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.