Hello - before the database went - I had a thread about the Stihl Kombi and questions... One was about the "4Mix" engine on the 130 powerhead and what their durability has been like compared to Stihl's earlier 2 cycle engines ... the second was around experience with the "scythe" or "scrub cutter" for use on heavy weeds/brush.
D'Animal asked an excellent question about my current Honda 4cycle and why I didn't simply put a blade on it...
there were a couple of reasons for looking at the Stihl Kombi with scythe instead of the blade on the Honda:
a) I am under the impression that the blade is more dangerous than the scythe
b) I am thinking the scythe might clear faster with the larger effective cutting area, and
c) I think I can reach under some grape vines and their supporting wires easier with than with a blade...
(also ... I might be able to justify a pole saw attachment at a later date..)
anyway ... I am still hoping for any advice, experience and guidance folks can throw my way
(as a friend of mine says ..."learn from others - you won't live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself" )
The current 4-Mix units are bullet proof. There were some growing pains about 6 years ago and most of centered around educating the people how to work on it.
The FH scythe is a hedgetrimmer attachment that has short blades on it and a Stainless Steel plate on the bottom of the gear box so it can glide along the ground and not wear the gearbox out.
Ask yourself this question before you buy the FH attachment.
"Would I use a hedgetrimmer to do this?"
If the answer is yes, buy the attachment.
If the answer is no, it will not fit you needs.
I hate to be blunt but I also hate for you to spend $225 on an attachment that may not fit your needs.
I have no idea where you live but if you were close to me I would let you borrow my attachment to see if you liked it and it fit your needs before you bought one.
Thanks Dan... thats a very kind offer. I am in Southern Ontario (Canada) - "southern" is a relative term so a little too far to exploit your generosity.
From your description of the attachment it may be too light for what I had in mind. I don't need to cut saplings .. on the other hand some of these weeds (brought on by my serious neglect) resist the honda string attachment till they are beaten to a pulp - which can take some time. The "scythe" seemed to be just the ticket from what I was reading and looking at.
I guess I had images of wielding a veritable "light saber" on this green stuff. I am a bit of a wuss and am not overly keen on the circular blade attachment - I have forbidden the teenager that helps out from touching the chain saws -- I have the same reservation about him
using a blade on a weed eater. The Kombi is a very neat set-up though!!
Don't get me wrong. It will cut things the size of your finger with ease.
The blade assy is a double reciprocating which means both blade go back and forth. Many Hedge trimmers on the market only have one blade that moves, the other is just an "anvil" for the blade.
The bad thing about Blades on a line trimmers is that they throw the debris, you have a lot of exposed cutting capability. It will cut what it comes in contact with, grape vines, weeds, legs, etc.
Dan - bought the KM130 this evening (after much wringing of hands - cause I'm a cheap sob) ...plus bought the blower and the string head ...and half dozen little bottles of Stihl oil which apparently got me a 2 year warranty (that's what the dealer said anyway) .... they didn't have the "scythe" in stock but since the temp is dropping to near zero (celsius) tonight ... imagine the weeds that were my original target will die pretty soon - BUT I'll be ready for them in the spring
Also the leaves may have met their match with this blower ... the brief practice I had with it was pretty impressive!!
Thanks for your advice!! Now I need to get the 026 cutting the way I know it can. Stihl has a pretty impressive product line! This is better than Christmas as a kid
This thing is GREAT!! It has become fun to do the leaves again. I'd also forgotten how nice it is to have a machine that you actually expect to start on the first pull.
(I imagine horse stalls are pretty exciting when you get the blower into the corners)
Just an update ... been getting lots of use out the Stihl Kombi 130.
Continues to start easy and runs great and this spring I broke down and also bought the Hedge Trimmer attachment with the adjustable angle head. I didn't get a chance to see the Scythe attachment which my dealer said had a steel plate for better ground protection and a more robust gearbox .. in any event the Hedge Trimmer has worked great and may have been the better choice. Easy to trim the bushes AND trees and is great on weeping willows (they look like they are "on parade" now!).
One of the advantages I think the Hedge Trimmer has over the Scythe is the longer blade area....certainly this is very helpful when trimming the bottom branches out on trees and trying to get them level! And there are fewer passes required which saves time.
I have also waded through some pretty heavy ground brush and been VERY impressed with the ability to cut heavy brush, weeds etc from around the trees and areas where the mower - or bush hog - won't get. This has become a MUST have attachment for me! Glad I got it.
I will also say that the Kombi has been a real slick unit. It breaks down to two pieces that are easy to get even in the trunk of my old civic so no problem moving it around.
BTW - The blower attachment also works great and lots of uses ... real handy to clean the garage and the quickest way to blow milkweed and dandelion seeds from the tractor engine and rad...used it clean the rain gutters as well! These are great tools and terrific "toys"
I am delighted!! And thanks for your all your help and guidance. Good to know about the gearbox as well!
Stihl are worth every penny imho ... btw the fs450 I found has been happily beating its way through the 2plus inch Sumac's lining my creek .. Appreciate your info on that as well!!
as a commission paid tech...i love stihl 4 mix engines...however if i'm in the showroom and someone asks me about them i generally try to steer them to another piece of equipment (mainly the shindaiwa)
They are heavy but powerful.
Their issues in the past were mainly due to carbon build up on the valves causing dropped or stuck valves that sometimes resulted in the busting of the bottom cover in the crank case (especially on the 4 mix blowers br500/550/600). Other times it just resulted in a weak/underpowered engine because of valves not seating properly/pitted valves/valve seats.
Then there was the issue of coils going bad. They would light up bright as day on the spark test light but were mis-firing so it would not start.
They have now solved those issues (stihl will probably always have issues with coils going bad on some units...kind of famous for it)
The biggest issue you will have is running good gas/full synthetic mixing oil. Run non ethanol 93 oct gas and you'll be good....any less and risk carbon build up. Only run stihls full synthetic oil.
I second using a blade rather than the scythe...you can get blades with diffrent teeth counts/designs to suit your needs from grass, briars and even small trees/limbs.
The hedge trimmer type attachments are good for trimming hedges and thats it...stihl has never been good at making gears for their hedgetrimmer type attachments especially behind the torque of the powerful 4 mix engines.
so a little too far to exploit your generosity. 
