I bought myself a Ryobi 4-cycle weed eater yesterday, and while reading the owner's manual, it says routine maintenance after every 25 hours of service involves checking the gap between the rocker arms and camshaft with feeler gauges, and adjust if necessary. I don't have a set of feeler gauges, where would you find a decent set, and what brand? Harbor Freight has them, are they decent, or does the classic, ",You get what you pay for " phrase apply?
The Harbor Freight ones are probably OK for home use. Depending on the access path for checking the gap, a set with bent ends might be easier.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-68050-Valve-Feeler-Gauge/dp/B0009OR94M
I'll keep that in mind. The diagrams make it look pretty user friendly. I didn't know until this past week they even made 4-cycle trimmers, I always thought it was 2 cycle or electric.
I think our "friends" at the EPA are forcing the 2-cycle trimmers off the market. Also those small 2-cycle engines really don't like ethanol-laced gas. I gave up trying to keep mine running and bought a cheapo electric job at Wal-Mart.
I thought the 4-cycle was an interesting idea, and being a car guy, I know a lot more about 4s than 2s. I'll always be paranoid of the oil mixture or letting s someone borrow it. Most of the hardware stores around me are pushing electric lawn stuff hard. The front shelves are all electric. I don't really like that the batteries wear out and cost half as much as a new tool. I like my gas engines. They last forever if you maintain them, haha.
Yeah, the batteries on my electric trimmer are already failing after just a few years. I'm going to try getting my old 2-stroke trimmer going again, I bought a new carb and fuel lines for it which will hopefully be better at resisting the effects of alcohol in the gas so I'll see how it works out.
why not just use premium fuel without ethanol. The tiny motor doesn't consume that much . Seems cheaper than new fuel components.
The parts were very cheap and it needs new fuel lines anyway since the originals fell apart. I think the carb was like $10 or $12, I bought it a while ago. (There's not much to those little 2-stroke carbs.) Ethanol-free gasoline is not available in my area. Some hardware stores sell canned fuel for small engines that I believe is ethanol free but it's very expensive, I could try that stuff once I get the stupid thing running again.
I don't have any particular problem working with 2-stroke engines. I used to own vehicles equipped with them.
$10 is very cheap
Yep, it's not exactly a Quadrajet.
{pear}:smile:
Since there's no moving parts, the HF gauges are probably good enough for the job. You can check them with a good set of calipers if you want to be sure.
Unfortunately, 4-stroke motors are heavier than their 2-stroke counterparts. I wear a shoulder strap with the trimmer.
I've never used a trimmer before, so I'm not real familiar with the weight of a "normal" 2-cycle model. Haha. I picked up the store model and it seemed comfortable enough. I lift 40-50 lbs+ 2 or 3x a day at work, so the weight doesn't bother me. I read afterwards you can't really use a 4-stroke like a 2 and turn them sideways to do edging, oil in the sump will end up in the head and cylinder of the engine, basically oil starving or locking up the motor.
I have to climb into ravines and between bushes and stuff with mine. It's also got a hedge trimmer attachment which I use to get really tall and out of reach hedges, which means I'm using it with outstretched arms. You feel every ounce.
I bought a Ryobi 4 stroke weed trimmer at Home Depot and it crashed after one season. Two strokes run well but only if you use fresh gas, it seems, I junked them both and went to an electric. I have a 5000 watt generator that I can tow with the lawn tractor so power is not a problem. Went electric on the chain saw too.
