Hi:

I need to cut down very thorny, woody brush, about a quarter acre to
half acres worth. Machete doesn't do the trick at all. Just bounces
off the brush. Trimmers with cords, forget about it. I need a hand
held brushcutter with a saw at the end. The ones with toothed saws
from Stihl and Husqvarna top out at around 800 bucks. Cheapest ones
are under 400. Too much for one day's need.

I have a John Deere C1200 gas trimmer. At Lowes, I saw a Troy Bilt
brushcutter blade attachment for 69 bucks. A four pronged blade, not
saw-toothed. COuldn't find info on the web whether this attachment
could be used for this John Deere brand. I remember the box stated
works on most brands of gas trimmers. I am assuming it is best for
Troy Bilt products.

Anyone here used the Troy Bilt brushcutter blade attachment?

I also saw pruning and edger attachments at Home Depot and Lowes. I
wonder if the pruning attachent could be used since the brush I have
is essentially small branches. Not sure if continuous use of an
electric pruning attachment like a trimmer is recommended.

John,

I'm not familiar with your line trimmer but doubt that it will work well
as a brush cutter. Your owners manual will address this question so read it
and perhaps describe needed parts. You can rent a brush cutter by the day.

Dave M.

Doe John wrote:
Hi:

I need to cut down very thorny, woody brush, about a quarter acre to
half acres worth. Machete doesn't do the trick at all. Just bounces
off the brush. Trimmers with cords, forget about it. I need a hand
held brushcutter with a saw at the end. The ones with toothed saws
from Stihl and Husqvarna top out at around 800 bucks. Cheapest ones
are under 400. Too much for one day's need.

I have a John Deere C1200 gas trimmer. At Lowes, I saw a Troy Bilt
brushcutter blade attachment for 69 bucks. A four pronged blade, not
saw-toothed. COuldn't find info on the web whether this attachment
could be used for this John Deere brand. I remember the box stated
works on most brands of gas trimmers. I am assuming it is best for
Troy Bilt products.

Anyone here used the Troy Bilt brushcutter blade attachment?

I also saw pruning and edger attachments at Home Depot and Lowes. I
wonder if the pruning attachent could be used since the brush I have
is essentially small branches. Not sure if continuous use of an
electric pruning attachment like a trimmer is recommended.



The key is the trimmer needs a straight shaft with a solid driveshaft;
not a flex-shaft (even if it is straight).

That 4-tooth blade is "weed blade" and does a fine job of cutting heavy
grass and non-woody weeds. A "brush blade" look just like a circular
saw blade with 20 or more teeth. They don't work as well as a weed
blade on grass and tender weeds, but can handle anything up to 1/2" or
more saplings.

I have an Echo SRM-2200 trimmer that I bought over 15 years ago. It can
take metal blades and would handle trimming 1/2 acre of brambles, but it
might be a *little* underpowered for the job. You can buy comparable
Echo trimmers for about $300. Don't buy a big monster trimmer like my
dad did; they are too heavy and unwieldy.

A quick google search looks like the C1200 probably has a curved shaft;
if so, I wouldn't try to adapt a blade for it or you will spring the
driveshaft.

Best regards,
Bob

I need to cut down very thorny, woody brush, about a quarter acre to
half acres worth. Machete doesn't do the trick at all. Just bounces
off the brush. Trimmers with cords, forget about it. I need a hand

Sharpen the machete. Actually, skip the machete and buy a
brush-hook and/or bank blade like these:

http://www.americantrails.org/resour...fo/tools3.html


--Goedjn

Look into renting something such as a weed wacker with circular saw
blade. it sounds like a one day cut 1 day cleanup . Long handle pruning
shears if the thorns are not to low. A pole trimming saw will keep you
out of thorns. It is a small area and work will be all day electric
would not be that bad.

Doe John wrote:
Hi:

I need to cut down very thorny, woody brush, about a quarter acre to
half acres worth. Machete doesn't do the trick at all. Just bounces
off the brush. Trimmers with cords, forget about it. I need a hand
held brushcutter with a saw at the end. The ones with toothed saws
from Stihl and Husqvarna top out at around 800 bucks. Cheapest ones
are under 400. Too much for one day's need.

I have a John Deere C1200 gas trimmer. At Lowes, I saw a Troy Bilt
brushcutter blade attachment for 69 bucks. A four pronged blade, not
saw-toothed. COuldn't find info on the web whether this attachment
could be used for this John Deere brand. I remember the box stated
works on most brands of gas trimmers. I am assuming it is best for
Troy Bilt products.

Anyone here used the Troy Bilt brushcutter blade attachment?

I also saw pruning and edger attachments at Home Depot and Lowes. I
wonder if the pruning attachent could be used since the brush I have
is essentially small branches. Not sure if continuous use of an
electric pruning attachment like a trimmer is recommended.



Goedjn is right you need a brush hook. If you have never used one then
stick to a strap brush hook that is sharpened on one edge only. An adz
eye or blood brush hook and a bank blade are not for beginners. With a
little care and practice a brush hook will make relatively short work of
the brambles. The other approach is to rent a walk behind brush mower.
--
Tom H

Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department Postmaster wrote:
Doe John wrote:

Hi:

I need to cut down very thorny, woody brush, about a quarter acre to
half acres worth. Machete doesn't do the trick at all. Just bounces
off the brush. Trimmers with cords, forget about it. I need a hand
held brushcutter with a saw at the end. The ones with toothed saws
from Stihl and Husqvarna top out at around 800 bucks. Cheapest ones
are under 400. Too much for one day's need.

I have a John Deere C1200 gas trimmer. At Lowes, I saw a Troy Bilt
brushcutter blade attachment for 69 bucks. A four pronged blade, not
saw-toothed. COuldn't find info on the web whether this attachment
could be used for this John Deere brand. I remember the box stated
works on most brands of gas trimmers. I am assuming it is best for
Troy Bilt products.

Anyone here used the Troy Bilt brushcutter blade attachment?
I also saw pruning and edger attachments at Home Depot and Lowes. I
wonder if the pruning attachent could be used since the brush I have
is essentially small branches. Not sure if continuous use of an
electric pruning attachment like a trimmer is recommended.



Goedjn is right you need a brush hook. If you have never used one then
stick to a strap brush hook that is sharpened on one edge only. An adz
eye or blood brush hook and a bank blade are not for beginners. With a
little care and practice a brush hook will make relatively short work of
the brambles. The other approach is to rent a walk behind brush mower.
--
Tom H



How about a swing blade? (I forgot about those until y'all mention the
brush hooks.)

Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

The key is the trimmer needs a straight shaft with a solid
driveshaft;
not a flex-shaft (even if it is straight).

Just curious - why not a flex shaft? I've used one for 10 years and
have not had any problems.


That 4-tooth blade is "weed blade" and does a fine job of cutting
heavy
grass and non-woody weeds. A "brush blade" look just like a circular

saw blade with 20 or more teeth. They don't work as well as a weed
blade on grass and tender weeds, but can handle anything up to 1/2"
or
more saplings.

I use a 8 1/4" carbide tipped circular saw blade on my Polan weedeater
and routinely cut saplings up to 4". (No comments about safety - I keep
the rpm's well below specs). They even make a brush blade with a chain
saw chain around a circular saw blade frame. Looks agressive but does
not work as well as a standard saw blade.

Bob S.

Bob S. wrote:

Just curious - why not a flex shaft? I've used one for 10 years and
have not had any problems.


If the blade hits something hard and stops abruptly (like a stump) it
can unwind the flex shaft -- just my opinion, I don't have any references.




That 4-tooth blade is "weed blade" and does a fine job of cutting
heavy grass and non-woody weeds. A "brush blade" look just like a
circular saw blade with 20 or more teeth. They don't work as well
as a weed blade on grass and tender weeds, but can handle anything
up to 1/2" or more saplings.


I use a 8 1/4" carbide tipped circular saw blade on my Polan
weedeater and routinely cut saplings up to 4". (No comments about
safety - I keep the rpm's well below specs).

I've cut 1" mesquite with mine with a 7.5" blade, but it was a bitch. I
wouldn't want to cut a bunch of saplings with a brush cutter when an axe
would be so much easier.


They even make a brush blade with a chain saw chain around a circular
saw blade frame. Looks agressive but does not work as well as a
standard saw blade.

Bob S.


I have a short (about 10") lawnmower blade on mine. ==(8-0 It doesn't
kickback nearly as much as you would expect.

I mostly use the weed blade when the monsoons come and it rains every
day for 2 weeks and I have to cut the overgrown grass in the lawn wet.
It works much better than the lawnmower in that case.

Best regards,
Bob

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:40:37 GMT, Takoma Park Volunteer Fire
Department Postmaster wrote:


Goedjn is right you need a brush hook. If you have never used one then
stick to a strap brush hook that is sharpened on one edge only. An adz
eye or blood brush hook and a bank blade are not for beginners. With a
little care and practice a brush hook will make relatively short work of
the brambles. The other approach is to rent a walk behind brush mower.


I have a sling blade, I think that is what it is called, but it only
works with the dead brush, not the living ones. Unfortunately Home
Depot and Lowes does not carry anything like a brush hook. Ames makes
a couple of Ditch blades.

If I could get to the trunks of the brush, I could cut them with
pruners. However, there is a tremendous amount of overgrowth of thorny
branches. I would have to wear a suit of armor and crawl underneath to
use the pruner. Will the brush hook/ditch blade hack away at the
thorny outergrowth branches? Using a pruner to cut away at the
individual branches to get to the center would take forever.

THanks