I avoid like the Plague any advertisements online that claim "One Simple Trick..." because I know click-bait when I see it. So for this post, I avoided the urge.
But really, I did find one simple trick to avoid a common frustration: My two-line string-trimmers (with heads like the one shown) getting tangled, no matter how fastidiously I wind the line. From the factory, a Stihl line-head seems to work like a miracle, but over time and wear, they fall short, with lines breaking and tangling. I nearly switched to Husqvarna, as I did with my chain saw, but decided that I have a lot invested in the two premium trimmers (one is a multi-tool with six or so attachments).
These trimmers are great, unlike Stihl saws, which I find finicky to start in cold weather despite my attention to every detail (including seasonal settings for the air-intake and using 93 octane non-ethanol fuel). Every year I add a tune-up kit and once, for the older unit (perhaps 14 years old now) I changed the carburetor, an easy job but one that needed a lot of tuning later to get the trimmer to run to spec, which it does.
None of that helped with lines tangling, and just at home I have to trim some 400' or more of borders, tall weeds that hide rabbits and Copperheads, weekly. The trimmer simply MUST work.
So I started seeing what local groundskeepers and lawn services do. To a one, when I observed them they had a SINGLE line, not two, coming from their trimmers. Looking over the line-head, I figured that the bottom-most spool would be best.
Winding it in my type-A way, I began this one simple trick. Guess what? Not a tangle in two years. Lines break off, especially hitting stone edging and posts, but my frustration level has gone down 90%, the remaining 10 being the humidity and heat of July and August. I went out before 8 today to trim and though I needed a shower after, it was done perfectly. Look out marauding rabbits and Copperheads. I now can see you.
So try this with your trimmer and let me know how it works.
Image Source: Stihl
