Chainsaw Repair

I have some of those Ryobi engines and they run OK but they don't look so good to take them apart.

I have a Ryobi from 1985 that was originally a Lawnboy. I used it as a weed whacker for 15 years and it tired me out many times. It stihl runs like new as a model airplane engine. If you do anything to one to make it run faster, the rod big end will give trouble. You have to keep them below 7000. Some even had limiting coils at 7000. The one I sometimes currently use as a weed whacker has a limiting coil in it. The limited coil is OK for weed whacker use.

Even the Homelites have changed. The original Homelite 25's had a forged crank with the counterweight and main shaft as one piece. But since the early 90's they have been a piece of drill rod for the main shaft and cold rolled sheet for the counterweight. The crankpin always was drill rod.

A interesting observation on my part is that all the curved shaft type weed whackers use the .080" trimmer line and the homeowner straight shaft ones use .095" line. The reason is that the straight shaft ones have a gear reduction in the trimmer head. The 095" line lasts a lot longer.

My cheaper Ryobi and Homelite Bandit weed whackers have no clutch and are direct drive to the string head. I get along just find with them this way.

My Stihl 45 curved shaft trimmer has a clutch. I like my Echo yard tools the best. The Stihl 27cc engine has good power but the ergonomic feel is not as good as the Echo.

The newer Ryobi branded engines are the Homelite design