Weed wacker - extending string life

[Torvy]

A little OT, but does the OP's spool have some sort of auto-feed on it?
I've got a battery Ryobi trimmer, and every start/stop cycle the string advances, whether it needs to or not. There's a cutter bar on the shield that trims it to length, so it doesn't get too long. A lot of start/stop cycles and you're gonna go thru a lot more string than if you kept it going.

Add me to the list of those who've never heard of soaking string before. Usually when I run out I'm in the middle of cutting, no time to stop and soak replacement string.

I think the idea is that you keep your replacement spool soaking in water.

I don't soak, but I've heard about it. It's so humid here that the line has plenty of moisture to aborb!

I just bought a huge roll of 095 that will work in all of our trimmers. (Some will not take the heavier stuff).

On the chain link (or in my case, woven wire) glyphosate works best. Either ignore the HOA or burn along the fence. Or, just grow a thick hedge along the fence and stop trimming there.

 

[WinterDeere]

Stihl Autocut Easyspool C 25-2

That's the one I have! Hate the thing, since you have to disassemble and then carefully wind line onto it. It's not a huge deal, I've been doing it for years, but that Echo Speed Feed system looks soooo much better.

I use square line and the only time it breaks vs. wears is on rocks and tough woody stems.

Same. I've been using Echo square profile, either .095 or .105 (can't remember now) in my Stihl trimmers, for years. Great stuff, rarely breaks except when I cause it by getting trimmer head too close to rocks.

 

[7four7]

I have a Stihl weed wacker that I like but seem to break a spool worth of string every couple weeks.

What am I doing wrong? What’s the proper way to use it? Thanks.

Good suggestions being posted for your issue. I had the same issue with a large spool of expensive trimmer line. Poured hot water into a 5 gallon bucket and soaked the trimmer line over night. It worked. The line does not prematurely break when weed whacking.

 

[bgr]

You have a lot of expert suggestions here. I have used a lot of Oregon Gator Magnum supertwist line in .105. I have never had to soak it, but soaking does help.

If the eyelets in the head are clean and smooth, backing off on the throttle just a bit can do a lot to stop breakage. I always run at just sufficient speed to cut what I am trimming. Usually only 1/4 speed for trimming regular grass around the house.

I have a tendency to go full throttle on heavy cutting, and it breaks line fast with a powerful trimmer like a Stihl. I use a fixed head with .155 gatorline for heavy weeds. That will break in 2 minutes at full throttle. If I back off just a little, it will run till the line wears out.(5 minutes at least.) I can't tell any difference in cutting power at slightly less than full throttle.

The folks recommending the Speedfeed head for ease of loading are absolutely correct. Very easy to just crank line in, instead of taking the head apart to wind the spool full of line. The biggest Speedfeed head is a 450 or 500 model which I can use .130 line in. All my heads are over 3 years old, and I have read comments that the newest Speedfeed heads have problems with welding the line together on the spool. My older heads are not doing that and are tough as nails, but best to check online about new Speedfeed problems. Chinese copies of Speedfeed heads don't work for me, bad vibration and hard to crank in line after a little use.

My Stihl 110 and 130 straight shaft trimmers have a thread on the end of the shaft which I cannot adapt to the Speedfeed head even when i buy the adapter kit for Speedfeed which Echo sells. Stihl has begun to sell a self feeding head, the 27-2, I believe. I have found it a little harder to load, but not bad. The largest line you can fit is .105.

If someone has adapted a Speedfeed head to Stihl, please let me know.

 

[ning]

The 3 rotating Stihl knives cut like butter but snap if contact made with old fence wire or rock…

I'm a fan of this blade -

It'll obviously dull if you run it into rocks a lot but in general use of sweeping back and forth, rock contact may not even hit the cutting edge and instead hit the back of the cutting part which just bounce it away from the rock - the only significant damage I've had to mine (a ding in the edge) has been from bringing the blade down on a rock instead of sweeping into it (not deliberately, of course).

I've got one that I've sharpened many times already and while the cutting edge is getting ragged it still works great.

Pretty sure it's also what the utility guy uses to denude the ground around the power pole near our gate (they keep the area under transformers bare dirt).

 

[WinterDeere]

I have read comments that the newest Speedfeed heads have problems with welding the line together on the spool. My older heads are not doing that and are tough as nails, but best to check online about new Speedfeed problems.

I dug into this a bit, and it appears the issue is isolated to the SpeedFeed 500 heads, which is a new design using a metal spool. It does not appear to affect the 400 or 450 models at all, both of which have a plastic spool with a metal threaded bushing inside. The theory is that the metal spool on the 500 is conducting too much heat from the gearbox down into the head, and overheating the line or internal components.

If someone has adapted a Speedfeed head to Stihl, please let me know.

They're supposed to come with all of the threaded adapters to fit any Stihl, or so I thought. Perhaps you have one or two models that are exceptions?

 

[Auminer]

I wish I could find my trimmer line. I put it some place where it wouldn't get lost. I'm sure it's not lost. I just can't find it.

I find my stuff by searching in the last place I'd look.

Darn someone must have moved it...

 

[kenmbz]

I can only use string on the stiltgrass.
Any plastic or metal blades just get wrapped.
Brushcutter has a saw blade for woody shoots and use after clearing most of the stiltgrass.

Never could use the plastic blades, would either break or get wrapped.
The metal two sided one, was great at getting wrapped with grass.

 

[WinterDeere]

I dug into this a bit, and it appears the issue is isolated to the SpeedFeed 500 heads, which is a new design using a metal spool. It does not appear to affect the 400 or 450 models at all, both of which have a plastic spool with a metal threaded bushing inside.

Quoting myself here, but I just looked, and it seems the 450 was discontinued. Some sellers are getting bad reviews because they are advertising 450's but shipping 500's, which of course are a defective design.

So, if you want a SpeedFeed for now, you're stuck with the 400, which is reliable but comically tiny for my 36cc trimmer. Still, I just went ahead and ordered one to try it out... it's worth the $28 for a season, even if I ultimately switch back to the Stihl head.