What you can do with a trimmer

What is a grass trimmer and how to choose it

Today, almost every country or suburban area has a lawn or lawn with grass. It can be either a small or a large plot. A lawn is a great place to relax, and can also serve as a sports field for children, a field for soccer, etc. д. But it takes a lot of effort and time to keep it in order. These days there is a fairly large selection of all kinds of garden tools that help in the proper form to maintain the site. This can be a common lawn mower, they are used on large plots, and many other tools.

Not so long ago, manufacturers began to offer such a tool as a trimmer for grass. We can say that this tool refers to a kind of lawnmower and is a variant of the modern mechanized grass trimmer, it is also very often called an electric lawn trimmer. This design was invented in 1972. Thanks to its practicality and ease of use, it has quickly gained popularity among many owners of country houses and summer cottages.

Grass trimmer consists of a long boom, to which the engine is attached; the cutting takes place at the expense of the working head. Grass trimmer cuts the grass thanks to a special fishing line. Turning it strongly, the line forms a string and cuts the grass very quickly and cleanly at high speed. On a plot where many bushes and trees are planted, a lawnmower can do little to help, and the grass trimmer perfectly copes with hard-to-reach places due to its compactness, maneuverability and lightness. This practical and functional garden tool is indispensable for keeping green lawns tidy.

Types of trimmers their advantages and disadvantages

Grass trimmers are divided into several types: electric, gasoline and battery-powered.

Gasoline grass trimmers

Gasoline grass trimmers are equipped with powerful air-cooled engines. They require a special fuel, consisting of gasoline and engine oil, mixed in certain proportions. Correct proportions will ensure quality work and durability of the tool motor. Gasoline grass trimmer is considered a professional tool and is designed for large amounts of work.

  • Mobility. grass trimmer without restrictions can move in any direction, which makes the work convenient and uncomplicated.
  • High capacity. Large areas can be covered in a short period of time.
  • Power.
  • Comfortable and practical.
  • Exhaust emissions.
  • High noise and vibration level.
  • difficult to maintain than other types.
  • High enough cost.
  • High enough weight.

Electric grass trimmer

Electric grass trimmer has a cable, it must be connected to the power grid. There are electric grass trimmers in which the motor can be located either up or down. Top-mounted motor makes the tool more practical and handy, and can be operated in nearly all weather conditions. Lower motor location does not allow you to perform work in the presence of moisture, but many consider this tool more maneuverable.

  • Compact and handy.
  • Excellent maneuverability.
  • Low tool weight.
  • Virtually no noise and vibration.
  • Handy in maintenance.
  • Low power, not enough to cut through thick roots and branches.
  • Connected cable limits movement.
  • Practically suitable for home use.

Cordless grass trimmers

Cordless grass trimmers work thanks to the built-in battery, which requires regular charging, every 20-30 minutes.

  • Convenient and lightweight.
  • Virtually silent.
  • Maneuverable.
  • Mobile.
  • Requires no fuel.
  • Can be used in hard-to-reach places.
  • Have a low cost.
  • Always needs to be charged.
  • Have low power.
  • Suitable for small and low grass.
  • Suitable as an additional tool.
  • A small selection.

Basic designs

Trimmer head

It is the main cutting part of the machine. Mostly fitted with a spool of wire wound so that the two ends are free.

trimmer

Depending on reel arrangement, you can choose from 2, 4, 6 or more wires. The number of free ends of the wire is multiplied accordingly.

The trimmer head rotates and the high-speed moving wire “tails” cut plant stems and small branches. Power is transmitted to the spool by a shaft or cable from the motor.

Metal or plastic knives of different shapes and disks can be installed instead of the filament spools.

Head movement can be directly from the motor if it is located at the bottom of the tool or through a shaft inside the boom if the motor is located at the top.

Another exotic variant is rotation through a flexible shaft, when the engine is located in the backpack of the operator.

boom type

There are models with straight and bent boom.

In the first option, the rotation from the motor to the reel is transmitted through a system of reducer and stiff shaft. Gearbox can be single (top), or in conjunction with the bottom.

This device is common to almost all powerful gasoline-powered models and is considered optimal in its reliability and performance.

In the second case, when the rod is bent, the problem of rotational transfer from the engine to the line reel is solved by means of a steel cord. Gearboxes are usually absent.

This technical solution is most often found in small power, battery-operated or electric trimmers and is considered less reliable.

While choosing a brushcutter, please remember that models with a bent bar are used for the treatment of flat relief with a fishing line or plastic knives. The straight shaft allows to work on a rough terrain, to mow in small holes and ravines, using steel blades and circular saw blades.

For household or professional use

Starting to compare grass trimmers, first of all, determine the class of equipment. A distinction is made between:

Units for professional use, as a rule, work from a 2-stroke or 4-stroke internal combustion engine (gasoline), with its upper location. They are characterized by high power, productivity, availability of many attachments.

Domestic models are usually equipped with either a two-stroke gasoline engine or electric motor. Often this working unit has a lower location in the vicinity of the trimmer head. This includes all cordless trimmer models.

Although, among the units, working from the mains, there are a number of models, which are not inferior to the characteristics of benzokosa and belonging to the professional tool.

The choice of one class or another will depend on the planned intensity of use and volume of work.

If you need to trim a small front lawn once a month or mow the grass along a garden path, you know that a cordless or electric lawn mower will be enough. But if you need a lawn mower for example for making hay or for professional daily lawn and garden maintenance then it is certainly worth buying a powerful mower.

Care of the appliance

After the work done by the trimmer, it should be rinsed with warm water (if it is waterproof), and the nozzles should be thoroughly washed and completely dried. If the device cannot be exposed to water, you should clean the blades (not the zero nozzle) well with a special brush. It is rigid enough to easily remove the remains of hair inside the device.

You can also clean the blade slots (the narrow slots between them) with a cotton swab, t. к. there may still be shaving results inside. After you’ve finished cleaning, the shaver stays on for a second or two. This will help shake any hair residue out of the grass trimmer‘s insides.

Lubricate the device with oil both before and after shaving. This will greatly increase the longevity of the device, negating the chance of breakage or rusting.

Responsibility with the appliance is the key rule of trimming. Well-lubricated blades, daily cleaning, and proper shaving with the proper type of device are all key to an excellent grass trimmer. When it’s in order, shaving is a real pleasure. And shaving quality remains excellent.

Inspecting the lawnmower gearbox and lubricating it

Check the gearbox before starting the gasoline grass trimmer on a regular basis. No or little lubrication increases friction in the gearbox at quite high speeds. As a result, the gears overheat. Gearbox in a brushcutter fails. Regular inspection helps to prevent such a breakdown during operation.

If you find, before starting the gasoline grass mower, insufficient lubrication in the gearbox or its absence in the housing put “LITOL”. For this purpose it is necessary on a bend of the case of a gear to unscrew the screw and to fill with “LITOL” in quantity 1-2ml.

After every 8-10 hours of work with a gasoline trimmer add grease to the gearbox.

Preparing the right fuel mixture

Before you start with your new lawn mower engine, you also have to mix the correct fuel. As it is known for two-stroke engines, it is prepared from a special two-stroke oil and gasoline, taken in certain ratios. You can find out the proportions from the manual that came with the tool, or on the label of the lubricant. The manual also tells you the recommended type of fuel and the recommended type of engine oil.

Prepare fuel in small quantities, enough for one cut of grass. Use special canisters made of plastic or separate glass or metal containers for fuel. It is better to pour the oil with a medical syringe.

When getting ready to test drive a new lawnmower many people have trouble with the fuel mix. And the reason for this is a discrepancy in the tool manufacturer’s instructions and in the engine oil manufacturer’s instructions. The first ones recommend the proportion of 1:25. The latter recommends 1:50. Who to trust? What to do?

According to the specialists’ opinion, if the manufacturers state the ratio 1:25 or 1:30 in the instructions to trimmers, then most probably it’s either a cheap tool with bad cooling or the producer doesn’t know what kind of oil the customer will add. But here it is necessary to understand that too much lubricant does not have the best effect on the performance of the grass trimmer. Excess oil does not burn out completely when the engine is running. It cokes, clogging the cylinder and the piston.

What to do in this situation at running in of a new tool? The ideal solution is to buy the oil that the mower manufacturer recommends. In the case of running-in engines, when there is no possibility to buy the recommended oil, it is better to buy a good Husqvarna two-stroke oil for the same-name gasoline tools. It is not cheap, but it lasts for a long time. It is necessary to mix it in the way that is written in the instruction on the jar.

Remember, it is best to use the proportion that the oil manufacturer gives. But whether the proportion is suitable, which is written on the braid, it is better to find out by experimenting. If at the proportion recommended by the manufacturer of the trimmer for grass, the engine is snotty with oil and you can see the leakage on it, the proportion should be increased.

Hair clipper and grass trimmer for beard. Learn more about the device

Almost all grass trimmers have a similar design. They resemble a classic head trimmer. The differences are the smaller size and the self-contained operation mode.

The picture above shows a classic grass trimmer you can find at any electronics store. With such a device, it will be possible to take care of the beard. The autonomy allows you to do it anywhere. The product has a built-in rechargeable battery.

The most common option are home devices. Most of them are battery-powered and mains powered. Universal hair clipper suitable for both head and face hair. It can also have an interchangeable head to trim hair in the nose and hard-to-reach places. Professional machines are used by barbers and barbers. As a rule, they work only from the network and have a longer service life.

In order to choose the right product, you need to decide on two things: the budget and the tasks that need to be solved. For precise styling, it is recommended to buy products with additional functionality (precise additional trimmer for grass, additional laser aiming, vacuum container).

Selection criteria

To choose a product, you need to pay attention to the following characteristics:

It is worth noting that even budget beard clippers have a stainless steel blade. Also a selection criterion is the pitch of the nozzle. The more positions it can take, the better.

The hair-cutting attachment for moustache and beard has a height adjustment of the cut. there are 6 modes of operation from one and a half to thirteen millimeters. There are several beard trimmer attachments included: for trimming a full beard, for short vegetation, and for shaping three-day stubble. There is also a special comb for styling your beard. The shaving nozzle allows you to use the trimmer for the grass as an ordinary electric razor, there is a removable unit to work with the hair on the nose and ears, also has a design stand.

Model is equipped with a reliable battery that can work in standalone mode for about 4 hours. Minimal grass trimmer is capable of cutting 0.4 mm of hair.

How to choose a trimmer for grass: recommendations

Grass trimmers powered by finger batteries are more suitable for occasional facial hair trimming on a work trip or a short vacation. And if you plan to use it daily (for full beard grooming, for example), a model with a built-in battery is much preferable.

The life of the grass trimmer is affected not only by the quality of the battery and its proper use, but also by the quality of the mechanical blades and the material from which they are made. Remember also that some models of cheap trimmers will have to periodically lubricate the machine oil or even sharpen on their own.

Grass trimmer with a contour nozzle

As we’ve already noted, the ability to precisely adjust the shaving head (and therefore the length of the hair to be trimmed) is a feature that is extremely important for trimming facial hair, but not as critical for body hair. For trimming extra hair under the arms or on the chest, the cheapest model is enough.

Remember also that if you plan to use the grass trimmer exclusively for body hair, the wide nozzle will be much more practical and convenient to use. Trimmer for grass with a narrow width of the head is suitable primarily for trimming beards and trimming mustaches. for the same purpose, there are trimmers for grass with special contour attachments.

Electric grass trimmer for trimming body hair and trimming beards. an accessory needed by almost every man. Choosing the best model, first of all, pay attention to the function of adjusting the nozzle (this will set the length of the hair), as well as the ability of the device to work directly from the cord, not from the battery.

General safety requirements

In the first place, they apply directly to the worker himself. The use of personal protective equipment is highly recommended when operating a grass trimmer.

trimmer

Any grass trimmer creates a certain amount of noise during operation, especially the powerful two-stroke gasoline models. Therefore, to protect your hearing, use headphones or earplugs.

The use of special goggles is mandatory to protect the eyes against dust, pollen from plants or various solid elements (debris, stones) that can be thrown by the rotating trimmer head at high speed and for a considerable distance.

Tight gloves, overalls and boots will be very useful. They are optimal to protect small and large debris from the possible thermal effects of the heated parts of the unit during operation.

trimmer

Grass cutter requires special care before starting. Never carry out this process on the weight, holding the grass trimmer with one hand or on the fixing belt. Park the unit firmly on level ground, secure it with a knee or your hand and only then start it up. Before starting, check that the cutting attachment is not in contact with any object.

All starting steps, flap settings and the sequence of pressing all the necessary buttons are described in detail in the individual instruction manuals. It should only be noted that electric lawn mowers start with a push button, whereas for petrol lawn mowers this is done by pulling the starter handle.

While working with a trimmer, always try to hold its head in such a way that the trash and grass clippings fly away from you, not towards you. Try to find the appropriate angle for your height and build.

Take care not to catch the blade of grass with the power cable of the machine or the extension cable.

Operating procedure

With trimmers, there are four types of terrain treatment available.

  • Grass cutting. Is to accurately and sometimes only one at a time cut specific areas of vegetation. In doing so, gently and smoothly move the tool reel to the place where you want to cut the grass.
  • Mowing. as everyone knows, this is a process performed when working over large areas, and is usually done by moving the grass scythe in a wide arc.
  • a complete grass removal is achieved when the vegetation is cut almost to the root. If it is high, cut in stages, from top to bottom, so that the long stems do not wind up on the rotating spool.
  • Edge trimming of grass. it is most often used along garden paths. In this process, there is an increased rate of wear and tear of the line, as the frequency of contact with the non-vegetated surface is high.

Differences from a hair clipper

Both are necessary for grooming. However, the difference between them can already be noticed when you first meet them. The grass trimmer is lighter and smaller. It is needed to be always on hand, or to be used on the road. The hair clipper is a heavier appliance that doesn’t always fit into a travel bag. Of course, it can have a compact size, but in this case is endowed with a trimmer function.

Thanks to its impressive size, the machine can handle hair of any length and structure. But a trimmer can’t cut through tough, long hair. The exception is the models, which are equipped with a comb with a pitch of up to 21 mm. Such a device is needed to make beautiful haircuts. no worse than in a barbershop.

The trimmer’s cutting area is narrower than a manual trimmer. ideal for trimming finer jobs, like edging. The position of its blades is closer to the edge, which allows the device to cut almost at the base of the hair. As for ease of use, in many criteria, it surpasses the capabilities of the clippers machine:

  • It is easier to hold in the palm of your hand. The carefully designed ergonomics of the body allows you to shave or trim hair without putting too much strain on your hand.
  • The machine has disadvantages such as vibration and increased noise when removing hairs. The grass trimmer is less noisy, and its motor operates with virtually no vibrating motion.
  • Machine nozzles require constant lubrication, otherwise they begin to pull hair. Their “opponent” has a waterproof body, so after use it is enough to rinse it in running water.

The appliances can be interchanged, but this is not always ideal. Machine even without the use of nozzles leaves a significant part of the hair, that is to remove vegetation completely it is not possible. Lawn trimmers can be used to trim hair, but only in small areas. If you try to use it to cut the hair on your head, it will be too long and tedious. Therefore, the machines are usually not a replacement, but complement each other.

How a grass trimmer is different from an electric shaver

The main purpose of the razor is to completely shave stubble on the face. With its help, you can give yourself a well-groomed look, ensure a smooth and clean shave in the chin, cheeks, and under the nose. A grass trimmer, on the other hand, is needed to trim and shorten vegetation. With its attachments, it can shave hairs, but its main task is to model your hairstyle, creating precise contours and lines on your beard.

  • Due to its mechanical design, the grass trimmer has a larger size. In addition, it comes with many different attachments, so such a device takes up a lot of space on the shelf.
  • A razor does not offer as much functionality as its “counterpart. It can’t remove hairs from your nose or ears, or trim eyebrows, and it certainly can’t do intimate face painting. trimmers for the grass is needed just for this.
  • As in the case of the machine for trimming, grass trimmers are not as noisy. However, in recent years, manufacturers have gone to great lengths to negate the noise effects of electric shavers.

What device you need for grooming. trimmer for grass, razor or clipper, it is up to you to decide. trimmer for grass will not be able to fully replace its “brothers,” but it justifies the money spent unlimited possibilities for face and whole body care. You can save a lot of time and get perfect styling results from the very first trimmer moves.