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DQ News: Farewell To Weed Eater Inventor

Ever wonder about the origins of the weed eater? What the device does is pretty basic, but it helped change the way that people cared for their lawns.

The man who started the brand, George C. Ballas Sr., recently passed on at the age of 85, but not before he could leave behind his one-of-a-kind creation, reports Chron.

Ballas got the idea for the Weed Eater while sitting in a car wash. Watching spinning bristles clean his car, he wondered if the same principle could be applied to trimming grass and weeds around trees and in corners of the lawn — areas that could not be reached by a lawnmower.

Returning home, Ballas began experimenting with fishing wire poked through holes in a tin can, all attached to the rotary of a lawn edger. He soon found a format in which the spinning wires handily sliced through grass. Voila! The Weed Eater was born.

Ballas founded his Weed Eater company here in 1971, and TV promotion sent sales of the product skyrocketing during the subsequent decade.

When he sold Weed Eater to Emerson Electric, part of the agreement was that he would never disclose the amount he was paid, even to his family.

Photo by IrishFireside

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