Grass trimmer (strimmer?) but more

Hi,

Coming to the end of a Reno project and now starting to think about clearing the neglected gardens in anticipation of landscaping works beginning.

I have a grass trimmer with the usual wire on a spool. I’m looking for something more heavy duty to just cut right through the shoulder height brush and nettles. Perhaps a trimmer but with blade instead of a wire? Does that exist? Any recommendations?

cheers

Can you get a brush cutter head to fit yours.

Brush cutter.

I’ve a Makita strimmer with cord and blade heads. Beast of a thing, 36v. Very impressive

Also you can maybe upgrade to a thicker cord on yours

Hot tip – to make the filament more durable – soak it in water for a few days. Nylon is hydroscopic and becomes brittle when it’s dry. You won’t believe the difference

I’ve a Stihl petrol strimmer/brush cutter.  It takes less than a minute to switch between strimmer spool and heavy duty steel blade.

I have one of these (corded electric) https://www.direct-powertools.co.uk/ryobi-rbc1226-intelli-tool-electric-26cm-brush-cutter-c2x20843911 and it works really well dealing with brambles etc. My garden is pretty small so I wanted corded but obviously for some use cases that’s a limitation.

I also bought steel toed safety wellies, face shield and harness for it (possibly all from Oregon but not sure), I’d highly recommend them (especially the face shield as more protective than just goggles/glasses).

If you’re anywhere near Bristol happy to loan it to you

“https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Trimmer-23-37-cutting-diameter/dp/B01AK2DYEQ/“

I have this one, it’ll clear the lot in an hour. Doncaster if you want to borrow it.

Any recommendations?

One-off? Borrow or hire, you can devastate a lot of brush in a day. Invest in PPE as suggested above

You could also consider getting in touch with your 1600s self and getting a slasher/sythe/machete and a pair of thick gloves

I’ve got a Makita 18V brush cutter fitted with a saw blade to deal with all the gorse and bracken that surrounds us – was able to cut through 100mm branches with a few cuts – isn’t too powerful that you have to worry about backlash. I’ve also got a smaller cordless strimmer for dealing with lawn edging etc.

Be aware of strimming cow parsley and other umbellifers.. the sap is photo toxic and will result in blisters if bits of the plants get on bare skin and unknowingly left..

We have quite a big garden with rough bushes , grass and reeds all over it which gets left for months to go wild. After a few years of destroying kit the answer is a Stihl petrol strummer with a blade as well as a spool. Not cheap but it just lasts.

If you go petrol get ear protection. Decent gloves take the edge of the vibration and I too use a face guard / visor as getting hit in the face or eyes by bits firing up from the machine head at high speed gets boring very quickly

I’ve got a Makita 18V brush cutter fitted with a saw blade

Nope, no, not.

+1 on be aware of cow parsley etc.

I hired one to make the ‘first cut’ on our overgrown garden.
I then spent far more days digging and uprooting things. Like blackcurrant bushes with stems as thick as my arm…
I now have a light Stihl but only use it once or month or so on less and less area.

IMO I would rent a big one with PPE, then buy my own decent battery one.

If you’ve already got some hedge trimmers they make a decent job of hacking stuff back.

If you go petrol get ear protection. Decent gloves take the edge of the vibration and I too use a face guard / visor as getting hit in the face or eyes by bits firing up from the machine head at high speed gets boring very quickly

see also keeping your mouth closed if you’re strimming in the vicinity of slugs, dogshit, decomposing small mammals……

“If you’ve already got some hedge trimmers they make a decent job of hacking stuff back.”

This is true. I once cleared a small but very overgrown garden using a hedge cutter wielded like a samurai on speed. Most satisfying.

Brush cutter head+1, but also +1 to the hedge cutter idea. Though if you’re using a brush cutter, do two passes. First not too low, so any wildlife get chance to flee & not the alternative
To make good use of a hedgecutter, we found two ppl work best, one can use a rake to lift/push the undergrowth, so the person wielding a hedge cutter can get into the bases.

Dont bother with a bush cutter blade as they are not very effective, so long as you have a relatively powerful petrol strimmer buy a Oregon mulching blade

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-Universal-Vegetation-Professional-Brushcutters/dp/B00RZH0V4G/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-s7iO8px2En7E8Xi3P5W4sgEAAvhpqQ6gOd0yzh-_dzlspn9I4T1vEjrTzhhCNk63gcomaXjV6buwThYEulKWux6rcK4N3FJB570cMyW2ZCY4Vrxoqito1vgwU1m0q4PByJUOvzEHlHQ4k1Z46aExOrWLQ0nKC1ShcTcbrl1KTcKZ8ASx1dCInwDD2XFJQpbmV9MTX_0D_1ilo5jsNl_INUyaMkbEnOMX4o2_zhK6Bk.A8IEz0lEkNH1GQ2VjnhLgXrO0tf5sPU-Qav1bHw27C0&dib_tag=se&keywords=oregon%2Bmulching%2Bblade&qid=1721367885&sr=8-2&th=1

it will blast through brambles and  branches up to 2 cm thick, just make sure you have some PPE as well, to use it don’t just ram it in but instead use a gentle up and down action and it will very quickly and with out much effort from you clear brambles

I’ve got a Makita 18V brush cutter fitted with a saw blade

Nope, no, not.

Where does one purchase such HSE violations. Temu ?