§ How-To
Trimmer Line Won't Feed: A Troubleshooting Checklist
Six things to check, in order, when the line stops paying out — before you blame the spool or buy a new head.
A trimmer that won’t feed line is one of the most common — and most fixable — small-engine annoyances. Before you buy a new head, work this checklist in order. It’s arranged from most to least common cause, so you’ll usually solve it in the first two steps.
1. Welded line (the usual suspect)
Heat from cutting fuses loosely-wound coils together so they can’t pay out. Pop the spool and look for melted-together layers. Peel them apart, and when you re-load, wind tight and flat — see How to Wind a Trimmer Spool. Don’t run the spool down to the last few feet, where heat build-up is worst.
2. Wrong line diameter
Line that’s thicker than the head is rated for binds in the eyelet and won’t advance. Confirm your head’s gauge and match it — details in Choosing Trimmer Line Gauge. This is especially common after someone refills with whatever bulk line was on the shelf.
3. Too little line left
Many auto-feed heads stop feeding when only a few feet remain — there’s not enough mass for the mechanism to pay out. The fix is simply to re-load or swap in a fresh spool.
4. Cross-wound or tangled layers
If the line was wound unevenly, coils snag on each other. Pull the spool and re-wind in even rows in the arrow direction. Dual-line spools jam if the two lines cross between channels — keep them separated.
5. Worn or broken eyelet
The eyelet is the ring the line exits through. A grooved, cracked, or sharp eyelet frays and grabs line. If it’s worn through, the head itself needs replacing — consider a universal head upgrade.
6. Tired feed spring or mechanism
Bump heads rely on a spring that lets the spool index when you tap. If the spring is weak, popped out of place, or gummed with debris, feeding fails. Reseat or replace the spring (often sold as a cap-and-spring kit), or replace the spool assembly.
Still nothing?
If you’ve ruled out all six and a freshly, correctly wound spool of the right gauge still won’t feed, the spool may simply be a poor match for your head. Confirm the exact part for your model on the Brands page, or measure the old one with this guide.
§ Parts
