Trimmer Safety Tips

Equipment Safety

• Never install a blade on a trimmer that was not designed for it. Insure that if a trimmer can be used as a bladed unit all proper blade specific safety guards are installed.
• Use the recommended size line for your trimmer. Heavier line will stress the motor.
• Save time and hassle with a spare pre-wound spool on hand as a replacement.
• Keep your trimmer head clean of debris and dirt.
• Keep the string trimmer dry and do not use in rain or wet conditions.
• Never store fuel for your string trimmer in the home. Gasoline, propane, kerosene, and other flammable liquids should be stored outside of living areas in properly-labeled, non-glass safety containers.
• Before refueling the trimmer, turn it off and let it cool down. Gasoline spilled on hot engine parts could ignite.
• Maintain your string trimmer’s engine according to its maintenance schedule for peak performance and safety.

Personal Safety

• Always wear protective eyewear.
• Don’t forget ear protection, as well as boots, long pants, and gloves.
• Remember to watch where you are trimming. Bystanders, children and animals up to 50 feet away can be struck by debris kicked up by the trimmer.
• Stay clear of outdoor wiring to avoid zapping yourself.

Usage Tips

We have some overall tips which follow, then some job-specific tips for your below. If you have your own you’d like to share, send them to us. When using your string trimmer, allow the very tip of the line to do the cutting. Be careful to never drag the trimmer spool on the ground while trimming. And with a bump-feed line advance, feed the line out occasionally to prevent it from retracting into the head.

• Keep Things Clean To keep your string trimmer working in top shape, keep it clean. When you finish a job, wipe off the grass and debris left on the tool. Check the fuel level and how much string is left on the reel. Some gas-powered trimmers need to be stored trimmer end down or level so fluids don’t leak—check the manual to ensure you store yours correctly.
• Give It a Trim, Not a Cut If you hold a string trimmer too close to a lawn, it can “scalp” it or strip your lawn bald. To avoid this, keep the string head about 2 to 3 inches off the ground—about the same as your lawn mower. Then, sweep it side to side in a steady motion and keep the head parallel to the ground.
• Keeping Things Tangle-Free It’s easy enough to stall out a trimmer engine. Just cut tall grass and weeds at their base and the stems will fall and tangle around the trimmer’s head. Instead, trim tall weeds from the top down. This way, as you sweep your trimmer side to side, it cuts the grass and weeds into little pieces. If grass becomes tangled at the base of the trimmer head remove it carefully. Safety Tip: Remember to disconnect the spark plug lead when working on the rotating parts of your trimmer.
• Living on the Edge Use an edger to create a clean edge along flower beds, driveways, and sidewalks. Then, maintain the edge periodically with your string trimmer. To do so, shift your grip so the string spins vertically. When you turn the string so it spins like an airplane propeller (rather than a helicopter), it tracks along your edge and will cut away any “out of line” grass quickly and easily.
• Trimming near trees, posts, and steps What’s nice about a string trimmer is it can get right up to steps, fences, and trees. But protect these things from the whirling string. Stop just short of hitting them because there is a danger that you could kill a tree by stripping its bark, or cut a fly-away chunk out of concrete steps or a wooden fence. Tip: If you create mulch beds around trees and up against fences, you’ll never need to trim right up to them.
• Cutting brush If you switch your string to a metal blade for cutting brush and saplings, protect yourself with long pants, helmet, boots, and goggles. A blade guard protects you from injury. Never remove the blade guard. It also keeps the blade from coming into contact with rocks, fences, or tree trunks.