Weedeater Guards or not?

[1Cleancut]

Been in business about 4 mos... I have noticed many proffesional guys removing their deflector sheilds on all their weedeaters, does anyone have an opinion on the pros/cons of doing this. I haven't done it yet because it seems like you would have problems with excessive flying debris and that the trimmer line would
tend to wear uneven without the shields knife edge...Thanks :help:

[Shane7258]

I would say guards on and wear a face mask in areas. Why the trimmers throw debris and you can bust your teeth. Looking cool or keeping your teeth? I will never take mine off.

[lawnandplow42]

I've had absolutely no injurys due to no guards on my trimmers. For eye protection i sometimes wear sun glasses.
Guards, IMO, are annoying and get in the way. It is easier without them. And i hate the knife that cuts your line. If my line gets too long i just grind it against a rock. That knife actually makes you use more line.
If your afraid of getting hurt leave em' on

[topsites]

I've had absolutely no injurys due to no guards on my trimmers. For eye protection i sometimes wear sun glasses.
Guards, IMO, are annoying and get in the way. It is easier without them. And i hate the knife that cuts your line. If my line gets too long i just grind it against a rock. That knife actually makes you use more line.
If your afraid of getting hurt leave em' on

I agree 100 percent, I tried it both ways and found:
- The silly little guard on a commercial weed-eater is like the mud-flap on a dirtbike: It doesn't stop much debris from flying your way, and it impairs your useful angle as it tends to lodge itself on rocks and sidewalks and other things. The easiest way to stop catching rocks with your teeth is practice, correct angle is key to this - Also, use Round-up on gravel driveways helps a whole lot because unfortunately you WANT to aim the debris towards yourself (just not directly at you).
- I like running a loooong line myself and find the knife impairs this. I run .080 and I like about a foot of line either side of head. Far as it getting uneven, the line constantly wears while weed-eating and the outer edges wear the most so the line stays even despite the missing knife. In addition, I agree with the above statement: The knife wastes more line AND you can always rub it off some against rocks or asphalt.
- For protection, I wear shaded safety goggles, Stihl sells these wide sunglass-like devices for about 7.99 but you can find other brands for less and yes, sunglasses work also BUT the goggles wrap further. The shaded goggles look cool, I would never get no geeky rubber-band with the holes in the side eye shield.

Besides, I love the danger, the risk... And yes, it does hurt to catch a pebble in the lip but you will likely catch this anyway, guard or not.

[stimpy]

I just picked up a 12 pack of safty goggles at sams club 22$ plus tax clear and tinted. just open up a box and mix them up.

[out4now]

Do you have employees? OSHA wants them there and insurance company will. Personally I find them bulky and annoying and take them off.

[TURF DOCTOR]

No guards on our trimmers some like em some don't you do what suits you.

[Gizmo_019]

Even with a guard I've been hit with stuff. Just today a nail that someone dropped off the edge of a sidewalk came up and hit the bill of my hat. I've been hit with rocks and such too. I usually wear wrap around sun glasses but I have seemed to misplaced them lately..... I have never tried it without a guard but if it saves string I'm all for it :cool:

[PLM-1]

Guards on...they're there for a reason! Would you take your windshield off your car?

[proenterprises]

I snapped the guard off an echo trimmer a few years ago when it was dropped. I picked it up, took the rest of the guard off and kept going.

Years later, I dont know how I ever worked with those stupid things on!

[DRM Ventures]

guards off, but i always wear safety glasses....... you can't replace an eye......

[C&KLawnCare]

I can not understand why so many want to take the gaurds off and . Burn up the engine , Their is more than one reason them gaurds , ohh hell with it if your stupid enough to take them off then telling ya why not to would be beating a dead horse .

Osha ever catches ya that may be the brain tune up alot of ya need , Hell why dont we just take a torch and cut the sides off the mower decks , :angry:

[DLS1]

I can not understand why so many want to take the gaurds off and . Burn up the engine.

What do you mean by burn up the engine?

I see you have mowed part-time for 3 years. How are those Craftsman and Murray mowers holding up. I started out with a Craftsman rider i already had and it lasted 1 year. Got all commercial equipment now.

[CamLand]

We remove the guards and spark arresters...

[C&KLawnCare]

What do you mean by burn up the engine?

Because with out the line limiter, Ya are always running out more line than designed , So slower speeds dragging all that line just creats more heat and stress on the engine .

I see you have mowed part-time for 3 years. How are those Craftsman and Murray mowers holding up.

My Mowers are doing just great runs everytime never miss a beat ,

I am getting pretty damn sick of this attitude about what diffrent LCO's run for equipment , IT DONT FRIGGEN MATTER THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING , Blade turns and grass gets cut .

[BJ 1000RR]

Personally I like the guards off because you can't see the line as good when edging with the weed eater, however you do have to be careful not to let too much line out because it does strain the engine. I just keep small cutters in my pocket for that, but you can dictate how much line comes out by how hast you spin the head when bumping the weed eater. I hope that was clear to all, but if you've ever used a weed eater you know what I'm saying.

As far as the kind of equipment you use, its all on preference and how much money you have to spend. They basically do the same thing some just easier or better than others. :)

[turtle]

The companys I've worked for in the past have always ran with the guards on. We mowed a 4 acre cemetary, 20 acre college, 10 acre estate,plus 15 residentials. We used to fill spools once a week twice at most if we edged sidewalks. Almost never took down any plants. The company I work for now no guards. Fill spools daily, can't get no rythm going, start making good time zip goodbye hosta,wires, siding. Just makes a disaster.

[DLS1]

My Mowers are doing just great runs everytime never miss a beat ,

I am getting pretty damn sick of this attitude about what diffrent LCO's run for equipment , IT DONT FRIGGEN MATTER THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING , Blade turns and grass gets cut .

I gave you a simple statement that I had a Craftsman rider and it gave out after one year and was curious how yours were holding out. I had to replace a starter,replace other items and then a spindle broke and that was the last straw for me. It also left a bad cut compared to a commercial mower.

I can image you have gotten several posts about craftsman is for homeowners so that is why you are angry. If something as simple as what mower you have angers you then you got a real anger issue.

How are you doing in the real world with your anger?

[Toy2]

Guards on, put on for a reason, if you have the $$ to repair damage then take it off. :)

[RedWingsDet]

lats year i took them off... I put them back on this year. It didnt get in the way that much, and my guys would aways tap it to much and the string would be a 2 feet long sometimes. Plus if you get pulled over by osha, with your guards off, your a$$ is grass.

[cleancutccl]

Definitely guards on, I know for a fact that on shindaiwa hand equipment if you remove the guards at any time you void your warranty. I didn't pay 300+ for each trimmer to have to pay more if something goes wrong with it. Besides, the guard hasn't gotten the way of anything that I need to do with the trimmer.

[C&KLawnCare]

I can image you have gotten several posts about craftsman is for homeowners so that is why you are angry. If something as simple as what mower you have angers you then you got a real anger issue.

No not really meaning that toward's you , Guess ya could say i get tired of all the scrub this scrub that post, And the majority thinks unless ya go into debt to your ass you can not make it , Well i know a few LCO's that has made it 7+ years using riders and 3 our still running to this day and they are the ones he started out with . 2 MTD's and a Craftsman ,

Plus just bored today my Fiance is in tennesee with her two sisters on a vacation trip and just missing her and knowing they got a long trip back this way comming tomrow ,

[topsites]

Because with out the line limiter, Ya are always running out more line than designed , So slower speeds dragging all that line just creats more heat and stress on the engine .



My Mowers are doing just great runs everytime never miss a beat ,

I am getting pretty damn sick of this attitude about what diffrent LCO's run for equipment , IT DONT FRIGGEN MATTER THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING , Blade turns and grass gets cut .

LOL, come and race my 30197 then. No but seriously...

Far as the limiter/line crap, I removed all sorts of crap off my srm-260s and here's the thing: http://atopqualitysite.com/lawnpics/Weedeater1.jpg

See where the spark plug connects, that is called a HEAT SINK and even without the plastic air-deflector which draws air through the sink, my trimmer is in its 3rd year and has trimmed well over 1,000 yards by now.
It does heat up some, you need to let it cool a little if you run it full throttle, you need to let off and let it run on a lower throttle setting for a few minutes every so often, but see with a commercial weed-eater like mine, you really do not NEED to run it full-throttle except maybe for brush clearing.

[topsites]

Guards on...they're there for a reason! Would you take your windshield off your car?

If the windshield was a flimsy 4-inch little strip of glass running over top of the dashboard, then yes, I would take it off since it doesn't stop anything from getting in my face anyway.
As things stand, the windshield on my car covers the ENTIRE area between the door-frame, dashboard, and roof so it stops EVERYTHING and constitutes part of the frame of the car, so no, I don't take it off.
I guess I would agree ultimately with this statement: Do what suits you best, this appears to be another one them endless arguments.
Lets make a list.
Endless argument list:
Mow and Trim OR Trim and Mow
Weed-eater guard or not
what's the other one, there is one other I seen is real persistent, help me out here.

[C&KLawnCare]

See where the spark plug connects, that is called a HEAT SINK and even without the plastic air-deflector which draws air through the sink, my trimmer is in its 3rd year and has trimmed well over 1,000 yards by now.

ROFLMAO , Yea ok heat sink , Ya damned idiot that is the cylinder with . Its a heat sink allright running that thing with out the shroud over that engine is going to blow it up in no time , I was born at night but not last night , Ive been a mechanic on small engines for 6 Yrs+ OMG i could just hear a parts supplier now call in and say Yes i need a heat sink for a Echo trimmer . ;) YOU NEED A WHAT SIR????? Only a Bone head would call the Cylinder/Jug a heat sink , His cheese has done slipped off the cracker

[lawnandplow42]

you really do not NEED to run it full-throttle except maybe for brush clearing.

true but its a good idea to run it wide open sometimes to keep the exhaust port clean so it won't clog up. happened to a few trimmers i've had

[C&KLawnCare]

true but its a good idea to run it wide open sometimes to keep the exhaust port clean so it won't clog up. happened to a few trimmers i've had

Not only that but running full throttle while triming as every Manual states , Provides ample air to keep the engine from suffering a heat stroke Unless ur topsites that takes the shroud off the engine. ;) Plus it keeps the clutch engaged tight.

[1Cleancut]

I appreciate all of your replies. You know, there obviously isn't a right way or wrong way to do this thing. And, I kind of expected the feedback to be more one sided. Thats Cool!!! Since I've got (2) Echo's, I'll take the guard off one, and see what works for Me... :blob3: