trimmer head recommendation!

[Matt]

hi y'all, have a question, my folks have a echo gt225 line trimmer they bought a few years ago for light duty work, was on sale at tsc for next to nothing. dad says to me today, im tired of messing with this (ez load) cheap trimmer head, have replaced it twice already?? i did not know that all of this was happening and with such a light duty machine, i dont have an answer for him apart for the autoloader from echo that seems to work but am unable to see it it fits, working on that.

anyone with any recommendations for a good easy to use trimmer head would be appreciated, thanks. matt

[bobodu]

I kinda like the head I use that holds the two precut lines. Big heavy strings. I buy a roll and cut them myself. There are several makers.

[bgsengine]

Echo has a lot of options for heads, depends on what you are looking for - bump feed, easy load, speed feed, they even have maxi-cut (plastic flail blades)

We've never yet seen any sort of problem with the Quick Load head (pre-cut strings) - they did have a problem a few years back before Echo bought out the manufacturer (Kwik) where the pawls were not gripping the lines (there's a pawl repair kit available) so if they had a problem with that machine and it was less than 5 years old they should have taken it to an Echo dealer and gotten it fixed under warranty... the trimmer head is covered as well.

We actually have a customer that is well known for beating the crap out of his equipment.. commercial user, mows cemetery lawns, I believe 6 or 7 a week... he used to go through a new Weedeater from Wal-mart every year, if not more frequently... he used to use stihl, went through one every couple years, started using Weedeater (and Homelite and Husqvarna) when Stihls got too expensive... 3 years ago he got an Echo GT-225.. we put a bump feed head (I think it was a U-Turn head) , and still has not managed to kill that machine.. only been in twice for service - once for a tune up, and once with a rusted and broken i-Start damper spring. Suffice to say he is amazed with the durability of Echo.. and if and when he ever kills this one, I know without a doubt he's gonna buy another.

[bgsengine]

Follow up -

The GT-225 can take 4 optional OEM heads - The Echomatic (P/N # 99944200240) the Speed Feed 400 (Reloads 25 Ft of .095 line in as little as 30 seconds) P/N 99944200907 (has to be converted to RH operation before use - they're set up to default to LH operation) , the Rapid Loader (Standard Equipment on these - 2 quick change pre-cut lines) and the Maxi-Cut (213511) which is the 3 nylon cutter blades (replaceable blades and hardware kits available separately for maintenance)

[Matt]

Echo has a lot of options for heads, depends on what you are looking for - bump feed, easy load, speed feed, they even have maxi-cut (plastic flail blades)

We've never yet seen any sort of problem with the Quick Load head (pre-cut strings) - they did have a problem a few years back before Echo bought out the manufacturer (Kwik) where the pawls were not gripping the lines (there's a pawl repair kit available) so if they had a problem with that machine and it was less than 5 years old they should have taken it to an Echo dealer and gotten it fixed under warranty... the trimmer head is covered as well.

We actually have a customer that is well known for beating the crap out of his equipment.. commercial user, mows cemetery lawns, I believe 6 or 7 a week... he used to go through a new Weedeater from Wal-mart every year, if not more frequently... he used to use stihl, went through one every couple years, started using Weedeater (and Homelite and Husqvarna) when Stihls got too expensive... 3 years ago he got an Echo GT-225.. we put a bump feed head (I think it was a U-Turn head) , and still has not managed to kill that machine.. only been in twice for service - once for a tune up, and once with a rusted and broken i-Start damper spring. Suffice to say he is amazed with the durability of Echo.. and if and when he ever kills this one, I know without a doubt he's gonna buy another.

thanks y'all, my dad replaced wthe original head with the same that came on the machine, which was the pre-cut rapid load??(what they call them now), as bgsengine has pointed out, the pawls would stop gripping thus throwing the line out and having to re-load again, those pawls have now disappeared on his machine. the machine is approx 4 years old, he bought it cause it was very lightweight and does like echo machines(wishes he bought a straight shaft), so bgsengine, ill contact echo with the model number and see if there is something that they could/would do as you pointed out in your post. my dad would want a bump or auto feed type head, he says he get pooped replacing line so much with this setup, he buys and cuts his own lines. thanks y'all for your replies, much appreciatted. thanks bgsengine

[1957hd5]

I bought a Tanaka Nobrainer head for my maruyama. Really like it. I got Dad one for his stihl and one for my brother also. They seem to really like them. Maybe cause they were free????


I can do my yard and only put precut pieces in two or three times, I have over three acres. They make two versions curved shaft and straight. They are supposed to fit 95% of trimmers
Just a thought.