How to Change a Fishing Line For a Knife In a Trimmer

I want to devote today’s article to the sore topic of summer residents and gardeners of the entire post-Soviet space "How to refill a fishing line into a trimmer." Not many trimmer manufacturers answer this question in their operating instructions. Therefore, it is difficult for ordinary gardeners to figure out how to do this correctly.

I want to start with a brief description of the technical characteristics of the trimmers.

So, trimmers are electric and gasoline. The cutting element of the trimmers can be a fishing line and a knife. The fishing line is ordinary, four. Pentahedral and intertwined (in the form of a pigtail). Knives come in 2, 3 and four blade blades. Knives are also plastic and metal.

The feed system of the fishing line from the trimmer is manual, semi-automatic and automatic.

Development engineers who create new models of trimmers clearly calculate the diameter (thickness) of the fishing line and the number of knife blades according to the power of the trimmers. Otherwise, the engine is overloaded, which as a result leads to its breakdown. And this is an additional and significant cost.

Today on the market are trimmers:

With one nozzle – only fishing line.
With two nozzles – fishing line and three-four-blade knife.
With one nozzle – only a three-four-blade knife.

Our Kulibins long ago learned to improve any mechanisms. So, for example, some gardeners make successful, in their opinion, replacing the fishing line with a metal cable, or fishing line. But at the same time they do not think about the safety of their and their loved ones, because, as a cable with the power of a working trimmer, it can easily break out and not only injure the mower and others, but leave it crippled for life. Using fishing line can and gives a better effect, I have never personally tried it than fishing line for trimmer, but this work has a number of disadvantages: when it comes into contact with solid objects, it loosens or can simply be pulled out of the reel without limit.

So what is called closer to the topic. I give an example of how to fill a fishing line into a trimmer (BOSCH Art 30 trimmer). Everything is very simple. We started.

After you have chosen the fishing line for refueling, you need to cut off the necessary amount of fishing line, because all the fishing line in the skein is not wound into a reel.

Cut off and start winding.

Remove the coil and the protective cover from the coil.

They took off. We fix one end of the fishing line into the gap and carefully and evenly wind the fishing line.

The amount of fishing line should be such that the protective cover of the reel closes and the line on the reel unwinds itself a little.

The second end of the fishing line is planted in the hole on the protective cover.

Next, take the coil and the protective cover of the coil. We sink the end of the fishing line from the reel into the metal hole on the protective cover of the reel. Tighten the fishing line a little.

We put it all on the trimmer. Turn the coil clockwise until it clicks.

Secured. Now connect the trimmer to the network. We put the trimmer in the starting position for the job. Turn on the trimmer. The excess length of the fishing line will be cut off on the cutting blade.

Trimmer Coil

That’s all starting work.

You can watch the video

A little tip. Make sure that the fishing line does not come into contact with solid objects when cutting. With this contact, the fishing line will be cut. And since, in this trimmer, the fishing line is not fed automatically, then you have to stop the work each time, remove the reel and re-release the fishing line.

In my trimmer, in addition to the standard line for mowing the lawn, there is still provided a thick fishing line for mowing coarse weeds. It has the shape of a pigtail, i.E. Three fishing lines are tightly intertwined. Such a fishing line has its own reel.

Thick fishing line

It is stored at the top of the trimmer body.

Spare coil storage space

Installing such a fishing line into the reel is very simple – according to the internal circuit inside the reel. We insert the center of the fishing line with a metal mount at the top of the reel, and draw the ends of the fishing line along the grooves and bring it out.

Reinforced Fishing Line

Such a coil is attached to the trimmer as well as a reel with ordinary fishing line.

How to Change a Fishing Line For a Knife In a Trimmer

  • What types of woods are
  • How to remove or refill a fishing line in a trimmer

Since we considered the choice of the trimmer in the previous article, today we will tell you how to properly trim the trimmer with a fishing line, and which is better to choose based on the working conditions.

After you bought a trimmer and began to use it actively, sooner or later the question will arise about replacing the fishing line, since this is the most wearing element in the tool, then intensive use of the trimmer will lead to frequent replacement of consumables.

What types of woods are

The most common type of fishing line, which is suitable for almost all types of coils – round cord. This is an ordinary fishing line suitable for mowing juicy grass, but mowing dead wood with it will be much more difficult, and even more so it can not cope with the bush.

As a rule, the diameter by which young grass can be mowed does not exceed 1.6 mm. The thicker the thread, the more coarse grass it can overcome.

There are fishing lines with sharp edges in the form of an asterisk or square, this option is more suitable for mowing dry grass just due to the existing sharp edges, but its disadvantage is more wear and tear and is inferior in strength to round cord.

There are fishing lines with improved aerodynamics with characteristic dents, scales and notches, such a product makes less noise, but they are used only on lawn mowers, since the exit of such a thread from the reel is difficult, it is used most often with discs into which segments are inserted. The disadvantage of this product is its fragility.

Video: How to Change a Fishing Line For a Knife In a Trimmer


Most often in gas trimmers with an engine power of more than 1.5 hp apply cords with a metal cable inside.

This thread is ideal for mowing dry grass and small bushes. The presence of a core positively affects the wear resistance of this material.

The disadvantage of such a cord is its price, which is significantly higher than the listed opponents.

How to remove or refill a fishing line in a trimmer

It takes about 10-15 minutes to wind the line. What is a trimmer coil? Plastic case with a cassette inside, on which there is a special hook for convenient winding of fishing line.

Almost all trimmer coils have a similar mounting principle, this is the central screw-button, when pressed, it becomes possible to pull the fishing line of the required length. The photo below shows some examples of different coils for trimmers.

The bobbins of the trimmers, the motor of which is located near the ground, have a different mount to the axis of rotation, they have two buttons on the spool located on the sides that need to be pressed, otherwise the thread replacement is no different from other cassettes.

The principle of the correct winding of the fishing line is similar in all of the above cases, so for example, consider the standard version with two antennae.

To remove the reel with fishing line, it is necessary to unscrew the screw located in the center, but note that the thread there is left, so you have to turn it clockwise, this is done specially so that during operation it does not open under the influence of centrifugal force.

Next, using a screwdriver, disassemble the head and take out the reel, on which the fishing line is directly wound.

Having measured the necessary length and folded in half, you need to fill the fishing line into the reel, removing, in the end, its ends opposite each other (for this there are special slots for fixing).

After this, it is necessary to assemble the head in the reverse order by threading the ends of the cord into two corresponding holes.

If you have doubts or it’s not entirely clear how to charge the fishing line to the trimmer, we recommend watching the video: how to wind the fishing line into the lawn mowing properly.

In this video, the instructor will open the trimmer head in steps, measure out the required amount of fishing line, usually from two to four meters, and demonstrate assembly and installation on the trimmer.

With the advent of summer, many owners of household plots are concerned about the issue of how to put a knife on a trimmer. No less relevant are the questions of why and when it is advisable to replace the fishing line on the lawn mow with a more durable cutting element. In our article we will try to make out all this and give useful recommendations to summer residents.

  • Why you need to put a knife on a trimmer
  • What knives to put on the electric and lawn mowers
  • How to put the knife on the trimmer

Why you need to put a knife on a trimmer

The trimmer with a knife mounted on it is most convenient to use for more comfortable mowing of tall and coarsened grass in the country. The line on the lawn mowing in such cases can not cope. Thin breaks very quickly. Using a thick 2.3 mm cord or homemade rods with cables causes the vegetation to wind up on the spool. This increases the load on the engine. As a result, the piston group and other moving parts of the unit wear out very quickly.

If the mowing of the weeds is carried out with an electric trimmer without a knife, only fishing line, even if it is thick with a curly section, the problem cannot be solved. There is always a risk of overheating the motor and damage the flexible shaft. And it’s all about the big torque of the electric motor. The grass wound on the spindle creates strong resistance to the shaft, resembling a speedometer cable, which does not withstand and twists.

In order to protect the equipment from premature wear, manufacturers have provided the ability to install special knives on trimmers. The design and shape of existing cutting elements makes it easy to cope not only with coarsened and overgrown grass, but also successfully deal with young shrubbery.

What knives to put on the electric and lawn mowers

Before buying and putting a knife on a lawn mow, we will find out what they are and in which cases they are used. Today, manufacturers offer consumers a large number of types of these consumables. In general, all cutting tools designed for mowing grass can be classified:

  • By the type of material from which it is made;
  • In the shape of its cutting blades.

The main material for making trimmer knives can be plastic or metal. The use of such consumables is largely dependent on two parameters:

  • Type of lawn mowers;
  • Square mowing.

For safety reasons, manufacturers do not recommend placing steel knives on electric trimmers. Almost all lawn mowers powered by mains and battery are equipped with plastic blades. Depending on the manufacturer, they can be of a single disc-shaped design with several blades or in the form of a special mowing head for the installation of removable plastic blades.

Straight bar at gas trimmer and curved at electric

To put a metal knife on an electric trimmer does not allow its design features.

  1. The curved rod of the unit reduces the distance from its working part to the legs of the mower. If the blades collide with a stone or other solid object, the braid is thrown to the feet.
  2. The high torque that we mentioned above, in the event of a collision of a metal knife with a solid object, transfers a large load to the flexible shaft of the trimmer and its motor. What causes their premature failure.
  3. The handle of an electric braid most often does not have a restrictive bar acting as a stop. Which does not exclude injury to the legs.

It is these features that allow the use of exclusively plastic knives on trimmers with electric motors. In a collision with an obstacle, the blades are destroyed, thereby protecting the legs of the mower from possible injuries.

The use of metal knives only on gas trimmers is also due to design features.

  1. The direct design of the bar increases the distance to the legs, which ensures complete safety.
  2. Convenient U-shaped and J-shaped handles allow to hold the tool firmly. D-shaped lawn mowing arms are equipped with a limiter resting on the leg of the pigtail, which does not allow the head to be allowed to close when the cutting disc meets a solid obstacle.
  3. The clutch of the gasoline engine allows you to smoothly gain speed to the optimum level. And when the blade collides with a hard surface, it can absorb part of the impact.

Thus, gas trimmers with an installed metal knife are best used in large areas. They will successfully cope not only with tall coarse grass, weeds, burdocks and nettles, but also shrubs, as well as young trees.

The shape of the blade blades placed on the trimmer does not affect the quality of the work performed. Speed ​​does not depend on them either. Triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular shapes are all the marketing ploy of manufacturers.

How to put the knife on the trimmer

Putting a knife on the trimmer is not so difficult. The manufacturer supplies his tools with a special pin that allows you to lock the gearbox and a key with which you can unscrew the spool with fishing line. The most important thing to observe when changing the cutting elements is the safety precautions and the assembly sequence of disassembly.

The algorithm for installing the knife on the trimmer is as follows:

  1. Remove the protective cover;
  2. We block the drive. To do this, combine two holes – in the shaft hub and in the gear cup. After combining them, insert the pin into the holes;
  3. We turn off the spool with fishing line or the fastening nut holding the boot (clockwise, if the trimmer has not been used) clockwise from the hub;
  4. Next, install the cutting knife, so that the slots on the hub washer coincide with the recesses in the hole of the cutting disc;
  5. Install the boot;
  6. We twist the fastening nut (counterclockwise) while holding the locking pin;
  7. Tighten it using a pipe wrench;
  8. Return the protective cover to its place.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated. Now you can safely proceed to mow the weeds on the site.