What do it’s good to search for if you purchase a string trimmer? With so many choices for heads, engines, and handles, it will probably get fairly complicated. Right here’s how these variations have an effect on efficiency. 

Handles and Harnesses: Broad Sweeps or Small Areas 

A harness spreads the load of the trimmer over your shoulders. It connects to the trimmer at its stability level, making it straightforward to maneuver round. This leaves your arms free to maneuver the trimmer head with out the fatigue of carrying it. Harness mounts are an important selection for heavier business trimmers, however they will intervene with maneuverability.  

A loop deal with enables you to maintain the trimmer close to the middle of the shaft with one hand, whereas the opposite hand operates the set off close to the engine. That is frequent on light-weight trimmers which can be hand-carried. This setup lets the operator attain into tight areas, trimming round fences, planters, and different panorama obstacles. 

A bicycle deal with has two vertical grips spaced far aside. This offers you extra leverage and management, making it supreme for chopping massive swaths via thick vegetation. One of these deal with is simply discovered on trimmers with harnesses. The harness helps the trimmer, whereas the handles are solely used to manage course. 

Engines: Two-Stroke, 4-Stroke and Someplace In Between 

Two-stroke engines use a sealed crankshaft to push gasoline and air into the engine on the backside of the piston stroke, whereas concurrently pushing exhaust out. This lets the engine hearth on each rotation and eliminates the necessity for a valvetrain. The result’s extra energy and fewer weight than equal four-stroke engines. To maintain all the pieces lubricated, oil is combined with the gasoline and burned in the course of the combustion cycle. This lets the engine work at any angle. Two strokes appear supreme for string trimmers, however there are some disadvantages. 

Energy supply is concentrated on the high of the RPM vary. If the trimmer bogs down, it will probably transfer out of the ability band and stall. These engines are additionally delicate to stale gasoline. Producers advocate utilizing gasoline therapy and disposing of gasoline that’s over one month previous. Some unburnt fuel leaves the cylinder in the course of the consumption/exhaust stroke, which will increase gasoline consumption and emissions. Two strokes additionally don’t final so long as four-stroke engines, so it’s common to wear down a trimmer after a pair seasons. 

There are two options in the marketplace at the moment. Honda’s small-displacement four-stroke has baffles to manage oil circulation, protecting the engine lubricated, regardless of its place. The “2/4 stroke” or “Hybrid 4” engine (utilized in some Shindaiwa and Echo merchandise) is a four-stroke engine with a two-stroke oiling system. You continue to want to combine oil with the gasoline, however the engine is way much less delicate to stale gasoline. With each engines, you get extra torque, higher gasoline effectivity, and an extended engine life on the expense of weight. 

Trimmer Heads 

There are seemingly infinite forms of styles and sizes of strains. Nevertheless, you’ll typically get one of the best efficiency by matching the road with the scale and density of the grass. Skinny strains don’t have any bother with trimming round lawns, whereas thick strains and blades work finest on overgrown areas. 

Head designs will be divided into three most important classes: 

• Bump heads have a button on the underside of the pinnacle that releases somewhat little bit of line each time it’s hit. This mechanism is affordable and dependable. 

• Computerized heads have a motor that spins the spool, releasing the road. Whereas not as dependable as a bump head, you by no means must cease to launch line whereas trimming. 

Mounted-line heads use pre-cut lengths of line. As soon as the road wears down, the trimmer must be shut off, and a brand new line threaded via the holes. That is used virtually completely with heavy gauge strains, which might’t be wrapped round a spool. Nylon and steel blades slice via thick vegetation with ease, providing comparable efficiency. 

Some trimmers will be fitted with brushcutter blades. These blades have sharp ideas that slice via woody vegetation and saplings. This is likely to be nice for ripping via unkempt land and wilderness, however they’re hopeless at chopping common grass. 

From Residence Garden Care to Skilled Landscaping, Shank’s Has the Tools You Want 

In case you want a brand new string trimmer, speak to the specialists at Shank’s Garden Tools. We have now helped native residential and business clients with their outside tools for 35 years. We’re additionally a certified supplier for a number of main trimmer manufacturers, together with Honda and Echo. Our store is at 4900 Molly Pitcher Freeway in Chambersburg, PA. To get right here, take Exit 10 from I-81. 

Want components to repair your trimmer? We will ship what it’s good to any tackle within the USA or Canada. To order, go to us on-line at www.shankslawn.com.