I'd like to add John Deere to the list of junk string trimmers! I'm peeved because John Deere doesn't honor their warranties.
I bought a John Deere S1400 because there's a dealer nearby, the name recognition, and the hope that John Deere would be a better trimmer than the cheapo trimmers.
It never started easily, and the starter mechanism soon broke. That was replaced under warranty. But next, the muffler fell off. The John Deere dealer says it would require 6 hours of labor to repair (???!!!!) plus parts, and is not economically repairable. The dealer called their factory contact, who wouldn't authorize repairs or replacement, even though the trimmer was still under warranty. The John Deere dealer denied any responsibility.
I'm not likely to ever purchase another John Deere product. I talked about my experience with an arriving farmer who wanted an $8000 mower, and he asked the salesman to explain why JD wouldn't honor my warranty. Don't know the response, because the salesman hustled him into an inner sanctum.
Fortunately, I had purchased the trimmer from Home Depot, who gave me a full refund. Kudos to Home Depot!!! I purchased an Echo SRM 230 trimmer. Starts easily, the bump head works better, is just easier to control, and doesn't "burn my arm" like the John Deere used to do. I'ts a pleasure to use, compared to a HomeLite (?) and the John Deere, and I recommend it to others.
Jack.