Hey!

Ive a rather mature garden and its access is on a farm track couple of hundred yards long.  Its edged with brambles braken etc.  My little strimmers not man enough so looking at getting a slightly more beefy one with a metal cutter disc.

Question is is getting a 4in1 worth it or do they tend to be a bit meh on everything.   Or are they ok?

And any recommendations

I have one of those multi tool petrol two strokes from Lidl/Aldi. It’s pretty good to be fair. I’ve cut small trees, strimmed big areas and tamed recalcitrant Leylandi with it.

It does a good job of being a jack of all trades.

I’d go for a petrol Honda.  Spendy, but very reliable and easy to start. Mine came with an additional brush cutter which takes a few minutes to swap for the strimmer head.  My garden is a steep slope and takes about three hours to strim on a dry day.  The brush cutter makes short work of docks, nettles and brambles.

I have a 2 stroke Stihl Kombi with 4 attachments and like it.  I am sure a dedicated machine would prove a little bit better but I rate the versatility and the man who occasionally helps tame my wilderness doesn’t complain when using it.  I think the battery technology is making that a viable alternative these days but it sounds as though your demands might be above their capabilities.

I’d look at something from Cobra https://cobragarden.co.uk/Brushcutters_Menu_Page.html

Based in Nottingham (made elsewhere) with a network of dealers including “proper” local garden machinery suppliers. Check the company website for offers, as well as other stockists.

I prefer the machines with bike handlebars and some will come with the metal tri-blade as well as the nylon line head

Good boots, gloves, face shield and ear defenders are a must. The Oregon stuff is good value https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/product-support/chainsaw/chainsaw-protective-gear/c/chainsaw-protective-gear-s

As per timba, if you are going for the full on brushcutter then the right PPE is a good idea. https://www.stihl.co.uk/en/garden-ideas-and-advice/power-tool-maintenance/grass-trimmer-tips/grass-trimmer-ppe

Some will come complete with an”r” in the box!

I’ve had a Honda UMK435 and have had it for 12 years. It’s had one new air filter a couple of oil changes and two new heads. Works every time. I have a saw attachment but that’s not particularly good with the handlebar style.

F in law just got a battery powered Stihl and he says it’s a huge improvement on Stihl 2 stroke technology. Much less vibration so as long as you have batteries you can keep going for ages.

I can agree with the quality of Stihl battery power tools, although the battery compatibility can get a bit confusing. I have a battery strimmer that is so quiet and powerful that the petrol version hasn’t been used for two years. I bought an electric chainsaw earlier this year and it’s so powerful, light, quiet and easy to use I will probably sell my petrol one as I can’t see me needing it anymore. Just awaiting a Stihl battery hedgetrimmer now……. Oh, also I do have a small trimmer, Stihl,  HSA26, that is amazing! It looks like a toy but is surprisingly good for small hedge trimming and tidying jobs.

YouTube’s Alan Gorhythm has been giving me this channel to watch, he’s sponsored by Kress, a brand I haven’t come across before, seems up to the job*

*as a professional user who uses stuff all day long it’d take a lot to move me from Stihl.

Get a mulcher blade – basically a metal blade with downturned ends. Much better on heavier stuff than flat metal blade as it shreds it and doesn’t get wrapped around the head / shaft. You tend to use it in a downward movement more than straight side to side.

But make sure your strimmer is up to running one – I say this as someone who has had a straight shafted stihl strimmer part company with the gearbox / head whilst in use. I had a little sit down and “think” after the metal blade went whizzing off in the opposite direction to my legs…

I’ll jump on the ‘don’t discount leccy’ bandwagon.

I’ve a collection of Stihl and Husquavana garden flavoured man jewellery, all hairy chested petrol powered. I bought a Stihl HSA26 battery hedge trimmer that (as above) looked and sounded like a toy. It isn’t.

It’s light enough for SWMBO to use and heavy duty enough to cut the many, many metres of Leylandii that blesses our garden. A battery lasts about 40mins which is about the time it takes to give the arms a rest and clear up some debris. With a spare battery, you can cut continuously if you wish as they recharge within the discharge time.

It won’t chomp through really thick stuff but copes with 90% of what we need and the bonus is, MrsBoblo can now trim her own bush(es).

I’ve seen Kress stuff in a local shop. Looks impressive.

If you’re near Derbyshire I’ve got one of these Efco ones stuck in my shed…

https://www.myefco.com/int/p/stark-2500-s-9441/

…comes with 3 tooth metal blade as well as the heavy duty plastic cable attachment. All instructions and stuff.

It’s not been started for two years so you’d need to bring your own 2-stroke oil mixed fuel to try its as mine had gone off. No reason it shouldn’t start though. It was properly drained before storage.

I used to have massive bramble filled bankside at my old house that needed regular sorting. I’ve got no use for it at my new house though!

I’d let it go for £50

If there is a lot of bramble, mulching heads as mentioned further up are great for not getting clogged up. They do generally need a bigger machine to run them, think we had one on a Stihl 460. Personally preferred our older Husqvarna 240r’s as better balance and wider bars but they are a far from modern machine. Honda are a bit Marmite and have had some of the worst vibe levels I’ve seen as well as the 4-stroke being a bit lacking.

Depending what else you do, using this as the point to jump in on a battery system could be good, but trying to pick for longevity of support in the early adoption phase 😬

Or if you have a spare £60k there is always a Robo flail.

I don’t think battery will do it.

See a lot of smaller machines as a 4in1

Thinking im going proper one tool job with a mulching head