Welcome to this blog about these marvelous machines that make weed cutting a breeze and save you endless hours doing it the hard way or using dangerous poisons to eradicate weeds in your garden. Weed eaters are known by a number of names, but are more correctly named string trimmers (shortened to "strimmers" in the UK), brush cutters, weed cutters, bush cutters and weed whackers!
The device is basically a hand held engine that rapidly rotates a tough duel nylon string housed beneath a safety guard at the end of an elongated pole. It is used by bringing the rotating string to the weed and letting it slice through the plant, chopping off the growing stem.
How to Use a String Trimmer
Using a string trimmer (weed eater) is fairly easy, although it is recommended that an adult operate it. It is operated by moving the running machine, with the nylon strings spinning at a fast speed, in a slow arc along and just above the ground. This way, a wide swathe of cutting can be done in a fairly short time.
Although the strings will not cut through tough wood or very tough, thick green stems, they will deal with most thinner weeds. From a safety aspect, the strings will not cut deeply through human limbs (as with a lawnmower blade), but they can still cut skin and leave a wound, so care should be observed at all times.
Different Types of Weed Cutter
There are some different types of this machine, although they generally fall into three categories of weed eater:
- Gas powered
- Mains electric powered
- Batter powered
Let's expand on these three main types of bush cutter:
Gas Power Cutters
The gas powered cutters are the most powerful and are useful for large expanses of land and in places where there is no direct access to an electricity power supply. They are generally powered by a small two stroke gas engine which runs on a mix of regular gas and two-stroke oil.
They come with the standard nylon string cutting attachment plus several steel cutting blades designed for different tasks, such as regular tough grasses and weeds, thicker woody stems and even branch and young woody bush and tree stem cutting. Extra care must be observed when using steel cutting blades as they are capable of cutting through limbs.
Electric Powered Cutters
These are best suited to the gardens of residential homes where the long power cord can be attached to a domestic power outlet. They are perfect for dealing with most garden weeds, cutting grass in awkward places where a regular lawnmower can't access like steep banks for example.
While these models have an electric cable, the nylon cutting string will not sever the cable if they come into contact with it. This is an important safety feature that allays the fears of people who use an electrically powered lawn mower, where in that case the cord can be severed and bring the risk of severe electric shock to the operator.
Battery Operated Weed Eaters
These devices are perfect for dealing with weeds and grass in awkward locations where an electricity power outlet is not readily available. They are powered by a rechargeable battery housed in the upper section with the electric motor and will provide over an hour (depending on model) of run time at maximum revs.
These are perfect for people who don't want to be connected to the mains supply and have to deal with trailing a power cord with them as they go. They are also perfect for smaller, remote areas of land.
As this blog gets going, I'll review several of the best battery powered string trimmers along with some gas and mains powered models for contrast. Stay tuned!
