[Brushcutter] Need trimmer head for big cords

Love the cherio coda! Can you tell us what brands you have to choose from?

try

but try it with weedwhaker. I get reurns on that too.

(in the UDS they are called weedwhackers or string trimmers).

Carol in Virginia Beach

What are you cutting, and what are the obstacles?

Three millimeters is very close to one-eighth of an inch, or .125". The heaviest cord I've seen in the US is .093" I've a spool of .093" Echo cord with four longitudinal ribs having sharp corners that cuts quite well on any but woody material. I suspect most folks use a saw blade if .093" cord won't cut acceptably.

Speaking of which, a portable circular saw blade of about

It has to be kept away from pavement and rocks, and out of dirt if possible, as the carbide isn't indestructible and keeping the blade sharp is imperative for both ease and safety. A light touch, brisk throttle and cutting direction to recoil away from the work and you are key.

Same problem here from time to time. The cure is to perfectly fill the spool, so no gaps/spaces between turns.

One option is a flail head. I've tried them and didn't like it, but your conditions and preferences might be different. Grass Gator is a brand found in the USA, Europe must have its own flavors. Flails cut cleaner than cord but react more violently to obstacles. They're also much more destructive if they get away.

Hope this helps!

bob prohaska

cshenk wrote in rec.gardens:

We have a few brands which are not interesting, I have had a “Bestgreen” which looks like its origins were in UK, although I am not sure.

A Japanese brand Shindaiwa is very fine, although their trimmer head could not work with my cords due to the size or the shape of the holes.

My current trimmer head is of unknown origin, but it had been recommended in my favorite shop, here in Normandy.

But I have Internet access ;) Do not worry; I can get what you find on the Web.

Yes. That is a site that I have already consulted. And there *are* suitable trimmer heads. In the end I may just try another one and come back here to report… but that is not my original quest.

Coo. Alone for that word, my inquiry was necessary. ;)

Cheerio

Michael

Good morning

The obstacles are the first thing, you hear, feel, then see. Stones and remains of old stone walls, invisible under and in the high grass. That is for this time. Otherwise there are (will-be) trees that I want to keep, and the fields, here, are borderd by hedges on low ramparts. Most of this must stay as it is, I have to live with it and want to, most of the time. No blades.

I am cutting bramble, burning nettle (higher than myself) and everything in between. But remember: No blades.

I use blades where I can, though.

I saw trimmer-heads for cords of 4mm but never used one.

In the end, I might choose to keep my current head and try round or smaller cords. There are cords with metal-cores which should last longer, too. But I have no experience with those.

I would destroy it in minutes, and my machine would suffer, too.

I find these only on big machines or mounted on tractors.

This is worth some research and I will ask around in our agricultural environment.

Thank you very much for all your remarks.

Michael

Supersedes for typo.

cshenk wrote in rec.gardens:

We have a few brands which are not interesting, I have had a “Bestgreen” which looks like its origins were in UK, although I am not sure.

A Japanese brand Shindaiwa is very fine, although their trimmer head could not work with my cords due to the size or the shape of the holes.

My current trimmer head is of unknown origin, but it had been recommended in my favorite shop, here in Normandy.

But I have Internet access ;) Do not worry; I can get what you find on the Web.

Yes. That is a site that I have already consulted. And there *are* suitable trimmer heads. In the end I may just try another one and come back here to report… but that is not my original quest.

Cool. Alone for that word, my inquiry was necessary. ;)

Cheerio

Michael

You can get much heavier cord for the walk-behind string trimmers. DR has a good selection but grossly overpriced (everything DR is over priced🙄)

Ok, I think I got it. A photo would still be enlightening...

That sounds like a job for goats! But, they'd have to be very hungry.

Those would kick back rather hard on obstacles. .093" is rough enough for a hand-held trimmer.

Metal-cored string sounds interesting, but also somewhat scary. If it could be designed to break off only in small pieces that would be slightly less scary. A link would be enlightening.

There's a YouTube video claiming that trimmer cord durability can be enhanced by soaking the cord in water overnight before use. It applies mostly to years-old cord that has lost plasticizer in storage. I've not tested the idea, since my decades-old Echo cord is still performing acceptably. Maybe I should try it.

Ok, understood.

Those would probably be solid steel flails. Grass Gator and most others use hard nylon flails. I've got one set that use thin, stamped steel blade cores with plastic molded over it to give extra flexural stiffness. Didn't like it, but my environment is much less difficult than yours (suburban lawn).

It sounds to me like a two-stage approach might be necessary. One pass with loppers or a saw to remove hard perennial growth larger than a few millimeters, then a second pass with heavy string to cut the soft stuff. The first pass will be hard work, but needed only once if you follow up (often!). Hope this helps, a photo or two would be very instructive.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska

This is just true. Once we had “borrowed” a friend's goat but could not stand seeing it attached to a chord all day, then moved to another spot and so on. Our plot of land is not exactly small, but neither suitable to permanently accommodate goats (at least 2).

Okay, I try to assemble some links and images.

It is difficult for me to see, how this could be generalized. I try to imagine the cords and their material. Somehow, plastics chemistry gets in the way and I cannot get the water in. If the cords lose the plasticizer (or softener), will they not be more fragile, too? Wet or not.

Depends on the exact spot. I have begun to clean away the bramble inside a ruin, where it grows out of the debris. But most of the time, I use the brushcutter after passing the rotary shredder, to finish the borders at a length of about 100m, around our heaps of firewood and similar. We also have a small parcel, densely populated by diverse trees, a “spinney” (UK) sais my dictionary. Here, I do

All the remaining tasks are no problem for the brushcutter.

I will see what I can do.

Cheerio

Michael

I agree, it sounds implausible. But, I've learned that some polymers are penetrated by and their properties altered by water and other atmospheric consitutents. Photoresist is materially affected by relative humidity, to the point that humidity control is crucial to microfabrication operations. It was found by my colleagues and self that track recording plastic (CR-39) reduced its sensivity to ionizing radiation when placed in vacuum for tens of hours. IIRC others later discovered that the presence of oxygen was the key. Both examples apply to chemical properties, but physical properties are ultimately chemical in origin.

Here's the link:

By chance I found this video on trimmer heads and cord:

Not a matter of huge importance at this stage, but you've piqued my curiosity. Is fire risk a worry for you?

bob prohaska

I like this question a lot…

No. We get all the water that currently evaporates over the Atlantic Ocean and until further notice. I cannot say that a declaration of “Chaos” would exclude fire, but it is difficult to imagine. We may lose the concept altogether.

What I *do*, is mostly cosmetics. Social control is strong on the French country side. Also, we have a vegetable garden which must stay accessible, some fruit trees that I put close to the edge of our terrain for questions of exposition. Both are becoming handicaps, as I lack the time to actually go there.

The acquisition of a rotary shredder was the most intelligent move in a few years.

Cheerio

Michael Uplawski wrote in rec.gardens:

Photos:

You need a login and a password to access. The user name is whacker and the password is weed (case sensitive).

You are most fortunate, and the images are beautiful.

If cosmetics matter, machines do a much neater job than livestock.

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

After a wet day, we had sun and where reminded of what causes the evaporation. Once the clouds are gone, you are hit by something. In the evening it may be okay, but during the day, I do not know what to do with all those clothes. Minutes later, you are wet again.

Cheerio

Michael

Good afternoon.

This morning, wisdom caught up with me although I am running fast.

While contemplating some *round* and *twisted* trimmer cords in two different shops, the only interesting thing was my impression that 3mm were smaller than the size of my square cord.

At home, suddenly old Pytagoras ➤1 hit me hard in the head.

To conclude: a square cord of 3mm means that the width is 3mm, for a round cord it is the diameter, for a twisted cord only the distance between the extreme outer edges of the cross section.

The diagonal of the square is however 4,24mm !!!

I do not want to know, why the only indication you see is 3mm, while the trimmer head must support over 4mm.

All that follows is historic and came from a blurred mind.

Have a nice week-end.

Michael Uplawski hat geschrieben:

(,,,)

──────────────────

Indeed, to me also it seems the sun has teeth, and they're getting bigger 8-)

Thanks for posting,

bob prohaska

I am not sure. But the problem may be that it is already hot, even in humid weather. The radiant heat just adds discomfort. So yes. Your final statement is probably correct, but the radiation alone does not create all the trouble, as the atmosphere heats up on its own, now.

Cheerio

Michael

The expression was intended as a figure of speech, meant to emphasize our newfound awareness. Perhaps a more accurate expression is to say the sun's teeth aren't bigger, but we've given them more to chew on.

Did you happen to look at the last video I linked? It's basically an advertisement and completely USA-centric, but it shows a Stihl "supercut" head that somehow automatically regulates line feed. Not sure it'd do you any good, but I'm intrigued. Almost enough to buy one to see how it works. At $62US I might wait until I need it.

bob prohaska;

I just saw the lady talk about trimmer lines and – apart from the “re-hydrating” thing – I can say that I share her opinions. The Monkeys were coming up at that moment on Dash Radio with “Then I saw her face – now I'm a believer”.

Sorry, I tried to locate that very post in the thread, but I do not think I can identify the URL to the video.

Yesterday I did tests with twisted and round trimmer cords. The problem with the jammed line inside the trimmer head *persists*. Now when you talk about automatic line feed, I have to say that my old trimmer head was filled manually, by winding the line around the center reel. I was easy to fit the ends into the wholes and to close the trimmer head again.

This is impossible with all the successors which were “automatic” in that you fill them by rotating the closed trimmer head until the line is all “sucked in” and just the right length for work stays visible.

I see that this creates trouble as different brands use different techniques to ensure that the line will come out in the right way, when you need it. And *none that I have tried do actually work*.

A “semi-automatic” (whatever) head that you fill manually, will be my favorite, now. Automatic and semi-automatic… the next thing that pops up in my mind is my father's MG42, where he had to switch canons every few minutes due to over-heating… every generation has its troubles, I guess.

The old Honda trimmer head is available for 55 to 65€ and I will order one right away. This is quite expensive but I've had enough.

Cheerio

That's something else, here's what I'm referring to:

The line is loaded on the spool and then the spool is placed in the head. It somehow measures out the cord, keeping the exposed length constant. Not clear it'll work with extremely heavy cord.

Hope this helps!

bob prohaska