Southland Outdoor Power Equipment SWSTM4317 Southland 2 Cycle Wheeled String Trimmer, Black/red

There are a few things I really like about this walk behind trimmer and there are a few things I do not.First, we have about 2 acres of St. Augustine that I mow weekly. We have about 80 trees, 550' of lakefront bulkhead, 6 buildings, lots of ornamental iron fence, and other various obstructions. I enjoy almost everything about keeping up the yard myself with the exception of the string trimming duty. (if only I could get my wife to do that part, lol). I am always looking for ways to make my 4-hour task more efficient. Thus was my reason for purchasing this implement.This tool is significantly faster than walking around my yard with a traditional trimmer. I would say it saves around 20+ minutes however, it simply isn't suitable for all of the string whacking duties in my yard. As a result, I still need to get out my Husqvarna weed eater and finish the final 10-15%. this negates a good bit of the time savings. I found the walk-behind to be much easier on my back, but the inverse is that it is a good bit harder on my shoulders trying to maneuver it around in corners, around landscaping, mossy rocks, etc. Any walk behind trimmer is a real hassle in these situations where you can't get a zero-turn rider.Most of my yard equipment is of a commercial grade. This tool only cost around $200, so I guess I can't expect it to be of the quality of my Stihl/Echo/Husquvarna equipment. It is made kind of cheap and a bit flimsy in comparison to what I would expect from one of the above manufactures. In use, I often find myself wanting to tilt the machine a bit to the left or right in order to get those few little pesky blades of grass residing at an odd angle. The handle has a lot of flex which I find annoying and diminishes my efficiency. I find myself spending extra time in some particular area trying to figure out how I am going to snip those few leftover "whiskers" out of the way. The engine build quality seems a bit on the "straight out of China" side but it runs well enough so far.I like that it has adjustable features. having the ability to raise and lower the left side of the unit in order to put some angle on the cutter is nice and useful. I did a lot of looking before I bought. This is the only one I found with this option. Being able to offset the cutter head to the right is also a great feature. I found it works best on the far right and I just leave it in that position.I like that it is lighter(by about half) than 4 stroke walk behind trimmers, which is a bonus for me. However, this unit is nowhere strong or powerful enough to cut through a good deal of heavy weeds/light brush. If this is your purpose, this one will disappoint in a big way. I would suggest you choose a 4 stoke model.I dislike any model walk-behind trimmer's intrinsic lack of precision. It's kind of like a doctor doing gall bladder surgery with a butter knife. For example, it is 98% impossible to get between mossy rocks with one of these. A traditional handheld will shine here in comparison.The string seems to last a lot longer than a traditional handheld trimmer. I only replace it one time on mowing day. I understand the engineering limitations, but it would be nice to have a bump head so you don't have to shut down every time you replace the string. I was thinking about picking up some .150" string and modifying the head a little to see if I can get through an entire mowing without replacement.I WISH it was self-propelled. It would be a great feature to have 1 thumb lever to operate the throttle(which is how this machine actually does operate) and another thumb lever to operate a variable speed self-propelled drive. Speaking of the thumb lever throttle, I am a fan. I think it is well placed and convenient to use. It reminds me of the thumb lever drive on a modern Honda push mower.I dislike that you always have to walk clockwise around everything. This can be inconvenient at times but is simply a limitation of the design of this style trimmer.It has a great debris guard. At the end of my mow, I have about 95% less lawn clippings, dirt, and other debris caked all over myself compared to a handheld. I don't have to wear my rubber boots to use it.So...for my needs...the question is: would I purchase this item again? Honestly, I think it is worth the $200 I paid for it. I do see its value. However, having used it for a bit, I think for my purposes, I probably would not buy it again. The reason why is: for me at least, it simply does NOT replace my handheld trimmer. I believe the time savings this implement affords me is mostly negated by having to spend another 15 or so minutes with my traditional weed whacker after I finish all of the areas in my yard I can't get to with this one. With that said, I do not regret the purchase either. I look at it as an experiment that didn't quite live up to my perhaps unrealistic hopes and dreams.

The unit came pretty much assembled.Whatwas left to do was not much.I m having a lot of problems with it going through line so quickly. What I use to do with the Sthil with three replacements. This is now 5 or 7. 105 diameter.

I lost one of the bolts holding the guard on and haven't been able to replace as once I put a bolt just like the one I lost the spinning mechanism will not operate. how can I order a replacement?

This is my second Southland. My previous machine bit the dust after about 4-5 years. After much research, I’ve come to the conclusion there are no 5 star push weed trimmers, so I stuck with what I know and purchased another Southland. I like that it has the swivel left/right/center feature, improved string loading and is manageable for me to do our hills and ditches. I also like the onboard replacement line storage. It is pretty dependable on the start up and running smooth. I deem as a decent value for the money.

Okay I am both disabled and a Army Veteran. I usually don't do the review thing, but I need to shout out and say this thing is built like a tank, has almost every feature imaginable and starts with 1 pull after initial setup. Throw a circular blade on it and it's a brush hog, go for a walk and watch the cut look amazing with no slashes in your cut lines. I wish I would have ordered the blower attachment as well. Absolutely perfect for anyone, from adults to seniors and disabled.

This trimmer is a great machine. I highly recommend it. So glad I bought it.

This attachment is great for clearing debris from the sidewalk and driveway. It's not powerful enough to blow heavy leaves be then that is not what it's designed to do. However, if you stay on top of them it will clear leaves too.

I love this little trimmer. I have a four wire fence 930 feet long and the offset feature of this trimmer allows me to trim underneath the lower wire and all around the fence posts. Works great !!