Stihl Combi system

[nahtnoj]

I bought myself an early Christmas present last week - a Stihl KM131R with a pole saw attachment.

My shoulders are both pretty bad and a manual pole saw has me crying uncle after a few branches - and I have about 3/4 of a mile of tree line to keep clear for cab tractors to get to the edge of the fields, so this is not an academic issue. So far so good in that department.

The little chainsaw is also proving invaluable at clearing vines and other invasives. I was planning on getting a hedge trimmer eventually for that stuff, and probably still will, but I'm not sure its necessary.

If you have one of these, which attachments have you sprung for?

[ides1056]

Every Stihl implement I have is well designed. I expect the one you have is like a tractor: the more implements you have, the more utility it provides.

My next Stihl will be electric, whatever it is.

[j44ke]

I looked at the attachments, and it seems like the string trimmer and brush cutter are built with the same (or very similar) head as the Stihl FSA130R that I have. That’s been a great trimmer. I can put the Autocut reel on and go for days before needing to re-spool. I actually bought a second reel so I can switch out in the woods and fix or re-spool the other one after I’m done working. And I’ve hit plenty of rocks with no issues. I don’t have a brush blade but mine will take it. Don’t know if the Kombi accessories can be switched or if they are dedicated. But I’d get those. Especially if you are dealing with bittersweet vine-filled hedgerows and you aren’t just going to bulldoze everything. You can poison the trunks of that stuff but the rest is all about wearing the plant out by beating it up so it has to keep regenerating instead of growing.

Our former landlord has a Kombi with a lot of mileage on it and it seems to start right up. We have a good nearby repair shop too, so I am sure that’s part of it. His favorite tool is the broom attachment for getting gravel out of the grass after the snow plow piles melt in spring. It is the broom attachment with sort of rubber(?) flaps, not the bristle attachment. I think he looks forward to spring so he can use it.

[j44ke]

Actually he has a Yard Boss which is shorter and has a cart handle attachment and wheels - a tiller base versus the string trimmer base of the Kombi - but still the same general idea. His actually isn't that old. He just uses it for gravel a lot which gets it kind of dinged up.