DrewDoug

Yes I'm probably going down this route. Less work for a start. But the Gorse will protect the trees more if left to some extent. Deer are the biggest problem. That photo is of some corporate volunteers we had out recently. I had to hack through that Gorse forest with the poor little FS70 with the grass blade to get to that tree. The Gorse grows insanely quick.

Yeah the roots are a problem. Can't use chemicals (officially) due to local regulations. Someone told me to drill a hole into the stump and put a drop of diesel in.?

Thanks for the advice everyone so far. To give a bit more information, The sites for the most part are only accessible by foot. So everything needs carried in. We are planting and protecting native tree species. Which the Gorse aren't fond of. We can't afford the capitol of chainsaws. Training, PPE etc. Fortunately, we do have a Stihl dealer nearby. Which is also a Hursqarna dealer. The 545RXT was my other consideration. Six and half a dozen I suppose. Not saving much going Husky.

New here. I don't know of anywhere else to seek advice on this. So here we go. I volunteer for a small charity that do conservation work in the Scottish Southern Uplands. We currently have relatively low grade "strimmers". An old Hitachi grass trimmer and a newer Stihl FS70. We need to invest in a serious upgrade to tackle forests of Gorse. Our Lantra trainer recommended the Stihl 400 series because we will need the mulching blade and scratcher blade kits. The question is. What is the sort of minimum power required to saw and mulch gorse that could be 2-3 inches thick, 12 ft high and acres upon acres? I was thinking the Stihl FS 461. We don't have heap loads of cash either. So even a brand new Stihl clearing saw is a big spend for us. We are going premium brands though. Not taking a chance on cheap crap that may look good on paper. Thanks.