I recently purchased a Stihl FC 95 4 Mix Edger. I paid retail which is $429.99. I've had the edger for about 2 weeks now. It replaced a Stihl FC 75 edger that I bought new in 2000.
The Good:
It appears to only be sipping gas. It uses a little less gas then the edger it replaced.
It clearly has more torque than the edger it replaced. I had a chance to do a edging job that hadn't been done in years. This edger just plowed right through the thick overgrown grass like it wasn't even there. I like that aspect of it.
The Bad:
This edger is a pig. At over 15 pounds it is entirely too heavy to be carrying around from spot to spot to do edging.
It doesn't spin the edger blade fast enough either. I like a nice crisp edge and this edger is leaving a lot of grass behind. It digs the trench well enough but it won't trim the grass. My FC 75 did a great job at this.
The debris flap and supporting structure is way too big. They put 2 pieces of metal along the length of the bottom of the flap to keep it in a straight line. Those strips of metal also keep the flap from bending. If you have a situation where the grass is higher than the concrete being edged the flap won't bend out of the way easily. The flap support is also in the way big time. I couldn't actually get past some of the grass using this edger without fighting with it. I never, ever had this problem with my old edger. I have resorted to removing the 2 strips of metal and cutting the flap support down so it's no longer in the way.
Conclusion:
If you do a lot of edging that hasn't been done in a while and don't mind hacking on a brand new edger then buy this one.
If you're looking for an edger that you can use straight out of the box and it leaves a fine crisp edge then look elsewhere. I won't buy another one.
The Good:
It appears to only be sipping gas. It uses a little less gas then the edger it replaced.
It clearly has more torque than the edger it replaced. I had a chance to do a edging job that hadn't been done in years. This edger just plowed right through the thick overgrown grass like it wasn't even there. I like that aspect of it.
The Bad:
This edger is a pig. At over 15 pounds it is entirely too heavy to be carrying around from spot to spot to do edging.
It doesn't spin the edger blade fast enough either. I like a nice crisp edge and this edger is leaving a lot of grass behind. It digs the trench well enough but it won't trim the grass. My FC 75 did a great job at this.
The debris flap and supporting structure is way too big. They put 2 pieces of metal along the length of the bottom of the flap to keep it in a straight line. Those strips of metal also keep the flap from bending. If you have a situation where the grass is higher than the concrete being edged the flap won't bend out of the way easily. The flap support is also in the way big time. I couldn't actually get past some of the grass using this edger without fighting with it. I never, ever had this problem with my old edger. I have resorted to removing the 2 strips of metal and cutting the flap support down so it's no longer in the way.
Conclusion:
If you do a lot of edging that hasn't been done in a while and don't mind hacking on a brand new edger then buy this one.
If you're looking for an edger that you can use straight out of the box and it leaves a fine crisp edge then look elsewhere. I won't buy another one.
