The string trimmer is dead to me.
 

The string trimmer, as useful household equipment, is dead to me. As a thing I will buy, own, operate. Never again. They are a fraud and *never* correctly operate, even out of the box.

If they actually do start, they will fail to start on the second occasion they are needed. If they manage to stay running, they will operate until the first amount of string is gone, and then no amount of coaxing will get string correctly feeding. They are designed specifically to hit you in the face and over your entire body, painfully, with flying gravel, stones, muck, and weeds. They leak fuel, which is custom mixed for their little needs, because of their shitty little fuel delivery system. They cost too much and their function can be performed with better accuracy and zero fuel, with hand-held equipment.

Dead to me. Dead.

electric is what you need. electric.

LAWN SERVICE

I broke down and bought an edger. The (ELECTRIC) string trimmer is still great for trimming around the edges of walls & stuff where you can't get the mower, but the sidewalk just ran through too much string.

you're supposed to trim the grass, not the sidewalk

Ahh,, fence in yer yard and get some goats !!!

you get what you pay for and when it comes to string trimmers you really don't want to pay what you have to, even if you're doing it for money. Figure on spending at least $400. for a good trimmer.

right. if you have several acres to trim.

I put my last one out for trashman. Useless crap, besides killing your back.

Is this the same thing as a weed whacker?

yup

Get ypu one of these Bad boys , No more fule/oil mixing , Lots of goodys that fit on the end , oh and it is WAAAAYY Bad ass !!
Takes a sec for it to wind up But then DAMN !!!!!!

I have been working my way through the various cutting head options. I'm now on the little plastic toothy blades. Forget the Gator thing...the precut trimmer bits fly off too easy. Self feed original heads are for shit, and even if they work, are impossible to rewind.

Dammit!!! :smack: Couldn't you have told me that about 10 years ago??

Link?

We've got 1/4 acre but about 67,000 miles of edging. It's like the fucking fjords over here. it takes me longer to edge than to mow.

Oh noes! there's some blades of grass overhanging the sidewalk... a tuft of grass by the tree... another by the mailbox.
SO FUCKING WHAT? America, stop being so damn anal about the yard. :mad2:

In my neighborhood, the code enforcement people have very little to do. Despite illegal porches and balconies being built, occasionally collapsing and killing people, they go around and check to see if you have been diligent in trimming your lawn, cleaning the yard and making the place beautiful. And they're not shy about handing out citations, either.

I've already lost my temper at the asshole and threatened to FIND him something better to do if he didn't do it himself. From my yard, I see three major code violations, more in the papers.

So now I've had to hire a yard crew to do the work.
This since my string trimmer rusted and I can't get it to start. To it's credit, it always ran fine once it warmed up and I'd buy another (I will next spring). Tony, try Poulan and don't be cheap. Do your homework before you buy and check Consumer Reports, you can read it for free at B&N.

Always buy quality, you'll never be sorry. Good advice no matter what you apply it to.

Brian

Buy some manly tools and quit screwin around:

http://www.terratech.net/images/products/sff1700.jpg

Bravo!

This is what I use, about twice a summer, once the edges get over a foot or so. I spend maybe ten minutes on it each time. Perfect lawns are bullshit. My lawn looks 90% as good as a perfect lawn, and takes 10% of the work. You can get really close with the lawn mower.

Humph. Men! It's all weed-whacking, precision lawn-mower contests and fire pits with you all, isn't it? How 'bout some shoe shopping? Or lipstick samples or paint swatches?! HUH?

That's right. Always gotta be a warrior. Genetic.

I really don't need to do my own yard work. I was happy to outsource it to Bambi's Topless Landscaping service... but there was some irregularity with their township business license so they're not available any more. (For yard work at least.)

I could do that (I prefer Italian pumps, MAC cosmetics and powder blue) but I keep losing manhood points!

Sorry about the jiggy "blair witch project" vid. I must have been all jacked up on joe.

One of these days I am going to invent a trimmer that is part of a the lawnmower. I'm already there cutting grass, I have a whirling device to tap, plenty of deck space to mount a spool - all I need is a button on a cable that will release string when I've got the mower parked by a shaggy-based tree or fence line. Until then, I will just continue to edge in my usual lousy way and wish we could afford a service.

Maybe you should try waxing?

Nice tour! But you don't need to edge around the stumps, sandbox and slate. That tall grass there looks just fine.

Seriously!

It's a neighborhood thing - bunch of older retired folk who have lawn services while we have to do our own. They trim, so we have to. My passive protest takes the shape of not doing as good a job as I could, though.

No you don't, stop being a damn sheep. :headshake

If they're retired, why do they need a lawn service? They should be out there on their knees with their tweezers and scissors.

I like the way you think HLJ. In fact, when they are done with their lawn they can come over and tweak mine while I'm at work :0)

They are retired mayors, bank presidents, college presidents, etc. Get dirty on their own lawns? :right: I trim the lawn but only when the weird tendrils of whatever-it-is overgrow the driveway by 6-12 inches.
And if I was a damn sheep, I'd graze the lawn instead of trimming it! :D
After 4 years in a condo I rather enjoy working outdoors, so~

Good for you sweetwater - I don't have those types in my neighborhood though. Wish I did.

Think the idea is already taken...but if you get a prototype going, show a pic!

I think that's an important note. Some people actually enjoy doing this yard detailing, being outdoors, being busy, being out of nagging earshot, being not able to do the rest of the honey-do list 'cause I gotta edge the lawn, etc.

My problem is when these people start ragging on others, that actually have better things to do... like a life. ;)

OMG, THOSE GUYS. The environmental enforcement division of the city. I've run into them before and they are assholes. They'll give you a ticket for weeds. They'll give you a ticket for leaving a garage sale sign out overnight. Petty powerless powermongers.

BTW, I say get rid of your lawn and plant vegies!

I fixed their little red wagon once already. Need it done again?

If he was a sheep, he wouldn't need to trim. Or edge.

ETA: Oh, he said that...

If sweetwater was a sheep, sweetwater would be a ewe, not a ram.

I had forgotten about this thread. When I saw the mention of mounting a string trimmer on a mower, I thought, "Hey, that's my idea!":o

Oh. You type like a man.

When I was a kid, these are the precision tools I had to use for yard maintenance (for punishment):

Like ladies who like baking.
Whether they are stay at home mums, or simply like to bake in their time off. Lovely, absolutely fine. It's when they come into the office and mention that so-and-so had a [gasp!] shop-bought cake for their child's birthday! Said in the same hushed tones as if the kid had got an eighth of weed as a present.

No.
Get down off your high horse.
Anyway, I tasted your cupcakes and I know they don't bring all the boys to the yard :right:

It's funny, Sundae, because I think in the typical group of American mothers you would instead get the whispered snarking that so-and-so had [ugh!] baked her own cake--the big showoff.

yeh that blade cut both ways - you're damned either way. The only issue is which set of women are whispering... fuck 'em all.

'Doh! :smack: Caught speeding by the dang punctuation Gestapo!

Sorry about that officer…I was in a hurry to get home, my wife is ovulating.

AND I just saw HLJ’s comments about tweezers and scissors…sorry there as well, no intention of piggy-backing your post. I saw UT’s first post and was instantly transported to a scene from my youth. I just had to put together the pic without first reading through all other posts! :blush:

I always bake the kids' birthday cakes. I think people find it quaint :lol:

My mom always did, but then always wondered why, as kids generally don't appreciate the difference.

I used to bake them myself out of a box because it was cheaper. Then I baked them myself from scratch because there were no store-bought options. Then I sculpted them myself out of fruit because there were no options at all. But next year, I hope to be back at baking them myself from scratch again.

I'm using a packet mix for Mum's (cooking on Thursday)
Ssssssssh!

But I'm making choc-fudge, and Mum is so proud of her own chocolate cake...
I never really got it, but everyone in memory asked for the recipe. So I thought I'd best give myself every possible advantage - especially as our scales are so woeful. She's getting digital scales from me as a present. Esp as it is a present for both of us (they are accurate enough to use for working out postage too - hurray!)

One thing I forgot - we all felt gypped if someone brought in homemade cakes for their birthday when I worked in an office. But when I made my own for school this year I was universally admired. If I'm still there next July they'd better hold onto their seats, because I'll be going all out with American style cupcakes. Still SO much cheaper than buying them and my goodness the fun I can have now I've discovered edible glitter...

A lot of people these days think making a cake from scratch is mixing up a box of Duncan Hines. Mrs. Z makes a really great carob cake from scratch for me occasionally 'cause I can't have chocolate. I often have to explain the difference to people when I'm bragging on her. Plus it's getting harder to find cake flour.

String trimmers are a one time use only tool.

I don't know that for sure so don't hold it against me. Thought I'd comment for the hell of it.

I like my string trimmer. It works reliably and well.

I make a mean angel food cake with a lemon glaze, and an awesome carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I don't bother with cakes out of a box. They suck and aren't worth eating.

Brownies out of a box are awesome though. I don't know why anyone would make those from scratch. The mixes are so good and easy.

Me too. I do most of the yard work at our place. I enjoy it, although the big boys do help with the trimming and mowing, but pretty much all else is my domain.

My next aquisition will be a hedge trimmer.

I also like to bake and haven't used a cake mix since I was a child. Brownies are so easy to make from scratch anyway, although there are some good packet mixes I've tasted before.

What is wrong with you people??? ;)

Oh and Sundae, I have a really easy cupcake recipe that never fails. Let me know if you want it. :)

For my pre-birthday Still 39 party, I baked 4 cakes -one chocolate, one coffee, one lemon/orange and one purple vanilla. All from scratch. :yum: Took about two hours.

I like my string trimmer, but it's knackered.

full of win.

This thread is making me dizzy.