Quick help with broken hedge trimmer

[ATC1983]

I have some cheap equipment, by ryobi, and my hedgetrimmer is such. About 5 months after I bought it it started showing degradation during use ie randonly turning off unless the trigger is pulled or the choke is open, and more recently the blades have kept jamming, which might be down to a bit of rust.

 

But today the entire trimmer wouldn't start and the starter cord wouldn't pull at all.

 

My question is is there any quick way to get this latter aspect fixed? I bought the product off amazon and should still have a warranty on it but am not sure how to go about returning it. Basically the product seems crap and I know I should have spent about £250 and got a basic husqavarna trimmer but I didn't have the cash. I dont remember getting a separate warranty with this so will just have to hope amazon takes it back.

 

My other problem is I bought the expand it power head from ryobi, for use with a trimmer set, or strimmer, and bought pole attachments to give me height. Recently I have noticed the connector of either the strimmer or the trimmer attachment is not fully joining with the rotary bar on the inside, meaning there is no movement on the strimmer or trimmer once these are attached. Is there any quick fix solution to this - or again have I been conned by a poor product?

 

Thanks all

[miker]

1st thing to do is try to start the machine with no attachments thus ruling out jammed cutter bar, get some wd 40 on the blades,move manually with a screwdriver to get them free (possibly just rust/gunk jamming them, make sure the gear in the shaft mates properly with the gear in the head of the strimmer or hedge cutter, always use fresh 2 stroke mix, clean your spark plug, if the machine has been sitting all winter,it could need a major service, good luck

[Andy Collins]

I don't think you've been conned by a cheap product, I think you've had the life expectancy from it. Buy cheap, buy twice. Hopefully you've earned enough with the tool to buy some better kit for this year.

[GardenKit]

A jammed cutter bar will not stop the engine pulling over, as there is a centrifugal clutch between them, so that problem lies within the engine or clutch.

 

Unless you are quite handy with the spanners yourself and can tinker with these things I would put this down to experience. IMO do not consider spending money on repairs, but certainly give the warranty route a try, you may be lucky.

 

As Andy says, you have not been 'conned' as I doubt anyone convinced you to buy, you just made an unwise purchase.

 

For my part, as a dealer, I will never again sell a Ryobi product (I did sell a few about 6 years ago) nor will I take one in for repair, as the repair bills, (if indeed repairable) will likely exceed the value.

[Sussex Groundie]

If all else fails down the Warranty route you can use Expandit strimmer, extension shafts, hedge trimmers, pole saws on a Stihl KM Combi engine. It's the Ryobi power unit that lets the side down every time, plenty of vids on Youtube regarding tuning the carb as there set to run weak when leaving the factory. I know this is not the problem in your case however.

I have a Stihl 55KM engine unit about £200 and I am using up the Expandit attachments till they wear out.

(I have owned 3-4 complete Stihl Combi systems over the yrs at an all up costs of £600 each)

[Rich2484]

The trimmer sons seized to me, as gardenkit said the clutch will still allow the engine to turn over. Unless the clutch has exploded.

 

If the warranty doesn't work out remove the pull cord cover and assembly and get a socket on the flywheel and see if the engine will move then. If it grinds out its knackerd.

 

Don't know about the other thing, but I'm with gardenkit over the repairs. Waste of time and money. Cheaper to buy another.