Craftsman Professional 28cc Full Crank Gas String Trimmer Review

Love-Hate Relationship

"I gave this line trimmer 5 stars because I believe it deserves it, although for me it is a love-hate relationship. However, all my complaints stem from matters of preference and I feel that this should not take away from the score since the trimmer really is a fine machine and my opinions will not always agree with others. For the benefit of some, I will share my opinions such as they are. First let me say that I have been doing yard work for about 40 years. As a young boy my first job was that of mowing neighborhood yards even before line trimmers existed. Being the techno-geek that I am, I was probably one of the first to purchase a line trimmer when they oringinally came out. My quest now was to replace a aging trimmer with one of commercial quality at a good price and this one seemed to fit the bill. Originally I really wanted the Husqvarna model 79100 with the bump-line feed head which Sears also sells. I was all ready to buy it until I went to check out; shipping was going to cost me an additional $95.00! (store pick-up is not an option). This Craftsmen model uses the same Husqvarna engine and is available for store pick-up so I decided to go with it even though I had reservations about using the fixed line head. I have always had the bump-n-go units that automatically feed the line as you need it and while these can be troublesome I have always had (mostly) good experiences with them. As you have probably figured out by now, I dont like the fixed line head. Yes it is easy enough to replace the line but I dont want to have to stop and do this in the middle of my trimming session. If you are careful enough you wont have to but I like to be fast and aggressive at times and it is a constant worry that I may break the line prematurely. Also, I have to agree with the one reviewer who stated that this machine will cover your pants legs with grass and I disagree with the other reviewer who said it was because of the way he was holding the unit. The reason is because the way the head is designed, causing it to create an enormous amount of wind. You can easily tell this just by looking at the guard afterwards which is covered with grass not only on the under side but also on the top side. You can actually use this thing as a blower to sweep the sidewalk! But I can deal with the mess just like I can deal with the extra weight which is directly related to the quality of materials used to build the trimmer. It starts easily and runs very well and I feel it will last for many years to come. If I can swap out the head with a bump-n-go, Ill be a happy camper."