Stihl FS 200

Damn good Workhorse – Whip length 9 inches, you will a zing. Good to know when auto feeding. Lawn, garden and bushes/trees with sensitive bark Orange .095 whip or lighter. Serious whip work the Red .105 or better. Blades, all depends on what your cutting. 80 tooth will take down a 1.5 inch soft wood tree in one pass. Whip head modified with vertical holes both… Read more

sides of the metal outlet guides for the whip. Wire tie threw these holes and secured on top, solved problem of cover coming off. Trick also for whip, WD 40 before closing up to use, stops breaks inside.

Other than running out gas or bad gas, #1 thing why most two cycle engines don't start or run well...Spark Arrestor, comes out easier than the spark plug. Dip in gas and take a propane torch to it, wire brush clean...Fixed. Pre Cursor to note is oil slobber near exhaust. Happens even with synthetic oil mix. Yes, you have been using the machine.

Failures none. Wear outs and breakage. Bent the shaft, wore out the head twice (with grease fitting installed) and I snapped the handle bar off. Buck fifty for a new one(only comes with grips and controls, special order), nonsense, remote area and I had a TV tray of similar shape and size for grips...Fixed. Pipe and bender under $25.

Gear Head, keep it lubed. Under the blades or whip head, keep clear of wraps around the assembly including the first spacer on the gear head. Others using it found some fishing line and wrapped it good inside plus it melted, over heated the gear head and was just short of catching fire, they stopped when it started smoking.

Other note desired, was on the guard piece, the trimmer for the cord. Domestic use, worked fine. Majority of time I did not use in heavy work done. All other safety gear I use and swear by: goggles, ear muffs (or helmet combo), leather gloves, heavy thread pants, loose full length shirt and boots.

Purchased in 1998, it's mission to clear 20 acres of virgin land on an island in Canada. May to October every year since. Zero time in dealer shop. Full cleaning and maintenance every year just like all my equipment and boats.

Looked at other reviews, some should read instructions. Of note, no full choke after first firing during start up. Floods the engine on Stihl carbs. Prem gas makes a difference and synthectic oil mix is a must in humid areas. Get to know the limit of your machine. Some things take a chain saw and this unit won't cut iron wood either.

Recommend if buying an old used unit. May need some TLC. Don't know when Stihl changed to using Chinese parts. Some knock off, look a like Honda China stuff I have, works well and some not so well.

top marks for the old dog – Had mine for 18 years and still going strong. It broke down once and cost me less than 20pound to repair. Ive had a few new models and dont match my old f 200 at all. I hope it last another ten years as id struggle buying another old model in good condition

Overrated – Bought this after looking at many other machines on the market and seeing other brands that I had never heard of although many people have told me they were good. I purchased Stihl because I had heard of the name. But the I must say I didn't really like it. After I bought it i found out they are now made in china and are no longer like the units… Read more

Stihl used to be ten years ago, they are now designed to throw away not repair, mine is in for repair now and I was told it isnt worth fixing. I am throwing mine away and buying an Echo. Looks good, light weight and cheap Expensive repairs, made in china now designed to throw away when something goes wrong as the parts for repair are worth more then the unit itself

Good – Ensure that the fuel is fresh and it is an excellent brushcutter which will handle all of the tough jobs. very powerful. tough and durable machine. i have found that it is very fussy with fuel. fuel needs to be fresh otherwise it wont want to go.

Tough as nails – I've owned a Stihl FS200 for almost 10 years. It's one tough brushcutter. I use it on our property to clear grass, weeds and Lantana, which it does with ease. It strikes a good balance or weight and power. Make sure you use good quality cord in the cuttling head . After experimenting with various brands, I settled on 2.4mm Stihl Supercut… Read more

cord. It's expensive to buy, but lasts much longer than cheaper brands. I used to cut Lantana with a saw blade, but now use Stihl Supercut to do it.

The only negative issue we have had concerns servicing. We took it back to the dealer (The Mower Place) because it was getting hard to start, and they made it much worse, and could not fix it in two subsequent trips. I eventually found a local chap who got it running well.

All in all, it's well worth the money, and I will buy another when this one finally dies. Tough, reliable, just keeps going and going Dealer servicing poor

Good – This machine is having its first full service after many hundreds of hours of very hard use. The throttle cable has been repaired and the spark plug lead has wire pushed down to contact the plug. It still runs like a charm. This machine is hust magnificent and I'm sure will be operating for another 18 years. I purchased the 200 some 18 years ago… Read more

and have only given it heavy use in the past ten years since moving to a 40 acre property. I have run it flat out for 10 hours a day for weeks clearing heavy kangaroo grass and sedges from amonst volcanic rocks where the tractor and slasher can't go. It will run forever. I have recently bought a 480 for the really heavy stuff that the FS 200 can't quite handle. (Plume grass 2 metres tall). I use this machine on four properties from the mountains to the coast. Each time I need to adjust the low/high speed in order for it to run smoothly. This only takes a minute and doesn't need to be done unless there's a big difference in altitude. It can't be started unless the chock is open and throttle log engaged. It can also be difficult to restart after a few hours of heavy use. The throttle cables tends to come away from the carby (the link is worn) and is difficult to reattach. The biggest fault I've found is the attachment of the motor assembly to the pole. They've used screws through a plastic frame which can't be tightened. Hence the cutting head is not at right angles to the motor. It doesn't affect the reliability but is annoying.

Good – If mine blew up tomorrow (doubtful), I'd buy its replacement. The line spool wear problem is something I am working on. I am experimenting with using a freeze plug (core plug) that has the same concave shape as the spool. If this works, it should go a long way to lowering the main cost of owning this awesome machine. Reliable starting, can run on… Read more

full throttle day in and day out, plenty of power, lifetime warranty on the clutch, ignition and shaft (USA) Field maintainable, parts easy to get (though not that cheap). Greasable cutter head bearing means that has a long service life. Runs on cheap fuel, though I use premium whenever possible. Professional semi-auto 'bump' works really well and takes a variety of line sizes. Quality construction. Power head to aluminium tube seems flimsy and moves slightly, though mine has never given problems. Carb adjustment screws sometimes back out. Fairly loud exhaust noise. The cutting line spools wear where they contact the ground, eventually the two inch spring inside flies off, and at $10 for the spring and the same for the spool hub, it can get expensive.