Planned Obsolescence?! Why Would STIHL and ECHO Do This?!

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My name is Bre. I took two years of small engine repair at the local college. When I left school, I fell into a wonderful job at a local small engine shop where I worked the counter for a couple years. In 2010 my husband and I opened up our own small engine shop in central Arkansas where I am able to work alongside my family and best friends. We see over 2,000 pieces of small engine equipment every year, and answer 1,000's of small engine questions. We specialize in brands such as Briggs and Stratton, Kohler, Echo and Shindaiwa, but work everyday on MANY other brands like Stihl, Husqvarna, Honda, Craftsman, Remington, Red Max, Troy Bilt, Scag, Bad Boy, Hustler, World Lawn, Poulan, Mantis, Etc.. Hopefully, my experience I share, will save you Time, Money and Frustration in the future!

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Although very informative, these videos are for entertainment purposes. Please use all possible safety precautions when repairing and operating your small engine equipment.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Can almost guarantee it was not the Engineers that wanted this change, it was the bean counters. My experience in the auto industry, is that the bean counters win more than the Engineers.

[MrGnsurfn]

Good video, I removed the grease plug on my two Shinduawa trimmers, drilled and tapped them for zerk fittings. One or two pumps from the grease gun periodically has worked well. They are about 20 years old and still going strong. I’m working on 5 acres which has to be cleared each season. Keep your great videos coming. Randy

[donjackson]

I am a retired small engine technician.I sometimes work on equipment from my friends and when I run into something I have not seen I check your site for an update. You are a straight shooter and I appreciate it.

[steadfastlawncare]

Simple preventative maintenance goes a long way on any piece of equipment. Thanks for sharing all the information you do.

[randyday]

When I get one of those without the grease plug, I simply drill a hole and install a typical grease zerk. Keep up the good work, I really enjoy most videos.

[inchandru]

On the SRM 225, there are two T27 screws next to each other. The top one is the grease plug—simply unscrew it to grease the shaft and gear. The bottom T27 screw holds the gear head to the pole.

[franksprecisionguesswork]

I bought a pole saw and was so impressed with it that I bought 2 more for other properties I maintain. Basically I used the heck out of them until one jammed and made a horrible grinding sound. I took the unit apart and found the clearance between the ring and pinion of the drive gear was really large. Then ring and pinion was now dis engaging under load. This was mainly because the housing where the bearing seated was shaved so thin (possibly to save 1cc of plastic) that the hole eventually wore out. So I cut a piece of tin can to fit the hole an zeroed out the slop. Been using it for a year. Take that you bean counters!

[fascistpedant]

My experience with universal joints is that the well sealed, non greaseable, OG, factory joints last 10 years. When people insist on greaseable replacement joints, they're never greased and they're back for new joints 2-3 years later. Introducing dirt and the wrong type of grease doesn't help the gear set.

[billyrayband]

Probably a reason was they found out almost no one was greasing it, so they got rid of it to save a nickel.

[wallebo]

You should be very proud of yourself for always keeping it real! Great content.

[piggyspiddles]

I figured out planned obsolescence years ago. Went to tech school for computer engineering and electronics. Doing all the different maths required it didnt take me long to figure out that you can literally design flaws into EVERYTHING. This is why things seem to start falling apart AFTER the warranties expire. Through math you can determine how long different materials will last under certain conditions. Doing this allows them to get folks to just replace an item when that time comes cause many will see the cost of trying to get parts and figure it just saves TIME as well as many just to buy new. Creating more sales in the long run. Vicious cycle for the consumer, a laugh all the way to the bank for the manufacturers.

[billbranneky]

No grease hole is needed. Remove the gear head and add grease through the hole used by the drive shaft. In addition, pull out the drive shaft remove the old grease and grease it up real good too.

[michaelfoster]

As a manufacturing engineer, that is what is required of almost everything made. It's called: designed obsolescence. In college we had an entire course on designing for obsolescence after a specific time.

[kens.]

I use my Stihl Trimmer and Blower at one (1) Residence Only and had a Variety of Issues over the past 12-15 years with both. Some were Replaced Under Warranty. 🤔

[doozowings]

One of my professors in a econ class was a lead engineer for GE ... I remember the lecture vividly . He talked about how GE designed refrigerators ... As an engineer they would start with a cardboard box, then they would ask themselves, what is the bare minimum that it would take to make this cardboard box into a refrigerator . He said, they would slowly add the bare minimum to the cardboard box in order to make it into something that resembled a refrigerator . He openly admitted that it was that absolute minimum at the least cost to GE . I think the same thing still happens today. Granted, I listened to this lecture 30 plus years ago .

[justina]

Been working on Stihl 20+years. To answer your question why the km-fs kombi shaft is cheaper then the gearhead it's self. There is a lot less mark up from manufacturing to dealer on Stihl accessories vs replacement parts. As for the no more grease fitting. The gear head usually outlasts the rest of the unit anyway, and it's cheaper to manufacture one without the threaded hole and adding a bolt. So financially I just makes better sense

[williammouri]

Greed never goes out of style. Take care of all your equipment. Don't give these companies a dime more than you have to.

[billm]

(love your channel) Cynical question...have they cheapened up the engines to the point their expected lifetime is equal to an unmaintained gear head?

[davebeyer]

The grease plug was probably eliminated for all the reasons everyone is citing. However, the gear head is still removable and can be re-greased once removed...Maybe a little more cumbersome, but for those who do take care of their equipment, it shouldn't be a big deal. To be totally transparent, I've owned an Echo Trimmer for 20 years and never once greased the thing, but after watching these videos, I'll be getting at that task this weekend for sure!

[geoffcollier]

Interesting about grease points. As you say grease points are good for long life of gears etc. For strimmers I have found that grease can be too solid to keep flowing between surfaces so I use the grease type that is supplied for constant velocity joints on cars. This grease is much more liquid and has a moly content to minimise friction. Only a small amount is needed.