Garden strimmers - WHY PLASTIC WIRE??

[Ghozer]

its a safety thing because the nylon stuff won't sheer through your power cord, or cut your toes/fingers if you get near it...

[zepstox]

My garden must be full of little plastic bits of strimmer cable.

[Deavon]

Being of a certain age (and also sad enough to have retained this information) -- there was a big push in the 80's to improve the terrible electric garden device related death rates.

 

They brought in trip plugs and moved most garden equipment from metal to plastic and rubber. Companies jumped on it and created useless "innovations" like Flymo, to hide the fact that rubber and plastic, although safer is no use at tackling long grass!

[MadnBad]

I can't stand another season of temperamental teenager-throwing-the-strimmer-across-the-lawn-and-exploding-with-frustration so just wondered if anyone has any ideas.

 

Why oh why do manufacturers supply plastic 'wire' that self-combusts at the sight of a dandelion? Has anyone tried substituting real wire that might do more than just half a metre?

 

I've tried substituting the teenager for his mother, and her performance with said strimmer isn't much better!

 

Is it possible to buy industrial-strength strimmers? What do professionals do?

 

I have a petrol strimmer that i bought at a car boot sale for £15 and that uses plastic wire and because my garden is a bit stoney the damn stuff kept snapping.

So popped down the local hardware store bought a roll of wire and now nothing stops it, the only issue is that safety glasses are a must as the wire happily smashes it's way through stones and you run a serious risk of damaging your eyes otherwise.

[mojoworking]

It is a serious safety issue. Substituting the manufacturers nylon wire with metal is very dangerous and will cause all sorts of damage to trees, walls, fences and people if they get in the way.

 

As the previous poster says, wire will smash stones and everything else that it encounters and the debris will fly everywhere, causing damage to the operator as well as nearby cars, windows, passers by etc.

 

The users manual will invariably contain a strong warning about using metal wire.

 

It's probably illegal as well.

[MadnBad]

It is a serious safety issue. Substituting the manufacturers nylon wire with metal is very dangerous and will cause all sorts of damage to trees, walls, fences and people if they get in the way.

 

As the previous poster says, wire will smash stones and everything else that it encounters and the debris will fly everywhere, causing damage to the operator as well as nearby cars, windows, passers by etc.

 

The users manual will invariably contain a strong warning about using metal wire.

 

It's probably illegal as well.

 

You are quite correct it is dangerous but provided you don't treat it as a toy and treat it with respect it is safe enough.

The biggest pain i found with using the plastic is that what with it being petrol powered i had to keep turning it off before i could lengthen the wire and then it occasionally would be a bugger to start.

And considering the nylon only seemed to last about thirty seconds it was becoming a pain, that said i would encourage this practice only if you are very careful and realise it must be treated with caution.

[Weazel2006]

id say safety, your finger or toe will hang on with a nylon cut, with steel wire or something more tense.....youll have to chase the dog with the strimmer to get it back.

[mojoworking]

You are quite correct it is dangerous but provided you don't treat it as a toy and treat it with respect it is safe enough.

The biggest pain i found with using the plastic is that what with it being petrol powered i had to keep turning it off before i could lengthen the wire and then it occasionally would be a bugger to start.

And considering the nylon only seemed to last about thirty seconds it was becoming a pain, that said i would encourage this practice only if you are very careful and realise it must be treated with caution.

 

Yes, that is a pain with the older ones, but all the modern strimmers have a "bump" feature where more line is automatically released simply by tapping the bottom of the cutting head on the ground.

 

Plus you can get several different grades of nylon wire from very thin to heavy, industrial thickness which lasts much longer (but is more likely to damage bushes and tree trunks). Somewhere in the middle is the optimum thickness for normal grardens.

 

If your nylon wire is only lasting a short time, then try using a heavier grade perhaps?

Edited June 17, 2010 by mojoworking

[Rupert_Baehr]

Hmmmmmm. Maybe my point is along the lines of...why is the only stuff on offer nylon/plastic that breaks so often (trust me) rather than indestructible wire?

 

Because the little electric motor in the strimmer isn't indestructible. - The nylon is supposed to break before the motor is damaged, rather than allowing the motor to burn out.

 

Are you using the correct breaking strain nylon? - Or are you using some 'cheap' nylon?

 

I have a petrol strimmer. It uses nylon (not wire.) The nylon does break (occasionally) - but usually only if the strimmer meets something it can't cut.

 

All we're trying to do is the edges of the lawn. So, dandelions and grass is beating what should be able to cope....

 

Check the nylon, check the strimmer itself.

[mojoworking]

Because the little electric motor in the strimmer isn't indestructible. - The nylon is supposed to break before the motor is damaged, rather than allowing the motor to burn out.

 

Are you using the correct breaking strain nylon? - Or are you using some 'cheap' nylon?

 

I have a petrol strimmer. It uses nylon (not wire.) The nylon does break (occasionally) - but usually only if the strimmer meets something it can't cut.

 

 

 

Check the nylon, check the strimmer itself.

 

What usually happens is the nylon slowly wears away and every so often you have to release more (by the method described above).

 

But if everything is adjusted correctly and you have the right gauge nylon, this should only needs to be done 3 or 4 times for a normal garden - unless you're working on very thick undergrowth of course, in which case perhaps the lawnmower would be better?