weed eater

[badgolferman]

Weed eaters have long been one of those essential tools that I hate. Most of the time you can't get them started and if you finally succeed at that you have to stop them to fix the broken string on the head.

After years of struggling with these machines I bit the bullet and bought a highly recommended Stihl straight shaft trimmer. From the moment I started using it I had trouble with the string feeder. I took it back to the local Taylor's store and they messed with it, but told me they don't take back Stihl equipment, I would have to send it off for warranty work which would take six weeks or something like that. Considering the unit started every time and it was the middle of summer, I declined. Taylor's offered to sell me a new string feeder for half price that they said was easier to use and replace the string on. Having no better option I accepted the compromise.

I continued to have problems with the string breaking inside the head, but the summer ended and I forgot about it. Well I fired up the thing yesterday for the first time this year and the string broke inside the head so many times that I quit using it. Not sure where to go from here. I have used the string heads with nylon blades but wasn't really fond of them. I also used the kind that you use precut string and those wear down pretty quickly.

Does anyone have experience with an aftermarket string head replacement that works well. Maybe you have suggestions on how to make the one I have work properly. You're supposed to be able to push two ends of string into properly aligned holes on the side of the rotating head where it is grabbed onto by an inner hole. Then you turn the bump mechanism by hand and it coils the string inside the head. I think the string is coiling in a way that prevents it from feeding freely through the hole when you bump the head.

[notbob]

I agree with yer premise that most weed eaters are junk.

I used a new Craftsman electric weed eater. The "string head", which I think you mean the device that feeds the string out. This Craftsman hadda bump-on-ground kinda feeder. It worked flawlessly, delivering about 8"-10" of nylon string every time you bumped it on the ground.

The optimal string length was about 6". To obtain this length, the trimmer had a little razor blade in a plastic holder, permenently mounted about six inches from the head. As the new string was fed out, the cutter blade would chop off the extra inch or two of string. Problem was! .... the cut-off blade, which cut the new string to length was mounted in a cheap plastic mount and the new string would spin around and completely break off the entire blade/blade mount.

Craftsman reluctantly replaced it, but the brand new one did the exact same thing in about 5 mins after I started using it.

All the gas engined weed eaters I've seen (Ryobi, etc) are also junk. The primer bulb, gas line (tubing), other plastic/soft parts, etc, all turn brittle and break. I see a lotta you ppl blaming ethanol gas. Nonsense. Ethanol gasoline ran in my vehicles fer yrs, with no probs.

nb

[gfretwell]

I found a guy on Ebay that sells the primer ball with a couple of hoses for $5 or so and I just consider them an expendable like the string. I just toss them every spring. I am not sure why hoses are such a problem but even the ones I got from a professional lawn care repair shop are junk. No it isn't E10. I tried Rec90 for a year and the same deal. I am getting pretty good with those Walbro carburetors. Get the "D" head tool.

[Ralph Mowery]

I don't recall the brand, but a friend bought a brand name chain saw and not too long after he get a recall to replace the gas cap as the ethanol gas would eat part of it so it would leak.

I can say that about 4 years ago I switched to running the 'pure' gas and have not had the problems I did in the past. Some of the instructions now say to use the preamium gas instead of the lower grades that the samll engines used to run.

It might be that in vehicles the gas does not stay in it for a few months at a time.

[notbob]

It might also be that mfrs are jes too damn cheap to buy better components and they jes wanna put the onus on you.

If gas cans can be made of plastic and can store gasoline fer long periods, why can't they make ethanol-resistant tubing/parts. Well, they can, but it cost more and vendors wanna snag you with that low initial price, so they use the cheap non-resistant parts. Duh

nb

[Ed Pawlowski]

Most new equipment is ok with ethanol. They did not have to use anything different when it was pure gas. It was not a consideration.

No different than when unleaded gas came into play. Older cars had problems with unleaded.

[John]

3-4 years ago Ace Hardware was selling a head like the one below. Basically you feed a length of line (8' or so) from outside the head through opposing holes in the head then wind it like a watch.

I ended up getting an Echo on sale at Home Depot on the same search trip when I saw the above head. I was looking for an Echo because it was rated the best at the time. It starts easy, loading new line is a snap and more than enough of power to do edging or brush work. The bump head can handle double .110 line (a brush blade attachment is available) although I use .095 because its what I had on hand when I bought it and am still using the same roll.

Looks like this one:

Without going out to the shed to look I can't swear its exactly the same model.

The straight shaft is a little harder to edge walks and driveways with than a curved shaft but comes in handy if you have a *lot* of mature bushes and pine trees to trim under as I do.

John

[Art Todesco]

How do you get the "D" tool? I have an Echo leaf blower that started and ran like crap. I even brought it back to the seller, now out of business, and he said that the gas was old ... 3 weeks, give me a break! So I cobbled a "D" tool, because I couldn't buy one. It worked once and allowed me to make the necessary adjustments. Now it at least starts and runs pretty good. Don't call the EPA Police on me. But I would like to tweak it a little better, however, the home made tool bit the dust. So I'd like to buy the real thing. The problem is the Walbro carbs have the "D" shaft recessed into the aluminum housing and you need a very thin wall tool. I looked and looked for one and have found nothing. Any ideas?

[Pavel314]

After going through several makes of weed eaters and having the string prob lem with all of them, I got a three-plastic-blade attachment instead of the string head and put it on my Stihl trimmer, the only one which started reg ularly. It works great, no tangles or breaking string to fuss with. Cuts gr ass and weeds with thicker stems. I just have to replace the three blades e very so often, not a big job.

Google "weed trimmer blade attachment" for images and descriptions.

Paul

[CRNG]

On Fri, 25 Mar 2016 17:31:51 +0000 (UTC), "badgolferman" wrote in

The first weed eater I bought 30 years ago had a string "feeder". I replaced it after about a month with something like this

and have never, ever bought a "feeder" since.

BTW, we live on a 5 acre lot in a rural southern area. During the spring and summer we use the weed eater about 10 hours a month. Of course, the strings still need to be replaced every couple of hours, but it's easy to do.

[gfretwell]

Amazon Be sure you get the right one. There is a D and a "Double D" with 2 flats. Walbro uses the D

[Ralph Mowery]

I had one weedeater that I could not buy the carb adjustment tool. Forgot the brand and type , but think it had an offset pin hole in the screw head. Finallly go the screws out and used my dremmel tool to cut a screw slot in it so I could adjust it.

There are about 6 ot 10 different types of heads on those adjustment screws. Too bad they could not use just one or two types.

[dadiOH]

Since I'm getting on in years I hire my yard work done but I used to do it. When we first built, our ten acre place was over run with BIG weeds...some places so thick you couldn't walk through them and up to 12' tall.

Those weeds laughed at string so I bought a chain flail head. That worked. When the chains gave up the ghost I replaced them with two 6" Sawzall blades. They worked better :)

[notbob]

I doubt it's ever been "pure". Every company injects their own additives. Heck, Shell gasoline brags on it.

....and mfrs made necessary adjustments.

The problem was, w/o added lead, the valve seats lost any cushioning effect provdied by the soft lead additive, so the seats took a brutal pounding and the seats wore out, prematurely. Leaded gasoline had unintended benefits, like long valve/valve-seat life.

Still, mfrs hadda re-formulate their metallurgy to adapt to unleaded. They had no choice. Who's gonna buy a car that had leaking valves within the warranty period? What mfr is gonna continue with outdated metallurgy if they're gonna hafta service it, later, under warranty? Older cars owners (outta warranty) hadda have the older valve seats bored out and replaced with pressed-in inserts ....or jes let the car's engine die. ;)

nb

[badgolferman]

Do you edge with it too? The ones at the store say not to use vertically.

[badgolferman]

I've had that kind before. The strings seem to break quickly though.

[gfretwell]

I have a cheapo Ryobi 725 and when the weeds get too big for the weed eater I stick the hedge trimmer attachment on it. That will eat stiff up to 1/2" or so.

[RonNNN]

Check out this video, it may be just the answer you're looking for.