Stihl Kombi, great tool for farm and home use. Wide range of attachments.

Hello rob here from the flanigan Homestead and esport christmas tree Farms uh i’m not out at the tree farm Right now but i’ve been getting some Questions about uh what’s that hedge Trimmer what’s that tool you’re using uh When i did my uh trimming of the tall Trees in my winter shearing and It’s not actually a hedge trimmer this Is a steel combi tool Mine is about 15 years old i don’t even Know if they sell the exact same model They do sell them now so when it’s a Combi tool it’s just a power head right Here mine happens to be a still uh 130r But this powerhead can take several Different attachments so Before i go any farther on my Explanation here’s 17 different Attachments that you can find on the Steel website that can go on to the Combi tool If you stay tuned towards the end of the Video you will see jared when i visit Him at his saw shop in town and he talks About different attachments that are Popular What you saw on the christmas tree farm Is a hedge trimming attachment so i’ve Got My hedge trimming blade here You can Simply by pulling this lever here extend

This out and lock it in at multiple Different angles okay but it is just a Hedge trimmer with the teeth and so When i’m shearing christmas trees If they’re a reasonable height i like to Just do it with a blade still it’s much More efficient that way but there’s two Times that i need this one when The trees are super tall and i don’t Want to be getting up and down on a Ladder or two when the trees have got Wide enough and it’s two-year-old growth Instead of new year’s growth and it’s Getting kind of woody it helps to have These blades powered by a motorized head To help cut through it so these are the Different things that you have I also Have what i call chainsaw on a stick So this is a small chainsaw that can go Into the same Combi head And so it can extend up i don’t i’ve Never used that on the christmas tree Farm but i have used it on around the Property that i own Clearing branches that are overhead Reaching hard places When i do the hedge trimmer I typically connect it straight to the Combi tool and you know you can see that This gives a little bit of length here Especially once i fold it out it’s quite A bit of length um

I do have If i pull this out An extension rod that’s what three more Feet so i can stick this extender In there connect it And then i can attach the chainsaw on The end of that and we can go from there This size motor and the strength of the Rod They don’t recommend going farther than That because if you start to lean out it Puts pressure on the rod but i can Extend Uh quite a ways up and get branches that I don’t want to climb up and down a Ladder to cut them off with a chainsaw Or to trim them with the combi tool I’ve noted the i know they’ve made some Improvements to this recently I don’t know about the powerhead but i’m I might pay a visit to uh my friend Jared who owns woodland salon cycle That’s a steel saw in town and talk to Him about the changes in the last 15 Years to the trimmer head and the saw And See what kind of other attachments we Might want to use when i first got this This was a present from my father-in-law He goes well you got a christmas tree Farm you’ll use this and he gave me the Trimmer first and i’m like nah I I was thinking no i won’t actually use

That uh we you know we do it with blades And whatnot but uh when we got started Getting trees 10 11 feet tall This was really beneficial To attach whatever you want is quite Simple you take the arrow that you have Here line it up with the arrow here Slide it in and then you tighten this Nut down It doesn’t always slide in that easily Sometimes you need to pull the core just A little bit to rotate the motor or Rotate this pin that’s here so that it Lines up better but uh this this time it Happened to go in nice and smooth If you’ve uh viewed my playlist of Christmas tree farm and you’ve seen me Using this uh i’ll try to get some video In there but again i’m not at the tree Farm but sitting with the tool on the Ground right now The bottom of the hedge trimmer is about Five feet high and then it extends up to Almost eight feet high Once you get to the end from the ground So when we’re working it usually i’m Holding it Here About on my hip Working it up but i can extend up so i Can easily Get over 10 11 feet while standing on the ground Um

My crew or my boys when they’re using it And now let me run that dad and whatnot And then they start trying to do it all Biceps and it really wears them out and They’re like you take this back i’ll go Back to the knife i’ve kind of developed A technique of locking it in on my hip And just kind of rotating back and forth Until it’s a taller tree then i extend Up at that point in time but i think you Can see This can get you a lot higher than Swinging a knife ever will And even though it can get heavy Throughout the day it’s a lot better Than carrying a ladder around and then Moving the ladder and trying to move Around the tree I’m going to put the extension on and The chainsaw and show you how far we can Reach With just one extension I didn’t loosen up the nut there There we go So you can see this with the Chainsaw with the extension can reach Quite a ways It’s a long tool One of the things i do like Is uh some people don’t realize what It’s for but after where you saw right Here there’s a little hook right here so After you cut a branch off if it’s Hooked up in there hook this over the

Branch and yank it out of the tree [Music] [Music] All right i came down to woodland Solomon cycle this is jared the owner He’s got a fair amount of my money not As much as he wants again Yeah But i enjoy his shop he’s a steel dealer In town he’s really knowledgeable so i Brought in my machine uh just as a Comparison and i was gonna ask Him this is a little bit older model What would be the comparable model now So the km-131r Is going to be the same horsepower A couple of small changes that they’ve Done over the years are a little bigger Fuel tank A little less vibration um very Comfortable to wait and you know runs The same attachments they’ve never Changed the attachments from due to old Bigger small motors we’ll all take the Same Attachments Okay price-wise it’s not even too much Difference you’re looking about 400 for This now Whereas this was probably like 350 to 370-ish okay So for the powerhead we’re about 400 Dollars yeah Okay and then you i think you mentioned

Before there’s been some upgrades to the Hedge trimmer what what did they do a Little different or is there um So yeah basically steel started making These themselves so instead of having Another company make these for them they Just brought it in house so they made Some improvements when they did that but Um over the years they’ve changed even This for the length there’s been a 20 Inch Now the current one is a 24 inch but They did make this in the 24 also But they’ve changed the uh the gearbox And they changed the blade design so on The new Blade design here it’s uh it’s much Easier to actually take apart and change The blades and everything on there but It’s also much stronger more rigid Because it has this big aluminum Bar instead of just these two thin steel Pieces of plate On each side of these here so the blade Width they still offer the same blade Width just takes a 24 inch same Feel there same quality of blades and Everything but it’s mainly just this Being stronger and then they say they’ve Changed the gearbox design a little bit Just because they’re making it Themselves so still all greaseable Serviceable replaceable blades on either One

And then they they offer a straight one Also where you don’t have the Adjustable head they’ve also changed the Adjustable heads so the current one is 145 degrees adjustability they started Out by just going 90 and they they went To 135 now it’s 145 degree adjustability Of the blades Okay excellent so I assume you sell a fair amount of the Hedge trimmers Yeah one of the top three attachments And there’s all kinds of attachments so I’m going to uh show some of those just Pull those off the internet side that You can see but your top sellers you Would say that you can add to this Powerhead on there the top three are the Hedge trimmers the weed eater attachment That you can put all the metal blades on Also it’s not just a trimmer attachment Only and then that adjustable Head trimmer and then the pole saw So the chainsaw on a stick most people Call it down there so it’s got a 12-inch Bar and chain its own oil tank and Everything for for pruning So That’s interesting so the weed whacker Weed eater As opposed to just the standard one Piece How How does it compare use-wise

Effectiveness and power compared to just Your Standard so you can get the same exact Motors with the combi system as you can With just a weed eater so some people They just don’t need anything else so They buy it as a weed eater it’s a Little more money to buy this as a weed Eater as opposed to just the standard Trimmers brush cutters the only other Thing some people want to handle bars You can’t get a handlebar system on the Combi system because mostly attachments Don’t work with the With that system so you couldn’t you Know run a pulse on the air it wouldn’t Be Very easy or awkward or safe to run So that’s kind of the reason between the Two but as soon as you wanted to buy two Attachments this is cheaper than buying An individual pole saw and an individual Weed eater by hundreds of dollars Okay Excellent thanks for explaining that So i hope that answers the question that Some of you had about the tool i’m using It’s not a hedge trimmer it’s a steel Combi tool mine happens to be the 130r With the hedge trimmer Attachment and i do also have the Chainsaw on a stick as i like to call it With another three foot extender a Great tool to have on the property

Especially if you live out in the woods And a great tool to have on the Christmas tree farm recommend you Convince your wife you need to buy one Anyway thanks for joining me on the Flanigan homestead where christmas trees Are my business teaching including Horticulture is my job and outdoor Projects like using this combi tool are My passion be blessed everyone