Milwaukee Easy Load String Trimmer Head

Whether you’re a Pro or a homeowner, one of the biggest complaints about string trimmers surrounds having to refill your line. Echo made life easy for us with the SpeedFeed head a while back and EGO just pushed the level of convenience several steps further with their PowerLoad system. Milwaukee has no intention of being stuck in manual wind mode and I’ve had several weeks to work the new Milwaukee Easy Load String Trimmer Head.

Align, Load, Wind: It Can’t Be That Easy… Can It?

Jumping right into the heart of the matter, Milwaukee claims that refilling your line is as simple as align, load, wind. It sounds so easy, but is it just marketing hype?

Well, yeah, it pretty much is that easy. First, you line up the bold red marks. That’s easy enough since they stand out against the black.

Next, thread you trimmer line through the hole and out the other side. If your line has a lot of bend to it (most does), it may try to curve around the middle instead of going through. Turn the line so it’s bending up or down rather than to the side and it usually goes through on the first try.

If you’ve never used a system like this, understand that threading the line through to the middle is critical so you have even ends. The simple way to do this is to match the two ends together once you thread one side through. Holding onto both lines with one finger and thumb, pull both lines so they stay even. As soon as you pull up the slack on the short side, it will start pulling the longer side through the head. Keep going until you reach the middle.

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Finally, wind it up until both ends have 8 inches or so sticking out. The string trimmer cutter will take care of any excess and you can bump it if it’s too short. Just don’t pull one end all the way. You get to start over if you do.

Additional Field Notes

A couple of things stand out (aside from the easy loading) on the Milwaukee Easy Load String Trimmer Head. First, this is a taller construction than the stock head on Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel String Trimmer. The extra bulk changes where the bottom of the head hits the ground but keeps the line at roughly the same height. It doesn’t take long to get used to.

When you’re just about out of line and the last of the line stretches out, it will eject from the head. While that leaves you with a 15″ or length of line laying in the yard, it’s actually a good thing. It means you don’t have to open up that head at all – just run your new length of line in and keep working.

Swapping out the heads is simple. Use the rod that comes in the package to stop the head from spinning. Then just unscrew the old one and screw the Milwaukee Easy Load String Trimmer Head on. It takes more time to open the package than it does to swap the heads.

The head accepts 0.080″ and 0.095″ line. Many Pros we talk to prefer 0.105″ if they can get away with it, but that won’t be the case here. If you’re on the smaller diameter, you can get 25′ of line in or 20′ with 0.095″ line.

The Bottom Line

For around $30, the Milwaukee Easy Load String Trimmer Head is one of just a few really meaningful upgrades you can make to your string trimmer. For homeowners that don’t have to change line frequently, you’ll thank yourself when you do. For Pros that are changing line more frequently, you’ll thank yourself every day.