OzarkChris
Gold Member
I thought you were supposed to hold onto the little round part that holds the strings and tape the throttle trigger down. That way you don't break the strings!
Have I been using my weed trimmer wrong?
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I have run a trimmer commercially for 30 years(I hate to say that).
You have to remember that the trimmer line is held out by centrifugal force. Every time you slow the speed to idle, the line loses its momentum and drops down.
The trimmer works best if you run at a steady speed which is sufficient to cut the grass you are mowing. Usually half speed to trim regular grass, and nearer to full speed for heavy grass. it is much easier to trim around obstacles if the speed is steady and the line is in the consistent extended position.
I find that the line wears quickly and can be snapped off if hit by solid objects if I run at absolute full speed, so I don't do that very often. Just a little below full speed is my maximum.
I also find that .105 inch line cuts better for me than .095 and ECHO SpeedFeed 400 heads are easier to use than any others and will take .105 Gator magnum twist line. Sorry Stihl owners, Stihl does not make a quick loading head like Speedfeed, as far as I know. I use my Stihl units with 4 lobe steel blades for very heavy grass/weed cutting. My line trimmer is a 2013 Shindaiwa 230 which is still going fine and has never needed a carb adjustment to idle, much to my amazement.
I have tried Chinese copies of SpeedFeed heads, and found that they were unbalanced and vibrated more than Echo, and the line was much harder to wind in than the SpeedFeed originals. Better to pay a little more for the original.
A face shield is best for heavy work, but I use safety glasses for residential. I never saw what broke my tooth. I learned the hard way to keep my mouth shut and never smile
You have to remember that the trimmer line is held out by centrifugal force. Every time you slow the speed to idle, the line loses its momentum and drops down.
The trimmer works best if you run at a steady speed which is sufficient to cut the grass you are mowing. Usually half speed to trim regular grass, and nearer to full speed for heavy grass. it is much easier to trim around obstacles if the speed is steady and the line is in the consistent extended position.
I find that the line wears quickly and can be snapped off if hit by solid objects if I run at absolute full speed, so I don't do that very often. Just a little below full speed is my maximum.
I also find that .105 inch line cuts better for me than .095 and ECHO SpeedFeed 400 heads are easier to use than any others and will take .105 Gator magnum twist line. Sorry Stihl owners, Stihl does not make a quick loading head like Speedfeed, as far as I know. I use my Stihl units with 4 lobe steel blades for very heavy grass/weed cutting. My line trimmer is a 2013 Shindaiwa 230 which is still going fine and has never needed a carb adjustment to idle, much to my amazement.
I have tried Chinese copies of SpeedFeed heads, and found that they were unbalanced and vibrated more than Echo, and the line was much harder to wind in than the SpeedFeed originals. Better to pay a little more for the original.
A face shield is best for heavy work, but I use safety glasses for residential. I never saw what broke my tooth. I learned the hard way to keep my mouth shut and never smile
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DieselBound
Elite Member
I'm NOT a "pro" but I've had plenty of experience (I trim roughly 4,000' of fence line [that's inside and outside]; I cut lots of blackberries here and there). I run Husqvarna Titanium line and it holds up REALLY well (best that I've ever used), so well that it will bend my fencing rather than break. I started on-off throttle to minimize the impact force on the wire (and minimize the jolt that _I_ receive when the line grabs the wire): I have lots more tricks I use. IF I'm running through heavy stuff and NOT along a fence line THEN I'll run with a relatively constant full throttle. My world isn't black and white, one-size-fits-all doesn't apply.
My Sthil FS130 is 15 years old. I doubt that I've shortened its life any, not enough to matter.
My Sthil FS130 is 15 years old. I doubt that I've shortened its life any, not enough to matter.
Little Red Tractor
Gold Member
I don't believe either one of the methods huts a 2-stroke engine--at least a modern one. Every situation is different; some things need a wide open, full throttle attack, others don't need much more than half-throttle, if that.
I have some things that demand running full-bore, and more delicate spots where damage to shrubbery is minimized by more judicious use of the throttle.
And YES, eye protection, and leg protection is a MUST!
I have some things that demand running full-bore, and more delicate spots where damage to shrubbery is minimized by more judicious use of the throttle.
And YES, eye protection, and leg protection is a MUST!
Donjackofall
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Why has no one mentioned proper carburetor adjustment parameters for two stroke engines? Proper balance between idle and wide-open throttle must be considered before proper tool usage can happen.
Chain saw carb adjustments should allow the engine to idle properly when not cutting but WOT setting should run rich, to the point that when cutting, the engine can power through more difficult and wider cutting surfaces. That is where a two stroke will produce more internal heat, greater internal expansion and leaner air to fuel ratios. That will result in internal damage which will be evident at the exhaust port as piston surface scratching or rod and crank wear internally which cannot be seen without disassembling the engine. The engine should "burble" when run at WOT when not engaged with the wood. Too lean adjustments there will rob power from the saw and cause bogging and/or power loss when cutting.
The same applies for any 2-stroke engine. A slightly richer wide open throttle setting depending on the amount of laboring the engine experiences when cutting the densest material you are dealing with.
There are no governors to adjust the carb butterfly to compensate for loading of the engine when trimming. All that is subject to the operator's whim and whimsy. I never run a two stroke a WOT unless it is laboring with what I am cutting. A slightly rich WOT carb setting helps cool the internals and prolong engine and ring life.
Higher quality 2 strokes will have needle bearings at rod and crankshaft points and keeps them properly lubricated and minimizes drag, prolonging engine life.
Some manufactures tried replacing the rod and crank needle bearings with bushings and have had their engines lock up from poor lubrication. I do not think these engines will last nearly as long even with a slightly rich WOT carb setting. Please study "stoichiometry" which is the engineering term for air/fuel ratio. Knowledge there pays dividends.
In closing, the most limiting factor regarding this issue is that 2 strokes lack a governor system to take the variability of 2 stroke applications and their usage.
I hope this helps
Chain saw carb adjustments should allow the engine to idle properly when not cutting but WOT setting should run rich, to the point that when cutting, the engine can power through more difficult and wider cutting surfaces. That is where a two stroke will produce more internal heat, greater internal expansion and leaner air to fuel ratios. That will result in internal damage which will be evident at the exhaust port as piston surface scratching or rod and crank wear internally which cannot be seen without disassembling the engine. The engine should "burble" when run at WOT when not engaged with the wood. Too lean adjustments there will rob power from the saw and cause bogging and/or power loss when cutting.
The same applies for any 2-stroke engine. A slightly richer wide open throttle setting depending on the amount of laboring the engine experiences when cutting the densest material you are dealing with.
There are no governors to adjust the carb butterfly to compensate for loading of the engine when trimming. All that is subject to the operator's whim and whimsy. I never run a two stroke a WOT unless it is laboring with what I am cutting. A slightly rich WOT carb setting helps cool the internals and prolong engine and ring life.
Higher quality 2 strokes will have needle bearings at rod and crankshaft points and keeps them properly lubricated and minimizes drag, prolonging engine life.
Some manufactures tried replacing the rod and crank needle bearings with bushings and have had their engines lock up from poor lubrication. I do not think these engines will last nearly as long even with a slightly rich WOT carb setting. Please study "stoichiometry" which is the engineering term for air/fuel ratio. Knowledge there pays dividends.
In closing, the most limiting factor regarding this issue is that 2 strokes lack a governor system to take the variability of 2 stroke applications and their usage.
I hope this helps
Mcdust
Bronze Member
Those people drive me crazy! Pull the trigger and get on with it. As I guy I worked for back in the day driving a ten wheeler said: " What's this blip blip s**t? just drive the truck!"
WinterDeere
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WinterDeere
Super Member
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- John Deere 3033R, 855 MFWD, 757 ZTrak; IH Cub Cadet 123
What sort of line are you using, that it droops due to gravity? The line I buy is stiff enough to stand up like a 15 year old boy in class with a cute teacher.
rontaki
Silver Member
The line I am using is Gator Magnum supertwist .095 and .105 sizes. I also use the same in a fixed length head which grips individual 10 inch pieces of line. The .155 diameter does not sag, as you say. Smaller diameters do need some speed to straighten out, which is probably true of any line in the smaller diameters. The .155 line is a little heavy for my regular lawn work. I use that .155 size for heavy weeds and don't trim around objects with it. If I run the .155 line at full speed against an obstacle, it will snap off just outside the gripper holding it after a short time. If I cut the speed down just a little, the line runs a long time before wearing out. Also, probably true of almost any line brand.But he's not whacking weeds.
Just curious, what kind of line is that?
If you worry about spreading micro sized pieces of plastic in the environment, weed wacking must do a lot of it. i use 6 ten foot reloads of trimmer line each of the 3 days I trim every week. The head lets out 10 inches of line to reach the cutter, and i run the pieces until I have worn them down from 10 to 7 inches before I tap again. The line shortens by shedding dust sized particles as it cuts the grass and some line is lost as 1 to 2 inch bits which are cut off by the cutter after I tap the head. Both are left behind me as i go.
My guess is that as I use 60 feet of line a day, half of it is left as dust and the rest is left in pieces 2 inches long or less. I do that 3 days a week and so do several million other lawn guys every summer. That is a lot of plastic spread around every year. I wonder if anyone has ever studied where that plastic goes and what effects it has. Must be a lot in the soil as the years go by. I wonder is it inert, or should we worry about it? Ask Peter Nye the science guy?
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