The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: Norfolk Newby on April 23, 2011, 11:09:39 am
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Has anyone experience of owning and using a heavy duty strimmer?
I have had a small strimmer with a 23cc engine for many years. It is old and tired.
I have a 12 acre field and use the strimmer for trimming round the hedges and banks where it is difficult to use a mower on my little tractor. The old strimmer really isn't up to this work. It is slow, gets bound up with long grass and gets very hot.
I am tempted to get a brushcutter to use with a strimmer head. This would have an engine of 40 to 50cc - twice the size and power of my present strimmer. However, these are heavier, use more fuel and cost a lot more.
I have been looking at Stihl, Husquvana and Kawasaki machines at between £400 and £600.
There are also wheeled machines with 5 hp 4 stroke engines (like a rotary mower) but these could be limited over rough ground like my field boundaries.
Searching *bay, I found a lot of ex-council strimmers which are probably junk or close to, some very cheap Chinese brushcutters (£120 - £180 for a 45cc machine) and a few new Stihl and Kawasaki ones at £400 to £500. There are a couple of second hand wheeled machines for around £200 which look fairly new and are tempting at that price.
I am reluctant to go "Chinese" as they could be a disaster; breaking frequently and with no spares. I would like to keep the new machine as long as I can use it (20 - 30 years?). I have had my current machine, for domestic use admittedly, since 1976 (it's older than my kids!). So, if I can raise £400, it should be a good investment. But I wondered if they were a problem to maintain (overheating, etc.) or hard work because of their weight and level of vibration.
So, what do you think?
Any opinions would be appreciated.
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stihl all the way a secondhand one is better than a new inferior model get one of the bigger units with the bull horn handle and an appropriate harness will make mincemeat of all your rough areas of ground.
wouldn't use a wheeled machine for edges like that ever.
i landscape do grounds maintenance for a living and the big stihl cutters are awesome...
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So let me check I've got this right - strimmer = plastic string, and brushcutter = spinning metal disc right?
When do you swap from one to the other then?
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the heads are interchangable the good strimmers come with both :wave: :wave:
our stihl cost £240 4 years ago it replaced another sthil that we had for years :wave: :wave:
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Stihl is worth the money. I use a brushcutter with harness and cowhorn handles and metal disc on my grass contracts. I manage about three hours at a time. The pedestrian flails are good but hopeless on banks.
Avoid Chinese at all costs, the price is tempting but the fun starts after a few weeks......
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Thanks for your comments chaps (and chappesses, of course!).
Hi Womble
The nylon 'string' is good for grass and small weeds but struggles with heavier weeds like big thistles. The metal disc or propeller is fine for these, brambles and small bushes. However, the metal disc cuts a smaller area than the string so there is a price to pay.
So it's a big Stihl strimmer then.
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If it cant be reached by a towed cutting machine designate it as wildlife habitat :) bliddy hard work brush cutters and strimmers :farmer:
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Coley. you skeered of hard work then?????????
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After 20 years 'doon the pit' ? hardly ;) no, I am heavily into 'habitat protection' :)
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Hi Coley
Thanks for your comments.
My field is about 4.5 hectares (roughly 12 acres) and the sides are 200m by 250m. One side is a heavy hedge comprising coppiced ash trees, brambles, blackthorn bushes (nasty) and general weeds. The other 3 sides are open banks with various weeds.
I like to trim the edges once or twice during the summer to stop weeds spreading (good house keeping) but the strips are too rough for my tractor and topper which I use on the rest of the field where appropriate or a lawn mower.
My small strimmer has done the job for the last couple of years but it is slow and isn't working well (old and worn). Hence the decision to look for something better.
I agree it is going to be a tedious job but I have found that anything in the farming line is either hard or impossible and I am not going to give in easily. I would love to have the ideal gadget for every job but often I have to improvise. A tractor mounted cutter on an arm like some farmers have for keeping hedges cut back would be nice but that would cost £thousands which I don't have. Also, it would have little use most of the year.
A strimmer with the option of a brush cutting disc can be used on ground weeds, trimming hedges, cutting round fences and buildings etc. making it fairly versatile. I even have a brush fitting for cleaning the patio!
My wife like the idea of a wheel mounted strimmer with power drive and electric start (she can't manage the recoil start on small engines - arthritis). However, I suspect this would be little better than using the tractor while a strimmer is a go anywhere machine provided you don't mind carrying it.
My concerns about the use of a big strimmer (over 40cc engine) are the tiring effects of its weight and the vibrations from the engine. On the old one have now, the weight is OK (about 4kg) and the vibrations are tiring but tedious rather than killing.
I have seen council workers using these round the town all day so it must be something you can get used to.
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the good large units have a lot of anti vibration built in, they feel alot more comfey than a lot of smaller units!!!
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Actually I have the perfect brush cutter im me shed, its a Mcculloch back pack machine with a flexible shaft, I used it quite a bit and found it comfortable to use but the steel coupling connecting the machine to the harness snapped and could I bugger get a replacement! I really should try and find someone who could fashion a replacement but I discovered the joys of cutting from a seat :)
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Norfolk, I can only manage about 2 to 3 hours with the brushcutter, when you look at a lot of the younger lads using them all day its cos their young!!!!
Do look out for a second hand side flail though, the finger bar type sound like they would suit you and they work from around a 20 hp pto. Other option for the gorse is SBK Brushwood Killer. I used it a few years ago on our sea bank and its a lot easier to flail the gorse now four or five times in summer. Sounds like you just need to clear it and then stay on top of it. :farmer:
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I've a similar problem with docks and thistles at the edge of my field. I'm torn between a brushcutter/strummer or a topper to control them.. Cost is a big factor as I can't find an ATV topper for less than £1300..
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the big problem with topping(with a rear mounted one) the tractor wheels or quad wheels run over what you want to cut it looks OK on the day then the regrowth starts and your field looks a mess :wave:
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We share a drum mower and cut our spare bits of land for hay. At £5 a bale this winter its worth the effort. I really encourage folk to use land for other things than just looking at it, but then I am from Yorkshire........
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But you can get an awful lot of pleasure from looking at land esp when its yours and you know no bugger can come along and spoil it :)
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Aye but use it!
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I would like nowt better than to use it productively, but hay? you are looking at an investment of 7 grand for a mini baler and associated equipment, take a long time to recoup me investment with only two shetlands to feed, now with 40 acres and a good few empty meadows the temptation to run a few cows or sheep is there but rustling and midnight scumbags are prevelant here and \i couldnt bear what has happened to others on here2 now if you know someone who is looking for some cheap grazing I'm your man
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An update on the decision to purchase a heavy duty brushcutter.
My wife found a machine like a wheeled strimmer and decided that's what she wanted. It's caller a DR Trimmer. More here:
http://www.drproducts.co.uk/files/Press/S28C-111041815150.pdf (http://www.drproducts.co.uk/files/Press/S28C-111041815150.pdf)
The plus points are that it has a 4 stroke engine with electric start. My wife can't manage the recoil starters on a normal strimmer. Also it has a power drive to the wheels so you just follow it up and down slopes and bumps.
It takes nylon cord up to 4.5mm diameter which goes through brambles and heavy grown very well. It can also cut a lawn reasonably well. A half acre of rough lawn took about an hour. The results weren't up to bowling green standard but were OK for a play area or similar.
It doesn't cope with very steep slopes like the sides of ditches as the angle is too steep and it overturns if run along the slope and it is about 40kg so pulling it up and down is hard. Apart from this, small slopes and rough ground are fine. I have cleaned up some strips alongside a drive and tidied up an orchard area around fruit trees.
On this sort of work the cords (cut lengths) last for a couple of hours and it uses about 1litre of fuel per hour. It has an 8hp engine (I think) which makes it more powerful than most strimmers
On anything other than really heavy weeds it can go along at a good walking pace cutting about a 20" strip. On really heavy weeds and green brambles you can keep up the speed but cut a half strip (i.e. 10" wide).
There are a couple of accessories; a tree guard, a chainsaw disk and a little tool for digging holes for bulb and similar (e.g rows of seedlings). There isn't a standard brush cutter disk as the 4.5mm cord can cope with most weeds. I found it didn't like old tough bramble stems stripping the bark and shattering the stem rather than cutting it.
It also shatters tree guards and stems so care is needed round small trees, flower beds, etc.
I am spelling this out here as others might find a machine like this useful and it is rather different from the normal strimmer.
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Try a company like Mow Direct or similar, you should be able to get a dual head m/c for around £300.00 or so
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12 years ago I had a strimmer that was on two large wheels almost BMX rear wheel sized ,was well balanced ..driven by an 8 hp Briggs and Stratton 4 stroke engine .
It used very heavy duty line and could be fitted with a cutting blade or a wire instead . It was fantastic on long grass & nettles and was easy to take to tree boles, fence posts and wire fences with no problems
There were no particular noticeable vibrations and it was easy to use for several tanks of fuel in one go.
I cant remember the maker but I'm sure with a bit of googling you soon find one .. perhaps look for wheeled strimmer or wheel mounted engine drive strimmer ... garden machinery . commercial garden machinery etc.
It was dam good ..took inch thick brambles away no probs and totally demolished the massivre tufts of marsh grass that grew on the property
It was a bit like a light rotavator .. to adjust the cut you simply tipped the cutter into the material you want to cut ... it was also magic for scarifying the ground and flinging stones out.
Price wise it was about £ 280 so you'd perhaps be looking at less than £550 nowadays due to production being done in China .
Yoiks..
just googled wheeled strimmer and found a similar machine ....a DR commercial wheeled strimmer .. almost £1,000
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Hi Plantoid
Yup, that's the one. Actually the local supplier sells the range at quite a lot less than list price so it isn't so bad.
I am using it with the thickest nylon line I can get which is 4.5mm diameter. It cuts through most of the weeds and brambles. The only thing it messes up is old dry bramble stems about as thick as my middle finger. These it shreds rather than cutting.
Currently it is very very dry here and the machine does create a quite dusty environment. However, that is not the machines fault.
Although the cutting width is only about 0.5m or 20 inches it is surprising how much you can clear if you stick to it. As it is not tiring to use you can spend 4 hours at a time without feeling fatigued. Compared to that my similar sized cultivator is killing.
I am not against the normal strimmer but this is in a different class. There are several similar machines on the market but mine is from DR Power and I think they have some interesting equipment to offer. Their UK web site is OK but the parent (USA) site is better on information:
http://www.drpower.com/ (http://www.drpower.com/)
While not all the machines are available in the UK, they show some interesting ideas and might spark ideas amongst potential users.
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Sthil and haky are best, but you have to buy the blade to fit over where the strimming head is. I bought the blade last week for £12 new. Try hiring one for a week and make sure you have a harness/decent boots and eye protection - the blades will cut through all fence wires and cut posts ( i know as i made a mistake at the weekend?) - Have fun :)
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So if you're looking for quality, there's obviously Stihl, but who else?
In particular, has anybody tried Husqvarna brushcutters? I was in the shop today looking at chainsaws, but I also need a strimmer / brushcutter and hedge trimmer (EEEK! - not sure how the hell I'm going to afford them all, but we've no firewood for next winter, I can't see down our drive, and the garden is knee deep in weeds, so I'm going to have to come up with something!! :o). Looking for quality though, as this is definitely one area where if you buy cheap you buy twice. I'm thinking that if the Husky brushcutter is any good, I can buy it with the rest of the kit at the same time, and hence drive a decent bargain....... any thoughts?
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Huskys are equally as good as Sthil, but it will come down to your preference - but you can't interchange heads between Sthil & Huskys.
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I was in the local supplier and repair shop today and would say it's pretty evenly matched between Stihl and Husky - and nothing else. Perhaps more Stihl brushcutters and more Husky saws but with a few hundred new and used machines it was hard to tell. He doesn't sell what he can't support, and the local contractors don't go anywhere else.
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Hi Plantoid
Yup, that's the one. Actually the local supplier sells the range at quite a lot less than list price so it isn't so bad.
I am using it with the thickest nylon line I can get which is 4.5mm diameter. It cuts through most of the weeds and brambles. The only thing it messes up is old dry bramble stems about as thick as my middle finger. These it shreds rather than cutting.
Currently it is very very dry here and the machine does create a quite dusty environment. However, that is not the machines fault.
Although the cutting width is only about 0.5m or 20 inches it is surprising how much you can clear if you stick to it. As it is not tiring to use you can spend 4 hours at a time without feeling fatigued. Compared to that my similar sized cultivator is killing.
I am not against the normal strimmer but this is in a different class. There are several similar machines on the market but mine is from DR Power and I think they have some interesting equipment to offer. Their UK web site is OK but the parent (USA) site is better on information:
http://www.drpower.com/ (http://www.drpower.com/)
While not all the machines are available in the UK, they show some interesting ideas and might spark ideas amongst potential users.
You'll find that if you always cut clockwise or anti clock circuit the cutter will tend to throw the cuttings out to one side only ..if you keep cutting in that direction by making a circuit you will not end up trying to cut standing stuff that has been smothered in cut stuff .
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Thanks Plantoid
I get the point.
Actually, the cutting heading is offset slightly to the left so that it is possible to cut slightly closer (relative to the wheels) on that side. This throws the debris to the right onto the land already cut so it works well this way (anti-clockwise looking from above).