Stihl does indeed make a split shaft trimmer line with a full range of tools, as does Husqvarna. The Stihl line is built with uncompromising quality, but you pay for it. I would recommend the Stihl KM90 power head and such attachments as you need. Look under the "multi-use tools" section of the website, it's called the Kombi system.

I looked up the Stihl system a while back and the combo of the motor, trimmer head and tiller head was over $550. I was hoping not to have to go that high.

I can directly compare the quality of the Husqvarna and Stihl split shaft offerings, because I own one brand, and my parents own the other. The shafts on the Stihl are the same across the whole spectrum of powerheads. The coupling on the Stihl is cast magnesium, and the drive shafts are solid steel. On the Husqvarna, the drive shafts are a spun steel flex cable, and the coupler is stamped steel welded to the drive tube. With a Husqvarna, probably being purchased at Lowe's, you will get a line head. However, all the attachments Lowe's sells are MTD, and not even up to Husqvarna's quality, let alone Stihls.

With the Stihl, every attachment is professional quality. With MTD, you're looking at light homeowner use only. Stihl sells attachments for every task, but you don't actually have to purchase them individually. For instance, the only difference between the Stihl line trimmer and brush cutter heads is the debris shield. The gearhead and drive tube are the same. So if you get the line trimmer, you can convert to the brush cutter head in about 5 minutes for $20. Same thing with the tiller attachment. You can physically stick any of the YardBoss multi-motor attachments on the tiller gearbox. This gets you the powersweep for about $100 off if you wanted that.

If you tell me what attachments you need, and what you intend to do with them I can recommend you the least expensive route to get there.

Oh, and the Stihl blower attachment is not even a comparison to the MTD job. The MTD will struggle to move grass clippings, the Stihl blower will throw wet leaves across your yard.

The only attachments I see myself using currently are the line trimmer and tiller. I already have a blower that works well for clippings and drying my car after washing.

Check out the Echo Peoduct Line very competitive pricing and excellent product .

www.yard-tamer.com

Problems solved.

buy one of each...skip the multi tool things...