Stihl FSA Range
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Very disappointed...! The motor of this whipper snipper fatally failed three and a half years after I purchased it, although I used it carefully and for domestic purposes only. The local dealer's quote to repair it was excessive and I decided not to accept it. My next available option was to place this machine where it belongs: at local council's… Read more
rubbish disposal centre. Another machine that I bought from Stihl (battery operated lawn mower) also failed in its fourth year of life - I will never buy anything made by this, once very reputable German manufacturer...!
Not fit for purpose – Used on turfed town house to trim areas inaccessible for mower. Max use 1 - 1.5 hrs per annum. Died in 4th year. Wont buy Stihl again Show details
Spooling is a pain in the – The product is reliable, appears well made, battery is long lasting. But I have had this 3 years now and the spooling system is very complex and complicated. I fact the stihl twine snaps off every ten minutes or so a the base of the feeder and you new to pull it to bits to get it to work again, also the small screw at the pain is a pain to get… Read more
screwed in properly. If my wife owned it by herself it would never get used because she could never get it respooled. Not happy at all with this aspect of it , And will not buy another Stihl product.
Very poor – Difficult to get the line to be gripped when trying to feed in. Constantly Chops line off almost immediately to half cutting length (am using the correct stihl line product). Often one line disappears inside the "bobbin" which means a complete disassemble to get it functioning again. Auto feeder never works however hard you hit it. Can't find… Read more
anything positive to say about it at all since it's wasted me a lot of time - I've numerous other stihl products which work brilliantly but this seems a complete design fail
Very disappointed – The auto head needed replacing within 6 months. The motor needed replacing in 8 months. Sometimes the battery is impossible to get out. The motor is getting tight again. Definitely not the quality you would expect from Stihl. Show details
Nice tool to use poor quality design – Bought this tool as a package deal with lawn mower and hedge trimmer The line trimmer lasted about 13 months, I use it probably once a month except summer time when the kikuyu is I full growth, I cut down a small area of tall grass about 10 sqm which had grown to about 300mm and used the line trimmer just to cut it down as the lawn mower doesn’t… Read more
have enough torque the Fsa85 stopped half way though as it seized, dealer said it was out of warranty by a month New motor cost about half of a new tool at $286 was easy to fit but like the other reviews there is no seal , my old motor had seized but had no corrosion or dirt of any kind just a poor bearing I think Very disappointed in this product, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this product
The FSA65 Trimmer Is Just Horrible. - Impossible To Change The Line – Must have been designed by an idiot. Very disappointing, especially as my chainsaw is a real gem. T impossible to change the trimmer line, bump head does not work. Save yourself some grief and avoid this unit like the plague Show details
Bumper feed absolute garbage – You have to bump every metre all so bump jams up you than have to stop u screw release and do all again time waster ask dealer do stihl have another bump feed that could attach answer no. Show details
Junk. Don’t bother buying one – Absolute junk. Extremely difficult to replace the line, with one side usually not winding up. Line hard to feed when operating. More of a toy than anything. Very disappointed with Stihl who usually make good products. Show details
Piece of crap – Purchased one of these as part of a package. The line advance has never worked for more than 6 linear feet, line won’t advance and becomes so truncated it is useless. Took it back to the dealer 3 times, first 2 they said nothing wrong, I replaced the line as per instructions, nothing changed, back to the dealer. Gave me a new cutting head,… Read more
acting as if they were doing me a favour rather than honouring the warranty. The new head made no difference, the line will still not advance. Looking at the other reviews, this product is poorly designed, not ready for the market and a complete failure.
Motor blown – 2.2 heads worth of trimming and the motor goes. Grass between the head and the shaft causes this. So it’s mot designed to trim grass obviously. Anyone want to buy a near new battery and charger Show details
Only ran for 40 minutes then failed – Regrettably, the unit failed after 40 minutes, maybe it was wet grass as other people have mentioned. When would long grass not have a bit of moisture in it? The shop refused to replace it or give a refund, and have just phoned a week later to say they’ve fixed it. I really regret buying it but am stuck with it now. Show details
only used once but happy so far – I am a 50 plus woman and owned several petrol trimmers in my time. I hated the un reliability of starting them and the hassle of needing a fresh supply of fuel. This trimmer works almost as well as a petrol trimmer...possibly doesn't have the same grunt, however if you go a bit slower, especially if grass is thick, it will do the job. I live in… Read more · 1
tropical Qld so the grass is a really tough species, but it cuts through ok and I can use light weight or heavier type line. Spool system is straight forward and easy to use. Battery charged up quickly and lasted long enough to do an average back yard. If you like your noisy heavy petrol dependant trimmer then you may not be happy with this one, but I can't see any n negative at all. Easy on the environment, the body and the ears...planning to add a pruner and mower and share the battery system. One year on still going strong. Good for tidying up between mows.
Find out how Stihl FSA Range compares to other Battery Whipper Snippers
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Great product to use BUT poor quality – I love using this product but my biggest issue is.... The second week I used this was on wet grass and now no longer works. The motor is completely vulnerable to water. Forget being waterproof it's not even water resistant... Show details
Whipper snipper failure – I am sadly disappointed by Stihl the company when my whipper sniper broke down . It was a very useful efficient tool . BUT there was no advice to say to never wet the head as the electric motor is there and not sealed . Water in the motor shorted out the control unit at the switch which was quoted at two thirds the cost of replacing the machine.… Read more
Causing huge environmental waste and massive cost to myself . I tried to speak to Stihl who said they would get back to me but never did .
I have exactly the same comments to make . I thought this was my review .
Good, but a few drawbacks – I have gone all battery (all Stihl) for my suburban yard. Mower, blower, hedger, and trimmer. The the other three are fantastic, but the trimmer is my least favorite. It does of course have all of the wonderful advantages of battery tools (no noise, fuel, fumes and easy on/off) and it has heaps of power. My problems are two fold. Firstly, the… Read more
safety guard is too big and too integrated. I am sure that is wonderful for safety but it does make it awkward to use in tricky places. Secondly, the spool has too big a central 'boss' which means the angle of attack is too high, again making it difficult to do a neat job in tricky places. My experience is that trimmers are very idiosyncratic things always take some getting used to, and I have learned to live with the problems with this one, but they still annoy me. However, I am now a happy member of the Stihl battery ecosystem, so I will live with my trimmer.
Lightweight, powerful, long battery life – This trimmer is lightweight for this over 50 woman and it has two lines of trimming power that really take care of the weeds. The battery lasts a long time but I have two batteries since I also use it for my Stihl lawnmower. It was difficult to get the battery released but since I pulled out the prongs at the back a little and used vaseline on… Read more
the sides it has been much easier. I also had difficulty refilling the spool with trimmer line but now I clean out the spool and make sure that I insert the twine until it is engaged in the spool. This is much better than dragging a heavy cord around my yard or carrying a heavy gas powered trimmer.
How to do complicated when you can do simple – How to do complicated when you can do simple... The system for putting cutting line is RIDICULOUSLY STUPID AND COMPLICATED! GOOD LUCK! I am a landscape pro of 20 plus years and have never seen such a complicated spooling system to replace the cutting line. I PROMISE YOU WILL WANT TO RIP YOUR HAIR OUT! Show details
Waste of money. Stihl offer poor customer service – Five weeks old, Used it twice to have a piece of long grass get caught between the motor and spool head. Ruined motor. Stihl refusing to fix under warranty or refund money. Will cost more than buying a new one to fix. Don't wate your time with stihl, Will have to take the to small claims (vcat) to get my money back. Show details
After complaining at Mitre 10 who gave us great service Stihl agreed to a refund and I got my money back
My best ever investment – I thought this would solve my problem of finding petrol whipper snipper too difficult to start and the price seemed reasonable. However I soon found that I had to pay nearly as much for the battery and quite a bit for the battery charger. Quite a large outlay in total. But it didn’t take me long to discover it was well worth the investment. I’ve… Read more
had it 2 years now and it easily cuts any grass or weeds. The lithium-ion battery (I bought the more expensive one) lasts for about 35 minutes of hard work, and takes only 10 minutes to recharge! During first year of use it lasted 45 minutes. Since I have used it for pretty rough work, I have replaced the line head once, but other than that and cleaning, no maintenance is required. I bought the powerful blower that uses the same battery. Highly recommended for elderly folk who want to remain independant or for anyone who doesn’t care for the noise and smell of small petrol engines.
Great BUT – Cuts even heavy duty weeds but not designed for little old ladies with small hands! I find the battery next to impossible to get out at times and the head I can't get off without using multigrips and sheer grit and determination. It also doesn't come with a strap but fortunately my son improvised one for me. Update 5/11/17 I have overcome the… Read more
battery problem by pulling the spring things at the back of the battery compartment further out. I also put some vaseline on the rails to help it come out more easily. Happy now.
In a league of its own – I have a 1000sqm block and it's all Kikuyu grass with very thick and broad roots / runners. I listen to the neighbours budget petrol trimmers cough and splutter but not the FSA65. The Brushless motor and 36V AP180 Lithium Battery are a very powerful combination and it has no troubles getting through the grass on my property. Battery life is… Read more
around 35 to 40mins on thick kikuyu grass but on lawns like buffalo it would probably run for around an hour as it won't have to work as hard.
The tried and true bump feed works like a dream and the unit is very easy to re-spool with a line capacity of 2.5metres each side.
I do all the trimming around the yard / trees and also use the FSA 65 to do the edging around the boundaries and the drive way.. The Handle is adjustable so it can be tailored to suit the users preferences
The Unit is lightweight even with an AP180 battery on board and is ergonomically sound as well.
The unit is easy to maintain as the brushless motor is sealed and looks after itself. Just a quick wipe down after use and it's all good to go for the next time.
After more than 75 hours use mine runs as good as it did when I bought it. In that time I have had to re-spool the line around five times which is pretty good. Although if you work along fences and concrete paths expect to use more line.
Overall for the average yard the lack of noise, fumes, or having to deal with the maintenance rituals of fuel trimmers make this a worthwhile purchase. For larger properties or for professionals it's probably a little short on runtime using an AP180 battery - but with the AP300 battery you should get at least an hour under most conditions.
For the contractors they could invest in the AP900 and get around five hours worth of silent trimming pleasure.
Highly recommended for any 1000sqm block or smaller.
Find out how Stihl FSA Range compares to other Battery Whipper Snippers
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Expensive but good – Lovely silent trimmer with heaps of power and very good battery life. I chose the smaller and cheaper AP-115 battery which has 50% charge left after I'm done trimming the back and front yards of our townhouse. I don't see myself going back to the stinky noisy petrol trimmers ever. Show details
It works – I live on a small acreage and use it to cut back the small patches of weeds that pop up around the place, stick it in ATV in morning and can knock them back during the day. Quick and easy and no herbicides. It's just works, and is not too loud. It holds it's charge well over 6 months in the winter.
Pick of the bunch in Stihls 36v range – I pinched a nerve in my elbow trying to pull start a petrol trimmer, temporarily paralysing part of my hand. I need my hands for work, this would not do. I never wanted to pull start a tool again. So I coughed up the hefty price tag for the mower and an FSA 85 line trimmer. When I first picked it up in the store, I worried I'd done my dough.… Read more
Both the trimmer and the mower are so light they feel like toys. Any concerns were quickly dispelled when I put it to work. the FSA 85 is light and powerful. Variable speed control is nice and occasionally useful but mostly I just pull the trigger to the stop and go.
I rarely use a full charge of an AP180 battery.
I did once. If I remember rightly, I was dropping some 2ft tall grass and some weeds. Got through about 300m2 in around 20min.
The bump feed head supplied with this trimmer is excellent. No need to disassemble to wind on new cord. Just line up the triangles and push the cord in and wind it into the head with the bump stop. Great stuff. http://www.stihl.com.au/p/media/download/au-en/AUTOCUT_5-2_101000.pdf
I use only 2mm Sthil SuperCore line. A little more expensive but lasts very well.
The tree guard is useful, but has removed my excuse for ring barking the wife's roses. :)
The convenience of never needing to get a jerry can of fuel and stinking up the car should not be underestimated.
If you have used a old corded electric trimmer with a brushed motor, been disappointed with the performance and sworn off electric, think again. This is an excellent tool, equal to all but the biggest petrol brush cutters.
18 months on, I'm still impressed
If you are considering an FSA 85, Buy one, you won't be disappointed.
Stihl FSA85 Line trimmer – Cordless convenience. As powerful as a petrol trimmer. The turbo charger recharges in around 20 minutes. Usual 'bump and feed' line delivery system is easy to use, and uses any two millimeter line. Chews through heavy grass and weeds. My lawn is less than 200 square meters, but has plenty of edges. Battery still has plenty of charge to run the… Read more
blower after use. High quality, well balanced, shares battery with 36volt family of products. Expensive, but high quality. May be too heavy for some users.
This thing is powerful – I had this a for couple of weeks now and I'm still I impressed. It is the larger FSA85 model. You can't really test these are the dealer so you take their word which I always take with a grain of salt. Anyway I'm glad I grabbed this because honestly it is very good - excluding the high initial price. Other than the obvious convenience differences… Read more
- when using it and you're bogging down, this thing keeps pushing through. On a normal petrol unit, when the going gets tough they normal bog down. The cordless unit just keeps going it is hard to stall. I also have a Stihl FS45 and the cordless unit seems to be more powerful - notably when you are getting it to some tougher stuff. I really only use the tool as an edger around my front and back grassed area so for where you would use a small petrol model you can use this with confidence. It is perfect for this as well as the other conveniences. If is use this for about 20 minutes I only use around half the battery. The cost to charge a battery from dead flat is around 5 cents - yep it is cheap to run too. A two stroke petrol model is over 10 times that - easily.
This is my third variety of Stihl cordless tool. The others being a blower and the small chainsaw. I also bought the larger 160w/Hr battery and the simple charger. Charge time is around 3 hours when totally flat. The trimmer is the most impressive tool of the three. The obvious convenience. Excellent power. Pretty quiet compared to a petrol model. Bump feed head works well. High initial cost.
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Now 9 years after buying the electric motor was broken, took it to the shop. Would cost $250 to get… Read more