Brushcutter Advice/starting out strimming etc.

[htb]

Would you not be better with the stihl or husqvarna tri blade, have cut a lot of gorse regen down with one over pipelines. Such as below

Husqvarna Multi Ø255mm 3-Tooth Grass Blade

[scbk]

Strimmer line is ok on new bracken growth but at this point in the year you'd want a metal blade.

 

Me being sceptical if someone tells you a job will "only take you" x amount of time then double it lol

[Donnie]

28 minutes ago, htb said:

Would you not be better with the stihl or husqvarna tri blade, have cut a lot of gorse regen down with one over pipelines. Such as below

Husqvarna Multi Ø255mm 3-Tooth Grass Blade

I’ll be buying a shredder blade in the future and all sorts don’t mind buying all sorts of bits of kit. 
 

Just to get me started will only be doing one or two days a week alongside cutting just now. 
 

7 minutes ago, scbk said:

Strimmer line is ok on new bracken growth but at this point in the year you'd want a metal blade.

 

Me being sceptical if someone tells you a job will "only take you" x amount of time then double it lol

It’s apparently not that tall, the bracken that is. 
 

He’s an old friend who’s now a forester with experience in this line of work. Ex planter etc so yeah I will take his word for it. Hopefully it’s not too bad. 
 

 

Will get good at it in no time I’d imagine. 
 

Also managed to cross thread the bolt somehow on fitting the trigger handle. Took me over 30 minutes to screw one nut and bolt together after many hits with the file and tap set. 
 

That’ll teach me for trying to use my brain after a 18 hour day. Not my brightest moment

[htb]

Bracken is waist height down here at the moment.

[openspaceman]

10 hours ago, htb said:

Bracken is waist height down here at the moment.

The bits I haven't cut are well over head height here, the good news is the heathers and tussock grass are coming back on the areas I have hand cut repeatedly

[doobin]

14 hours ago, Donnie said:

Bought a 461 to get me started as seems like a good middleground. 
 

Got a job starting Monday on a hillside clearing bracken around a Sitka crop. Trees are 50-100cm in height. 
 

Anyone have any tips for this kind of job and on strimmer line for this particular job? 
 

Forrester says normally a hectare will take one man 3-3.5 days. 
 

Price is 700 per hectare. (Not sure if this is good or not but we will find out). 
 

Thanks 

That sounds like an absoloute whore of a job. Bracken will be tough as old boots by now.

 

No chance of getting a narrow alpine tractor between the rows? Or a pedestrian swipe?

 

Guard off, 4 way head (makes cord last much longer) and 2.7mm cord. A good balance between using all the power of the strimmer and cutting a good swathe without too much drag. You need to be as quick as possible on that rate, and a guard will severly limit you.

 

And watch for ticks! I'd want double the money and I'd still only do it a walk behind or ride on machine.

Edited July 31 by doobin

[Stere]

Robo flail

[Mick Dempsey]

17 minutes ago, doobin said:

That sounds like an absolute whore of a job. 

Agreed.

We had a Job in ‘94 (I was working for a landscaper at the time) at a stately home called Groombridge Place on the East Sussex/Kent border.

Plantation of 7/8 year old or so mixed trees on a south facing slope above the house, all with plastic tree tubes.

Job was to strim between the tubes, rake the arisings to the bottom and burn (safely!)

As you say weeks of walking the lines in the heat, absolutely miserable.

So I decided that the best way of speeding it up was a series of smaller fires (less raking) 

I think you know what’s coming, wind picked up, and we lost control of it, over the next couple of hours we tried to fight it, many times we thought we’d got it, then the wind would pick up and an ember would restart it somewhere else, every tree tube caught and the plastic melted killing the trees, fire brigade came out, the whole nine yards.

They never replanted, marked it up as sunny slope that attracted lizards and rare reptiles etc.

The owners never really caused a fuss which was odd.

Must go back some day.

Edited July 31 by Mick Dempsey

[Muddy42]

@Donnie I recon that bracken has got too high this year.  Enjoy the summer and leave it until next spring when it'll be easier to cut the new shoots.  If you keep cutting bracken it loses its strength and gives up eventually.

[openspaceman]

21 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

@Donnie I recon that bracken has got too high this year.  Enjoy the summer and leave it until next spring when it'll be easier to cut the new shoots.  If you keep cutting bracken it loses its strength and gives up eventually.

I wish, 4 years in so far and whilst it has lost some vigour it regrows with much shorter stems making it more difficult to cut amongst the young heather.

 

I'm told the rhizomes will keep throwing shoots for 20 years but I won't be here to see that.