Talk:String trimmer/Archives/2016

Two Line String Trimmers Vs One Line
I haven't found two line string trimmers online but I've seen two line gas string trimmers. Is there a reason for this? Could this be included in the article?Teknozilla (talk) 18:24, 2 June 2014 (UTC)Teknozilla

Two lines absorbs more power. It cuts better and balances better too, so you'll find it on bigger, more upmarket machines. 81.137.230.213 (talk) 16:25, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

Missing Source on History
"The string trimmer was invented in the late 1960s by Tim West of Emporia, Kansas. His first model was constructed by using a 20,000 rpm router with small welded chain bolted to the center hub and mounted to a metal pole. It not only trimmed weeds and grass well, it completely obliterated the neighbor's basketball." I can find no sources for this information. If no one else can find something, it should be removed from the history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Enchelion (talk • contribs) 20:29, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Room for improvement
I'm inclined to agree with above, but not altogether.

I live in retirement in a hamlet in rural Australia, on two acres. I own two line trimmers as we call them generically, one of which can also be fitted with a metal slashing blade and is also called a brushcutter, which is the generic term hereabouts for trimmers that can be fitted with such blades. Most of my neighbours are farmers and/or graziers, and nearly all of them (whether primary producers or not) are similarly equipped.

When I lived in Sydney I owned only a line trimmer, and again nearly all of my neighbours were similarly equipped, the exceptions being those who employed professional gardeners who brought their own such tools.

The line trimmers originally used drums with automatic "bump feed" line feeds (operated by tapping the moving head on the ground), which were once the only such heads available, but I have fitted both with the more recently available fixed line heads using heavier line, a sort of midway between the whipper snipper and the brushcutter. Somewhere between these fixed line heads and the metal blades, and most recently on the market, are plastic blades either fixed or hinged, but the fixed line and metal blade heads work well for me. I have never seen the chain attachments and am not surprised that someone died, they look to be an appallingly irresponsible piece of engineering, quite frankly! A link of chain breaking loose is going to be a regular occurrence, and whenever it does, it will be at least as dangerous as the only-just-subsonic slug from a high-powered air rifle fired at random.

I note that in the image description they are described as for home use. I also believe that the chain version is now banned in some countries, as a result of a fatality. The consequences if someone were to make their own basing it on this image are horrible to contemplate.

In conclusion this article as it stands is incomplete to the point of being quite misleading, so far as Australia is concerned at least. I'll try to find some time for it. Andrewa (talk) 07:32, 18 November 2016 (UTC)

More on safety
http://brushdestructor.com/brushdestructor-home-page/safety-warning-for-flail-type-brush-cutter-blades/ gives some details of the fatality and the EU response to it.

It seems the failure was exactly as I predicted, a link shed from the end of the chain killed a bystander. What a surprise. The surprise is that there's no mention of anyone going to gaol for it. Andrewa (talk) 09:14, 18 November 2016 (UTC)