Allotments 4 All

I am coming to the end of my strimmer line in my Spear & Jackson strimmer but I haven't a clue about replacing the line!!  ::) ::)   It has a "double" chamber cartridge which holds/feeds the line - do I have to replace this cartridge or do I buy "loose" line and rewind it onto the cartridge I have?  I have checked out B&Q and other retailers, e-bay and even emailed Spear & Jackson (but they haven't bothered to reply) but I am not having much luck.  Any help would be very much appreciated. 
twinkletoes

You buy some more line & re-thread it. Make sure that the line is the same colour: they're colour-coded by diameter & your's is probably blue (but check). You should be able to buy it at any garden centre.

The booklet you got with the strimmer has instructions and a diagram to show you how. I've only done it once (We've got a couple of S & J strimmers in our equipment shed at the allotment.) and it started off as a bit of a fiddle, but actually proved quite easy.

Thanks Trevor-D.  The line is white so I'll take a bit of it along with me when I buy some.  I didn't realise you had to stick with the same colour line.  Unfortunately, I can't remember where I put the instructions  ::) .........its an "age" thing.......... ;D ;D
twinkletoes

hi twinkle,

do you have a QD store. as they do a selection on strimmer wire, at a good price to.

No - never heard of QD stores.   Will have to go to B&Q I guess.
twinkletoes

The trick is to wind it onto the twin spool at just the right tension.  Too loose and it feeds too quickly when you bump it, and that's wasteful.  Too tight (which is the more common problem as far as I'm concerned) and the line gets jammed in the spool and you have to keep dismantling it to free it up.

B&Q sell bulk spools which are a bit of an investment, but last for ages.

Thanks Trevor for that very useful info about the colour of the line that means I've just been sold the wrong line. I went to the place I bought my strimmer and said could I have line for my strimmer which is the same model as the one over there. He sold me orange and mine is red. Mine is 2mm according to the manual which I found later and the orange says it's 2.4mm. Not much in it but it does look thicker.

Mind you it's a moot point at the moment as the strimmer's not working.

Trevor D

You said your equipment sheds - do you get free use of all the equipment then?

that would be a real bonus wouldn't it?!

I have just had to take my strimmer down to have the spool put back on as I couldn't work it out!!  How sad is that.  I used the bl***y machine once last year (got it new from ebay) but anyway will soon be up and running!

Old Bird

;D

We have a machine shed (a metal container, with double doors) which holds all the Society's equipment: 3 petrol mowers, 2 strimmers, a lightweight brushcutter & a rotovator (on semi-permanent loan from a member).

These are let out free to members. Most of the Committee has a key and we run a rota which means that most of Saturday, Sunday & Wednesday are covered, but we also let stuff out at other times if we are there. The rule is that if there's a name on the door, that person will let stuff out. Everyone has to sign things out & back in, so that we can keep track of any damage or machines not working well.

We also have various other tools like a heavy-duty brushcutter, a chain-saw & hedge-cutting equipment - we have a 100-year-old hawthorn hedge on our road boundary - but these aren't available for general use.

Wow that does seem very sensible.

Presumably there are a large number of plots on your allotment - we only have 23!

Presumably all pay a small amount which is put towards maintenance/petrol?

Old Bird

:o

We've got about 80 plots. And no, we don't charge extra specifically for machinery & petrol, any more than we do for water; it just comes out of the general rents.

We have talked about an 'honestry box' for petrol, but decided it would be more bother than it's worth.

We've got various tools for members' use as well. Not long ago I was using the strimmer and the head flew apart on me! It was really embarrassing, but I got a Desert Hawk head on eBay; it's much simpler to load as you just thread a short length of line through, and it takes any thickness. The thick stuff lasts much longer.

Quote from: Kea on June 13, 2008, 11:10:50
Thanks Trevor for that very useful info about the colour of the line that means I've just been sold the wrong line. I went to the place I bought my strimmer and said could I have line for my strimmer which is the same model as the one over there. He sold me orange and mine is red. Mine is 2mm according to the manual which I found later and the orange says it's 2.4mm.

it shouldn't be a problem as most strimmers will take larger diameters than the original line supplied. Have a look in the book that came with it, it should tell you there.