| Weed Eater | |
| Industry | Agricultural |
| Founded | 1971 (1971) |
| Founder | George C. Ballas, Sr. |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas |
| Website | www.weedeater.com |
Weed Eater is astring trimmer company founded in 1971 inHouston, Texas byGeorge 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 byEmerson Electric and merged withPoulan. Poulan/Weed Eater was later purchased byElectrolux, which spun off the outdoors division asHusqvarna AB in 2006.[1]
Inventor Ballas was the father of championballroom dancerCorky Ballas and the grandfather ofDancing with the Stars dancerMark Ballas.[2]
George Ballas died on June 25, 2011.[3]
Husqvarna revived the Weed Eater brand in the US in 2023 and Canada in 2024[4]