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Electric (Corded) Operated Trimmer Installation

Electric (Corded) trimmers (cordless) are often used for light work on small yards.

Electric (Corded) trimmers are very different from their gas counterparts. There is no gas to mix but the trade-off is having to deal with a long extension cords. Every part and component should be as light as possible to avoid stalling the trimmer.

Recommended Heads

If the bottom of the housing is held in place by tabs, download these two quick measuring guides: EZ electric and Electric Multifit. They will tell you exactly how long and wide the tabs should be in order to use our models 8030B (EZ Electric) which is a pre-cut line unit or our 6600 (Electric MultiFit) which is a bladed unit. The length and diameter of the tabs on both heads are different so if one fits the other one will not.
If the bottom of the spool housing is held in place by a nut or bolt then we recommend our model 8030W
If the bottom of the spool housing has inner threads that screw onto the bottom of the top housing and the diameter of the housing is 3" then we recommend our model 8030T.
If you have a Ryobi Expand-it Electric Power head with either the straight or the curved shaft attachments you can actually use 4 of our gas heads: 3600, 5600 , 5620 or 8010.
If you buy the model 8030 from a retailer or any other store other than our website, then you will get all 3 models: 8030B, 8030W and 8030T in one package. You will use the one that fits your trimmer and discard the other 2.

Installation Instructions

For trimmers with tabs holding the bottom housing in place:

Picture showing how to dismantle the line housing of a trimmer with tabs.

Push the tabs towards the head to pop the head open. Remove the bottom cover, spring (if any) and the spool.
Take the GrassGator 8030B (the tabbed head if you bought a model 8030 from a retailer) and plug it into the bottom of the original housing making sure the tabs snap in place.

For trimmers with a threaded shaft:

Picture showing how to dismantle the line housing of a trimmer with a threaded shaft.

Unscrew the original head off your trimmer.
Find the nut from the GrassGator kit and verify that it screws onto the shaft. If the nut doesn't fit or if your trimmer requires a bolt instead, call 1-800-210-9949 or e-mail us at techsupport@cmdproducts.com.
Drop the nut inside the hex shaped recessed hole on the GrassGator 8030W (the one with the hole in the center if you bought a model 8030 from a retailer).
Slide the GrassGator head with the nut in it over the shaft. The hex shaped hole and the nut must be facing out. The nut is the last thing that should be on the shaft, not the first.
Keep turning the GrassGator, it will work as a wrench on the nut.
Get it tight but only by hand, don't overtighten.

For trimmers with inner threads:

Shows how to dismantle the line housing of a trimmer with inner threads.

Unscrew the bottom housing.
Remove any spools or springs from inside the housing.
Take the GrassGator 8030T (the one with threads on the inside part of the head if you bought a model 8030 from a retailer) and screw it onto the top part of the housing.
Get it tight but don't over tighten.

How to change the line

Changing the line on the 8030 is a bit different than what you would expect but it is really easy once you understand how it works. We used the 8030T for the pictures but keep in mind that all 3 versions of this head load the same way.

Remove the old line

Shows how to remove the trimmer line from the head.

Push one of the ends of the left over line towards the head until you see a loop of line coming up on the edge of the head.
Pull the loop to remove from the head.

Get the new line ready

Get one piece of line ready.
You can use our pre-cut line model 8040 or cut the line yourself. All 3 of the 8030 versions take about 12" of .065 or .080 trimmer line (the actual length depends on the cutting path of your trimmer).

Re-load the head

Look around the rim of the head, in between the 2 big holes you should see 2 small square holes really close together.
Take the new piece of line and fold it in half.
Insert one end of the line in each of the small square holes and keep pushing until the ends come out of the big holes.
Pull on the line to make it even on both sides
You are now ready to use your GrassGator head!