Manufacturers include Honda, MTD and Craftsman. Due to pollution laws four stroke engines are becoming more popular, particularly in the commercial market. Most trimmers use two stroke engines and require gasoline mixed with oil.

A 32 cc (32 cm 3 2.0 cu in) engine can swing a 2.75 mm (0.108 in) line and often has metal-blade accessories. At this size they can easily turn 2-millimetre (0.079 in) line and some have nylon blades as accessories to the line-reel. Gasoline-engine powered trimmers usually have a minimum of 21 cc (21 cm 3 1.3 cu in) displacement motors. Often referred to as brush cutters, these often mount straight or circular metal blades instead of monofilament line.Ī man using a string trimmer in Kanagawa, Japan Some are fitted with a harness to spread weight onto the shoulders. Large trimmers, used for cutting thick roadside grass and weeds in large areas, are both heavier and more powerful. Advantages include complete mobility and higher maximum power. Disadvantages of a gasoline-powered string trimmer include its greater weight, the need to refuel, and the significant vibration that carries throughout the device, both of which interfere with its maneuverability and contribute to muscle fatigue. The head contains a safety shield on the user side and a rotating hub which may also be called a head or spool. String trimmers powered by an internal combustion engine have the engine on the opposite end of the shaft from the cutting head, while electric string trimmers typically have an electric motor in the cutting head, but there are other arrangements such as where the trimmer is connected to heavy machinery and powered by a hydraulic motor.

There is no wound spool of line in the trimmer head, the user instead feeds the pre-cut line in to the appropriate slots, making the trimmer easier to feed line into and troubleshoot than a bump feed system.įor vertical cutting the whole machine can be tilted or some trimmers allow the head to be adjusted at different angles. The speed of the spinning hub is controlled by a trigger activated throttle on the handle.Ī fixed line string trimmer has a trimmer head that takes pre-cut line inserts. Newly extended line operates more efficiently because of its heavier weight and surface effects. Newer models 'auto-feed', where a small cutter ensures the exposed length does not exceed what can be swung efficiently. The operator controls the height at which cutting takes place and can trim down to ground level quite easily.Īs the line is worn, or breaks off, a bump feed string trimmer the operator knocks the reel on the ground so a release mechanism allows some of the line in the reel to replace the spent portion. The motor turns the reel and the line extends horizontally while the operator swings the trimmer about where the plants are to be trimmed. The line is hand-wound onto a reel before the job is started, leaving both ends extending from the reel housing. These lines make solid disks less necessary for tough jobs. Some monofilament lines designed for more powerful cutters have an extruded shape, like a star, that helps the line slash the material being cut the line is thus able to cut quite large woody plants (small shrubs) or at least girdle them effectively. Even round-section nylon line is able to cut grass and slight, woody plants quite well. UK - Grass trimmers or brushcutters Ī string trimmer works on the principle that a line spun fast enough on its center stiffens by centrifugal force the faster the hub turns, the more rigid the line.Australia and Canada - whipper snippers.South Africa - Line trimmer or brushcutter.The terminology used to refer to string trimmers varies by country and sometimes state: From it has been backformed the colloquial verb 'to strim'.

The word 'strimmer' is correctly a trade name for a particular make of string trimmer, but it is often used as a generic for any string trimmer. Ballas developed this into what he called the 'Weed Whacker', since it chewed up the grass and weeds around trees. His first trimmer was made by attaching pieces of heavy duty fishing line to a tin can bolted to an edger. string trimmer was invented in the early-1970s by George Ballas of Houston, Texas, who conceived the idea while watching the revolving action of the cleaning brushes in an automatic car wash. The first brush cutter was produced in Japan in 1960 by Echo.

Weed eater dies when throttled