weedeaters

I had a question from one of my great blogger friends, asking about weedeaters and should they buy a battery one and bring down from the States. I thought our experience might help others so am posting here.

I wouldn't bother with the battery weedeaters. It's a tough job here. The environment is hard on batteries and equipment in general. We've already killed one weedeater and have rebuilt the second one. My only recommendation if you buy here is DON'T BUY A TRUPER. They're made in Mexico and junk. Homelite and Stihl are here. For just a little work, Homelite is probably your best bet. I was told tho' to watch the new Homelites as some of the motor is sealed, so is not repairable. I can direct you to a repairman in Santa Elena who showed me this and can explain it better.

We bo't a Truper a couple of years ago. It was one of the expensive ones with the blade included. Well, it died after a couple of months of use by Rene. It was returned and we were given a much more basic model. Worked for about a year, then died. Our lesson here is, there are lots of wonderful tinkerer/repairmen here who collect dead machines and then scrounge them for parts. WAY less expensive and faster than the hardware store shops. We had to wait three months for a part for my Stihl chainsaw because it's a model not sold in Central America. The new parts are really expensive. This time, Rene took the Truper to his "cousin" who replaced much of the Truper with an old Homelite. We laugh about our Truper/Homelite, but it works great. We just have to remember that the cutting part is Truper and the motor is Homelite when it's in for repairs. These guys will usually get it back to you in a couple of days where the hardware stores will only repair with new parts, cost an arm and a leg and it might take months for the ship to arrive from remote corners of the world with your part. Meanwhile, the bush reclaims your place.

Doubt that many will read this, but this is also our recommendation about a vehicle. If you bring down a car or truck, try to bring a well known brand. Parts can be a bugger. Toyota, Dodge and maybe Ford seem to be pretty standard. Also, Isuzu Troopers are everywhere. It's a joke that Belize is the place that old Troopers go to die. We own a 1990 with 280k miles on it that was originally from Texas and it's still going strong and parts are everywhere. Not pretty, but tough!

Wow, can I babble on when you ask me something I actually know about? I'm stopping for a breath and a cup of coffee.