Strimmer trouble

[Murmansk]

Having used a small basic Black and Decker strimmer in the past I bought a bigger Bosch ART 35 model from Screwfix to tackle the jungle that is my back garden.

It's described on the website as having a "bump feed head" - what it has is a head where you unscrew the lid and mess about threading the two lines out through two holes and then screw the lid back on again.

I'd say that for every minute I spend strimming I spend four taking the thing to bits to get more line out.

As for "bump feed" the only bumping that's been going on is when I threw the whole device across the lawn!

Is there some secret technique to strimming that I've not discovered - the blokes from the council who go round with petrol ones don't seem to stop every two minutes to sort out their cords!!

[Jonathan]

Avoid hitting hard objects with the cord.

Jonathan

[Tim Watts]

Have you actually tried "bumping" the whole unit down while running onto the grass? That should depress the line assemmbly and let a short length out on a ratchet.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Buy some thicker line. B & D line is designed to break with a sardine on the end of it.

[Chris J Dixon]

I have been tempted to try, but I guess there must be some downside to that?

Chris

[Capitol]

Welcome to the real world. To the best of my experience there is no two line low cost strimmer which works reliably. Two lines just use more line cord IME. I reverted to a single line bump strimmer and even then, it is very dependent on the quality of the plastic cord as to how badly it performs. There's a big market for one which just works. The big petrol powered ones seem a lot better but are too heavy for her to use!

[Davey]

Seconded. I have given up on B&D strimmers, they work for a season or two and then quit. I currently have a Stihl, and the technique for that is to OFTEN bump it, until I hear the new cords being cut off. Otherwise, it just runs out of cord. I also have a big petrol multi-function unit, and that takes care of itself in strimmer mode, echoing the OP's comment about the council guys. But it weighs a ton, so is silly to use for lawn edging, it's best for hacking back the undergrowth.

[Tim Watts]

The 36V LiIon B&D comes in as "just works" IME - single cord, does wear, but slowly and never snaps off at the reel requiring a rethread. And the bump feed seems reliable.

Battery is OK for home use

[AnthonyL]

Are you sure? The guy I got my strimmer from used to complain about that and then I found (via the on-line manual) that you just align the arrows so the holes line up, push the cable (~1m) right through from the outside till it comes out the other, then wind the head till you've got the right amount of string showing. The bump, whilst running of course, lets one quarter turn out.

[Bill Wright]

Then the motor will burn out.

Bill

[Brian-Gaff]

That is because most of them are using chain flails, not plastic cord.

I do sympathise as I have a black and decker so called bump feed. Obviously I don't use it myself these days, but the bump usually resulted in it spooling most of the cord out in a split second then cutting it off and flinging the larges bit across the garden.

Very much a bit of useless design. Brian

[alan_m]

I have a Flymo 18V battery unit with single cord. The auto feed mechanism seems to work very well and reliably. At slow speeds (just after you press the trigger) the cord is allowed to come out. At faster speeds there is a spring loaded brake that stops the line from feeding. To get more line you just press the start trigger for a very short time for, say, half a dozen cycles before continuing at full speed.

The unit is not suitable for heavy use. Battery charge only lasts for approx 15 minutes use - but is more than adequate for my usage of edge trimming a 60ft lawn along a fence line and around a few fruit trees. The cord does break when hitting the sharp corner of the concrete fence posts hence my frustration in the past with units with poor auto line feeds.

[fred]

What strimmer would the council guys use that autofeeds reliably ? We have a Stihl which requires manual feed. (I got fed up with the bump ones). You pull out the head of the reel and rotate it to feed a short length of the line. Do it a few times if required. It works fine. The real p.i.t.a. is lo ading the reel

[John Rumm]

Bump feed means you tap the strimmer (while running) on the ground - and it spools out more line and if needs be, trims it to length.

[John Rumm]

From personal experience I find my Ryobi bump feed head works exceedingly well. (the strimmer's themselves are crap though, and I have just replaced mine with a Stihl power unit)

Use one with a proper harness.

The other way to improve performance is to use square section line. I used Makita branded line in mine and find it works well.

[TomSawer]

Common Problem!

I've found that my Flymo line won't feed as the layers bind on the reel. I've just started spraying them with a silican lubricant. Touchwood - so far it seems to work.

[Ronnie]