Weedeater for cutting brush?

[MushCreek]

I have a LOT of brush around my place, and it grows back every year. I'd like to find a tool to deal with it. I have a Husqvarna weedeater, but the manual specifically says not to use a brush cutter on it. I assume doing so would kill it? Is there specific type of weedeater for cutting brush? I have small trees, blackberries, and even grapevines that grow back aggressively every year. I have a tractor and a bush hog, but many areas are too tight to use it. What are y'all using?

 

[PCustoms]

Is there specific type of weedeater for cutting brush?

A brush cutter?

All Stihl and Husqvarna both Mack rugged versions capable of using brush blades, and both (last I looked) make dedicated cutters.

How big of an area? If it keeps coming back you might need to take other actions. I'm partial to ripping the roots and seeding.

 

[zendriver]

If you have to keep cutting it down, why not just kill it using herbicide?

Otherwise, I have an old echo brushcutter with a blade on it but I noticed the new ones are almost $700

 

[Firebrick43]

There are weedeaters that are big straight shaft heavy duty trimmers with what they call bicyle handle bars. This gives you more control and somewhat better safety from kick backs compared to the same trimmer with a loop handle bar. .

Some switchable attachment trimmers such as the stihl combi have a small reaction bar for some safety but they are not as good as the bicycle bars and a harness.

The question is how much brush and how big? I find my stihl KM131 quite satisfactory for most light brush with a 3 blade grass and weed blade.

I have a darwins grip add on handle that helps significantly with control, maybe even more comfortable than bicycle handle bars.

The combo will handle briers, thick weeds, and a limited amount of small trees that are the size of a finger or smaller. The trees have to be fed slowly and blade usually sharpened soon after.

If you are doing a lot of trees then the saw blades are essential but so is the bigger handle bars.

 

[PCustoms]

There are weedeaters that are big straight shaft heavy duty trimmers with what they call bicyle handle bars. This gives you more control and somewhat better safety from kick backs compared to the same trimmer with a loop handle bar. .

Some switchable attachment trimmers such as the stihl combi have a small reaction bar for some safety but they are not as good as the bicycle bars and a harness.

The question is how much brush and how big? I find my stihl KM131 quite satisfactory for most light brush with a 3 blade grass and weed blade.

I have a darwins grip add on handle that helps significantly with control, maybe even more comfortable than bicycle handle bars.

The combo will handle briers, thick weeds, and a limited amount of small trees that are the size of a finger or smaller. The trees have to be fed slowly and blade usually sharpened soon after.

If you are doing a lot of trees then the saw blades are essential but so is the bigger handle bars.

I've got a Husqvarna (129R I think) that has the bicycle bars and works as described above.

 

[P0234]

Does your Husky use the industry standard attachments, where you replace the end of the shaft with whatever gadget? Iirc they don't, but even then I'd get a brush cutter attachment that replaces the trimmer head.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I have a LOT of brush around my place, and it grows back every year. I'd like to find a tool to deal with it. I have a Husqvarna weedeater, but the manual specifically says not to use a brush cutter on it. I assume doing so would kill it? Is there specific type of weedeater for cutting brush? I have small trees, blackberries, and even grapevines that grow back aggressively every year. I have a tractor and a bush hog, but many areas are too tight to use it. What are y'all using?

Is a walk behind brush mower too big for the spaces you're working with?

 

[slowtwitch73]

Just got a Stihl with brush blades.... works good.

 

[seber]

The type of brush cutter that is not recommended for weedeaters are the type shown in post #4. There are blades that look like the ones used on table saws that do not shock the motor. I use those on my Stihls. The downside is they get dull very quickly. I'm considering modifying a carbide tooth blade for the purpose.

 

[MushCreek]

It's kind of a messy area, where the woods meet the lawn. Old stumps make it so you can't get anything bigger in there. There are probably thousands of small trees and blackberries every spring; way too many to treat with slash 'n squirt. I might be able to turn some of it into lawn. Anything over an inch I either saw down or pull out with the big tractor. Access is the biggest problem; if I drive the big tractor (Ford 3000) on the lawn, the ag tires tear it up. My only mower is a zero-turn, so I'd have to get rid of any brush to be able to mow it. I have a lot of areas where the terrain is too rugged for the ZT, and I'm not going to spend the time and money to have them graded out and turned into lawn. A good trimming once a year is all I want to prevent the trees from getting big. A poplar here will grow to 20' in just a few seasons.

My Husky is just a dedicated string trimmer. After 12 seasons, it fires right up and does a good job. I do a lot of weed eating because of the encroaching brush, but once it gets too big and tough, I need a next-level tool.

 

[PCustoms]

It's kind of a messy area, where the woods meet the lawn. Old stumps make it so you can't get anything bigger in there. There are probably thousands of small trees and blackberries every spring; way too many to treat with slash 'n squirt. I might be able to turn some of it into lawn. Anything over an inch I either saw down or pull out with the big tractor. Access is the biggest problem; if I drive the big tractor (Ford 3000) on the lawn, the ag tires tear it up. My only mower is a zero-turn, so I'd have to get rid of any brush to be able to mow it. I have a lot of areas where the terrain is too rugged for the ZT, and I'm not going to spend the time and money to have them graded out and turned into lawn. A good trimming once a year is all I want to prevent the trees from getting big. A poplar here will grow to 20' in just a few seasons.

My Husky is just a dedicated string trimmer. After 12 seasons, it fires right up and does a good job. I do a lot of weed eating because of the encroaching brush, but once it gets too big and tough, I need a next-level tool.

You've got to pick, woods or lawn.

Otherwise it's selective cutting.

Personally I'd cultivate the blackberries, tasty!

 

[jmdirk]

I have a LOT of brush around my place, and it grows back every year. I'd like to find a tool to deal with it. I have a Husqvarna weedeater, but the manual specifically says not to use a brush cutter on it. I assume doing so would kill it? Is there specific type of weedeater for cutting brush? I have small trees, blackberries, and even grapevines that grow back aggressively every year. I have a tractor and a bush hog, but many areas are too tight to use it. What are y'all using?

Hmm, is a curved shaft trimmer?

I've got an older (maybe about 13 years old?) straight shaft Husky and have used a brush cutter on it several times without issue.

 

[RTM]

I’ve got one of these

UPROOTER - Successive Weed Wrench, Plant Extracting Tool, Scotch Broom / Buckthorn / Privet Puller, Brush & Tree Uprooting Tool

The USA made plant extracting wrench tool, Uprooter removes Scotch Broom, Buckthorn, Privet, and uproots invasive woody plants. Chemical free removal!

www.theuprooter.com

 

[CoogarXR]

Side question- (and maybe a dumb one, but here goes) I keep seeing that those brush cutter blades are only for straight-shaft trimmers. Why is that? What makes a curved one unusable?

 

[Firebrick43]

The type of brush cutter that is not recommended for weedeaters are the type shown in post #4. There are blades that look like the ones used on table saws that do not shock the motor. I use those on my Stihls. The downside is they get dull very quickly. I'm considering modifying a carbide tooth blade for the purpose.

Stihl, the largest hand held OPE company in the world sells and warranties them set up that way from the factory.

Have you called them and told them their wrong?

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/t...hknife/?aqid=16a10a71550cd018757d84754cd9816a

Side question- (and maybe a dumb one, but here goes) I keep seeing that those brush cutter blades are only for straight-shaft trimmers. Why is that? What makes a curved one unusable?

Curved shaft trimmers use a spring to transmit power to the head. They are exposed to direct full torque experienced by the head. They will wind up and kink if you use blades

Straight shaft trimmers use a stronger solid or tube shaft and have gears in the head that further isolate the power head

 

[Wakefield]

"Clearing saw" instead of a "weed eater" like the FS 250 and up (might be superseded by another model?) or larger (other brands like Echo might have equivalent for less $)
clearing saw is just a larger version of the string trimmer usually straight shaft and heavier drive core (not the lightweight speedometer cable like the small curved shaft weedeaters) can take heavier style blades or heavy string heads that use thicker "string" likely will have "bike handles" (some lighter weight straight shaft models may also use the very light speedometer cable drive inside)
some of these with the proper head on it will take on brushy woody stuff or even small saplings
some of them can take on a "chainsaw on a stick" (polesaw attachment) Kombimotor?

 

[Steve_P]

Side question- (and maybe a dumb one, but here goes) I keep seeing that those brush cutter blades are only for straight-shaft trimmers. Why is that? What makes a curved one unusable?

Curved shaft trimmer basically uses a large "speedometer cable" to drive the head. They will break if subjected to excessive shock loading and they're not made to transmit the torque required for brush cutting. A straight shaft trimmer uses a solid rod, think driveshaft, and has a gearbox at the bottom to handle the angle change.

 

[four.cycle]

I ran a Stihl FS80 model for over 20 years. It cost a considerable amount of money to keep it going that long, but it would take down most anything I attacked with it.
Had a solid steel drive shaft - not a flexible shaft. Use a steel "sawblade" at the business end when you want to cut 4-inch laurel and maple.
You can walk right through blackberry with it. Service berry is a bit tougher. Huckleberry is time consuming because you want to nip it off at the ground.
There are a gazillion different attachments/blades for those Stihl unit. Some of them are a waste of time and money - you learn by trial and error.
I got tired of taking it out to Ron Jones to get it repaired and sold it on CL one night for $50 "as is". Guy was happy as a clam to get it.

Or you can "go green" and cut it all by hand. That's how you have to do it on National Park Service trails here:

 

[ericm]

I have a Stihl FS80 and FS240 and some brush blades. I find the brush cutter not all that useful. It doesn't work very well on anything larger than about 1/2" diameter. But the worst part is that my brush is usually tall enough that when I cut some it falls in the way of the next brush I need to cut. So I have to pick it up and move it. If I'm going to pick something up I'm not going to toss it randomly just to have to pick it up again, it goes in a pile. Doing that while wearing the brush cutter is a pain. So I have to take it off the harness first, then put it back on when I'm ready for the next cut. That gets old pretty quick.

It turns out that for me and my thick brush, a small chainsaw is faster and easier. A battery saw would be perfect- no pull starting or leaving an engine idling which I hate to do.

The brush cutter shines for brush that's small and widely spaced enough that the cut brush does not get in the way. I just don't have much of that- stuff grows fast here.

The 240 with heavy duty string works great for thick grass that will choke the 80.

 

[bwringer]

FWIW, many straight shaft trimmers use the same speedometer cable style of driveshaft as the curved shaft models. You have to get into the heavier-duty machinery to get a solid driveshaft.

 

[yatg]

Curved shaft trimmers use a spring to transmit power to the head. They are exposed to direct full turquoise experienced by the head. They will wind up and kink if you use blades

Even worse when its direct full puce.

Anyway, the chainsaw blades cut like butter.


Was thinking of trying these carbide blades. They've been in my Amazon cart forever.

Amazon.com

 

[finn]

My Husk /Stihl dealer told me that neither company authorizes brush cutting blades or attachments on hand held machines not equipped room the factory with the handlebar to control the torque reaction when the blade hits a difficult stump.

He willingly will sell you a blade for lesser models but won’t install it because of insurance and liability issues. To his knowledge, none of the multitude of customers that bought blades and installed them on either straight or curved shaft machines have had issues, or for that matter, have cut their feet off, but the risk of losing his business isn’t worth the few dollars he would make modifying your trimmer in an unauthorized manner.

Two other Stihl dealers told me the same thing.

The people serious abo cutting brush buy the properly equipped $700 (?) machine.

I used a small chainsaw, which is probably even more dangerous, considering the risk of hitting concealed rocks, or worse.

 

[Wamsutta]

I have a darwins grip add on handle that helps significantly with control, maybe even more comfortable than bicycle handle bars.

I have one of those on my trimmer as well. When I first installed it, it put it on upside down not knowing that I did. After watching the Darwin YouTube video, I discovered that I had it on there upside down, so I went and turned the bar the way it's supposed to be. I tried it like that for about 5 seconds. I couldn't stand it that way and went back to having it upside down. I watch guys on YouTube using the Darwin mounted on correctly and it brings the bar up way too high in my opinion. I use mine upside down and like it that way.

 

[4x4Pete]

I have Stihl FS 131 and a FS200. I buy the aggressive blades like this from the Stihl dealer. They can be touched up with a round chain file and have good life. We use them to clear the edges of walking and access trails through the woods. Maybe 3 miles worth. They will cut up to a 2" stem without a problem when sharp. This blade has been resharpened probably 6 times.

 

[u2slow]

I found only needed the blade for the initial thick brush. After that, if you hit the area twice a year with a string trimmer, nothing gets a chance to grow back thick enough for the blade.

 

[zendriver]

I just gave one of these to the restore. I never used it, but it looked like it would make quick time for its purpose.

Better than a silver sneaker gym membership

 

[zendriver]

Even worse when its direct full puce.

Anyway, the chainsaw blades cut like butter.


Was thinking of trying these carbide blades. They've been in my Amazon cart forever.

Amazon.com

I bought some similar to your last set for my brushcutter. I was cutting through stuff that was like 3-4inches thick with relativities

 

[isb cornbinder]

My son does the nature control, here. I let him choose. I bought a HONDA 4 stroke overhead cam power-house. This machine will cut a 4" tree in a minute. Smaller brush just is cut in a New York minute. The price was $959.00. We have been using it for 20 years, It starts on first pull every time. Very quiet.
It came with a bag of heavy duty accessories and a harness.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I put a brush blade on my Milwaukee M18 string trimmer. Works great for cutting back brush along the edge of the yard. If I'm on the tractor sometimes I'll just drop the bucket with the toothbar and push it back.

 

[sam3]

I have one of these on are s/w Missouri property ,ECHO SRM-410U brush cutter.With a ten inch brush blade it works miracles.

 

[MushCreek]

My current trimmer is a Husqvarna 223L. It is a straight shaft, but probably not heavy duty. I'm wondering if part of it is liability, since it doesn't have the handle-bar style grips. I'm torn between trying an adapter kit, or buying a new machine. Not really looking to spend $600, though. I guess if I kill my Husky after 12 years it's earned its keep.

 

[Firebrick43]

My current trimmer is a Husqvarna 223L. It is a straight shaft, but probably not heavy duty. I'm wondering if part of it is liability, since it doesn't have the handle-bar style grips. I'm torn between trying an adapter kit, or buying a new machine. Not really looking to spend $600, though. I guess if I kill my Husky after 12 years it's earned its keep.

In the beginning of the operators manual it states a 223L is only for trimming grass as it has a cable shaft

 

[Bubba Fett]

You need to rent a heard of goats for a day or two.

 

[WWheeler]

Spray it with 2-4D or Crossbow or some other herbicide that will kill hardwoods and brush and many weeds but will not kill grass. Depending on your state you might need a pesticide applicator's license to acquire the chemicals or find someone that can do it for you. After an application has finished killing off all the brush then cut it down to the ground and start seeding and mowing it regularly. Don't let any new brush grow up faster than you can mow it and keep mowing it and the grass will eventually crowd it out.

I've reclaimed large swaths of brush and trees and now it's green lawn. Even managed to do the same with a patch of Bamboo but we did that with fire and it took a lot of regularly torching the whole area over and over to finally kill that stuff off enough to grow grass there instead.

 

[southalabama]

Echo PAS.

Have both gas and battery.

Steel blades. Have one like a circular saw and one that is a tri-wing. I prefer circular saw style.

 

[jar944]

Was thinking of trying these carbide blades. They've been in my Amazon cart forever.

Amazon.com

they work great in everything up to 3" trees.

 

[fourjeepin]

I just gave one of these to the restore. I never used it, but it looked like it would make quick time for its purpose.

Better than a silver sneaker gym membership

That’s a bush axe, at least that’s what I heard it called when I used one while working for a survey crew in college. I bought one at the Home Depot Landscape Supply on clearance when they were closing down. It is not needed much on a maintained suburban lot.

 

[johninct]

How big of stuff are you cutting? My Husky straight shaft with .095 line does a pretty good job on 1 year brush growth.

 

[Hohn]

Straight shaft trimmers use a stronger non could shaft and have gears in the head that further isolate the power head

and presumably a shear pin in there somewhere.

 

[Hohn]

You need to rent a heard of goats for a day or two.

When I lived in Cheyenne, the city contracted with a local goat herder to keep the medians under control. Compared to mowing, it was more effective, more environmentally friendly, and cheaper.
I recall one time driving back into our subdivision just off Greeley hwy and having to wait for a large herd of goats to be herded across the road by some impressively trained dogs.