Author Topic: Buying spare parts for a Stick Edger (Read 8883 times)

ideasguy · « **on:** July 02, 2008, 10:55:32 AM »

One of my best and most useful items in my gardening equipment list is a Homelite PS3000 stick edger.
It gives a razor sharp edge to my borders and paths (One of the features of my garden is the soft grass paths - I HATE hardscaping!)
I call the edging "The icing on the cake". Its unbelievable the effect it has in making the garden look good.

Its petrol driven. It has its problems, but I have managed to get spare parts from the original supplier in the past.

Until the blade wore away. I see it was originally a 9in blade, and when edging as new, it sliced about 2ins down a border edge. Now its worn down so much that it doesnt reach down far enough.
So, I go looking for a replacement blade, and find that the supplier has ceased to support Homelite products.
Its made in the US, so I searched the net and found my item here (Kansas):
http://www.mow-parts.com/Shop/Homelite/Homelite-Edger_Blades.htm

It was $2.95, and with the exchange rate, that makes it a LOT cheaper than the price quoted a year ago by my local UK supplier (£9.95)
So, Ive placed an order for 2, and now wait to see how if they deliver.
One concern - they dont advise shipping costs until date of despatch.

NightHawk · « **Reply #1 on:** July 02, 2008, 11:57:32 AM »

You're braver than I am George. I would have liked to know the shipping costs at the time of purchase

Our past experience of buying certain items from the US is that the shipping costs can far exceed the purchase price of the item.

I suppose if you're limited for suppliers of an item you desperately need, then you don't have a lot of choice.

Just keep your fingers tightly crossed.

Good luck with that.

Laurie.

P.S. You'll have to post a photo of this bit of equipment. I've never heard of a motorised one before.

ideasguy · « **Reply #2 on:** July 02, 2008, 12:53:49 PM »

Heres a web page which shows a stick edger.
http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/servlet/com.deere.u90785.cce.productcatalog.view.servlets.ProdCatProduct?pNbr=UT22100&tM=HO&link=enav

Imagine this. The device is like a blade type lawnmower working in the vertical plane (rather that the horizontal)
Thus, the blade can slice into the turf.
Normally, you start off with a preformed edge to your border, with a 4 to 6in edge to the path.
The edger can smooth the contour of the path edge, leaving it VERY precisely defined and clean looking
Heres an example from my garden:
http://www.ideasforgardens.com/gardenphotos/pics/IG100574.jpg

You can see more piccyy of my garden fropm links here:
http://www.ideasforgardens.com/photopages/pioneers.html

Oddly, not many gardeners seem to know about this machine. When my neighbour saw mine in action, he went out and bought one.

If the P&P is too much, I'll cut my losses!
During the transaction I entered UK, then N Ireland then the County I live in, so they got very precise details.
I expected the P&P to show up in the next screen after clicking Proceed, but nope, that was it. The deal was done.
To be continued...

NightHawk · « **Reply #3 on:** July 02, 2008, 01:08:28 PM »

It looks a bit like what I would call a 'strimmer' for trimming lawn edges. A 'stick edger' is probably what it's called in the US.

Our local council workers who are responsible for keeping grass verges tidy, use a pretol driven version.

I had an electrical strimmer not too long ago, that has a reel of thin plastic wire on a drum that automatically feeds out as the tip gets worn away. I could never get the hang of it. The wire always got tangled up and split off, then I'd have to rethread it to get it to work again.

I gave up in the end and got rid of it.

I now use a half-moon metal edger that you put your foot on like a spade to get your clean edges. Fortunately our gardens aren't too big, otherwise it would take ages to do it manually. I suppose if you have a big garden you've got to go for the power tools.

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 02, 2008, 03:19:06 PM »

I threw my cord strimmer away. Useless !

The Edger with the blade (above) is a completely different device (petrol driven).
It has a wheel, so you roll the edger along. It also keeps the business end of the edger stable, so user has much more control over guidance.

It takes me 15 to 20 mins to do ALL my edging. I must pace and count it some time to get an estimate of the length edged. A few hundred yards.

I think "stick" comes from the name to describe the long shaft/handle ??
I know the half moon tool you use Laurie. Even with a small garden, you'd never believe the difference when you use the stick edger. Hint hint to Kathy for Christmas

NightHawk · « **Reply #5 on:** July 02, 2008, 09:49:23 PM »

Nice one George. However, Kathy's already thinking about my Christmas present................ SHE wants a new cold frame

I know my place - she can be very persuasive

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 02, 2008, 10:00:10 PM »

(Whisper - risking the wrath)
You can make the coldframe!

NightHawk · « **Reply #7 on:** July 02, 2008, 10:07:53 PM »

Hmmm. I'll have to think about that one

Be careful though - I think some wrath may be coming your way

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #8 on:** July 02, 2008, 11:08:56 PM »

And I only whispered! Better start another topic at the far end of the forum

ideasguy · « **Reply #9 on:** July 04, 2008, 10:05:53 AM »

I received an email this morning requesting payment for shipping.
The costs were:
£13.96 GBP = $26.95 USD

In total over the two payments,
a) Item cost (approx £4 for 2 blades)
b) Shipping £13.96
its a viable transaction compared to what I was quoted by my local supplier.

Compare to local cost for items:
2x 9.95= £19.90
To count other hidden costs, it would have cost me a fiver (£5) for a gallon of petrol to drive to and from the local supplier.

Next thing to think about is Customs. Will there be charges?
Will the local courier in the UK have delivery charges?

NightHawk · « **Reply #10 on:** July 04, 2008, 12:40:08 PM »

There won't be any extra delivery charges, it will probably be delivered to you by Royal Mail.

I can't believe there would be any import duty on an item of this price...even if there was, it would I think, only be 17.5% (vat)

I think its only on expensive imports...but what do I know!

Should take up to a week from my experience of airmail postage from USA

Kathy

ideasguy · « **Reply #11 on:** July 04, 2008, 12:50:09 PM »

Thanks for taht info Kathy
I'm really looking forward to getting that new blade in the edger!
Last night would have been perfect for using it. We had very heavy rain (thunderstorms) and the grass was drying off.
I find grass cuts much easier like that.

ideasguy · « **Reply #12 on:** July 07, 2008, 12:38:49 PM »

I contacted the supplier in a direct email, explaining that this was my first cross-atlantic purchase and had a discussion item on our forum.
I received a very nice reply. Thats very reassuring.
The reply was on 4th July (a public holiday in US). Amanda explained that all other staff were on holiday, but she was working as usual.

I'm informed the goods were scheduled for despatch on 5th July.

ideasguy · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2008, 12:29:42 AM »

Good news. The blades arrived today 11th July. There were no extra charges at this end.
Ive fitted a blade to the edger (easy) and I'm now ready to get trimming when I return from my trip to Manchester.
I thought I'd have to replace that edger, so you can imagine how pleased I am to get those parts.

Matter of interest. The new blades are 9ins across. The old blade had worn down to 5ins.

The itinerary:
Planning to be in Manchester Sat to Tuesday, but I hope to be able to pick up mail and log in to the forum.

NightHawk · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2008, 06:43:30 AM »

There you go George - just as Kathy predicted.

No excuses for those ragged lawn edges now.

Have a safe journey, and we look forward to seeing you pop in from time to time when you are able to.

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #15 on:** July 12, 2008, 11:40:47 AM »

Have arrived safely. Using a MAC - different!
Its just like home so far - raining

NightHawk · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2008, 11:52:51 AM »

Glad to hear you're arrived safely.

I didn't want to dampen your spirits earlier and warn you about the rain we've been having here too. Thought it might just be local but obviously not.

We've had rain here since Monday, on and off. Just under an inch of rainfall on Sunday night into Monday morning, and almost another inch on Thursday night.

It's been raining here this morning, has just stopped within the last hour. Just got back from a local garden centre where Kathy wanted a Bay tree (bush actually), and were looking for Scabiosa atropurpurea 'Burgundy Bonnets'. Got the Bay tree but no luck with the Scabiosa, so we'll get in online.

Let's hope you have a break in the weather and get to visit some gardens there.

Have fun.

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #17 on:** July 12, 2008, 08:24:30 PM »

I'm enjoying the break already, Kathy and Laurie.
Taras apartment is a five minute walk from the city centre and it was an "alternative" day for me - lunch in a lovely little pub, then spent the afternoon in the massive Arndale Centre in the centre of Manchester. My wife loved the shops.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Tatton Park. If its a day like today, dry and overcast, I will be delighted. We can duck the occasional shower.
Getting used to this MAC (a laptop).

NightHawk · « **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2008, 09:42:58 PM »

We've heard of Tatton Park but never actually been there, so it will be interesting to see from your photos what it looks like.

The rain held off here this afternoon so I was able to get the grass cut, whilst Kathy did a bit of weeding and tidying.

Kathy seems to have got the 'Alpine' bug now.

She's already planning an area in our rear garden to allocate to the Alpines. Next step will be to research the varieties most suitable for our location.

Our front garden is coming on a treat, with all the plants shooting up and coming into flower.

I'll get some photos when the weather allows and post them on the Forum.

Hoping for good weather for you tomorrow, so have a great time.

You and 'Mac' seem to be hitting it off.

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #19 on:** July 13, 2008, 06:58:32 PM »

Back from Tatton Park. Weather was glorious, so my wife, daughter and her friend were very happy. It was difficult photographic conditions for me. I much prefer bright but overcast conditions.

How was Tatton Park?
Frankly, I was a little disappointed. I expected lots of sumptuous borders and lots of herbaceous perennials, but some of the borders were a little disappointing for me. I took lots of photos, and will make up a WPG set when I get a chance.

NightHawk · « **Reply #20 on:** July 13, 2008, 07:52:40 PM »

Quote from: ideasguy on July 13, 2008, 06:58:32 PM

How was Tatton Park?
Frankly, I was a little disappointed. I expected lots of sumptuous borders and lots of herbaceous perennials, but some of the borders were a little disappointing for me.

Oh, that's such a shame.

I suppose we see so many gardens that our expectations are usually quite high, and it's disappointing when a garden does not meet those expectations.

Still, you had a great day out so you can take comfort in that.

Laurie.

ideasguy · « **Reply #21 on:** July 14, 2008, 01:12:00 PM »

Indeed - getting too critical!

Proud Mum and Dad have just returned from Tara's graduation ceremony. After the ceremony we met Tara's professor, and we took lots of photos.
We plan to do some more shopping this afternoon, then out for Dinner in central Manchester this evening. I'm enjoying the break!
We may visit another garden tomorrow afternoon. Flying home tomorrow evening.

roiphil · « **Reply #22 on:** February 03, 2009, 11:31:51 AM »

recently saw one of these machines somewhere think it was woodies in tralee will take a proper look next time we go their

ideasguy · « **Reply #23 on:** February 03, 2009, 12:36:07 PM »

Neat edges= neat garden, and I would be lost without my edger.

Author Topic: Buying spare parts for a Stick Edger (Read 8883 times)

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