Stihl Trimmer Heads Wearing out

[dtelawn]

The last couple of months I have been through 6 inserts and 2 caps on my Stihl trimmers. I have approx 105 service visits a month. 70 of them are commercial and they are edging and trimming a lot of concrete. I know that wears them faster, but I am spending way too much on these parts.

I am very happy with the performance of Stihl, but buying the parts is starting to eat profit fast. Any one else have this issue?

[The Rookie]

sounds like your crowding the head into obstacles. My fs 90 does the same thing if I beat and bang them into tight spaces that are metal or concrete.

[redmax fan]

are you bumping the heads on concrete to feed string out ,
and also maybe letting the heads hit concrete when trimmimg
concrete . if so thats doing it . i never bump my head on concrete ,
only grass . and when trimmimg concrete i dont let head hit it

[The Rookie]

redmax man, I cant figure out how not to scalp area when I tap my head on grass. sometimes Ill bump on top of a tree root or similar object nearby. If I tap it soft enough not to scalp the grass it will not feed. Sometimes I think about grabbing it and doing it manually but that would get old.

[redmax fan]

redmax man, I cant figure out how not to scalp area when I tap my head on grass. sometimes Ill bump on top of a tree root or similar object nearby. If I tap it soft enough not to scalp the grass it will not feed. Sometimes I think about grabbing it and doing it manually but that would get old.

- say im moving to my left trimming a curb and string gets short ,
i'll do a 360 degree turn to my left bumping the head on a different
spot each time til ive turned all the way back to where i stopped
trimmimng . i never bump in same spot twice

- and ive also started cleaning all dirt out of head / cap / spool ,
then spraying the inside of head and cap , plus entire spool
with cheap furniture polish then letting dry before reassembly .
i do this once / twice per week . this helps the string feed out way easier .

- and i also look for grassless spots of hard dirt to bump on .
and like you i at times will hit tree roots or say landscape timbers , or sides of trees / telephone polls

- and many guys have told me swap out my redmax head for a shindaiwa speed feed and that they feed out very easily . with them the entire head is the button , not just a little center button like on a redmax / stihl / etc

- you can spray your string too with the furniture polish to make it more slippery getting out of head

[Stillwater]

6 heads and 2 caps in 2 months 105 service visits a month. you should be getting well more than a year out of a stihl bump head. and you say the last cupple of months? what changed from before? Becouse the issue is certinly not the bump head.

[White Gardens]

A trick I learned when I worked for a large service, was to take large diameter steel washer and use a good epoxy and stick it to the bump head. It makes them last a long time before replacement.

Only once did I ever wear down the washer and made it come off. All it does is spin it off without throwing it.

[Ford4Ever]

my redmax trimmer has a metal insert in the spool where it gets bumped, idk if it helps or not but it might be something to look into

[packey]

are you using the trimmer or is an employee. We get about 6 months out of a hood button insert and will replace the head maybe once a year. I weedeaters run all day long they do not get truck time like most. If you are wearing heads that fast it sounds like you are letting the button ride on the ground or pavement while trimming. Howver I can not say for sure because I am not their.

[dtelawn]

Stillwater, the change is that I do not trim as much as before(my help does most of it.) He does not have the experience I do but I still think this is excessive wear. As far as bumping it in grass, that makes a good cut look horrible. I have always used harder objects, curbs, ect to bump. Are there any other heads that will fit the Stihl trimmers. My worker does a pretty good job trimming. He does not scalp much and generall trims at the same height I cut at so I know the head does not run completely on the ground.

[nosparkplugs]

you should be getting more life out of the spools & caps, I make sure my guys tap them on anything but concrete or turf. I have used walls, tree's anything but concrete.

As far as the Redmax weedeaters go their JUNK total POS, nothing Redmax makes has ever held a candle to a Stihl FS250R. Whats a steel insert on a Redmax spool, when their trimmers are junk.


The last couple of months I have been through 6 inserts and 2 caps on my Stihl trimmers. I have approx 105 service visits a month. 70 of them are commercial and they are edging and trimming a lot of concrete. I know that wears them faster, but I am spending way too much on these parts.

I am very happy with the performance of Stihl, but buying the parts is starting to eat profit fast. Any one else have this issue?

[dtelawn]

I don't want to bump them on concrete, but I have 23 Commercial accounts that are full of curbs(Restaurants) I encourage them to do the same as you, but most of the time there is no other option. I recently pulled the guard off the trimmers and hope keeping the line a little longer will help.

[nosparkplugs]

What trimmer line are you using, a high quality non OEM line works far better than what Stihl offers, that will increase line life. We use the .095 Oregon Square Magnum co-polymer line with Arimid/Kevlar Reinforced core wears like steel, reduce's tapping out the line or great spool head & cap life. I replace three spool heads before a cap goes bad too.



I don't want to bump them on concrete, but I have 23 Commercial accounts that are full of curbs(Restaurants) I encourage them to do the same as you, but most of the time there is no other option. I recently pulled the guard off the trimmers and hope keeping the line a little longer will help.

[dtelawn]

I run the Stihl X line. It seems to hold up well. I am afraid to say a lot to my worker because he has struggled a little with quality trimming and lately has been doing great. I hate to ask him to change anything and quality go to crap.

[nosparkplugs]

Holding up to what??? Man that Stihl X line is JUNK:cry: Vs the Oregon square Magnum:clapping:. Your guys will love a better line, it will help production, get the same thickness they will thank you:)


I run the Stihl X line. It seems to hold up well. I am afraid to say a lot to my worker because he has struggled a little with quality trimming and lately has been doing great. I hate to ask him to change anything and quality go to crap.

[dtelawn]

where do you buy or order it from

[nosparkplugs]

I have a local dealer whom stocks it, so I have never had to order it myself. Try one of our site sponsors


where do you buy or order it from

[dtelawn]

thanks, I may look into that.

[Stillwater]

I run the Stihl X line. It seems to hold up well. I am afraid to say a lot to my worker because he has struggled a little with quality trimming and lately has been doing great. I hate to ask him to change anything and quality go to crap.

I know exactly what you mean by this.... but you still should be able to watch him and offer helpful info to him so as to prevent equipment abuse. He needs to stop trashing your equipment right now.

Their is a bottom line hear... though strictly from a business management perspective. It doesn't't matter if he is a great trimmer where the quality of his actual work is great, he is a lousy operator and you need to realize this and step in and train him in the proper use of this tool. I only say that because as I write this I am thinking about how aggressive I would have to get to trash a bump head on one of my stihl trimmers let alone several of them. I would look like a idiot on the job.

You cut the guy enough slack after the second bump head, Now you need to decide if you respect your equipment enough to put a end to this BS. I don't want to sound like a hard asss their are ways you can address this in a positive way with him.

[ed2hess]

I can hardly believe that a Stihl head can be worn out in that amount of time unless when he trims along concerete he lets the head ride on the concrete. I am an Echo diehard but have run enough of those heads to say they are bullet proof. And the good thing with the guard off it is hard to get too much line out.

[dtelawn]

Today I mentioned to him that WE needed to see if there was anything could be done to help save these heads. He seemed to understand and take it as the way it was intended to be. Later in the day we were on a place that required me to trim a little also. After a few minutes I found a sure fire way to cause the problem. Being that I am now running without the guards and was letting the line come way out I realized that one side was hrdly feeding and eventually stopped. I pulled the cap off and discovered that he has been winding the line very tight. This would cause him to constantly bump to feed the line. He will be with me again on Wed, We will have spooling 101 that morning.

[justanotherlawnguy]

Buying bump heads is eating so much into your profits that it is actually a problem! If that is the case, you have bigger problems than the life span of a couple of trimmer parts.
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[ancjr]

Never wore out a bump head, but the furniture polish idea sounded good. Didn't have any furniture polish, so I used Break-Free. Little squirt on a paper towel. Wipe down head, spool & cap, wipe entire length of string. Never had the line feed so nice as it does now. Keeps a lot of the guacamole from sticking to the head as well.

[cspurr]

Been running FS75 for years... "knock on wood"...but NEVER wore out a trimmer head. When we can...we trim AGAINST the concrete, meaning we don't run the feed mechanism (bumper feed) over the concrete...we find this is smoother, faster, and an overall cleaner cut. Not to mention easier on the polymer plastic...

I love the FS75 trimmers...one of, if not the best all-around trimmer EVER made in my opinion - EXTREMELY RELIABLE - but of course, as with all GREAT EQUIPMENT...they don't make it anymore. I wish I would have bought more when I had the chance. We mostly run Stihl equipment with a piece or two of Shindaiwa.

Now, FS75 aside...Stihl carbs (think chainsaws) can be a NOTORIOUS "insert favorite cuss word here"...and easily flooded if you miss that first kick while not paying attention and keep pulling. But, if you have been at this a while...well, you already knew that!!!

Speaking of trimmers...what are ya'll using for .095 line?
- Oregon Square Magnum, or something later and greater?
- I know what I like to advise...and some people think I am nuts for saying it...but my ALL-TIME favorite is good-ole Round-Up around the fence lines. I know, I know...I can already hear the cries..."Off with his head!!! Off with his head!!!" But I am oh so serious...QuikPro, whatever...is simply magical on the fence lines if you can get your customers to bite. Two seasons of this and the lines are beautiful after the initial, unsightly die-off. I almost always mention it as an alternative.

Talk to you all later.

[bare spot]

use different trimmer but my wear over time , just picked a few replace spools. do like that washer idea, gonna try that. not sure what the polish does, take it it keeps the line from sticking in the spool.

[redmax fan]

11 years ive been whipping around 100 accounts per week , entire time til last year when i started putting shindiawa speed feed heads on my redmax whips ide ran redmax or way back john deer whips with their stock heads featuring small string pay out buttons . and with those small buttons it can be a real hassle sometimes to get string to pay out . and spraying string / inner spool with furniture polish imo makes the string slide out of head easier , many times saving one from having to repeatedly tap the whip head on ground to get string feeding out . but nowadays i run speed feed heads on my rmax whips and wiyth the full head button the string always pays out easy so i no longer use polish

[Southern Elegance]

i think stihl is using cheaper material. we use to only replace spools once a year ,if that. Now its almost monthly.

may take our guards off to see if that helps.

[topsites]

An operator error has occurred while trying to tell you about the operator error.

[justanotherlawnguy]

If buying new heads is eating up so much profit that it is noticeable then you have bigger problems...
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[David Haggerty]

I've worn out the brass grommets the line feeds thru, but never the plastic parts of a Stihl bump feed head. I run it myself. I always bump it in the grass. Nooo, it don't leave "unsightly cuts" in the lawn. I simply throtttle down to bump, raise the head up out of the grass, then throttle up to feed the line.
If I've let the line get too short to feed, I have to grab both strings and pull them out by hand a click or two.
A Stihl bump feed head should last the life of the machine.

[redmax fan]

if by a utility pole or landscape timber can bump head on that without wearing it down . i once bumped a head on the back of a snapping turtle while doing a lake side lot :waving:

[dKoester]

Super glue large washers on your trimmer spool. Problem solved. I'm a genious.

[Runner]

2 things... Make sure the line doesn't get twisted as it's being fed onto the spool. This causes it not to feed eventually, and for some reason some brainiac employees think that that means to bump it harder or slam it on the ground to release. Another thing...you mentioned that bumping oin the grass scalps the grass. Actually, it doesn't when done properly. The head does NOT have to be turning at high rpms. Lower the throttle so the head is barely turning (it can get to be habit). the line will feed out a notch, and when you give it the gas again, it will feed out tighter. Bumping the heads on pavement was always grounds for dismissal after the first warning, here.

[mag360]

If buying new heads is eating up so much profit that it is noticeable then you have bigger problems...
Posted via Mobile Device

Scroll up and you will see that you are in complete agreement with your past self from 2009:laugh:

[bare spot]

Super glue large washers on your trimmer spool. Problem solved. I'm a genious.

was thinking bout this and gotta ask, i try to use the grass not the hard surface' but wondering if washers leave a mark on the concrete, or not scuff it up? idk, guess could try it on my own sidewalk to find out.

[dKoester]

Like the other guy said if you are reving it high and bumping the head on the ground to get line out something is wrong. A light tap is all that should be needed. BTW Your concrete should be fine.

[David Haggerty]

Bumping the heads on pavement was always grounds for dismissal after the first warning, here.

I had a new guy who assured me that he knew how to trim. I looked over and he was rubbing the head of the trimmer on the sidewalk for a guide. By the time I got to him he'd worn thru the bump head.

I dunno about bumping the head on trees, walls, landscaping features. I feel stupid enough using the trimmer to sweep off the walk. I always get the feeling someone's watching and thinking "What the #$&%! is he doing? Trimming the concrete?"
Besides hitting stuff could eventually leave a mark. The grass will grow back.