Our most helpful positive review

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BEST WACKER I'VE OWNED, USE ENGINE HARD STARTING SPRAY March 21, 2011

BEST WACKER I HAVE OWNED. YOU HEAR ABOUT THE STARTING PROBLEMS AND IT'S TRUE. I STARTED OUT PUTTING THE PROPANE TANK OUT IN THE SUN TO WARN UP AND THAT HELPED. GIVING IT GAS (THROTTLE) WHILE STARTING HELPED......BUT THE BEST THING THAT HELPED WAS BUYING A SPRAY CAN OF ENGINE HARD STARTING SPRAY FROM A LOCAL AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY STORE. ONE SMALL SPRAY INTO THE AIR FILTER AND IT STARTS ON THE FIRST PULL EVERY TIME AND STAYS RUNNING. NO MORE HARD STARTING PROBLEM....EVER. IT'S SO WORTH IT NOT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH GASOLINE ANYMORE. HOPE THIS HELPS YOU GET STARTED WHEN YOU PULL YOUR WACKER

Our most helpful negative review

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heavy, too many cheap parts, became too hard to start, broken October 12, 2010

When it runs, it's pretty nice. Quieter than a lot of engines, plenty of power. 

HOWEVER, trying to use it today was monumentally frustrating. It was exceptionally hard to start. I pulled the cord dozens of times to get it going. Often, it would run just enough to make me think it was going to cooperate, then just as I put the shoulder strap back on, and tried to actually use it, it would cut out again. If it were sentient, I would be totally convinced it was screwing with me deliberately.

I tried 3 different propane cylinders, one was new, all had plenty of propane still in them... no difference. I pulled the spark plug and inspected it, it's clean and properly gapped. Checked that it actually made a spark, and it does. 

The engine seems to leak propane a bit, and a couple of times made some wheezing/leaking noises after it ran for a bit (but was shut off). It also leaks oil pretty easily, depending on how the engine is oriented. The default place for the leaking oil to land is the hot muffler, creating smoke.

The worst part is the totally cheap junk plastic throttle/handle. The throttle trigger is now no longer operating the throttle cable (which is some of the worst engineering I've ever seen, it's way too easy to pull out of the cable sheaths), so now even if I were to start it, there would be no throttle control. It would either only idle, or run full blast. It's now broken and useless and out of warranty, and hadn't been used much at all. The 'safety' lever thing alternately doesn't stop the throttle trigger at all, or stops it even when the safety lever is pressed (jammed). The fast idle button only worked intermittently. I've seen cheap plastic toys from China with far more precision and durability. FAIL.

Oh, and I can't even come close to tightening the plastic handle onto the metal shaft enough. It has no grip on the metal to stop it from slipping and rotating. One of the screws has stripped the cheap plastic already. With the considerable mass of the engine, this is comically bad.

The line system is simple, but NOT easy, unless you consider having to take off the shoulder strap, set it down, pull out the used length of line, thread in a new one, pick it back up, try and start it (for me a FREAKING 10 MINUTE ORDEAL EVERY TIME), put back on the shoulder strap, and continue to be 'easy'. Compounding the completely manual string replacement operation, was that my string was lasting barely 10 feet. I may have bought cheap **** string, and trying to edge with it consumes it faster than simple weed-wacking, but combining all these negatives made for a very VERY annoying ordeal.

I'm very angry and disappointed. I thought Craftsman was a trustworthy name. Am very curious if Lehr is the problem, or did Sears get them to 'cheapify' a decent product way too far?