String trimmer revelation

[60wag]

I’ve got a Stihl string trimmer for landscape work. It works pretty well but has been inconsistent. The engine runs great but the cutting string will sometimes be very fragile, as in it’ll break off even when cutting light grass. Sometimes its better and will cut the thicker weeds.

I finally got fed up with it and did a bit of research on the net. There are comments regarding “crowding” the cutter and which side of the arc to cut on, but the most common comment involves the moisture content of the string. So my experiment involved dropping the cutting head spool of string in a bucket of water for 8 hours and then trying it.

Wow, what a difference. I was able to attack the thick woody weeds without breaking the string. I went through a whole tank of gas only needing to bump the string a few times. Maybe this is common knowledge but I found the difference stunning. I’m wondering if the variability I found in the past was due to the humidity in the air when I chose to run the trimmer.

 

[DaveInDenver]

LOL, at the old house with all it's weeds I ran a Stihl FS90R. It's a powerful trimmer and even the heaviest string didn't last. I ended up putting what's known as a mower head, which is a head with plastic blades. Had I known this might have made a difference! By the end I had progressed up to a cutter with metal edged blades that I bet would rip through small trees. For anything that did not require nice pretty looking finesse they'd last months. But of course if you hit landscape timber or even cement they'd more likely take a bite out than break...

 

[Stuckinthe80s]

I'm going to try this. I have an Echo, don't know the model number, that runs like a champ and has for years. However, the "quick" head that came with it where you just put pieces of line through two one-way holes ( errrr...uhhh....no comment) has had me cursing like crazy the past couple of summers. I will cut up a bunch of plastic trimmer line into even pieces and just shove a bunch of them in my pocket to get through the 15 minutes of trimming I typically have to do. However, the lines only last for a few feet which causes me to pull the spent ones out and put new ones in. This cycle continues until I get done and is very frustrating. If I had more trimming I would probably have fixed it by now instead of putting up with it.

 

[subzali]

Bruce, I've read about this as well, but have never experimented with it. I have to respool my trimmer like every 5 years so I'm not going through that much line.

Nic, just reading that got my blood pressure up. I would have thrown that POS over the fence a long time ago if it were mine.

 

[WVU fan]

I used to buy this string for a craftsman trimmer. White sponge was included in the pouch. It did help...if I ever checked and saw the sponge was dry before I needed to use it

 

[J Kimmel]

Makes sense, I’ll try it.
FWIW I’ve heard the same thing regarding zip ties

 

[Stuckinthe80s]

Bruce, I've read about this as well, but have never experimented with it. I have to respool my trimmer like every 5 years so I'm not going through that much line.

Nic, just reading that got my blood pressure up. I would have thrown that POS over the fence a long time ago if it were mine.

Yeah, the only thing saving it was the small amount of trimming I was doing. I don't trim every time I mow so that prolonged it as well.

 

[SteveH]

Supposedly, a wet nylon trimmer string is 50% stronger than a dry one. My DR-trimmer device (or the Crapsman one I had) said to soak the strings in water for a few hours (or overnight) before using.

Also, some .090" trimmers (my Stihl) will accept .105 line, which is a bit heavier (obviously). It feeds just fine and I just try to be super careful not to hit fence posts, etc. while trimming.

 

[Inukshuk]

The popular recovery/traction boards are water cured immediately after manufacture. Who knew nylon "absorbs" water!

 

[LARGEONE]

I had never heard this. I love my Echo trimmer, but hate the line changing fiasco every 10 minutes!!!

 

[Jenny Cruiser]

Nice. I’ve got a 4 stroke Honda I can try this with. I’m weed whacking for 3 hrs or more at a time.