I was trimming my hedges and I have a hedger attachment to make my life a little easier. If you haven’t noticed, the trimmers are pretty lengthy. To say its cumbersome is to say the least. If you live in gated communities with houses that are five feet apart from each other, you’ll know what I mean by mobility when it comes to mowing or working on the sides of your house.

Anywho, the trimmer is 65 inches long or around there. Its a little long when you add the hedger attachment to it. So I got to thinking, “Now wouldn’t it be nice if it were a little shorter”. So I did just that. I had to cut it down to the length I desired. It took some welding and grinding to get things to fit nicely. Two hours later and I am done! It looks good so far! A total of 39 inches with the hedger attachment attached. No handle for grip but its fairly light and easily maneuverable. I think my six yr old nephew can start using it from now on=) Who knows, I might shrink the lawn mower, edger and the likes so that he can start doing my chores!

I have to mention though that the shaft is hollow and inside it, is a flexible steel wire that spins the tool(s). The wire is covered by a heavy nylon shell and its separated from ever touching the shaft by rubber bushings that slide over the nylon shell. The only way I could cut that is with my trusty bolt cutter. I cut it as close as I could to the head and welded the rest on very carefully as not to interrupt the engineering of the components.

I did not include all the photos step-by-step but you’ll understand the concept of what it took to complete such a wonderful feat. It only took a little of ingenuity and lots of patience. I’m going to rebuild this motor later on. Its very old I admit, about 6 yrs old 31CC Ryobi weed eater. I will take apart this motor and probably make a scooter for my nephew to play with. I’ll cap the speed to 3 mph for safety.

short Ryobi trimmer : Ryobi weed eater : 31CC Ryobi motor