Weed Eater is a

string trimmer A string trimmer, also known by the portmanteau strimmer and the trademarks Weedwacker, Weed eater and Whipper Snipper. is a garden tool for cutting grass, small weeds, and groundcover. It uses a whirling monofilament line instead of a blad ...

company founded in 1971 in Houston, Texas by George C. Ballas, Sr., the inventor of the device. The idea for the Weed Eater trimmer came to him from the spinning nylon bristles of an automatic car wash. He thought that he could come up with a similar technique to protect the bark on trees that he was trimming around. His company was eventually bought by

Emerson Electric Emerson Electric Co. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri. The ''Fortune'' 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets.

and merged with

Poulan Poulan is a brand name of the Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna AB. History Poulan was founded as Poulan Saw Co. in 1946 by chainsaw pioneer Claude Poulan in Shreveport, Louisiana. Purchased in late 1950s or early '60 by the Beaird Company, also o ...

. Poulan/Weed Eater was later purchased by

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety ...

, which spun off the outdoors division as

Husqvarna AB The Husqvarna Group () is a Swedish manufacturer of outdoor power products including chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, and garden tractors. Founded as a firearms manufacturer in 1689, it is one of the oldest continuously runnin ...

in 2006. Inventor Ballas was the father of champion

ballroom dancer Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television ...

Corky Ballas Mark Alexander Ballas Sr. (born December 25, 1960), known as Corky Ballas, is an American retired competitive ballroom dancer who holds several Latin dance championship titles. His son, Mark Ballas, is a professional dancer on ''Dancing with the ...

and the grandfather of '' Dancing with the Stars'' dancer

Mark Ballas Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986) is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Ballas is a professional ballroom dancer on the ABC program ''Dancing with the Stars''. He began competing on the show ...

. George Ballas died on June 25, 2011.See "Weed Eater inventor dies at 85," June 29, 2011, Associated Press, as published by the ''Lake Charles American Press'', a

References

External links

Weed Eater official siteCorporate websiteOther goods from company
{{Power tool manufacturers Agricultural machinery manufacturers of the United States Brands that became generic