HOUSTON (AP) _ George C. Ballas Sr., a Houston entrepreneur best known for inventing the Weed Eater, has died. He was 85.
Ballas’ son, Corky Ballas, told The Associated Press his father died on Saturday.
Ballas got the idea for the Weed Eater while sitting in a car wash. He wondered whether the idea of spinning bristles, like the ones cleaning his car, could be applied to trimming grass and weeds in areas a lawnmower couldn’t reach.
The Houston Chronicle reports he experimented with fishing wire that poked through holes in a tin can attached to the rotary of a lawn edger. He found the spinning wires easily sliced through grass.
Ballas founded his Weed Eater company in Houston in 1971 and sales flourished during the subsequent decade. He later sold his invention.
___
Information from: Houston Chronicle
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)