Best string head for weedwacker?

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e9999

e9999

Gotta get out there...
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I have used a Craftsman heavy duty brushwacker for the last 20 years or so. Worked very well. I ditched the original bump-to-feed head on favor of a manual feed one heavier duty one. Pretty easy to load and feed but to extend the line you have to stop wacking put the wacker on the ground and twist the head. that's less great if the line breaks every 2 minutes. I don't recall the brand but it's orange, has a trilobe big screw in the middle and to feed you pull and twist the body.
Works fine overall but could be better.
One great thing is that it can handle 130 thous line which I like to use for my heavy weeds. Also it does not let go of the line so it's not wasting as much as some auto feeds.

I bought a Stihl FS110. More power and a beautiful unit but it came with a puny bump head, not very easy to load (a weird 2 level spool) and the bump feeding is iffy so I need a new head for it. Line is too thin on this. I don't think it can handle more than about 100 line or so.

Unfortunately my craftsman head won't fit on the Stihl. So I need a new head.

I can't use steel blades cuz of dry grass and rocks and fire danger.
Can't use plastic blades cuz of rocks.
I need heavy line cuz of thick weeds and would like the head to handle 130 since I have a couple years or more worth of line left of that. And with thin line I go through it way too fast. Wondering also if some of those bump heads don't get chewed up fast at the bottom when lots of rocks like I have.

So what have you found that works well? Aftermarket is fine of course but needs to fit the Stihl screw. Anything out there that can handle heavy line, has a reliable auto feed or easy manual one and just plain works well for hours at a time? Have not yet found the ultimate head. Have you and would you care to share?

TIA
 
e9999 said:
I can't use steel blades cuz of dry grass and rocks and fire danger.
Can't use plastic blades cuz of rocks.
I need heavy line cuz of thick weeds and would like the head to handle 130 since I have a couple years or more worth of line left of that. And with thin line I go through it way too fast. Wondering also if some of those bump heads don't get chewed up fast at the bottom when lots of rocks like I have.
Click to expand...

Well, crap.........I had all the answers until I read that paragraph. Pagin D'animal.....Dan?? Anyone seen Dan???
 
You do realize you are creating and causing your biggest problems right?

e9999 said:
The line breaks every 2 minutes.

One great thing is that it can handle .130" line which I like to use for my heavy weeds.

I need heavy line cuz of thick weeds and would like the head to handle 130 since I have a couple years or more worth of line left of that. And with thin line I go through it way too fast.
Click to expand...

You should only buy line that you plan on using this season. Over a period of time, line gets old and brittle while sitting on the roll. If you store it in sunlight it deteriorates faster. The end result is that it breaks very easy.
 
Good point about aging of line, but I wasn't saying that my line actually breaks every couple of minutes, that was a remark made about a drawback of manual feeding heads in general. The 130 roll I have is fairly new in fact and I do keep it out of the light. When I recall, I also spray some lube inside the head to help with feeding and to prevent burn at the eyelets.
Be that as it may, even new line does break more than I'd like given the nasty stuff I have to chop. That one thick woodsy weed in particular (don't know name), can easily get 1/2 thick of fibrous tough stuff. I wish I could use a metal blade but it's just too risky out here when it's dry. Which is why I want to stick with thicker line on the assumption that it lasts longer.
This is all ranch-type wacking of thick stuff, not manicured lawns.

I'm not against an auto feed head if it doesn't waste string, feeds smoothly, loads easily, can handle heavy line, and doesn't wear out too fast from bumping. Maybe that's too much to ask?

I'll look first at that head you suggested.
 
I like the bump heads even in the rocks, especially because they are easy to use for the employees. The Stihl autocut (or the T-35 for the husky) work great. As D'Animal stated, fresh line at the beginning of the season along with several bump knob/spools and covers. Oh, and the infamous spring (or two) that can't be found when they wear them down too far.
Fwiw, Stihl parts can be had the same day, others, plan on doing something else for a couple of weeks.
 
jts560 said:
I love the Shindaiwa "Speed-Feed" heads. They have adapters that work with any of the major brands. I think Oregon makes a clone of this head.
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wow, the feeding procedure on that head is amazingly fast and easy. Best one I've seen so far.
check out this youtube:
YouTube - Speed-Feed Trimmer Heads from Shindaiwa
and you can indeed get it with various adapters to fit a bunch of wackers.

nice tip! thanks. How is the bump feeding in the field?
 
that speed-feed unit is also sold under the Echo brand. (Looks like Shindaiwa and Echo are now under the same corporation.) Echo also has a slightly different version called U-turn.

And yes, have seen mention of it being sold by Oregon. And also Redmax.

Sure enough, if the bump mechanism works well, that is an attractive proposition indeed for fast field reloads. Only a fraction longer than the fixed string head reloads but much longer running.
 
D'Animal said:
You can get a manual feed head for your FS 110 similar to the one you use on your craftsman. It is called a Trimcut 31-2 and comes with .105" standard.
Click to expand...

thanks, will check that one too.
 
measured the threads on the head bolts of my trimmers if that helps anybody:

Stihl 110: 10x 1mm
Craftsman 32cc Brushwacker: 3/8 x 24
Antique IDC: 10x1.25mm

all left-hand, of course. All males.



hmmm..... there is a fair length of splines showing on the Stihl bolt. Don't want to damage those. I think the universal heads handle that with a thick washer but that may be iffy... Need to check that more carefully.
 
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I've heard some crews use big zip-ties instead of string, just carry a bundle and zip a new one on as needed. Not sure if that's economical, but apparently it works. This was in San Juan or Santo Domingo.
 
Use the head that takes the ~8-10" lengths of string that you just slide into the holes on the outside of the head. You will break it off on rocks and stuff but it takes about 10 seconds to slide a couple new ones in...
 
The "Rapid Loader" type heads work great up to .105" line cutting normal lawn grass type vegetation.

'74 UA FJ said:
Use the head that takes the ~8-10" lengths of string that you just slide into the holes on the outside of the head. You will break it off on rocks and stuff but it takes about 10 seconds to slide a couple new ones in...
Click to expand...

When using .105" or 130" in heavy vegetation the line flies out. The locking mechanism is not built strong enough for that diameter line or the constant pulling/jerking of the line.
 
The guy in the only -unfortunately- Stihl dealer in town didn't know much about what he was talking about -unlike our own D'- but at least I had a look at some of the heads. Odd that Stihl does not have a "rapid loading" auto-feed head of some sort, btw. Just about every pro is raving on the web about that Shindaiwa Speed-feed head that JTS suggested.

Anyway, the Fixcut has this short Uloop type system which should help prevent the line bits from flying off. And looks very rugged, some aluminum alloy it seems. I may well get one. But not as fast as pushing a bit of line straight in an eyelet. The problem in general with all heads that take short bits of line, IMHO is that 1) you got to stop everything to reload: Stop the engine, take the harness off, put down the engine on a safe spot of dirt or rock, go to the end, put the line in and then reverse. Given how often my lines break that is an issue. 2) Plus you end up wasting about half of all the line used.

I'm first going to go back and try again with 105 or 95 and see how that works. Maybe I'm just using the 130 wrong given that a lot of pros seem to be fine with 105. But likely my weeds are just too thick for thin line altogether. (And btw, I'm soaking my line in water before use to help prevent brittleness.)

But if that washer bit on the Speed-feed works to protect the splines on the Stihl bolt, I'm trying that head too.

Damn, looks like I may end up with 4 or 5 heads still...

[rambling mode temporarily off... :) ]
 
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