Which Shape CUTS BEST? (Weed Eater Line at 100,000 Frames Per Second) - Smarter Every Day 238

This one was super. Never thought I’d spend so much time enjoying staring at a weed eater. The way you see the world, Dustin - brilliance of observation!

Branden Stoltz

Also they are called Whipper Snippers - Thank you, Australia

Gerard Hammond

Destin, You are such a joy to watch and get smarter by/with everyday. Good on you!

Gerard Hammond

I grew up in Ohio near an air force base; I think because of it I got used to many objects having a few names. I think of weed eaters as weed wackers, but slide back and forth between the two without noticing. A while back there was a pretty great dialect quiz that guessed where you are from based on some word usage and pronunciation questions. Closet thing I could find at a glance was this one: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

B R Dutcher

I've heard that's great!

Smarter Every Day

I agree that "whipper snipper" is way more fun to say.

Smarter Every Day

Oh wow.. I've never thought about how you'd want to do damage to the weeds. I typically use a weed eater for areas that I can't reach with the mower... like corners etc.

Smarter Every Day

❤️

Smarter Every Day

I did that exact same google search last night. If you find a good biodegrade-able solution please let me know!

Smarter Every Day

You didn't test the style I use all the time made by Echo. It's called Cross-fire and its somewhat like the star pattern but with a pronounced cross shape. https://www.homedepot.com/p/ECHO-095-Cross-Fire-Trimmer-Line-250-ft-Large-Clam-311095070/203185180

WhiteMtHomesteader

I've always called it a "weed eater", but I'm totally making a new habit around "whipper snipper". I've never really thought much about how cleanly the whipper snipper cut the grass, what I really, really want to know is which whipper snipper string is the most durable. I spent extra on the last stuff I bought hoping I would spend less time digging the ends out of the head with needle nosed pliers, and it has been a huge disappointment. It could have the cross-section of a teddy bear for all I care, if it didn't disintegrate at the mere glance of a vinyl fence. My intuition is that the speed it's going is a larger factor in its destructive capability than its shape. Not to say the video wasn't cool, because it really was fascinating. I loved the interaction with "Weed Eater Guy". Can't beat the perspective of an expert that does this all the time.

I commented earlier but hadn't watched the video because I had to get out and weed eat or whipper snipper! Anyway, got to the end and cracked open the book to see whassup this time via reepacheep and it kinda made me tear up cuz it linked up with what I commented about before I saw the video. Either that or I'm allergic to all his grass grist on my clothes. Thanks Destin.

James Heuberger

Are you sure you want things being cut with a weed eater to be cleanly cut? To keep grass healthy, then clean cut is good. For weeds, my understanding was the rougher cuts effectively stunted the weed's growth so you didn't have to trim so often.

Dave

I love you dude , the video is great but I really love your humility and the interaction with Robert, take care the world needs more people like you

I haven't used a weed eater since I was a kid in Mississippi, and so far as I was aware there was only one line shape available at the time (round, of course). I think the insight about the sharp-sharp square's corners pulling grass in toward the concave side makes a lot of sense. It makes me think of how the line interacted with the chain-link fence and how a drone that's set to rotate props-in will pull itself into a tree rather than push itself away. But that's untested intuition, of course.

RMD Cade

give all the lines you got to Robert (say Hi!) and hear from him in a month or two.

Chris K

Maybe have the leads coming off the wacker go to each shape, to show they're cross-sections.

Now - how long, as a function of the different 'styles' of shortening the grass (cutting vs. smashing), does the grass take to recover back to the original length? If it makes a significant enough difference - maybe you wouldn't have to cut it as often.

Well, here's one more topic I never thought about and it just goes to show that almost anything can be an interesting deep dive. My initial thoughts: Man, there must be efficiencies to be gained here. Even when idle it's wasting some energy keeping the motor going, then it has to spin up to cutting speed during which you're losing a lot of energy to drag and inertia. I've used a weed eater two or three times so I never thought about it, but now I am dispairing at the amount of tiny plastic bits these things give off. A quick search shows there are 'biodegradable' lines out there, but anecdotally people complain about they rate at which they break, and I can't find anyone who has tested how quickly or thoroughly they break down.

Korey Peterson

I *despise* refilling and cleaning my trimmer's head. Bravo on volunteering to do that 100 times this month. :)

Great fun! I have a question from the previous slow motion weed eater video. What was the term you used for the grounding rod that is so hard on the weed eater string? Thanks.

Just stepping out to go ... weedeat the yard. Gotta beat the rain. I love being able to help in a small way to family financial stability. I'm a handyman and it's my faith that keeps the worry away about "the next job". So that resonates with me even tho youtuber and handyman are very different.

James Heuberger

I am generally using the round shape (probably because it is cheap) and definitely because I never thought about it much before your video

Dan & Jen Baizel

Use to use triangle or hex, never really had a rhyme or reason to it, probably whichever was cheaper. Thankfully live in the desert now so no yardwork anymore!

william bumgardner