Strimmer head replacement

[Triassic]

My strimmer head has worn out and given the amount of plastic line I loose to the environment I was wondering about replacing it with one of these, what do you think? Has anyone used one, are they any good ?

[Jeremy Harris]

I really like the idea, as I hate the idea of shredding very breakdown resistant plastic  into the environment.  Be nice if a head like this was available for the lower power cordless strimmers.  Perhaps someone needs to highlight the potential damage to the environment from shredding plastic from these things?

[ProDave]

My strimmer also came with a "brush cutter" head.  Similar principle though perhaps even more brutal.

 

The one BIG WARNING I will give is do not EVER try strimming up to or close by any form of wire fence, e.g chainlink or indeed anything that the "blade" will not easily cut through.

 

For this reason, I do not normally use the brushcutter blade, as most of my strimmer work is tidying up edges with far too many things for the brushcutter blade to snag on.

 

My strimmer head is just fitted with a left hand metric screw thread, I would have to measure it to be sure but about M10.  If yours is the same then I am sure you could buy a brush cutter head for it.

 

I find the weakness of a standard strimmer head is the holes where the line exits wear, even if they have metal inserts.

 

You can just buy a replacement universal line head like this one that has a variety of male and female LH thread adaptors of different sizes so I am sure this would fit my machine https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-Bump-Feed-Head-Base-Strimmer-Line-for-KAWASAKI-Petrol-Brush-Cutter-Trimmer/282586006843?epid=2144946364&hash=item41cb70453b:g:NCAAAOSwQWFZd0Gy

 

It is probably worth having a look at a small electric strimmer to see if they have the same LH thread coupling arrangent for the head.

[Onoff]

I wondered about replacing my electric strimmer line with 2mm dia stainless steel aircraft cable?

[PeterW]

52 minutes ago, Triassic said:

My strimmer head has worn out and given the amount of plastic line I loose to the environment I was wondering about replacing it with one of these, what do you think? Has anyone used one, are they any good ?

 

Only if I was wearing chainsaw boots.... that is chainsaw chain without the cutter teeth !!

[Russell griffiths]

I take it your not very fond of walking @Triassic can you imagine that letting go and hitting you in the ankle, cannot really see how this is allowed to be sold over here. 

Looks about as friendly as the toothed blades that fit in an angle grinder. 

 

Not for me im afraid. 

[Triassic]

I asked the same question on the Arboriculture forum and the response was negative, apparently these things were banned a few years ago as a result of an injury, leading to the untimely death, of a user. I won’t be buying one! I’ll be looking at other options for a replacement head for the strimmer.

[Triassic]

9 hours ago, ProDave said:

I find the weakness of a standard strimmer head is the holes where the line exits wear, even if they have metal inserts.

It’s the holes on mine that are worn. I do a lot of strumming, our plot is rocky, with lots of exposed limestone, so the strimmer line breaks easily. 

[Cpd]

I got a really good head for my husky strimmer, it’s been put through some serious work and is still going strong 4 years in. I know at the time I went into the shop I asked for a heavy duty head and the one he gave me lasted a few weeks....... he admitted he had given me the wrong one and gave me the upgrade at no charge. 

Some identification marks...... and the best line I have found so far. As you can see from the head it’s got no damage to the holes and the plastic is wearing well for the abuse I put it through. 

[Temp]

That line get pretty good reviews on Amazon, I'll have to give it a go.

[Jeremy Harris]

Are there any strimmer lines that don't end up as very long lived shredded micro plastic particles, I wonder?

[Onoff]

6 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Are there any strimmer lines that don't end up as very long lived shredded micro plastic particles, I wonder?

 

Why not aircraft cable then?

[Jeremy Harris]

1 minute ago, Onoff said:

 

Why not aircraft cable then?

 

Wire rope might work OK ("aircraft cable" is really just galvanised wire rope), as it would eventually corrode.  The snags would probably be wear on the eyelets, plus jamming in the bump feed head.  Might be that there's no need for a bump feed head, as wire rope might last a lot longer than nylon line.

[ProDave]

I recall one design of strimmer that did not have a bump feed head, but instead had fixed lengths of line with a loop in the end to hook over a peg.  that would work with steel line wouldn't it?

[Onoff]

52 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

Wire rope might work OK ("aircraft cable" is really just galvanised wire rope), as it would eventually corrode.  The snags would probably be wear on the eyelets, plus jamming in the bump feed head.  Might be that there's no need for a bump feed head, as wire rope might last a lot longer than nylon line.

 

I've always known it as aircraft cord rather than "cable" oddly and I did mean stainless steel. I've got quite a bit of 2mm dia stainless scrap wire like this if anyone wants some to try.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

28 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

I've always known it as aircraft cord rather than "cable" oddly and I did mean stainless steel. I've got quite a bit of 2mm dia stainless scrap wire like this if anyone wants some to try.

 

 

 

Stainless isn't commonly used on aeroplanes, it's too damned unreliable, and in the case of wire rope, a heck of a lot weaker.  Typical light aircraft control wires will be around 3/32", maybe 1/8", 7x7, galvanised wire.  The rigging wire used in old biplanes was usually single strand high tensile steel piano wire, really because it could be thinner (so less drag) than wire rope for a given strength.

 

For use in a strimmer, then I suspect something like 1/16" 7x7 might be a good starting point.

[ProDave]

6 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Stainless isn't commonly used on aeroplanes, it's too damned unreliable, and in the case of wire rope, a heck of a lot weaker.  Typical light aircraft control wires will be around 3/32", maybe 1/8", 7x7, galvanised wire. 

So if stainless is unreliable and not as strong, why is that normally used for Yacht mast rigging?

[Onoff]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

So if stainless is unreliable and not as strong, why is that normally used for Yacht mast rigging?

 

And Latchway Mansafe systems...

[Onoff]

On the basis that galv, stranded wire could be whacking weeds and forcing wet, green stuff into the wire I don't reckon it'd be too long before it rusted and broke. I'll try some 2mm stainless and report back.

[Jeremy Harris]

3 minutes ago, ProDave said:

So if stainless is unreliable and not as strong, why is that normally used for Yacht mast rigging?

 

Just because it doesn't need soaking in boiled linseed oil once a year.  The boat I learned to sail in was built in the 1880s/90s and had galvanised wire rope standing rigging.  It was lighter in gauge than a modern stainless equivalent, but needed regular treatment with boiled linseed to prevent corrosion in the core (where there is a chance that the zinc might be worn off as the rope flexes).