Line Strimmers-What Am I Doing Wrong?

Iconic

I have had three strimmers in the last 15 years.

The first one was great. A basic Black & Decker the line never needed replacing and it lasted 12 years.

The second was a mid range Flymo which only lasted a couple of years because I was spending more time replacing the line than I was doing strimming!

I got the third one last year,a top of the range Black&Decker dual line but I have already used the supplied line and 20metres of replacement line. Again I am spending more time replacing the line than strimming.

I am sure I follow the instructions for replacement line to the letter.

Has anyone got any advice ?

bottleblonde

I hate strimmers with a passion! I got through 3 in the last 2 years (granted they were the cheap ones). I've borrowed my ex's petrol strimmer for the brambles at the beginning of the season but found it was just too vicious for general use!

I planted a hedge about 80ft long last year and was worried about trimming round the fragile stems and decapitating the poor plants! Plus I'm very fussy about neat edges, so invested in a Bosch Isio re-chargeable trimmer this year (off eBay so cheaper than the shops). I use it rather like a hair trimmer, so can be a bit time consuming, but once I've started, it's a doddle. I've now bought a long handle attachment so I'm not on my knees all the time! I've got a pretty big garden, with raised wooden beds so a lot of edges, and it doesn't take too long to trim the edges, then go round with the mower and collect the trimmings.

Works for me

chihuahuabear

Are you strimming really close to concrete or something?

Iconic

Thanks for the replies.

On occasions I may have used the strimmer near to the ground but sometimes the whole line comes out even when I am using it correctly. This happened even with the line that was supplied with the strimmer!

Since posting I have done a bit of googling and found you could buy heavy duty strips to completely bypass the line feed. Unfortunately they do not apply to my model.

I then rang Black & Decker and asked them about the strips. After explaining my problem to them they said I might have been given a faulty spool when I bought the strimmer late last year. They are going to send me a replacement to see if that was the problem.

If it works I will be giving a gold star to the Black & Decker Technical Helpline!