Maybe A Dumb Female Question?

[virginiabelle]

Just wanted to get That out of the way first 8-)

You may laugh .. After my question, if you must!

Well, here goes.

I have been using this dinky electric string trimmer for far too long and wanted to look into the gas engine types.

I always worried about them being too heavy and too hard to start.

Today, I did it, I bought one.

I purchased an Echo (GT-200R) trimmer today.

My problem is that the user manual is really Poor in describing how this Rapid Loader Head works, how it is loaded (or more correctly .. Stays loaded).

Reading from the manual:

"Thread new lines through outside holes in housing until ends meet in center of recess".

I have tried this over and over but the strings/lines just slip out.

I haven't even been able to try and start the trimmer yet because the strings/lines fall out even if I am just setting the trimmer down lightly, let alone cranking on the rope thingy.

It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

(See, My subject line was appropriate. You may laugh now)

Thank You

VB

[neognomic]

virginiabelle wrote: [snip]

[snip]

Yes, most likely: there should be two clamps, one on each side, to hold the lines in place.

If they are missing the equipment was not assembled properly. If you did the assembly, oops: look in the box & try again. If you bought it assembled or had someone assemble it for you at the place of purchase, take it back and get another.

If someone assembled it for you, that was a low-down dirty trick to pull or they are really very, very inexperienced at such assemblies.

..

[virginiabelle]

Thank You neognomic

Here is the whole story:

Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB

[thirtyone]

Dont the Echo website show an exploded view of the parts?

[hobbes]

Hi,

If you have a "Bump" head trimmer, then it I think may not need clips. On my honda trimmer, the nylon cutting cord should be on the spool and feeds out of the two side holes. There are no clamps. The spool should lock in the trimmer. BUT when you gently bump the head against the ground while the trimmer is spinning, the spool should ride up into the trimmer, and release more trimming cord.

The idea is that you do not have to stop trimming to made more cord available. Just bump the head.

When you put the spool in with the cord, the spool may unwind maybe 4 inches of cord before it locks. This excess cord is O.K. Once you start the trimmer, there is a metal blade on your trimmer guard which will slice off this extra trimmer cord.

Hope this is of some help.

Warmest regards, Mike.

[neognomic via HomeKB.com]

The echo website has a couple of pics in the pdf manual.

..but it is possible that the manual you received does not match the model you purchased so verify you have the GT-200R with quick load type of head.

- or just return it.

A little advice: If somebody else returns an item, there was a reason. Always get that info in advance of such a purchase and be sure their reason won't be your reason. $crimping on a gas powered trimmer will cause pain later. ( I did that once. .. ) Good gas trimmers are expensive. . Electric trimmers are good as long as the area is not too spread out and they are used regularly ... don't give-in to the sales pitches if you really do not need the extra power. Gas trimmers are heavy, noisy, twice as expensive to run as they used to be and pollute(Be Green!). All you might need is a new electric trimmer ...they do wear-out eventually and the first warning is that you have to beat some poor little piece of grass to death in order to cut it. :)

If you really do need the gas power and want to get the price down, do some garage sales after Father's Day and talk to 'Dad' before you buy it. Dad will prbly even show you how to operate it. ... ;)

good luck ...

[** Frank **]

The furnished strings should be 0.08", smaller lines may slip out. Take the unit back and have them show you how its done. You may have a defective head unit.

Don't put gas in or you may not be able to return it. If you did, be sure to mix the gas with the 2-cycle oil per instruction or you will damage the motor. I just heard some pro construction guy put raw gas in a new $1,200

14" cut off saw and fried it pretty good. Happens all the time with 2-cycle engines.

[EXT]

If you really want a gas powered trimmer do NOT get a 2 cycle engine on it. A couple of brands, Honda being one, make 4 cycle engines. If you live in California a 4 cycle engine may be a requirement.

You may not know the difference, and the difference is not apparent to quickly look at the engine, but it is easy to tell the difference. 2 cycle engines require a measured mix of gasoline and oil, they are noisy, produce clouds of blue smoke and are often hard to start. The oil mixed in the gas requirement is the giveaway for a 2 cycle engine.

4 cycle eng>>> [snip]>It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold >>> these

[Larry Bud]

There are different thicknesses of replacement strings you can buy. I have an aftermarket head that loads similar to yours, and the replacement I bought from HD was too thin.

[Chris Lewis]

According to virginiabelle :

Either you are, or the tool is ;-)

Sales literature for the rapidloader talk about "patented line locking mechanism". Which means that there should be _something_.

On my Stihl, it simply has two holes in the reel. You stick the ends of the line in, and then rotate the reel until you've wound up enough line. Then put the cap back on and fire it up.

Yours sounds like it should have something a bit more sophisticated.

The picture on page 32 of

to indicate that there are one or two assemblies consisting of a small spring, pin and "pawl". See item 2 on that parts diagram. Can you see whether that's present?

You'll want to go to

and ensure you have the right PDF for your unit (check serial #)

One possibility is you got the wrong string size. The diagram calls for .080 line. Is that what you bought? If you bought something significantly smaller, the locking mechanism might not engage at all.

[mm]

Maybe there are no clips. None of mine had clips. Go back and look at a new one in the box. Look at the picture on the box and open the box if you have to to see what all is needed.

If you've got the engine running, that's the most complicated part. I'm sure you can fix the string thing.

BTW, terrible name for a thread.

It should have mentioned echo string trimmer, but instead I thought the question was about puberty or "cycles".