Noticed a few on the forums and seeing local contractors using curved shaft trimmers
Never owned one would like to know if there's a advantage in having one on board..
Noticed a few on the forums and seeing local contractors using curved shaft trimmers
Never owned one would like to know if there's a advantage in having one on board..
Spare only from 2012-3, ok but sh1t.
Only advantage I can see is they are cheap.
Cheers
hjl
whack on a propeller, might be more useful in a canoe lol
http://curraronggardening.com/
"All sin is washed away in the Holy goodness of Beer"
Book of Redeye, Psalm 69
History lesson for you young-uns............
Back in the late 70's when we progressed from those manual "star-wheel" edgers and the Victa "tilt-a-cut", to the first line trimmers, straight shaft arrangements were purely used for "brush cutters" with metal blades.
"Whipper snippers" or line trimmers were all bent shaft - many were fixed drive (no centrifical clutch).
If you were from that era, you learned to cut with a clockwise rotating trimmer head.
Later you laughed at the donkeys who flailed around the heavy expensive straight shaft brushcutters , trying to cut neat edges with them, heads spinning the "wrong way"
I'm not sure when it became a status symbol to have a straight shaft trimmer, still don't see any advantage in using a heavier piece of equipment and paying more for the weight when you can get the same spec motor on a bent shaft as a straight shaft. The motors always die before the shaft wears out anyway.
Been cutting edges too long to re-learn how to do it counter-clockwise. (Like learning to use a left handed chainsaw for no good reason)
Couldn't give a rats arse what anyone else thinks - it's how I cut edges.
"Can't" is a dirty 4 letter word.
If someone says "Can't" , take the "T" off the end and brew it.
Sip on a mugfull, relax, and take a look at what you've got left to work with.
Arfa you old fart.
I might still be a bit dim becsuse of lack of sunshine due to daylight saving,
But I am sure that the blade on my Honda straighshaft spins clockwise when viewed from above
And that both bentshaft and straightshaft machines spin in SAME direction.
The motors turn in same direction, so a gearhead machine does not have to turn blade counter clockwise.
Maybe some ppl put the gearbox on 'upside down'
Joe
UpThanks Arfa love the nostalgic posts
image.jpg
This is what we used on the parks & gardens dept back in the 70's b4 whippys were readily available to us!
A gang of us would be sent in the back of an open truck armed with these to do the Main Street in Port Melb Not a lot of OH&S going on in those days.
You would use the flat edge for edging & the pointy edge to remove weeds from cracks.
Very much chain gang stuff but, in reality, not that hard.
If a passing motorist turned on his wipers .......... Tools down ! ThAt sorta thing.
Must say though, don't think I could go to a bent shaft, I use the straight shaft because it has far more advantages when doing more than verticle edging.
Cheers Fred.
Has anyone used one of these:
ynlUTle.jpg
If used with a shoulder harness I think it might help me keep a hand free so I don't have to put down my beer all the time.
Sorry, just being stupid.
I actually don't have much constructive to add. I used to use a bent shaft trimmer around home, but I never did the edges "properly". Just used to tilt the head a bit so you would get that awful tapered look at the edge of the lawn. Hey - I didn't know any better. It wasn't until I started doing lawns commercially than a friend gave me the tip to use a vertical cutting path for edges. I use a straight shaft trimmer now and I can't imagine doing proper edges with a bent shaft... but it's got me curious now, I will give it a try if I ever get the chance...
Thanks for the history lessons!
The one advantage I can see for a bent shaft is that it's much easier to keep a horizontal cutting path if you're "trimming" the lawn up against fences, rocks, in corners etc. where a mower won't reach. Trying to do a horizontal cut with a straight shaft takes a lot of control and I find if I'm not concentrating it's easy to gouge the lawn. I guess it changes the way I work a bit - I try to do the absolute minimum trimming with the line trimmer. In an ideal world where no landscapes had 90º corners, I'd only use the straight shaft for edging and use the mower to do everything else.
Makita straightshafts are anti-clockwise when viewed from above.
Thanks - Ya cheeky bugger !
Vertical cut edges with a bentshaft are easy. A lot of my new work comes from customers visitors noticing the quality of the edges.
I really dislike the "mowerman burnt edge" finish a lot of the Jims blokes do.
Most of my edges are vertical cut (or double cut on the blue ribbon properties) because they look so much better than the flat cut/rip method.
"Can't" is a dirty 4 letter word.
If someone says "Can't" , take the "T" off the end and brew it.
Sip on a mugfull, relax, and take a look at what you've got left to work with.