw a rock like fastball!

I've used a half-dozen different walk-behinds; they all follow the same design with minor variations. Most are Swisher brand but regardless of make they all suffer the same problems. They all have the same old-school flathead Briggs engines; they boast the torque rating because the hp is as miserly as it was when these engines were commonplace on old-school lawn mowers. Regardless; power is adequate for the length of cutter line so designed. And the more modern fuel systems are an improvement.

We find that we need to clean the air filter 2~3 times per every tank of gas; also the cooling blower intakes plug frequently but at least that's obvious. (the mowers will run with a badly clogged air filter but won't re-start when hot) 

The engine would do well to have a snorkel for its air intakes; at least with our dry dusty weeds.

Another problem is they are sensitive to over-filling with oil; every time the machines go to another park in the unit they come back with the engines flooded with oil (and ruined oil-soaked air filters) I'd like to try the DR hub with the gripper jaws for the line, I'll probably be ordering one. DR hub user reports anybody?


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## snowkraft (Apr 12, 2015)

Thanks for the great review. The walk behinds definitely have their problems. Was talking with a friend who knew people who had modified one to a 26 inch bike wheel. He did say the cutting height was effected, then. 

I have a Tanaka with 40cc and a Husqvarna345 with 45cc and both of these can use super big diameter line and rarely have power issues. They work well, but are heavy. Lately I have been using a cut to size line that has to be replaced every 20 min. or so. I cut to size rather than pay xtra. Now with more and more trail to cut, I'll probably go back to the bump head and thinner line.


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## 9GUY9 (Jul 14, 2007)

Our club has a good bit of trail covering a prairie area, and wooded areas where grass still grows. We used regular lawn mowers for a couple years. with good success, the down side to a lawn mower is pushing them through the woods is hell on them. I am the designated mechanic and almost every use the mower would be broken. Late last year we got a used Aarons walk behind string trimmer and the guys using it seam to really like it. It also is not near as self destructive as a lawn mower. Although we just blew up the engine on it. I attribute that to being a cheapo Tecumseh engine though. I replaced it with a Briggs off one of our old mowers, and its back in service.

Ours is several years old and no longer made. I have looked at the DR trimmer, Cub Cadet, and Generic Menards brand unit. All are around $300. Of the 3 I'd go with the cub cadet. The shaft that holds the line on the DR is all plastic and looks pretty light duty.


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## BruceBrown (Jan 16, 2004)

snowkraft said:


> Hey All--- I have a powerful Husqvarna handheld string trimmer, but with the new trails I'm making I'd guess it would make sense to have a walk behind. It seems like the best walk behind is the DR model. It looks like the DR line is directed more towards homeowners, with products that cut corners here and there, but their string trimmer looks OK. Looking at reviews of their self propelled model, it appears that the self propelled system is not w/o some inherent flaws- it is only mediocre, especially in rougher terrain. And, the wheels on the SP model are smaller, at 14 inches, than the non propelled unit, with 16 inch wheels.
> 
> Anybody have the propelled unit and can recommend it for rougher terrain, or better to go with the standard non propelled?? The non propelled is $300 cheaper- would rather spend less and buy this model if it works OK.
> 
> Of course, if anybody knows of something betr than the DR mower, I'm all ears!!! thanks, ...tom


I've tried the Craftsman from our local trail crew which works fine (I don't like the plastic ball footing up front as it breaks), and bought the Earthquake Viper for myself recently.



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https://flic.kr/p/vE3g47
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

My lithium battery powered B&D hedge clippers, my Viper, and my 2 gallons of gas is what I head in with to take on the jungle.

I had to exchange the first Viper I bought after using it for two days as the tire peeled off the rim and the plastic rim got bent/destroyed in the process. They were really poorly designed heavy rubber wheels on a cheap, small plastic rim. I was trimming the side of singletrack off camber when the tire just peeled off. I could not get the tire mounted back up on the rim and finally saw that the plastic spokes had 'folded" and bent. End of that wheel. I thought about buying new wheels, but said what the heck - it's only been two days and Mennards customer service said they would exchange the whole unit for me as the best course of action.

The one I exchanged it for at Mennards has much better wheels (tougher 5 spoke wheel with a lighter, thinner rubber that is not destined to peel off) on it out of the box. So it appears Earthquake figured that out and updated the 2015's with better wheels. I had no idea I was buying an "older" unit on the shelf at the time I purchased. The new one is much better in terms of the wheels. It uses a metal ball footing up front which is a huge improvement over the Craftsman. Seems to work well, but appears it will be a high maintenance item when used for heavy trail trimming work. The string lasts a long time on it and is easy to replace. You can cover a lot of ground (like a push mower) compared to a hand held string trimmer. And for me, the plus is my hands don't go numb. That's my biggest pet peeve about doing trail work. Hands go numb, carpal tunnel, bad sleep because of it, and numb hands while riding a bike. So any tool that gets the job done for me without killing my hands is a plus. The walk behind accomplishes that.

Here's the first version I bought with the poorly designed wheels (stay away from these wheels with the six short spokes on a cheap plastic rim and huge, heavy rubber tires guaranteed to peel off at some point):



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https://flic.kr/p/wjrLpJ
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

Yes, walking hills and maneuvering around without a self-propelled feature requires some lower body effort. The wheel size and weight means this tool really is best on connector sections with lots of grass/weeds, trail entrances/exits, sections that are not so off camber. These units are not as "heavy use, industrial strength purpose built" as I would like to see. But for the price, what can one expect.

It's not a "do-all" tool, but certainly a great one to have in the arsenal. It's pretty quiet as well which surprised me. My hand held will wake the dead, scare the wildlife, and get the neighbors complaining. But the walk behind Viper is sneaky quiet. I've tried another brand that our trail crew owns as well, but as a tall guy - it was built for midgets. I can't remember what brand it is, but the Viper adjusts nicely to different height users.

What I like is that you can adjust the cutting height down to 1". What I hate about our trail organizations brush hogs is that they don't cut so low, which means that the grass and weeds on the side of the trail are left at I suppose around 4" in height and that stuff quickly grows back to leg tickle height. Again, no tool does it all. In an ideal trail work world, the hog would go through for the initial cut, followed behind with walk behind string trimmers, hand held trimmers, hedge trimmers and things would be cut back and pristine for weeks. However, most of us work alone or in such small groups that scenario rarely happens. Having tools that can cover a lot of ground quickly is ideal - and the walk behind fits that requirement.

That being said, this is a very short term review as I got two days out of the first one before the wheel folded, and the replacement with the better wheels has only seen 4 hours of duty thus far. So keep that in mind...

At least it is keeping my lawn Toro off of the trials and my wife happy.


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## Derek200 (Jun 16, 2015)

I bought some property a few years back that has a few very rough and steep sections. One is near a creek. I bought a walk behind because regular trimmer wouldn't cut it. 

I got a swisher. Hated it. In steep terrain it was tippy. It was very hard to push in rough terrain. And it was freakin scary. Haha. The strings died fast but wee easily replaced. 

Then I did some research and ended up with a husquvarna brush cutter. It has a harness and handlebars to balance it. This bad boy does a lot of work at my house. You can use string or grass blades etc. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for trail maintenance. But if I was in the woods with it I would dress with protection. If you are protected and don't have to be careful you can go really fast with it. 

The one weakness is the blue cap on bottom of string spool that is used to advance line. It get chewed up in rough rocky terrain. I have a version that is on bearings and can rotate that seems to be more durable. Easy replacement either way. 

I'd get a big brush utter and several replacement spools if I was doing lots of trail work.


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## snowkraft (Apr 12, 2015)

I'm the OP, still have not bought a walk-behind weedeater, but just stopped in at a local equipment dealer and found this machine: ECHO Bear Cat | Products

It tilts at varying degrees, which should I'd guess help to cut grass at a lower height. Another model has offset. They are a bit more expensive, at around $650, but are betr quality machines with 12g steel vs. 14 gauge for Ariens. Think I will get one of these and will give a report.

On my Tanaka string trimmer I have a Tanaka no brainer head: Amazon.com : Tanaka 32308 No Brainer Quick Load Cutting Head for Straight Shaft String Trimmers : Gas Weed Eater : Patio, Lawn & Garden ---This head allows use of much heavier line and is easy to use. I use .130 diam. line. One piece of line will last about 20 min. and is heavy enough to shave down small dirt bumps. This head adapts to most weedeaters, but not to the bigger Husqvarna models, such as the 345fr. I find it MUCH betr than the quirky "bump" heads. Note that you do need a powerful weedeater to use such thick line. My Tanaka is 45cc. I took off the guard on my trimmer so the line can be much longer.

I found this line brand to work well, and soak it (really!!) the nite before to mitigate brittleness: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E280PG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01

For safety I have found that BUGZ metal shield goggles are the best for me, as I sweat a lot and fog up glasses. https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=290&item=1292. I used other metal shield masks and glasses, but the mesh was not fine enough to block the smallest flying particles. I have had nothing penetrate the BUGZ mesh, altho I suppose it is possible. *Use a plastic or mesh face shield with glasses underneath for the best eye protection. *

I tried a plex face shield and it worked well but fogged for me. This is a good shield: http://www.amazon.com/3M-Protection...F8&qid=1441476216&sr=8-2&keywords=face+shield

This is a good mesh shield that I have: http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight...d=1441476857&sr=8-5&keywords=mesh+face+shield ---Some metal mesh face shields don't wrap around far enough. This one does, and comes with hearing protection as well. It does not adjust quite as well as some other face shields, but is adequate.

I also use a respirator as I have allergies. I have tried a few respirators and found this with replaceable cartridges to be the best: http://www.amazon.com/MSA-Safety-Wo...41476424&sr=8-3&keywords=half+mask+respirator ----It fits under face shields. Glasses and the BUGZ goggles fit a bit awkward but still work, but there can be just a sliiiight gap in protection due to glass hitting respirator on nose, but I have had no problems.


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## Derek200 (Jun 16, 2015)

If you have uneven and rough terrain, I'd spend the 600 bucks on s good brush cutter. Which is basically a weed eater with a bigger engine, better drive shaft and s harness. And they are marvelous tools. 

I used my push behind s few times but didn't like anything about it other than it was fast to replace strong on it. But it was a beast in sloped uneven terrain. And the thing would stick pieces of grass into my arm. Haha


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## elsievo (Sep 13, 2005)

I know this is old but here is my experience with walk behind trimmers. 
Sarlo SST6SP - expensive but holds up to abuse better. Pneumatic tires roll over obstacles much easier than solid tires. Lower center of gravity than the other two brands we have used. Drawbacks: you have to shut it down to stop the head for whatever reason; head is centered and not offset on the self propelled model.
DR Pro self propelled - broke the plastic wheel spokes because of trimmer being at an angle on side hills, replaced with steel spoked wheels (old style) and no problems. Make sure everything is tightened when you get it. We had the trimmer head fall off in first three hours. Tightened it real good and no problems since. Electric start is nice for some of our trail workers, head is easy to load. No offset on head.
Swisher STD675BS - cheap $$, and cheaply made. broke the axle the other night. Hard tires makes pushing it a pain on side hills and over some obstacles. Adjustable head is nice and the offset is great. I don't see this thing going more than 4 seasons even with new axle and pneumatic tires added.


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