With the arrival of summer, many homeowners are concerned with knitting with how to put the knife on the trimmer. Equally relevant are the issues of why and when it is advisable to replace the fishing line on the mowing head with a more durable cutting element. In our article, we will try to make out all this and give useful recommendations to summer residents.
Why do I need to put the knife on the trimmer?
It is most convenient to use a trimmer with a cutter mounted on it for a more comfortable mowing of high and hardened grass in the country. The line on the trimmer in such cases can not cope. Thin very quickly breaks. The use of a thick 23 mm cord or improvised rods with cables causes the vegetation to wind on the spool. It increases the load on the engine. As a result, the piston group and other moving units of the unit wear out very quickly.
If the mowing of weeds to produce an electric trimmer without a knife, only one line, even if thick with a curved section, the problem is not solved. There is always a risk of overheating the motor and disabling the flexible shaft. And it’s all a big torque electric motor. Grass spooled on the spindle creates strong resistance to the shaft, resembling a speedometer cable that does not stand up and twists.
To protect the equipment from premature wear, manufacturers have made it possible to install special knives on trimmers. The design and shape of existing cutting elements make it easy to cope not only with coarsened and overgrown grass but also to successfully deal with the young shrub.
What knives to put on electric and petrol trimmers?
Before you buy and put on a trimmer knife, find out what they are and in what cases apply. Today, manufacturers offer the consumer a large number of types of these consumables.
In general, the entire cutting tool intended for cutting grass can be classified:
- According to the type of material from which it is made;
- According to the shape of its cutting blades.
The main material for the manufacture of trim knives can be plastic or metal. The use of such consumable items largely depends on two parameters:
For safety reasons, manufacturers do not recommend putting steel knives on electric trimmers. Practically all motorized mowers operating from the electrical network and the battery are completed with plastic blades. Depending on the manufacturer, they can be a solid disk-shaped design, with several blades or in the form of a special mowing head providing for the installation of removable plastic blades.
Straight bar on the gas trimmer and curved on the electric
Putting a metal knife on the electric trimmer does not allow its design features.
- The curved bar of the unit reduces the distance from its working part to the feet of the mower. In the event of a blade colliding with a stone or other hard object, the scythe is dropped to the feet.
- The high torque, which we mentioned above, in the event of a collision of a metal knife with a solid object, transfers a large load to the flexible trimmer shaft and its motor. What causes their premature failure.
- The arm of an electric scythe most often does not have a restrictive strap playing the role of an emphasis. That does not exclude injury to the feet.
It is these features that allow using exclusively plastic knives on trimmers with electric motors. When confronted with an obstacle, the blades are destroyed, thereby protecting the mower’s feet from possible injury.
Plastic knives do well with overgrown and dry grass. They can mow nettles and stalks of burdocks.
The use of metal knives only on gasoline trimmers is also due to design features.
- The straight construction of the bar increases the distance to the legs, which provides the mower with complete safety.
- Convenient U-shaped and J-shaped handles allow you to hold the tool firmly. D-shaped trimmer handles are equipped with a stopper resting in the leg of the mower, which does not allow the head to be allowed near the legs when meeting the cutting disk with a solid obstacle.
- The clutch of the gasoline engine allows you to gain momentum to the optimum level smoothly. And when a blade collides with a hard surface, it can extinguish part of the blow.
Thus, gasoline trimmers with a metal knife installed are best used in large areas. They successfully cope not only with hardened grass, weeds, burdocks and nettles but also with shrubs, as well as young trees.
The shape of the blades of the disc placed on the trimmer does not affect the quality of the work performed. Speed does not depend on them either. Triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular shapes are all marketing moves of manufacturers.
If you plan to make hay, it is best to put knives with a large number of blades on the trimmer. Pay attention to the discs with eight teeth or discs with four large blades and four additional blades. Two and three-blade knives will chop the grass.
How to put a knife on the trimmer?
Putting a knife on the trimmer is not so difficult. The manufacturer completes his tools with a special pin that allows blocking the gearbox and a key with which the spool with fishing line is unscrewed. The most important thing to observe when changing the cutting elements of safety instructions and assembly sequence disassembly.
The algorithm for installing the knife on the trimmer is as follows:
- Remove the protective cover;
- Lock the drive. For this it is necessary to combine two holes. in the shaft hub and in the gearbox cup. After their combination we insert a pin into the holes;
- Unscrew clockwise from the hub with a spool with fishing line or nut that holds the boot (if the trimmer has not been used yet);
- Next, install the cutting knife, so that the slots on the washer of the hub coincided with the notches in the hole of the cutting disk;
- Install the boot;
- We tighten the fastening nut (counterclockwise) while holding the locking pin;
- Tighten it using a tubular key;
- We return to the protective cover.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated. Now you can safely begin to mow weed on the site.