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McCulloch Strimmer Line |
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| message from Frank P on 20 May 2004 |
[Note crossposted to uk.d-i-y,uk.rec.gardening]
I have an old 28cc McCulloch Strimmer (without brushcutter attachment)
and I'm getting really tired of having to replace the line, and the
'bump feed' has never worked since day one so I'm forever having to
stop to feed out more line from the spool.
So, what's to stop me (other than for safety reasons) from replacing
the plastic line with say, stout steel wire?
Pros & Cons?
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| mike ring replied to Frank P on 20 May 2004 |
I use Oregon Starline (2.4 mm) which has a star x-section with sharp edges
and is very tough.
It worked so well I fitted it to my Flymo electric strimmer, (took a bit
of butchery) and it completely transformed that
mike
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| Chris replied to Frank P on 20 May 2004 |
: [Note crossposted to uk.d-i-y,uk.rec.gardening]
:
: I have an old 28cc McCulloch Strimmer (without brushcutter attachment)
: and I'm getting really tired of having to replace the line, and the
: 'bump feed' has never worked since day one so I'm forever having to
: stop to feed out more line from the spool.
:
: So, what's to stop me (other than for safety reasons) from replacing
: the plastic line with say, stout steel wire?
:
: Pros & Cons?
:
Nothing AFAICS, when I worked for.... when I was employed by the council,
all our strimmers were adapted/fitted with steel cable, line trimmer part
removed of course.
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| Richard replied to Chris on 20 May 2004 |
I expect that, as responsible employers, the council insisted that all the
operatives wore the appropriate protective gear and of course they have
adequate levels of third party and public liability insurance. As a thread
in a DIY NG I would have thought what a public body does or does not do is
not really appropriate.
Richard.
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| Jb replied to Richard on 20 May 2004 |
I actually tried this but the steel wire kept breaking and the machine damn
near shook itself to bits from vibration. Getting the wire to be EXACTLY the
same length each way is more difficult than you would suppose. I even tried
flexible steel wire to try and prevent the breakages but the imbalance was
even worse.
One more thing, the clutch has now died. Whether through old age or the
strain of my experiments I don't know but finding a new part is proving
difficult to say the least
Jb
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| SteveRoche replied to Chris on 20 May 2004 |
Huh, I have a McCulloch leaf sucker - and boy does it suck. Its
broken, so I take it to the repair man who informs me its a cheap DIY
thing and consequently the spares needed to fix it just aren't
available. His advice - bin it and buy a decent one.
Steve...
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| The Natural Philosopher replied to Frank P on 20 May 2004 |
I am also interested in the answer to this.
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| Richard replied to The Natural Philosopher on 20 May 2004 |
Looks like a case for a bit of DIY experimentation to find out the life
expectancy of the steel wire.
I would guess that the failure mode would most likely be from fatigue
fractures bought about by the bending of the wire while it is doing
effective work. The kind of wire selected would make a huge difference to
the results. One example could be steel locking wire which copes well with
bending stress but would abrade fairly quickly. Another would be to try
stainless steel to which the opposite may apply.
However I will stick with the standard nylon line as the thought of steel
wire fragments leaving the cutter at high speed fills me with horror. One
could on the other hand make use of a brush cutter attachment :-))
Richard.
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| Ian Stirling replied to Richard on 20 May 2004 |
I expect that thin steel cable will last much, much longer than wire.
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Archived message: McCulloch Strimmer Line (UK DIY House Renovation)
