All About Weed Eaters

The oldest and most widely used trimmer explained.

History of the weed eater

As we begin to learn all about weed eaters, we must start with George Ballas, from (ironically enough) Houston, who invented the Weed Eater in 1972. Ballas conceived the idea after taking his car to an automatic carwash. He believed that the nylon filament that was used to scrub the car could also be used to cut weeds without harming tree bark. Eventually, Ballas's company would be bought by Poulan Outdoor Equipment Company, who shared its origins with the equally visionary southerner Claude Poulan, a pioneer of a number of refinements to the chainsaw, making it a much more practical and widely used device.

Product line

Since its inception, the Poulan Weed Eater line has expanded to include not only trimmers and chainsaws, but also a number of other outdoor power equipment tools that can make your Saturday afternoon go a lot more smoothly.

Edgers, both gas and electric, are made by Weed Eater. These devices cut an inch wide groove between pavement and lawn to give a very clean and professional finish.

They also offer a line of lawn tractors, which feature 11 gauge steel frames, and real manual transmissions that deliver power much more efficiently than other types. They also have entree to sister company Husqvarna's technology.

Weed Eater Lawnmowers are offered with fourteen-inch rear wheels, which allow much better maneuverability and ease of movement than conventional small-wheeled mowers.

Maintenance and repair

The dealer network for Poulan Weed Eater is the largest of any other brand. It is because of this that repairs facilities and repair parts for Weed Water are the most convenient of any other brand. So while you may have purchased your Weed Eater at a big box store, Poulan Weed Eater has a support network that means you can get the big store discounts with small shop service.

Another advantage of Weed Eater's line of Gas Trimmers, Leaf Blowers and Edgers is that they operate on two cycle engines. Two cycles are light and they pack a bigger punch into a much smaller engine. They are ideal for applications such as trimmers, chainsaws and off-road motorcycles. They use fewer parts, and no valve train or lubrication system, which means fewer problems. They also never require oil changes.

Two cycles, while creating higher emissions in larger engines, have negligible impact when used in something as small as a hand held trimmer.

More information on weed eaters