Regret buying DR Power “PRO XLT" tow behind
I ordered a DR Power “PRO XLT Tow-Behind Trimmer” to keep horse fences clear of weeds. It was expensive, just under $2000 with options, but the concept seemed good. It’s a powerful, belt-driven string trimmer with a 9.7 pound-feet torque, ~7 hp gasoline engine and a cutting head with heavy cord. The cutting head is mounted on a spring-loaded swing arm offset to the side of the tow vehicle. The idea is that the swing arm reaches under the fence line then swings around fence posts cutting to “1/2 inch” of the post. But there are problems. • The first was with “lift gate free delivery” they advertised for this particular machine. When I ordered by phone, they said it couldn’t be delivered to my address because they weren’t sure an 18-wheeler could turn around despite my telling them others had in the past. They also refused to off-load onto the main road about 500 yards away, so I had to travel 25 miles to a freight depot, wait there 40 min for it to be loaded on my truck, and then manage to lift the pallet-mounted machine off back home. Time-consuming nuisance but not the real problem. Design flaws: • The machine has a guard that guides the swing arm around fence posts allowing cutting close to posts. The cutting cords reach the guard but as soon as they begin to wear, it cuts less close to the posts so expensive cords must be changed frequently. This means cutting most weeds even with short cords then going back with new cords to get close to posts. This is a time consuming task and a design deficiency. • The swing arm is on a powerful spring and bangs back so hard after passing a post it seems almost self-damaging. But despite the strong spring, it cuts close approaching a post but not so well moving away even with the tow vehicle travelling less than 2-3 mph. Where I can, I will cut from both sides of a fence to clean both sides of fence posts. Between having to make final cuts from both sides with new cords and the initial cleaning under the fence, that means 3 passes! This is a design deficiency. • Briggs and Stratten used to supply the engine, but now it’s a DR Power design built in China. The B&S engine had a manual choke, but now it’s automatic as is the throttle and this is not good. If the starter rope is pulled with the engine switch off, the choke will be closed and flood the cylinder. Unlike engines with a manual choke, the choke and throttle can’t be kept open while pulling the starter rope to clear the cylinder. If the mistake of trying to start with the switch off, the machine must sit for hours before it will start. Most small engines have a “kill switch” used only to stop the engine and this problem would not occur with a kill switch rather than a “run switch” as this machine has. When it does start, it runs at full throttle immediately - that’s not good for any engine. These are design deficiencies. • The tow vehicle I originally planned to use needed a ball hitch, so I ordered one from DR Power. What they sent did not fit the tow arm - it was a hitch for a highway trailer, not a weed cutter. Not only that, they changed $100 plus shipping for what’s available at a local hardware store for ~$35 and Amazon for $25! To their credit, they gave me a full refund including shipping both ways. But again, this was a waste of time and indicates the company did not know what they were doing. Failure • The second time I tried to change the cutting cords, the special cutting head spit out a spring and was toast. Despite this being a brand-new machine purchased with a 3-year extended warranty, they require I do the repair using a part they promised to send in 5-7 working days. That was mid-July but today I was told the repair part arrives August 22! Six weeks, not 5 days! Bottom line: • I am sorry I bought this machine, but I will continue trying to make it work.
By Allen C.