Mechanics of:

Trimmer- A mechanical device used to cut grass and weeds in places that a conventional mower cannot.

A Weed Eater has 3 main parts:

1. The Mower
2. The Connector
3. The Engine

The Mower

The Mower is located at the bottom of the trimmer and performs the actual cutting of the grass. This section houses 2 main parts: The shield, and the cutter.

The shield's functions are too shield the user from being hit by flying debris as well as regulating the string length with a blade on the edge of the shield. When the string is propelled against the blade, it is cut to accomadate spinning inside the circular shield.

The cutters main function is to cut the grass, weeds, or other material it is guided to. It cuts by spinning either blades, or nylon string at a very high velocity in a circle, the velocity at which it travels can be altered via the connector's trigger.

The Connector

The Connector is located between the mower and the engine and is used to guide the mower segment to whatever place you want. There are 4 main parts to the Connector section: The Rod, the Handle(s), and the Trigger, and the Shutoff Switch.

The Rod is a long hollow metal tube that connects the mower to the engine, inside the tube runs the wires that link all the electrical devices together, as well as houses the drive shaft for the cutter. The rod can have different shapes, some are just a straight rod, which can be very rigid or very flexible, others at the mower end of the rod are curved downward to provide the user with comfort while strimming. The Handle is located about halfway up the rod and the trigger is either located halfway between the handle and the engine or on the far handle depending on the type of handle you get.

The Handle(s) can be in two different shapes, however, both perform the same function, to guide the mower in the correct direction. The more common shape is a circular hoop which can be used to control the mower with one hand. In this case the trigger is located halfway between the handle and the engine. The more expensive, yet more efficient handle is one that has two quarter loop extending from the rod, one left one right. This creates a "U" like appearance of the handles, in this case the trigger is locatd on the far handle.

The trigger's function is to control at what velocity the mower's cutter spins. The trigger can be a hand lever, in the case of a hoop handle, or a push button, in the case of U-Handles. The harder you pull on the lever, or push on the button, the higher velocity the mower spins, the more efficient the cutter works, and the more gas that is used.

The Shutoff Switch does exactly what is sounds like. It shuts off the mower. The Switch is located near the trigger and can be moved to two positions, one posistion will show some words, usually 'Off'. The other position shows no words. When no words are shown, gas cannot enter the engine, which keeps the engine from starting, or turns the engine off. The other position is Vice Versa, keeps the engine from turning off, however, flipping the switch will not turn the engine on.

The Engine

The Engine is located at the top of the Trimmer and is used to spin the mower's cutter at a high speed. There are many parts to the engine but only 2 are used: The Primer and the Pulley.

The Primer is a small button located near the pulley. This button is used to put a small amount of gas into the engine for immediate combustion when the pulley is pulled. This allows for a much easier start when you first get the trimmer out, and also after you have run dry on gas.

The Pulley looks like a string with a handle tied to the end of it. It looks like this because that is exactly what it is. The pulley is used to start the trimmer. The task of starting can be rather difficult, however, making sure to prime before starting it can help a great deal.

Operation of:

Now that you know the mechanics of a trimmer, you can successfully learn how to operate one. Here are the steps:

1. Check-Make sure the shutoff switch is not set to off
2. Prime-push the primer
3. Pull-pull the pulley with quick, hard, yet efficient tugs which extend the pulley to its max, it may take a few tries to get it started, don't give up!
4. Squeeze-Squeeze the trigger in order to warm up the engine, you'll hear the engine roar to life, when you hear this release the trigger
5. Guide-Move the mower section to the spot where there is grass and/or weeds, you may have to walk, the rod is not extendable
6. Squeeze-Squeeze and hold the trigger to obtain the desired speed while moving the head of the mower in a semi-circle fashion.

Purchase of:

The price of a trimmer depends heavily on the quality of the engine, as well as whether it is nylon string or blade based, grips on Handle(s), and size of shield. Another major price factor is brand name, stihl trimmers are much more likely to be less expensive that the john deere trimmers. All of these factors should go into account when looking to buy a trimmer.

A trimmer can be bought at nearly any hardware store such as Lowes or Home Depot. However, pricing trends seem to be Lowes is a better price the Home Depot. Pricing can prove quite valuable as prices can vary quite a bit from store to store.

Maintenance of:

The maintenance of a trimmer is not neccessarily all that much if you take care of your property. However, a few inevitable problems will arise. These problems include, but not limited to: Gas refills and String Replacement.

Gas Refilling appears to be a very easy thing. However, since there is no oil to refill, an oil-gas mixture must be used. The mixture of a trimmer is different for the different brands. However, the mixtures are all represented the same way. X:Y where X is the number of units of gas and Y is the number of units of oil. Therefore a 12:1 mixture would mean 12 units of gas should be mixed with 1 unit of oil, assuming the same unit is used for both.

Replacement string has proven to make refilling gas look like a walk in the park. The numbers of tries that must be attempted before a complete and successful restringing is achieved can not be counted, add that with the stress of being entangled in the string you are trying to string with and one can begin to understand what is going on inside the head of restringer. When you go to string a trimmer you must have the neccessary supplies: A piece of replacement nylon string about 2 meters in length and more importantly alot of patience. Here are the steps to succesfully replace string.

1. Remove the cap from the bottom of the cutter
2. push the button on the bottom and remove the circular disk
3. remove any small amounts of string left in the grooves of the disk
4. Take your replacement thread and double it up so that you have two equal length pieces connected at one end.
5. insert the connected side of the string into one of the slots between the 2 main grooves
6. spin the disk in one direction while slowly allowing the thread to wind up on both sides in the same direction
7. once you have wound most of the string leaving about 6-7 inches of each left, insert one of the strings into one of the upper slots take the other halfway around and insert it into the upper opposite the one the other string is inserted into.
8. replace the disk where you got it from and fix the strings into the little holes that the string is fed out of, make sure to not let it go or else the string will unravel itself completely.
9. replace the cap
10. WOOHOO, one successful restringing done, many unsuccessful to come

Protection from:

Trimmers can be very dangerous if necessary precautions are not taken. Hundreds of incidents of the old "that could poke your eye out" have come to life, an new incidents like "that could poke your ear out, leg out, and arm out" have also been created. When weedwacking most if not all of the below precautions should be used.

• Goggles or Protective Glasses
• Long Pants, preferrably jean since they will stop most flying debris
• long sleeve shirt to protect your arms
• Ear muffs to protect from flying debris as well as from the noise the motor puts out.

Advanced Trimming Technique(s)

Ok, we have all had the troubles of trimming, then having to stop, pull out the string, restart the thing, and continue which proves to be a rather large pain. Well worry no more, there is a way to feed new string without having to even stop the trimmer. Heres how. Simply as you are trimming, when you notice that the string has worn down a considerable amount, simply find a rock or other hard surface and tap the bottom of the cutter on the ground. Magic! An extra inch or two of string pop out for your immediate disposal. The technique has proved so useful, that the old technique of pulling out string by hand is now not even considered a technique! Now get out there worry free and without a doubt that you are an expert in weed trimming.

Now What?

Now that you have learned the mechanics and operation of a weed eater, as well as have gone out and bought one of these handy, affordable devices at a local foremention store. Get out there and hack down those hard to reach weeds with the ease and comfort of knowing what you are doing, why it is doing, why you did, and what did it.