Does anybody else remove the guard from their trimmer?

[spacemule]

Guard on-I hate getting a picked up rock in the shin . Excessively long line will also overheat an engine, especicially by a crew member who doesnt pay for the equipment :angry2: !

You will never get a rock in the shin if you cut with the side of the line going away from you--left hand side for clockwise rotation or right hand side for counter clockwise rotation.

 

[stihl sawing]

You will never get a rock in the shin if you cut with the side of the line going away from you--left hand side for clockwise rotation or right hand side for counter clockwise rotation.

True, but when swingin a brushcutter in tall grass and you have a lot of it to do you just don't think about how to hold the head all the time. I leave mine on, Have been hit a bunch of times with things.

 

[spacemule]

True, but when swingin a brushcutter in tall grass and you have a lot of it to do you just don't think about how to hold the head all the time. I leave mine on, Have been hit a bunch of times with things.

I leave the guard on as well. I still don't like getting grass on my shins though.

 

[extraspecialman]

I like the Stihl .095 line,and it will last twice as long with no guard on my FS250.I guess the loss of a few rpms just helps it last longer.In heavy grass or weeds,the guard just gets in the way,and just makes an anchor point for the tall grass to get wrapped around.For low grass that gets trimmed every week the guard just makes the line to short and you get a choppy look.Small trimmers like the FS 40 and 36 probably need the guard ,but if you know anything about trimmers or 2 cycle engines,you know when theres too much line

 

[scotclayshooter]

Tried the muffler modded 250 today and it likes to run a 20" diameter cutting circle and runs at 8450rpm 17" =8940 rpm and 14" =10500

now who is going to work out the tip speed at those rpms

 

[Dan Forsh]

Since this seems to be 'The' trimmer thread I hope nobody minds if I go a little off topic looking for some info.

I'm needing to change out the bearing in the the end of the gear head on my FS 360. How do you draw it out? I'm thinking that I will need to attach some kind of puller to the drive shaft/pinion and use this to pull the bearing out?

I have a ZS tool and was hoping this would be what's required but I don't have any kind of adaptor to attach to the shaft's left handed thread.

Help please

 

[spacemule]

Tried the muffler modded 250 today and it likes to run a 20" diameter cutting circle and runs at 8450rpm 17" =8940 rpm and 14" =10500

now who is going to work out the tip speed at those rpms

I quickly ran the numbers, so I may have made a mistake, but this is what I get.

20" at 8450 = 502.7 mph tip speed
17" at 8940 = 452.1 mph tip speed
14" at 10500 = 437.3 mph tip speed

That's assuming, of course, that the ratio of powerhead to cutting head is 1 to 1.

 

[extraspecialman]

tip speed actually sped up at lower RPM? Thats pretty neat

 

[Dan Forsh]

tip speed actually sped up at lower RPM? Thats pretty neat

Yep, that how it works, the tip has to travel further on a longer line so consequently it also travels faster for a given rpm

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Well I saw this thread a while back.....and when I bought my new metal blade for cutting brush I thought I might was well leave the guard off like you "professionals". The first tankful things were great and the brush blade really cuts through the little locust and honeysuckle bushes that are sprouting out of the old stumps left over from the clearing of the power line right of way on my property. Some of the trees are in an old fence row along the property line with my neighbor and it is too rugged to bush hog. The second tank of fule I must have hit an old piece of fence and something flew out and hit me in the shin big time....the kind of hit that swells instantly and makes you not want to look. This damage was done through my blue jeans.

I believe I am going to put the guard back on and see how well it works in the brush with a guard.......if this has hit me in the face I would have been in real trouble.

 

[shadow745]

I leave them off. Gives me a better view of what I'm cutting and lets me run the line longer. I currently use an old Sears Bushwhacker that my dad bought back in the early 90s and gave it to me. It's a 38cc beast and might be a bit heavy compared to most made today, but I haven't used anything nearly as powerful yet. Only revs to 6000rpm, but has buttloads of low end torque. The best trimming combo for it I've found is one of Husqvarna's heavy-duty universal bump feed heads filled with their Titanium .095 line. Without the guard in place I can bump the line out to 10-12 inches on each side and away I go. I haven't seen anything modern (that I have used personally) that can crank out the power like it can, but I'm sure some of the larger Stihl and Husky units will do it. I'm just maintaining it the best I can and hope it will last another 5+ years. A brushcutter in the same size and build quality will probably cost me $400-500, so I have to make it last. Later!

 

[Fish]

I just remembered this thread.......

 

[Nardoo]

I miss Andy.

 

[wishihadcoils]

I run my guard up higher on the shaft. still works, gives good visabilty, can run longer line. and if i hit someone or something with a rock, the guard is still in place, for insurance reasons.

 

[Fish]

I run my big echo with no guard, and run the big magnum kevlar line, have been doing so for over a decade.

 

[McCulloch1-52]

I never thought about it because They never start in my case and I like to leave them on because it it easier for me to start them I dont drop start them because it takes me 50 pulls to start them, I had one guard fell off I used it without a guard but I can't set it on the ground and start it later I convert it to Diesel.

 

[046]

blast from the past .. still running my FS250 without a guard but thinking of putting it back on for safety not for a lack of power or overheating. FS250 is a brute ..

have switched to a FS94R when I need a lightweight trimmer