For years I have used a Ryobi electric weed whacker for the long grass I need to cut down every spring. It is light and I don’t need to constantly manage a gasoline engine.

The original design comes with a rotating head that holds the plastic strings that do the cutting. The idea of the manufacturer is to design something totally convenient that will dole out new string as the operating length becomes short. You tap it on the ground and a few inches come out. The problem is that the mechanism is chancy and when it misfires you can get many feet being fed out for no reason. In fact you can go thru a whole spool of string for no reason. And the stuff isn’t cheap!

I decided to come up with a better, much less wasteful way to hold the string and parcel it out. The result was a huge success, and the only wasted string is a short piece about two inches long each time. I also added two more strings to the head so that it now holds four. You could also add six or eight or more but I haven’t field tested that combination.

What I did was to notice that a standard white plastic vinyl 1.5 inch end cap is just the right size to replace the rotating head that comes with the machine. I cut about 3/4 inch off the length of the cap using a band saw, put a 3/4 inch hole in the cap end for the nut assembly that came with the original head and drilled 12 small holes around the sides and bottom for the string to thread thru.

I prepared a bunch of short strings about 10 inches long and then heated one end of each in a flame to make a little ball or enlarged flat end on the string. This is to prevent them from slipping thru the holes drilled in the cap.

Now I thread one string thru a set of three small holes in the cap, ending with the string poking out the sides, to fit the holes in the sides of the cup shaped head that actually turns when the machine operates. Feed the four strings thru their corresponding holes and you are all set for an hour or two of heavy cutting. Four strings do twice as much work as two strings before needing replacement..

Don’t misunderstand the point of this description. I am not trying to invent a patentable new design. I believe there are other head designs which use four strings or short pieces. I am only trying to show that it is possible to modify this one commercial design towards one that creates less waste. I’m sure I haven’t found the very best design yet.