The Sound of Breaking Glass,........ Already!!!!

First time out this year with my strimmer, tidying up some borders and I have managed to smash my first ever widow, actually double glazed patio door. I was working almost 20ft away, don’t know how I managed it,. so feeling pig sick and poor, approx £200 poor.Anyway to the point. I was wondering what precautions apart form reducing the speed of the strimmer etc that anyone on here employs to protect from breaking glass. On the odd occasion when working close to glass at ground level I have used cardboard sheet to offer protection.However with a view to something a little more versatile I have now considered to purchase some large suction cups with hooks. Where I feel there could be a risk of flipping a stone up, either with the mower or strimmer I had thought about placing the cups on the frame or glass and hang from it a sheet of PVC similar to a patio set cover or an old curtain. I guess in the main I would be looking to protect up to 3ft from the ground, higher if working on a raised section.. I am assuming the loose hanging material would absorb the speed of the stone as there should be a gap between the material and the glass. I found some suction cups on Ebay that are advertised as able to support 1,36 KG each, so I would think that a pack of 4 should support a 6 to 8ft length of fabric.What do you think, does anyone already do similar or is it just another one of my non starter thoughts

Last year whilst working on a busy mowing round, my colleague and I were both working flat out at one of our regular gardens. We both had our ear defenders on, I was on the mower and he was on the strimmer, then suddenly we both heard a loud thud, looked at each other, looked around and couldnt see anything wrong. We finished the garden off, turned around only to find the owner standing at her front door with her hands on her head staring at her patterned/frosted hallway window in complete shock. We walked up and couldnt see anything wrong until we realised that the window wasnt patterened to start with but a stone had come up and shattered it completely! After apologising as much as we could and explaining that these things happened, she calmed down, rang her insurers and we paid the excess for the damage. I also sent round a bunch of flowers and some chocolates and the shattered glass was never mentioned again!

I now use the Husqvarna 327ldx with strimmer head as you can control the throttle really well. I always try and 'aim' the debris away from windows, cars etc. I also flip it over and use it upside down for tricky areas. If I still feel like it will do some damage, i get the hand tools out just to be safe!

Replies

Lawncare-4u.co.uk March 10, 2010 at 4:44pm

insurance?

why are there stones on the grass ? i know there is , but people should clear it off !! - the customer
Lawncare-4u.co.uk March 10, 2010 at 8:36pm

£500 excess on a £100 p.l policy ?????? ill check mine . not worth having !

Rob Glassborow said:
Its not worth using insurance for this. Firstly you will find that there is usually a £500 excess. And if you did claim, you will pay 3 times as much with you premiun increas over the next 3 years. Best to just get it replaced, sharpish, and get a receipt, its tax deductable.
Robin Ainsworth said:
insurance?

why are there stones on the grass ? i know there is , but people should clear it off !! - the customer
Kieran Ray March 10, 2010 at 11:39pm

I managed to put a neibours back car window through end of last summer, lukerly they had protected no claims so I just had to pay their excess! As Roland says shit happens.
Andy Thorne March 11, 2010 at 12:03am

Many(10+)years ago I broke 2 windows, one each year, both double glazed patio door units.
At the time I was using the FS85 edging.
After the second time I went and bought a strimmer equivalent to the FS38, this obviously has much less power and a thinner line. They also had a larger guard until a year or two ago(180deg) - guard is now only looks to be 30ish deg!

There are obviously a number of factors that will reduce likelihood of this happening again:
1. Reduce power of strimmer/brushcutter
2. Reduce the diameter of line
3. Reduce rotational speed of the head
4. If possible adjust the angle of the guard to maximise chance of it 'catching' stones
Neil Bishop March 11, 2010 at 6:00am

Last year whilst working on a busy mowing round, my colleague and I were both working flat out at one of our regular gardens. We both had our ear defenders on, I was on the mower and he was on the strimmer, then suddenly we both heard a loud thud, looked at each other, looked around and couldnt see anything wrong. We finished the garden off, turned around only to find the owner standing at her front door with her hands on her head staring at her patterned/frosted hallway window in complete shock. We walked up and couldnt see anything wrong until we realised that the window wasnt patterened to start with but a stone had come up and shattered it completely! After apologising as much as we could and explaining that these things happened, she calmed down, rang her insurers and we paid the excess for the damage. I also sent round a bunch of flowers and some chocolates and the shattered glass was never mentioned again!

I now use the Husqvarna 327ldx with strimmer head as you can control the throttle really well. I always try and 'aim' the debris away from windows, cars etc. I also flip it over and use it upside down for tricky areas. If I still feel like it will do some damage, i get the hand tools out just to be safe!
Classic Gardens March 11, 2010 at 7:29am

Hi

I brought this question up last year. There is a guard out there iam sure that covers most of the strimmer head, to stop just such accidents.
alan mcmillan March 11, 2010 at 6:16pm

A lot of pL polices have a £250 excess.

Robin Ainsworth said:
£500 excess on a £100 p.l policy ?????? ill check mine . not worth having !

Rob Glassborow said:
Its not worth using insurance for this. Firstly you will find that there is usually a £500 excess. And if you did claim, you will pay 3 times as much with you premiun increas over the next 3 years. Best to just get it replaced, sharpish, and get a receipt, its tax deductable.
Robin Ainsworth said:
insurance?

why are there stones on the grass ? i know there is , but people should clear it off !! - the customer
alan mcmillan March 11, 2010 at 6:29pm

Must make you feel that you are going to do it all the time..at least for a while. Sorry to here that Gordon.
Andy Lawrence March 11, 2010 at 6:58pm

I feel your pain Gordon.
Was asked to tidy up a horrible rear court last year full of broken Buckfast bottles, dog dirt weeds and grass/weeds full of stones, situated right next to a road. Just putting the finishing touches to the job when I caught a stone which went straight through the passenger window of a parked car.

Cost of job? £120. Cost of window repair? Yep, you guessed it £120.

Really wasn't practical to do anything but strim the wasteland/grass and it would have taken me all day to remove all the stones. Sometimes it's just an occupational hazard.
Lawncare-4u.co.uk March 11, 2010 at 8:09pm

a what assessment? Buckfast has it been banned yet !? we never got the chance to get it from the shop on our last 2 visits to scotland Lol............. is it nice/good ??

Steve Kenyon The Garden Company said:
i suggest when useing a strimmer , clearing saw on long grass which you are unable to see the ground level , strimm from the top downwards so any obsticles or dangers become visable ! DOES NOBODY DO A RISK ASSESMENT ON HERE ????