Topic: Petrol strimmers

[posie]

Well I for one am frightened of cutting my leg off!!

Yup me too.  I'm accident prone enough without sharp blades being swung everywhere lol.  Plus I have to be quite careful with my back as certain movements can cause it to spasm (joy of childbirth my eye!!) and I end up immobilised for a week, which I really don't have time for right now lol

[ACE]

Why not get a sickle

Big drawback with sickles. scythers elbow. You easily tell if you have scythers elbow as your actions and thoughts revert back to the dark ages and your mind refuses to accept the 21 century inventions.

People also tend to address you as 'that silly old fart up the allotments'

[keef]

Well i bought one today as i've been looking for one for ages. Gave it a test run tonight - just the job for the lottie ! Much more powerful than the last battery one i used. Only took about ten pulls to get it going from new - very good IMO.

Sickles and scythes are good, and its easier to tidy up as you go - especially with really long grass etc.. - but with the strimmer ten mins with the grass rake sorts that. Scythers elbow is painful - teenage lads suffer particulary badly from it.

[Ant]

Hi Ant,
Say hello to sparkly for me.
Have you got a model/price for your ryobi. They aren't bad I seem to remember.
Ta,

Gaz.

Hi Gaz,

It is the Ryobi One Plus 18V Line Trimmer Kit RLG1339, comes with 2 NiCad batteries and charger for £89.98 from B&Q. I take my dad on a Wednesday for the 10% discount  :)

Ant

[glosterwomble]

To my way of thinking, for what we do you need something that you can throw in the car, throw in the garage, throw some petrol into it and off you go for anything between 20 mins to 1 hour plus depending on the time of year and these machines really aren't up to that in my honest opinion ...

Mine is!!  ;D

 I've had it for nearly a year old now and still working well! It lives in the shed at home, gets thrown in the car boot, strim for an hour and Bob is your uncle! Of course you may have had problems with one of these strimmers, I can only speak as I find. Was yours the Spear and Jackson one?

[Baccy Man]

Big drawback with sickles. scythers elbow. You easily tell if you have scythers elbow as your actions and thoughts revert back to the dark ages and your mind refuses to accept the 21 century inventions.

People also tend to address you as 'that silly old fart up the allotments'

People round here are very rarely that polite when they are telling me how I should be doing things. Besides I have actually got one of those new fangled 20th century inventions as well as the sickles, a Jonsered GR50 brushcutter to be precise which slices through saplings 2" thick without a second thought, I dread to think what that would do to a leg.
Strimmers & brushcutters are worthwhile if you have a lot to clear but if it is just clearing a plot or tidying paths then I find a sickle is just as effective. I have never yet injured myself using a sickle but there have been plenty of times I was glad of my chainsaw trousers and the visor on my forestry helmet as the brushcutter has sent twigs, stones, bits of hidden cans & bottles etc... flying towards my legs or face.
I regularly work on steep slopes & a sickle feels far safer to use then. It's a lot easier to drop a sickle if you slip than it is to unhook a brushcutter & as a brushcutter blade continues spinning for around a minute after you switch the engine off the risk of injury is somewhat higher if you are sliding down a slope than it is with a sickle.

[peasmad]

the tank capacity on petrol strimmers is about a pint  :)

Sthil strimmers are for serious work

I found my stihl a problem, but i came across an attachment for various strimmers, stihl included. It takes up to 12 threads and has made my brushcutter useless. It goes through brush easily and also mulches grass short or long.

[ACE]

About 40 years ago, I came out of the navy and obtained a job on the local council. In the cemetery. Arrived the first day and was shown the tool shed. Hung up was a broom, rake, pick and shovel and a riphook. I was informed that was all the tools I needed to dig about 4 graves a week and keep the 45 acre site  nice and tidy. An old barrow was found in the bushes so it should have been a doddle.

Kinell! I'm out of here, but as I had just put my discharge money down on a house, the morgage needed paying so I was stuck. Within a couple of years I had a few more cemeteries to look after but also a few extra staff who I had to organise. I used to raid the local parks and gardens sheds and get their old mowers and equipment. The old boys in the parks were a bit like baccyman and swore by the sickle. even though they had a brand new brush cutter in the shed. It must have been one of the first ones out called a Fuji cutter.

I grabbed it and we never looked back. Eventually over the years I was made up to gardening foreman. I never let the gardeners slack off and skive, but I always made sure they had the best tools for the job. Never saw the point in struggling with a riphook for a couple of hours, when you could strim for ten minutes.

Loads of new machinery came in over the years so it also came down to me to instruct the staff in the safest way of using these machines. Which mean't that I had to go on training courses to be an instructor myself.

Nobody lost any legs all the time I was there. But we used to have a few cuts from sharpening riphooks

I was pensioned off early, when the job went out to tendering. I see some of the contractors doing the job now in shorts, t shirts, no eye protection even wearing trainers on their feet.  I bet there will be a few accidents now.

Now for you lot that are having trouble with your stimmers, wind the cord back in, It might start easier then bump a bit out when the choke is off.

[Gazfoz]

Now for you lot that are having trouble with your stimmers, wind the cord back in, It might start easier then bump a bit out when the choke is off.

Sorry Ace,
Don't understand that last paragraph ???

[Arumlily]

We have a MCculloh 250 Trimmac Petrol strimmer unfortunately I don't have the operating manual. Please can someone tell me how to get it going please. The petrol and two stroke oil are all mixed and in the tank. I tried this morning to get it to start and I'm not sure what to do. I turned it on and kept pulling the cord but nothing happens, I'm certain I have more to do then just pulling the cord but I'm not sure what.

[Melbourne12]

We have a MCculloh 250 Trimmac Petrol strimmer unfortunately I don't have the operating manual. Please can someone tell me how to get it going please. The petrol and two stroke oil are all mixed and in the tank. I tried this morning to get it to start and I'm not sure what to do. I turned it on and kept pulling the cord but nothing happens, I'm certain I have more to do then just pulling the cord but I'm not sure what.

One of our strimmers is a McCulloch - I think a slightly larger one than the 250 but also a swine to start.

Procedure is:
Turn on/off switch to ON or hold safety lever in ON position (depending on what type of switch your machine has)

Pump some petrol with the primer.  To do this, push the little clear half-globe thingy in and out several times.  It will fill with petroil mix.  Note that it won't fill right up - there'll be a little air bubble at the top.  That's normal.

Turn the choke on.  There'll be a choke lever on the engine.  Move it to "choke" which is the opposite end from "run"

Pull the starter cord quite hard several times.  With luck the engine will "cough" as if it's about to start.  As soon as it does, move the choke lever to "run", and pull the starter cord again.

If it's your lucky day, the engine will roar into life.

If not, try a couple more times, then check the primer, put the choke back on, and repeat the process.

[posie]

Just in case anyone is planning on getting a Spear and Jackson strimmer from Argos, it's currently reduced to £47.99!

[keef]

Just in case anyone is planning on getting a Spear and Jackson strimmer from Argos, it's currently reduced to £47.99!

 >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( f'in typical !!! I might take mine back and buy another one exactly the same at another store and save £12.

[Gazfoz]

Just in case anyone is planning on getting a Spear and Jackson strimmer from Argos, it's currently reduced to £47.99!

I wonder why ;) ;) ;D ;D :'( :'(
 

[betula]

Today was the day the spear and jackson came out of the box and it was brilliant.

You have to mess around a bit putting the handle ,strap and guard on .

It was a while to get it started but once we got the hang of it we were away.

It strimmed really well.

On the negative side,for a woman to use it is heavy and hard to keep going for long.

Luckily for me,Jim thought it was a great new toy and he was off like Turbo man. ;D

We bought it from Argos several weeks ago and it was 49.99.

[ACE]

it is heavy and hard to keep going for long.

Now whenever the subject of extra effort  comes up you are in the middle stateing your piece. On Pathways you had to have them, (pathways are just a way out of digging the whole allotment) We won't go in to double digging. Raised beds because you gave up on traditional ways of cultivation. Now the cheapie ladies model strimmer is too heavy.

Come on now you can tell us, most of us won't hold it against you.Perhaps you are too old to cope. But admit it now.


You are workshy. ;)






STANDBACK EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!INCOMING.












TAXI!

[glosterwomble]

Gosh who would have thought that a 'thread' on strimmers could get so heated and have so much interest!!  ;D  ::)

[Gazfoz]

You ain't seen nothing yet!

[Baccy Man]

....... Now the cheapie ladies model strimmer is too heavy.

Says someone who uses a lightweight Stihl strimmer ;D, although I'm tempted to agree with you as mine is about 5lb heavier than the argos one & my wife has no problems using it, she has problems starting it ::) but then it doesn't come with ergostart/elastostart like most of the Stihl ones do.

Here are the specs on Spear & Jackson, Stihl & Johnsered stimmers/brushcutters which clearly shows how much variation there is in weight.

The Argos one:

Spear and Jackson 30cc Petrol Grass Trimmer
1hp.
Cutting width 40cm.
Bump feed.
Easily disassembled with split shaft, low vibration 2 stroke engine.
Carrying strap for ease of use, low vibration engine.
Weight 6.3kg.
RRP £59.99

The heaviest Stihl brushcutter around (I picked a brushcutter because the heaviest strimmer they do is on 4.3kg) & I don't know which model ace uses anyway:

Stihl FS130 4-Mix Brushcutter
1.4kW/1.9bhp Power Output
36.3cc Displacement
5.89kg Weight
4-Mix Engine
AV-System
Automatic Decompression
Multi-function handle
ElastoStart
Bike handle
Cutting blade Metal blade + AutoCut
RRP £564.00

The brushcutter I have:

Jonsered GR50 Brushcutter
Engine size 48.7cc
Power Output 2.8hp
Unit weight 8.6kg
Fuel capacity 0.6 litres
Noise level 102 dB(A)
Vibration Left handle 3.5 m/s²
Vibration Right handle 4.5 m/s²
RRP £699.99

[Arumlily]

Thank you Melbourne 12 for your kind response. I did try it out as instructed, but I'm discovering that I haven't got the strengh  to pull  the cord hard enough to get it fire up. I will just have to take it to the allotment and pray each time that there will be some strong chap on the plot who  will help me pull the cord. It is a powerful machine.  When I hold it upright I'm only slightly taller than the gadget. It is scary