Hi Cyberjack: Butterfly net being required for me sounds about right haha.
MF, yeah, this is a pretty rough estimate - in some cases, the cable tie user would probably pay less. I use 2.4mm round in everything.
Disclaimer: the following will probably put readers to sleep:
Ok, worked out the following - pretty rough estimate, but its comparing chalk and cheese
Comparing zip ties to a bump feed head poses too many variables (eg how often bumped, etc), so these calcs are using a head like the cheap homelites use, single line, 40cm cutting diameter, 10cm of line wasted each replacement.
4.6mm wide x 1mm high cable ties $9.50 and 15m Saxon 1.6mm trimmer line $4.98 (homelites actually take 2.4, but still)
1.6mm line has 8mm^2 cross-sectional area (CSA), the ties have 4.6mm^2 CSA. Inaccuracies arise due to the slim nature of the zip ties - they will spin much faster, as they have more like a knife edge - meaning faster wear.
Basically, with the fixed line head, 1/5 of the trimmer line is unusable, meaning 1/5 the string is useless.
Overall, it seems that zip ties work out at 47.5 cents 'per metre', whilst even the smallest (least economical) roll of 1.6mm trimmer line works out at 41.5 cents per metre (after loosing the aforementioned 1/5 useless short lengths).
Can't make any comments on the longevity of the cable ties, but if 1.6 is anything to go by, great in the field, but useless against concrete.
Last edited by Tyler; 01/12/18 10:20 PM.
