Anyone here tried or even seen Tanaka trimmers in person?

[Jay Ray]

I gave strong consideration to these Tanaka/Hitachi lightweights tcg22easslp, but I tried to see if spare spools were available and could not find them anywhere online. No dealer nearby either.

[ddixon7]

I have had some. The made in japan ones are comparable to shindaiwa. Some are made in china now...
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[FMC1959]

One of my first trimmers 30 years ago was a Tanaka, it was a decent trimmer. Living close to a big metropolitain city, I have tons of dealers within a 1 hr drive. Back then there were lots of Tanaka dealers and many crews used them. Over the years they slowly disappeared, not sure what happened, but I think when Hitachi acquired them, it was to bail them out in North America.

Yes, we have the internet, but having a dealer is always good. I have a 20 yr old Solo trimmer (I like the oddball stuff, but this is a 34 cc bear!) which after years of great service, couldn't get it to start. I tried all of the things I am capable to fix it, but no luck. I just found a dealer for it (more rare than Tanaka dealers) and for about $70 will have it working, had a crank seal go+general cleaning and tuning. This will make a great dedicated brushcutter.

Point is sometimes you need a dealer and with all of the brands you have available, going with something you can't get support could be a wasted investement.

[Pennington Lawncare]

Originally Posted by Jay Ray

I gave strong consideration to these Tanaka/Hitachi lightweights tcg22easslp, but I tried to see if spare spools were available and could not find them anywhere online. No dealer nearby either.

You should have put a Speed Feed 375 head on it and that's all you would have ever needed. I've got one and other than changing the black rubber fuel lines over to the Tygon transparent fuel lines that's about all I've had to do to it over the past couple years.

[zmelli]

Originally Posted by Richard Martin

I have one here and it's the last one. While attempting to change the trimmer head, I had a awl in the slot provided for just this purpose and the trimmer head housing broke. I went to buy a new housing only to find out that they're not available.

That head does not have the bronze/gold nut that the Japan made ones use, I think your model was made in China?