Thread: Replacement line trimmer for whipper snipper?

Gday mate, I assume you mean the line trimmer head?

These come in a number of different flavours, from the bump feed units that come with most machines, to manual feed heads, to solid heads that take a single length of line around 14" or so, and a number of other variations.

Your local mower shop would be your best source to see a few options, depending on your budget & experience level.

I reckon the best unit for a contractor is the Tanaka alloy multi-fit head. It is lightweight but bulletproof, low profile, blah blah. I've had the genuine Tanaka unit & cheaper copies & both have performed & lasted well. They hold about 6m of line, and the line is advanced by pulling each end out of a slot & pulling it back into another 90 degrees away. About 5 seconds go to whoa.

Manual feed heads are slow for the inexperienced, but contractors might only advance the line once or twice on a job so it's not really a factor.



Edit: what you can fit to your machine will depend on the head type. Some, like the unit above, have a 1" arbor & mount the same as a blade. Some have a threaded insert in the head, & this will need to be the same as the threaded shaft on the end of your trimmer.


Cheers..................Sean

Originally Posted by Com_VC

Hi,

I'm after a replacement line trimmer unit for the whipper snipper. The one that came with it always has had problems, the line hardly ever comes out so when it snaps you have to use a screw driver to get the lines out. Sometimes up to 20 times, very unproductive!

It's an industrial mitsubishi whipper snipper so a new whipper snipper is not an option.

Can anyone recommend something decent? Also are they fairly universal? ie they all should fit each other?

Thanks

Com_VC

As much as it could be the the trimmer unit it could also be the timmer line that you are using.

I have used various types of trimmer heads and had the same problems as you as well as all types of trimmer line. I used to always go for the cheapest I could buy and the cheaper line the greater the breakages as well as the heartache.

I came across the site below and they were doing a promotion on the Diamond Edge Trimmer Line shown and the sent me a free sample.

http://www.rgs.com.au/ga/trimmer_line.html

They said it is the best trimmer line ever made. This I have to agree. When I used it I did not have one breakage in all the time I was using it and it fed out each time I bumped the head and just slowly wore away as I used it.

If you send them a message on the site by clicking on the contact us link and tell them where you live they will tell you where to buy some.

You certainly wont regret it.

Thanks for that link Barry.

Originally Posted by Barry_White

Diamond Edge Trimmer Line shown and the sent me a free sample.

Gday Barry, it's funny, what one bloke swears by, another isn't so rapt in. I used a roll of that gear at one stage, & IMO it was a little too hard, ie. wore well but broke a bit too readily. Admittedly, does depend a lot on what sort of work is being done as well. I tried a few but wasn't really a fan of any of the alternative shapes, ie. diamond, splined, twist, etc.

The best line I used was some stuff made by GB that had a tough core & a bit more flexible outer. It seemed a good balance for the contracting I was doing.

One thing with the nylon line, in hot conditions or being stored in a hot shed, it can dry out & become a bit brittle. This can be alleviated by soaking the whole roll in a bucket of water overnight. The line is marginally hydrophillic (correct term?? takes up a little bit of water) & the soaking makes it a bt less inclined to break.

Some rolls have a sponge in the middle that you can wet to achieve the same end.


Cheers.......................Sean

Originally Posted by scooter

Admittedly, does depend a lot on what sort of work is being done as well.

Sean,

One of the hardest tests for trimmer line is using it around a rabbit netting fence which I was doing and it is the only trimmer line that has gone the whole day without breaking once.

So I will be buying a reel to try it it out at least.

If you need/want to try a different head setup, the plastic Sthil manual feed is a durable trouble free unit. Can be supplied with different shaft adaptors so there is a good chance of getting it to match to your machine.

With regard to line, I learnt a long time back that line breaks of less frequently if has aged a bit, I always have two rolls on hand, one that I have had for at least 6 months that I am using, and another that I bought when I started on the working one, quietly ageing.

Also, if at all possible, try to keep the head at least a couple of inches away from anything hard, so that there is room for the line to take a gentle curve to the work, instead of forcing it into a sharp angle which will promote shear and snap the line off.

When I had my lawn mowing round I used an older model Shingu whipper snipper (thats still going despite being worked to death) wearing out a few bump heads. The only time I had trouble with line was initially when I used a cheaper thinner line that continually jammed in the bump head and was soon discarded, and when I wound the line the wrong way.

I eventuallly settled on Stihl Supercut line 2.45mm diam which looks very similar to the orange 100m pack in Barry's link.

A mate was going to make/adapt his manual feed head to take piano wire line but I dont know how it went.