Tired of bumping my string trimmer

[gord]

you can get the auto bump which automatically feed the line causing you much less grief

[Shooter Dude]

I have a Homelite string trimmer I bought at Home Depot. It uses

0.080 line fed from a bump-feed head. In 20 minutes of trimming (mostly walking around), I have to feed line out at least 10 times, usually requiring several bumps each time. When trimming against an obstacle such my foundation or even a wood fence, the line lasts about 20 seconds or less before it's mostly gone.

I've seen "fixed line heads" for sale that use pre-cut lengths of heavy line. Before I waste $10 - $15 on one of these, are they any better? They seem wastefull, since once the line is about halfway gone (or as short as you can stand it, I guess), you discard the rest of it.

Thanks for any tips!

[Doug Kanter]

Don't they make trimmers which use some sort of chain, or am I imagining having seen them?

[SQLit]

Try getting larger diameter string. I use one size bigger in mine and it lasts a lot longer.

[Art]

Use thicker string and don't try trimming concrete.

[Toller]

I replaced my bump thingy with one that has relatively thick plastic arms. Works fine.

[Roy]

Don;t tink I would want to use that type around trees and fences and foundation walls........but yes they make a head that utilizes a section of chainsaw chain.

I made my own fixed line push type string trimmer, powered by a 6 1/2 hp engine. I use .105" line and previously I used .080" line on it, and got a lot more wear and usage thanyou are. It may help to buy a top quality line, instead of some off market brands such as is sold by mass marketers that peddle stuff in HOme Depot etc. The line Stihl and Husky makes is pretty darn good, and even in my hand held trimmer I get lots of mileage from it. I forget what brand it is offhand, but its a silver color and has the word titanium in it, but no this line doesnot have real titanium in it, its a catchall for getting your eye, but it is some pretty darn good line.

So try changing brands.

Visit my website:

expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[George]

You might want to try a better quality line than you got at home cheepo.

[wayne]

I used thin aircraft cable worked pretty good!

Wayne

[I-zheet M'drurz]

Bullshit. You obviously have some kind of hard-on for The Home Depot, now tell us about your PhD in Synthetic Polymer Chmistry.

[I-zheet M'drurz]

There ya go! F*#k that wood fence!

[len gardener]

g'day shooter dude,

my brushcutter has a manual feed head, less parts to wear (on it's second brushcutter now) plus i have better control over line economy. there is a bit of an art to using nylon line no matter what the machine, maybe take it a little easier and learn to work the tip of the nylon, you can still trim grass away from concrete etc.,. and get quiet quick and good at it just takes a bit of patience and practise.

i tried heavier line in mine at one stage thinking it would help with heavier work but about all it did was make more work for the motor, the motor needing to use more torque to spin up the line, it was only the next size up line, but reckon i do heaps better with the right size or slightly under size as the machine can spin it up easier and hold its torque, just needed to back off on the grass load got the job done probably not much slower. don't know about using chain? but reckon ther could be all sorts of other problems there.

best thing if you want to be economical on line is to get a manual head and learn the art of using the the line tip to you benefit.

len

snipped

[Vox Humana]

I tried a couple of type of replacements like plastic blades and nothing I tried held-up so I went back to string.

[Jay]

use .105 string, with a cross profile (Not round) You'll last a lot longer. Also, keep it bumped as long as possible (Don't let it get down too short) and be careful how close you get to objects.

String replacements are not that great. The plastic ones shatter and the chain ones can be scary.

[RoyDMercer]

This is correct. You have to match the line size to the motor. When you have a bigger motor you can run larger line which prevents having to feed continuously. I run line size .095 which is recommended for my trimmer. I only have to feed once or twice for my entire lawn.

[len gardener]

exactly roy,

the manufacturer will recommend an ideal line size (the size usually relates to the 'cc' capacity of the motor) so the machine all runs in balance, then the user needs to take a little tiem in practsing to sue the line tip for best economy, with practise i found you can get quiet quick at trimming and not use much line.

len

snipped

[Roy]

fence hell, where did the toes go? Visit my website:

expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

[Bob]

First of all - next time you by a trimmer, stay away from the cheapos like Homelite, Weed Eater, etc. Don't buy one with a curved shaft.

Reason: On the cheapos, the engine is a piece of junk. Actually the crank shaft has a bearing on only one end. The engines rarely last even the

200 hours for which they are rated. Also, when you let off the throttle to idle, the string continues to spin. This is because it has no clutch. Therefore when you walk from the back fence to the front of the house, the string is rotating - wear and dangerous.

For the least expensive good trimmer, I suggest Echo (probably about $200). It has a well bearing'ed engine, rated at 1000 hours (and usually lasts longer if you always use the correct oil/gas mixture). It is well balance and easy to use. It has a centrigul clutch. You get five time the use for less than twice the money. There are several good brands such as John Deere, Huskie, etc that are even better, but you get into some high dollars. For home use, I'd go with Echo. They will use .095 line and it works fine.

If you buy something quality, it only hurts one time - when you pay for it. If you buy something inferior for the cheap price - it hurts every time you use it.

.08 line is correct for this unit. Don't use anything heavier because it is harder on the engine (reduces life) and heavier line may not work as well.

Don't waste your money!!!!!!!

Know it is too late on this trimmer since you already bought it and will have to suffer with it until it konks out or you get disgustted and sell it at a garage sale. But it might help on your next one.

Bob

[do_not_spam_me]

They were discontinued and maybe even recalled because of their ability to cut deeply into flesh. String trimmers were originally invented as a much safer alternative to metal cutters that wouldn't cause serious injury even to bare feet (don't test this yourself).

[fatman985]

Try doing the trimming the old-fashioned way, with clippers. Makes whatever problem you have with a string trimmer go away real quick.