We ran a String TRIMMER at every LINE LENGTH (Science Experiment)!
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- String Trimmer Guard ON or OFF? We ran the trimmer at different line lengths, without the guard, to see what it exactly does to your trimmer. With a heat gun, a measuring tape, and a tachometer, we aim to bust some myths!
You can find tons of content on this debate. However, at Main Street Mower we did not just want to give you our thoughts. We want to give you the numbers behind the science of it. So tune into this crazy experiment video, where STU and Chip attempt to BURN DOWN a TRIMMER engine.
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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Video Introduction
00:48 Experiment Overview
03:12 Running OEM line Length (5.75 in.)
04:16 Running Line without Guard (Upto 12.75 in.)
06:22 Results/Numbers
07:53 Reading RPM at different line lengths
09:55 Engine Head Temp at different lengths
12:26 Muffler Temp at different lengths
13:48 Gearbox Temp at different lengths
15:43 Line Tip Speed at different lengths
16:50 What we see in the Mower Shop
19:46 Worn Out Clutch Assembly and how they work
24:09 Conclusion / Final Thoughts
25:43 Thank you.
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I love the video and here comes the except... Real world trimming for the most part is done in "fits and starts".. not wide open for a tank full of fuel... It's trim, idle walk to the next tree, trim, idle, trim idle rinse and repeat. And you even noticed how the temperature recovered so amazingly fast.. So IMHO long line has very little effect on the trimmer in a daily trimming scenario. Now running it wide open with super long line trimming 400 linear feet of ditch full of Johnson grass. Yeah that's going to burn it up.. keep cranking out the videos. Love them!
As someone who has worked in a shop for 12+ years you see clutch failures, etc. a lot more when a line limiter has been removed from the unit.
Thanks for the input, definitely agree that the real world is much different. But I think it would mean more load due to the drag. Area = pi x r^2, if you square the radius it means you are cutting exponentially more grass as you increase your line length. Our test doesn’t account for that.
We do trim long spans at a time or big hills etc and we havent had any breakdowns except carb wearing out after a few years and a few days ago a coil on a 2 month old redmax(not heat related i dont think. more of a fluke thing). Sooo given the cost of a trimmer and the labor costs around here to work on them I dont really worry about it. I know every few years or so Ill need a new trimmer to add to the fleet and at 350 bucks they pay for themselves so many times over its really not a big deal. This is my opinion. When someone asks me what trimmer to buy I explain exactly this. They are disposable so buy whichever you want as long as its a pro trimmer and you buy it local. I myself worked at a mower shop for a few years and someone would bring in a trimmer to get worked on. We mostly saw carb or fuel system issues along with a rare clogged exhaust screen. Most of the time my boss would call and give them the repair price and the customer would elect to buy a new one. Very interesting test though.
I do 400 feet of ditch plus, so this meant a lot to me keeping the guard on! Thx.
Yeah, I’m calling BS on the idea that you can run long string cutting grass all day and having no ill effects over time. Plus the Mix 4 engines are set up with the triggers to run at near full rpm.
I run with the guard off, and haven't had any issues. I have ran a Stihl 91 for about 5 years with no guard. However, the line is probably no different in length than if the guard was on. I have run a trimmer long enough, that I can tell by the sound, what is the correct length. Also, you can feel it bog down if the line is too long and I can hear and just feel what it needs to be at.
That's awesome. Thank you for sharing.
This right here. I prefer guard off, not because it give me more line, but because it’s lighter and I like the control better. I can also tell when I have it too long.
I am at 10 years no guard. I go by feel and sound!!
Great video! One of my subs sent me here to watch this after seeing me run my trimmers without guards. This video took a tremendous amount of effort to make and deserves some more views.
Thank you would be also interested in doing the same test under load
Really cool production guys. Nice edits
You could reuse this footage and make shorts as well as some other content too. I'd highly suggest it. "we destroyed a mower for this video" etc
Awesome, great advice. Thank you Jonno.
Thanks man, good info, saw a few posts now, interesting and honest info.
Thanks Ronny, really appreciate it.
Great video guy, with excellent production work.
Thank you so much from our video producer :)
nice work guys!! thanks for the education.
Thank you Rich. We're glad you liked it.
Excellent vid. All well done and great presentation. Really the final word on guard on vs guard off. Thanks
Glad it helped 🙂
Fantastic video lads!! Really interesting
Thank you!
Nicely done. Lots of good information. Thanks.
Glad you liked it ☺
Love the Stihl Tachometer
I have 100’s of people to share this video with to prove this point.
Thank you guys…
Thank you Rick! Please do share the video.
We run with guards off. Mainly for ditches, and being able to get into tight spaces for trimming. We may be a little over the recommended, but again that’s usually in ditches where we need to cover more ground. I’m going through year 4 with a 94r and a 91. I run rec fuel, the still ultra, and change out fuel filters and air filters, and spark plugs every spring. Other than cleaning the spark arrestors about once a month, that’s it. That’s all we’ve done.
Im a contractor in aus and I run fs 91R with bike handles . I have done the same job with and without guard and there is a huge difference in time. Long heavy sloped verge with guard took very close to 9hrs to complete and accidently bumping of the string which is unavoidable would cause me to go through about 4 times more string. Without the guard the same job only takes me about 5hrs.
You missed it. The gearbox temp is indeed due to the grease shear friction. But also longer line creates more air movement. The vortex cools the gearbox. Sometimes bigger fan at lower rpm is the answer. 🎉
What is the ratio of fuel to oil mixture? I usually use 40:1 although 50:1 is recommended. I like to make sure the rod bearings are well oiled. I've got 2 Husqvarna chainsaws, 1 Husqvarna weed eater and 1 Poulan chainsaw. Cheers from eastern TN
We run guard off, my son runs long line I don't... Here is my take on carbon build up. Nothing scientific but just things that I have seen in videos and maybe a little logic. From my understanding, weed wackers are tuned to be ran at full throttle. Very Very rarely on a daily basis do we run the trimmer wide open. Guard or no guard no one is running their weed wackers wide open all day long? If they are, they have a lot of insurance claims to pay because there's really no reason for daily trimming to run the weed wacker more than half throttle and that is what i think leads to the large amounts of carbon buildup because it's not burning the fuel efficiently as it does when it's wide open. Just my 2 cents.
That's very Interesting. Might be the case. Thank you for sharing.
Another great video. Just Subbed!
Thank you!
I been maxing out my echo without a guard for almost a decade and she’s still a beast. That name of the the tool is your issue 😅
Very informative. Landscapers love using super long line! At this point in life men are very talented with a tape measurer, I know the guy in the background at 10:19 is.
Hahaha me too!
I wonder what this test would look like in a 2 stroke? I think we need another test done!
Great Idea Joseph. We'll drop that one as soon as this one receives 1k likes.
I run guard off on a 2 stroke, lets just say they are right toward the end of the video, my spark arrestor was in the trash can after about 4 months of use, and I dont think my trimmer has had a muffler for the last 3 years. it clogged up and I was like. meh, thats what ear pro is for. but im way up north, up here, we dont usually buy the 500+ dollar trimmer and try to make it last a decade or more. most the companies around me, we tend to buy the middle of pack trimmer and ride that sucker into the ground over 2 to 5 years then replace it and toss the one we killed in the back of the shop to yank parts off.
Probably just saved me some money on a new one cause I do this I didn't think about it being so hard on the machine.
Right! Us neither. That's why we wanted to test it out ourselves.
What Stihl trimmer were you testing and with what diameter line?
Nice video we did that test at Royal Edger and mower with the Stihl technical service rep there results were closer to the Stihl results with a Fs90r what trimmer did you use ? and it was new trimmer not broke in yet great video thanks
I'm going to guess it was an FS91R by the price at the end but I may be wrong.
It was a FS91R, not broke in yet and we agree that it would’ve been better if it was
@@mainstreetmower still the best trimmer they need love in the beginning 🥺
Do you have a video showing whats inside the four stroke motors?
Does it operate like a normal four stroke engine (oil pumped around bottom end, even if pumping action is done by crankcase depression (I think Husqvarna did it on 510cc motorcycle in late 80's, no conventiona oil pump)
I've never seen inside one of the tiny string trimmer engines although heard everything is super miniature?
We do not have a video like that but man that would be an interesting one. We'll see if we can work on something like that. Thanks for sharing🙂
@@mainstreetmower Cool, thanks.
I'm pretty sure vast majority of people have no idea what's inside the new 'CARB Compliant' engines (me included)
I work on motorcycles with integrated transmission so even a fully instructional 'in depth' video on a single cylinder direct drive should only be around 40 minutes.
I stopped making any kind of instructional video's 2012 as the damn editing took way too long (the only one I posted took over 4 days and looking at it now, it's embarrassing) Computers have come a long way since then but you still have to look at everything
@@1crazypj absolutely. God bless technology. It doesn't take as much time to edit as it used to back in the day.
Good rule while not running a guard is to listen to your engine, it will tell you what it wants
Your not going to throw away that nice trimmer are you Oh no😂😂 great video
Thank you Harry!
@@mainstreetmower 😊😊
Do you guys have any thoughts about how using a Stihl woodcut blade will affect clutch wear? I’m guessing the torque is quite a bit higher than using standard line.
I’ve been using this brush blade on an FS91, and am able to cut fairly thick brush so long as I bring the blade into the sapling quickly/firmly. Do you think this kind of ‘shock’ load will be very detrimental to the trimmer (and also would this fall under warranty if accelerated wear occurs?) This process does sometimes stall the blade if the sapling is thick enough.
Thanks for your video.
oh yea, unless your using a very beefy trimmer, they absolutely hate those wood cutter blades, doesnt matter what blade, we do a ton of violation cuts/ recoveries and after a full day of on and off woodblade use my trimmer hates my guts, >_> my advice, if your gonna be doing any kinda sapling removal regularly with the blade attachment, get a new trimmer and make that your dedicated standard trimmer, and your tired worn out one the "imma beat the tar outta this some more with the wood blade" trimmer. this way you dont feel to bad when it kicks the bucket, cause you already got several years outta it as a normal trimmer.
Watch the Richard Flagg videos about Stihl Ultra oil on chain saws lots of carbon build up l had that problem with my fs94r trimmers and hedge trimmers ( 94r engine) plugged exhaust ports take care great video 😌
Thank you for sharing Harry. We're glad you liked the video.
To many comments to look back. But the line hitting the grass will add allot more of a load on the engine and clutch.
I have another question?
Which Stihl Fuel did you use for this test, Blue, HP or Ultra?
Ultra, silver
@@mainstreetmower in Australia Ultra is Green and it’s in a Chamber Packaging, in The USA you have silver bottles I’ve seen.😀🇦🇺
Thanks
@@rickthelian2215 That's interesting. Do you know why they're a different color over there?
@@mainstreetmower in Australia the blue coloured Stihl oil was made By Castrol, I believe it to be identical to Castrol 2T Garden but with on difference more blue dye.
I believe Castrol is producing the Red Stihl oil (Mineral) or Green (Semi-Synthetic) currently. Castrol have 25 different plants worldwide that produce oil for Stihl.
In America you just have the Grey Bottles we have here in Australia the 1 Litre.Chamber Packs, a way to justify the costs, all companies producing chamber packaging charge a higher price for this style of packaging.
@@rickthelian2215 That's super interesting. Thank you very much for sharing.
Are there any drastic difference between the wear and tear of Stihl vs Echo? We run echo trimmers, but have always wondered this!
We would not be a very unbiased opinion on this, I’ll throw this one back to our watchers?
we run both, and in the 8 years of being in business. I've killed 3 echos, my partner is still using the same stihl she started on. I like the weight and balance of the echo more so i use them cause they feel lighter and my comfy for me, but yea there is definitly a durability gap.
Being a business owner where time is money and good employees are virtually impossible to find, replacing burnt-out trimmers a little more often is smart money if you are more productive. I even choose to run one without a guard at home on my bigger trimmer. Still, I run one on my FS94R. I'm shopping for a new higher horsepower trimmer right now but can't decide what to go with. I'm not sold on the 4-stroke engine. May have to go Echo.
That's awesome man. I totally get it. You gotta pick your battles depending on the nature and requirements of your business. Maybe you wanna check out our playlist on whether battery powered trimmers are a viable option right mow. Do check it out.
Here's the link: czcams.com/play/PLcMsWbmgR9r8ZoLUbJzsVVPRR15atsF0B.html
The carbon might come from the oil Stihl Ultra has a Jaso rating of FB F being the lubricant and B being the amount of detergent Jaso ratings Start from FA to FD. Stihl oil is made by Castrol HP. and Ultra is made by Spectrum. I like Amsoil Sabre it's rating is FD Shaeffer oil is very good too especially for chainsaws Ultra shows carbon problems in chainsaws. Watch Richard Flagg videos take care great video
Stihl Ultra is the absolute worst oil you can get. That junk doesn’t lubricate worth crap and it’s very dirty. I run red armor oil at 40:1 myself it’s probably not the best but it’s hard to beat for the price. I pay around $40 a gallon for it at my local dealer.
What using supercut head without a guard? It automatically keeps the string at the correct length. No bump, no trim necessary.
Let's maybe test the oils not sure how but maybe Stihl Ultra echo Red Armor and Amsoil 50/1 and 100/1 ???
We’ve been wanting to recreate an old study Stihl performed where they ran a BR600 for 600 continuous hours on all different brands of oil and then compression tested and tore all the machines down and photographed valves, crankcase, spark plug, etc. Stihl Ultra (silver bottle) won all the tests. It used to be in our dealer training but you can’t find the study anywhere anymore. Just haven’t mustered the gusto to do it yet, 600 hours takes a lot of man power
Why not make the guard Tranparent so lining up is easy
Great question.
I put my guard back on. Thanks guys. 🙏👍
Yayyy let's go. I'm glad the video helped 🙂
This was actually really fascinating
Thank you Benjamin!
With that _Stihl,_ it might go in a year, but my Echos, on the other hand..... 😂 Then again, I don't run my line stupid long either.
That's good. Echo tends to have more power than Stihl units but that is also a reason the echo's go bad quicker because of more load on the engine. STIHL really has no competition when it comes to longevity, comfort, & efficiency.
@@mainstreetmower There have been hiccups here and there over the years, but I haven't had any major or repeating issues with Echo in any of those departments, except I do use the larger models of e everything, so that can lead to fatigue, but then I try to take my vitamins and eat my Wheaties to compensate 😋
Haha that's fair@@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power.
Stihl not worth it… 🤣 I’d say neither is Echo tho. Maruyama if i had to buy new.
Been running the fs 100 for 2 years not a problem yet no trimmer guard but I don't let the line get so far out that it bogs engine down
That's great. Thank you for sharing. What line length do you usually run?
@@mainstreetmower 095
@@mainstreetmower half of the time I don't even run it wide Open
@@mainstreetmower but your video did make sense
@@mainstreetmower he usually runs at about 15 in Long
Test out an echo trimmer
We did a different type of testing/comparison with echo trimmer. Check it out here: czcams.com/video/S1rxSgEoq1I/video.html&ab_channel=MainStreetMower
Clutches get eaten with longer line
You want higher heat to burn the carbon and keep them running good.
try with 1-5 meter long line.
I think running a 12.75 in line was enough to know how much it was hurting your unit.
@@mainstreetmower ok thanks for replying sir. ;) should you i buy 2,4mm normal line(the one with less noise cuz it cost the same, 2,7mm line with less noise? or cf3pro 2,4mm or cf3 pro 2,7mm? and how much length(im starting a lawn care business, using my stihl km 131(bike handle) and fs km with c 26-2. i think i should have around 35+m so i can load it 4 times. Thanks and waiting for a reply! :D
Without the guard it makes too much of a mess…
Agreed.
In my automotive days and a Jeep dealer that was called riding the clutch lots of Jeep customers plowed snow and needed a new clutch Don't Do that 😊
Exactly, same idea here!
Why does stihl weed eaters make that distinctive sound that others don’t ?
It’s a 4-mix engine, kind of a hybrid of 2-stroke and 4-stroke
Get a Husqvarna Pro Grade, that thing will sling two lasso's of cord all day everyday...No Problem
haha that's funny
No one weed eats at 10+ unless maybe it's a Road crew from the DOT or county
Sir, trust us. You will be surprised.
I got 100 dollars that says if you jumped in my truck with me and spent the afternoon measuring random companies we pass on the roads trimmer lines, 80% of them are over 10. in my neck of the woods nearly no one cares about cut quality and how the lawn looks, they just want it short enough the city wont fine em, so its volume, volume volume here. so we ride fast, take wide turns so we dont gotta play around with Y turns and close edges, and trimmer line extended out the wazoo to quickly clean up everywhere ya missed. my best friend is a sales guy at the local dealer and he even laughs constantly about the guys who come in to buy trimmers. "gimme a few mines to get the warrenty papers on file and we'll get ya squared away" Customer "dont bother, im taking the guard off and gonna run this sucker into the ground before the warrenty is up n replace it anyways" its a thing.
Guards are for whims.
Do you mean wimps? If so you are probably right!
o baloney
If you can't trim with the guard on you need glasses or another occupation 😡
🤣😂