Trail cleaing

I’ve found some local trails that have been forgotten about it seems and are very overgrown with shoulder height ferns and bracken. I’d like to go back and open up the trial slightly a bike, I’ve been looking for a folding machete I could sling in my camelbak but have not been successful.

Do you think a small like this would work?
Folding saw

Or any other suggestions?

It will take you far, far longer than you could imagine.

Useful for windfall or cutting out branches, but useless for brush cutting.

Sheathed golok?

Folding saws are great and the laplander is a very good one but it’s not the right tool for ferns and bracken. Bracken just needs walking through. That’ll knock it down for the year but it’ll be back next year. It pulls up very easily, too. Ferns need leaving where they are, ferns are nice (maybe a prune if you have to).

Fiskars XA3 – handle sticks out the top of my wee Ergon pack, but you need something with a decent length to get a swing at that kinda stuff.

Fiskars XA3 – handle sticks out the top of my wee Ergon pack, but you need something with a decent length to get a swing at that kinda stuff.

This, picked one up of Amazon and its been really good and beating back nettles, stingers, ferns and thin branches.

Brushhooks (or hand scythe*) are the tool for clearing this stuff but I find your stooped over, trying to reach the base. I’m tempted to try a weed slasher if you’ve room to swing it. Again as mentioned, it’s surprisingly slow process

*You can find a folding scythe but the main chinese special you find for sale, IMO is pretty rubbish (damaged one in less than 10 mins of decent use)

Bracke in easy.

Pull a meaty one up and thrash it about to clear the rest. when it gives up pick out another meaty one.

Thats Kidding 101, I still use it to access railway bridges when working as I’m not allowed to swing sharp pointy cutty things about.

Ride it as it is…practice bending and stretching and as you ride it more, it will start to clear a wee bit…it won’t ever totally clear but just by riding it regular can keep things at bay.

Depends on how it rides now though – local section was great when it was overgrown – it was a proper challenge and you had to get very low. It then got properly cleared and it is rather boring now as all the twists and turns have gone (so boring that the looking yoofs have gone in an build a couple of jumps there to make it a bit more interesting.

Assuming you ignore that stuff and go with the other advice, clearing this stuff will take a while and you will need to consider where you are dumping the cut vegetation as you don’t want it on the trail as that just adds to more issues.

Useful for windfall or cutting out branches, but useless for brush cutting.

Sheathed golok?

No need to be like that. He only asked.

Z1ppy, those cheap weed slashers are shite, I have one, too light, just flails about, needs more weight in the head.

don’t forget to check for ticks afterwards

i always just use a big branch to **** em with

Bit pointless clearing bracken at this time of year as it’ll be starting to die back anyway.