Echo Lawn Trimmer

[Coyote_Bandit]

Ok so I went and bought a new grass trimmer. Echo brand. Model GT-225 I believe. It uses the rapid load 8 inch long 0.80 croasfire line. Came with a package of about 20 of the suckers. I was going to buy another package but the saleman said they didn't have any in stock. Advised me to check back in a couple of weeks. Did that. Turns out they don't stock the things. Soooooooooooo. I did a web search. Seems that the suckers aren't even listed as an accessory on the Echo page.

Why the fuck would Echo make and sell a trimmer without selling the line that makes the thing work? Well, they do make the line and they sell it in long spools - not in the 8 inch lengths the trimmer requires. And the trimmer head cannot be replaced to use a traditional spool. DO they really think that folks want to have to cut however many 8" pieces of line they need every time they use the fucking piece of equipment? Really I'd rather spend my line winding spools.

Buyer beware. Don't buy this piece of shit lawn trimmer.

Yeah, I'm going to call the place that sold it to me and chew their ass out on Monday. But I figure I'm probably stuck with this piece of shit.

:rant:

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. You can probably use Craftsman...

Here is an example...they have different widths.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07185908000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. In my search I have yet to find

any 8 inch long 0.80 diameter trimmer line.

I could care less about the brand as long as it fits and works in my troimmer.

[elocs]

3. How about this:

http://www.echo-usa.com/accessories/?model=GT-225

GT-225 Accessories
Accessory #
Description
102202952
10 Count 8" Length- .095" Cross-Fire Trimmer Line
102202953
10 Count 8" Length- .080" Cross-Fire Trimmer Line
102212131
20 Count 8" Length- .080" Cross-Fire Trimmer Line
102212952
20 Count 8" Length- .095" Cross-Fire Trimmer Line
102222156
50 Count 8" Length- .080" Cross-Fire Trimmer Line

[LeftyFingerPop]

5. Nice find! n/t

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. Yes

That is the trimmer line I need. Thanks for finding it on the Echo site. Somehow I missed it. I only founf the .95 diameter line.

But Echo doesn't seem to offer the ability to order this line direct from them. There are only 3 local Echo dealers listed - and 2 of the 3 don't stock it (haven't called the third dealer yet as they are closed on Sunday).

And I can't seem to find any other place to order the stuff online.

It's frickin trimmer line. It should not be this difficult to find the stuff. The model seems to be fairly common. Really, I just don't get why this line isn't stocked somewhere locally. Or why I can't find someplace online to order it from.

[LeftyFingerPop]

4. Is the head the kind that has...

two holes where you feed one end of the line into each of the holes and then pull each end through so there is an even amount on each side of the head?

If so, then Sears has 3 different sizes...small, medium, and large. The red ones shown in the link are the medium ones, I think.

What does the .8 refer to?

If the head is the kind described above, I bet one of the Sears sizes would fit the hole. I would call up your local Sears and ask them the numerical size of each of the ones that they have.

I use these, and they may be longer than 8 inches, but you could probably cut a whole package of them in 2 minutes...as long as you are able to get the right width.

[Coyote_Bandit]

7. That's the kind of head it is

Easy to load. No spooling required.

Next time around I will be replacing this with a typical spool trimmer. Only reason for that really is that I find this one to be wasteful of the line used. A spool feeds the line out and you can use all the line as it is fed. These little 8 inch lines get to a certain length and you just pull 'em out and replace 'em. Considerably less efficient use of line.

Maybe I should just convert this head to use the plastic blades. That'd solve the trimmer line issue rather easily.

On edit: The .8 is the diameter of the trimmer line. The head uses two pieces of line each of which are 8 inches long. I can find spools of the stuff - but I really don't want to have to cut the line to length - I should be able to buy the accessories needed IMHO.

[LeftyFingerPop]

8. Looks like you can get them online here...

http://www.sepw.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=95


(scroll down a bit)

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Thank you!

Thank you! Thank you!

I'm sure my neighbors would also join in thanking you.

Ordering now.

[LeftyFingerPop]

10. You're very welcome...now I have to go trim my lawn lol. n/t

[MajorChode]

11. Let me know how that type of line works

I have an echo trimmer that I've had for about 15 years. It's a straight shaft model that you can use for different attachments. After about 15 years of use, I had my first repair yesterday. The nut that locks the attachment in place broke and I had to buy a $12 replacement. Other than that it's still going strong. Prior to the echo I was buying a new trimmer every 2-3 years. It's been a good investment. Mine is more of a commercial grade unit.

I'm curious as to why echo went to that type of line, unless it was for marketing purposes. I might have to spool up new line about twice per season with mine. If I load the line the first thing when the season starts, I can almost go all summer without loading new line, and the season is very long here in Texas. Cheaper trimmers that use smaller line tend to be harder to load and you have to do it more often, but I don't really have that much trouble. Mine uses .95 line. If the 8" line lasts for a long time before you replace it, I can see the advantages, but it just seems like you'd be replacing the line quite often with something like that. I'm sure you can probably swap out the head and use traditional line if you don't like it.