I got sick of fixing 2 stroke stuff so recently bought a battery Stihl hedge trimmer and a seperate battery weedeater unit.  Everything here costs a lot more - about $1k for NZ retail $600 for the two units. But I figured I had fixed my 2 stroke issues. The hedge trimmer was going fine for about 4 mths then I came back to NZ and 2-3 months later it failed. My mate here had a look and took it in to the 'dealer'. Motor seized. Meantime they lost 1 screw and stripped another thread. I purchased another motor while in NZ - cost about $200 - only 1 in stock in NZ (which suggests they don't expect them to fail). When I got back to Vtu I swapped it over. The dealer here said 6 mth warranty - sorry. The NZ dealer said 3 yr - if I bring the unit in they will replace, free of charge. Obviously I couldn't do that. I pulled the failed motor apart - one lug on the commutator winding had detached itself from the armature.. Clearly manufacture failure. I bonded it back and have as spare now.

I just fitted a new Yamaha F70 to my boat - brilliant motor. The warranty here is 6 mths. I think Aus/NZ is 3-5 yrs.

Electrical stuff near no warranties.

It is just a tough environment I think.

I did contact BM about the rod bucket failure - no response. I guess they rather want pics of gurnard on a 10/0 hook or something.

So my GME boat radio has just failed. About 2 yrs old. The mic cord has completely disintegrated. I sent a pic to GME a few days ago. They have replied tonight. They are offereing a new mic cord at least.  But have no explanation why all the coating on the cord has fallen off.

V factor.

Alan