Hearth Record

Consumers Urged To Inspect Edger/Trimmer Garden Tools

Home product recall 78-078. Announced by CPSC on Sep 27, 1978.

CPSC’s own notice, on cpsc.gov

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The short answer

Announced by CPSC on Sep 27, 1978. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.

Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.

What’s wrong with it?

Electrocution/Electric Shock

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

What should you do?

The notice gives no remedy in a field of its own.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

Which ones are recalled?

September 27, 1978 Release # 78-078 Consumers Urged To Inspect Edger/Trimmer Garden Tools WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 27) --Weed Eater, Inc., Houston, Texas, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), today announced an inspection and replacement program for the “406 Grass Getter”, a nylon string edger/trimmer sold exclusively by Montgomery Ward and Co. The electrical insulation on some of the garden tools may have been damaged during shipping and could expose a user to an electric shock. No injuries have been reported. The units involved were sold by Wards between December 20,1977 and August 10, 1978. They were offered for sale through Wards’ retail and catalog stores and sold for about $59.00. The only units affected can be identified by the model number WWH 2052A. This is the only model number affected. The model number appears both on the warning label on the metal shaft and on a name plate on top of the motor housing. The logo “406 Grass Getter” also appears on the name plate. To inspect the unit, the consumer is urged to unplug the unit, separate the upper and lower halves of the metal tubular shaft so as to expose the wiring, and check the visible wiring for cuts in the insulation of the wires. (About four inches of wiring is exposed when the unit is taken apart.

Grass Getter nylon string edger/trimmer.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

Who made and sold it?

  • Made by Montgomery Ward.
  • Made by Weed Eater.
Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

Was anyone hurt?

The notice doesn’t say whether anyone was hurt.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

What the record doesn’t say

  • The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
  • The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
  • How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Source:

Hearth Record wrote these lines.

Sources

  • U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.

    Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.

Source:

Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.

How to read a record

Four things every record does, shown on an example record made up for this guide.

An example record, made up for this guide

An example nursing home

Made up for this guide: no real place is shown

Not fully inspected in over two years (CMS flag)

11 health citations at the latest inspection cycle

The state average is 14.3.

Source:

CMS, State and US Averages and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 8, 2026. Updated monthly.

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