Ryobi PLT 2543Y strimmer (and replacement strimmer heads)

[BluntChisel]

I have been given a Ryobi PLT2543Y petrol strimmer, which seems to have received mixed reviews:

on 4 hours use, I have found that the standard auto-feed head is poor, I consumed 15 metres of 2mm line in 30 minutes of strimming, and reloading the head is tricky.

On the other hand, I haven't had any problems starting it, and when fitted with one of these hedge trimmer attachments

it makes a good long-reach hedge trimmer.

My question is, does anyone have experience with the various replacement strimmer heads available for this model? Are they easier and more economical than the standard strimmer head?

[John Rumm]

It sounds like that particular strimmer head is a PoS from the reviews.

I have a couple of straight shaft strimmer heads for mine. One with auto feed spool, and one that takes fixed lengths of fibreglass line. Both seem to work very well. The autofeed one does not seem to get through line any faster than one would expect, and it feeds easily with a tap on the ground.