Shindaiwa BP530 Trimmer/Descepugliatore Review

July 1 - I purchased one of these models just under 12 months ago in August 2006. I chose this model as I could strap it onto my back and I chose Shindaiwa as it was recommended by a number of people including my neighbour who has a 15 year old model which he says works very well.

The new and large engine starts very easily although it needed an immediate trip to my local mechanic to fine tune the engine, as it wasn’t operating at full stretch. Once this happened it worked well for a few months and I managed to use it quite regularly.

I have several hectares of fruit orahrd and olive grove to look after, I cut them twice a year in the summer and the late autumn before the harvest, I did two of these cuts but Then I made a mistake in changing the regular plastic cord head on the machine to use a metal blade. Well with my last strimmer I was able to switch attachments quite regularly but with the Shindaiwa 530 I was not able to change the head without an excessive amount of vibration, which meant I could only use the model for a few minutes at a time. Then after changing the attachment one afternoon I started the engine but the head stopped revolving. The engine was fine but I couldn’t do anything as the head would not revolve. I took the strimmer to the mechanic, my second visit in a five months with my brand new machine, and it turned out the flexible metal cord was broken.

The mechanic tutted and said I shouldn’t use that particular attachment. He fixed it at a cost of €30 and as it was winter I left the machine alone until the grass grew long enough in the spring.

I started using it again a few months later and all was fine, and from now on I decided I wouldn’t use any metal attachments, which was a disappointment but one I could live with. However while starting the first cut of a field, the flexible cord went again. It was exactly the same as last time except that I was simply cutting grass with the regular plastic cord attachment.

This was not what I had expected. Instead of getting the job done in the afternoon I had designated, I had to take the Shindaiwa 530 back to my mechanic, the third visit in less than a year, and he said it was a real shame but there is a flaw in this model of Shindaiwa as the engine is simply too powerful for the connection to the revolving head on which the attachment goes. That is why, he says, he stocks Shindaiwa but not the 530 model. He explained that the flexible cord is about 20% longer than it should be, and he measured it against similar models in his workshop to demonstrate. He added that the fixed metal tube that you hold when using the machine is correspondingly too short. He outlined a few other problems as well and contacted his Shindaiwa Rep and asked him to cover the costs of fixing this as it was under 12 months old. The Shindaiwa Rep said he’d think about it.

Either way I clearly made a bad decision when choosing the Shindaiwa 530 model so I advise anyone not to buy this model. Shindaiwa may be a good make, but it will be interesting to see how good they are at servicing bad models. IF their rep does not cover the cost of both fixing the machine and preventing this from happeneing again then I will avoid Shindaiwa permanently in the future. In the meantime, whatever you do don’t buy the Shindaiwa 530.

July 2 – I received a call from the mechanics wife saying that they have got permission to repair the sShindaiwa strimmer under the guarantee although they need proof of the purchase.

July 10 – They called me again to say it is ready, it looks exactly the same as before and the mechanic explains that he has done pretty much the same as last time and hasn’t made any large scale changes. When I asked him if it will break again, as the machine has not been altered in away way, he responded with a typical Italian shrug of the shoulders while closing his eyes at the same time. ‘Hopefully not,’ he added.

I hope this helps any buyers out there, this is a flawed model and I expect it to break again any day.

July 21 - Oh dear, well I managed one field before the flexible metal cord broke again and so it lasted 11 days of 1-2 hours usage a day. This is the third time in 8 months the cord has broken. I phoned the mechanic and he contacted his Shindaiwa Rep who emailed back to say there are no known problems with the Shindaiwa BP530. I beg to differ. I am contacting him directly and will post their reply up here. The machine is unusable, that much is clear, and I am pushing for a replacement machine that is a different model.

July 29 - I have contacted th mechanic who has written to the Shindaiwa rep who replied saying there are no known problems with the Shindaiwa BP530 (?). I have written to him myself explaining further the problem and hope to hear from him shortly.