best brashing tool ?

[david lawrence]

hi

i have been offered some birch scrub to clear in return for the wood 

the biggest trunks will make small logs 

the thin ones and tops will go thru my branch logger

 

any ideas what tool and technique would be quickest to trim off the twigs

 

i was thinking a long handled hook or small chainsaw and  trim

the scrub before felling them

 

if i buy a hook is the fiskars one twice as good as well as twice as expensive ???

 

may be more effort than its  worth but will give it a go because its next door

 

thanks for any ideas

 

david

[SbTVF]

The fiskars one is no more expensive than a boy standard ‘slasher’ around here at £50 ish.

[Woodworks]

Never had the option to clean them up standing but I just use a billhook like this. I would hold the stem in one hand and work my way down it cleaning it up as I went. To be honest I think I was quicker snedding it with a chainsaw but where is the fun in that. No idea about the Fikars hook as only ever used the one I have that came with the farm 40 years ago. 

[Haironyourchest]

I have the fiskars it's lighter but better, longer handle, good tool. There's a Finnish made one, the x3 brush axe, and a Chinese fiskars which has a more traditional rounded nose. The real brush axe is a kind of weird shape, but that's the one to go for if you buy fiskars.

[sandspider]

I experimented with axes, billhooks etc. for brashing and found that a chainsaw was quickest! This was on small and medium hazel. Having said that, my billhook doesn't seem to be sharp, so that didn't help.

[Rough Hewn]

Stihl saw and a decent bill hook.
[emoji106]

[Billhook]

7 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Stihl saw and a decent bill hook.

 

Yes I am decent (most of the time!) and do snedding with  a Stihl 170 and a 12" bar.  It is a light saw and is easier to control if it kicks back on a small branch.

However we do have an Urban branch logger and it will take up to 3".   When the branches end with a load of twigs I find that I can stop the branch feeding in just by holding it back (Very little effort) just before the small stuff reaches the knives, which is easier than spending time cutting them off with a hook or a chainsaw.

 So I just end up with a clump of twigs next to the logger which can be easily dealt with. 

The branch logger is not like a shredder in that it does not have feed rollers, just revolving knives, so it is unlikely to pull an operator in unlike the poor Australian in that terrible accident.  The Urban still does have a safety cut out bar on the hopper entrance and I am surprised that the one in Australia did not have something similar in working order.

[david lawrence]

On 11/13/2017 at 19:45, Billhook said:

Yes I am decent (most of the time!) and do snedding with  a Stihl 170 and a 12" bar.  It is a light saw and is easier to control if it kicks back on a small branch.

However we do have an Urban branch logger and it will take up to 3".   When the branches end with a load of twigs I find that I can stop the branch feeding in just by holding it back (Very little effort) just before the small stuff reaches the knives, which is easier than spending time cutting them off with a hook or a chainsaw.

 So I just end up with a clump of twigs next to the logger which can be easily dealt with. 

The branch logger is not like a shredder in that it does not have feed rollers, just revolving knives, so it is unlikely to pull an operator in unlike the poor Australian in that terrible accident.  The Urban still does have a safety cut out bar on the hopper entrance and I am surprised that the one in Australia did not have something similar in working order.

hi mr billhook

 

i usually do the same pulling the small stuff out before it reaches the chooppers

 

cant get the logger to the wood this time so need to clean it of for transport to road

 

i put my minilogs in the central heating boiler and also for kindling 

 

can i ask what you do with yours  ?

 

david

[Billhook]

1 hour ago, david lawrence said:

hi mr billhook

 

i usually do the same pulling the small stuff out before it reaches the chooppers

 

cant get the logger to the wood this time so need to clean it of for transport to road

 

i put my minilogs in the central heating boiler and also for kindling 

 

can i ask what you do with yours  ?

 

david

Mainly ash and sycamore.  For the main house boiler woodburner we have an Aarrow Stratford and the few times we have been a bit tardy about keeping it topped up at night, the loggings are very useful for firing it up quickly from just one or two hot cinders.

They are great for starting it initially

At the farm office there is a Clearview Pioneer and I half fill it with loggings and use a firelighter and the heat produced will last over a couple of hours which is about the time I need to do the office work.

The local pub loves them and keeps nagging me for more.  They have an open fire and use them to start it but also on quieter evenings they may have hardly anybody in and may have let the fire die down.  Then last thing half a dozen people come in and the loggings are great for instant heat and welcome.

I am asking £3 a bag which is not grumbled at and now several more customers from the pub are asking for them, but I am not doing deliveries, so they must come and collect

 

But in your situation a good sharp bill hook or a slasher would work if you want peace and quiet.  Personally I would sned with a Stihl 170.

[openspaceman]

On 11/14/2017 at 23:26, Billhook said:

I am asking £3 a bag which is not grumbled at and now several more customers from the pub are asking for them,

I took some of WillsMills' to the narrow boats, they liked them a lot but considered them uneconomic at that price compared with smokeless coal in bags.