Yup...give Ice Cube a prize, or a rubber cookie. no ope manufacturer markets better than Stihl. Even landscapers in our area are figuring out that the 4-mix trimmers and blowers are...junk...for lack of a better term. They will put new pistons and cylinders on old fs80/85's before they buy a new 90/110/130. A lot are running echo and red max back pack blowers now. Sure...you'll save some fuel running a br600, but it won't last long enough to recoup the savings. Thank god we deal Toro too...the only Z on the market that matters!!
i have a stihl fs250 trimmer to fight 6 acres of weeds. i bought it used from my local stihl dealer. someone had left it for a carb rebuild or something, likely due to ethanol. the poor guy couldn't afford to get it back and had to leave it, probably bought a smaller one before he left. actually he was lucky. the tech had done an incompetent job, obviously didn't have a clue about the weird carb that came on that model. it has single mixture adjustment where the idle speed adjustment is supposed to be, not a needle, about 8mm long and maybe 1.5mm wide, rounded on the end, and to make things just a little harder to figure out, left handed threads, no idle speed adjustment, pain in the ass, german engineering. took me a while to figure things out. also the throttle cable was adjusted so it would only open to half throttle. that being said it is well built and has good power.
the dealer is a friend but i have seen him give guys the "chingas" on multiple occasions. typical, a guy brings in his 039 after leaving gas in it all winter, needs a carb rebuild. the dealer estimates repairs at $50 under replacement price for a new 390. the hombre brings the 039 to me. i charged him $50, $20 for parts, $30 for labor. i witnessed the same scam with an 038 magnum. saw it unfold in the shop. i wanted to take the guy outside and have a talk with him but like i said the dealer is a friend. the customer, a contractor, bought a new saw but was smart enough to leave with his 038.