Black&Decker Auto Feed System lawn trimmers... do you have to?

[kevins_news2]

I want to get a trimmer this year since some fences have been put up and now i have over 200 feet to trim along instead of just a small bit along the edge of my house.

The best deal i can find would be from a Black&Decker outlet mall. I like their trimmers and the outlet mall prices make them better than any other brand i could get. Unfortunatly they no longer have even a single model that uses the bump feed, they ALL use the new AFS system to automaticaly feed trimmer wire when needed. Looking this up on the net reveals a few people happy with it but MANY who had problems. Either the system didn't work properly or they complain about how it eats wire more quickly and requires expensive refill spools.

My questions:

1. Is it possible to get a bump feeder accessory at a later date to replace the auto feeder?

1. There are many kits availble that "fit most ordinary trimmers" and use either plastic blades or just very heavy wires. Neither use a feeding system as these blades/wires are supposed to be essentially permanent and you just replace one if it should happen to break. Will these kits fit onto the B&D trimmers that use AFS?

Anybody know? All thoughs appreciated.

[Gemini]

Plain and simple.... DON"T DO IT.

I bought their cordless model w/ AFS and I spent more time rethreading the broken off string than I did trimming. I did buy a "fit all" kit that used the plastic blades, but by the time I got it, the lower bearing was shot. ( less than one season) I stripped the battery out of it and tossed the rest. Customer support from B&D is nothing more than a bunch of automated/form emails..... that have nothing to do with you problem or complaint. I now have a Ryobi that I am thrilled with.... a lot higher quality than the B&D's

You Asked! :)

[Icarii]

I have a grass hog i think thats the name I got one replacement spool so now i just buy the line and set up the spool myself never had a problem

Icarii

[John Harlow]

My 10 year old bump feed Ryobi still starts easily and runs very well. The bump feed never has worked very well; I have to "help" it a bit - but no biggie.