# Brush cutter question



## gdog25 (Jul 2, 2011)

I need a brush cutter. I have  chain saw for the heavier stuff but need something that can take out the smaller stuff.  What size do I need?  I have an acre I am wanting to clean up and fence. Want one strong enough to handle the job but after this is done it will mostly be used around the yard. Thanks.


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## jigman29 (Jul 2, 2011)

I used to clean underbrush for power line right of ways and I will tell you from experience get a good sized saw and a long bar for it.If you run the long bar you won't have to bend over all day like you will with a small saw,this will help you from having a sore back for days.And the larger saw will have the benefit of not bogging down when you get into bigger stuff.


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 2, 2011)

I have a 4 stroke Honda weedwhacker that will take down a three inch tree.  It's scary powerful. Clears briers, gums, like you wouldn't believe.

4 strokes have the torque to handle the blades for brush cutting.  Downside is that they are heavy for just trimming weeds around the house.  I've got a lightweight cheap 2 stroke for that.


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## Dead Eye Eddy (Jul 2, 2011)

Rent the Billy Goat walk-behind brush cutter from HD and pay for the insurance.  The last time I rented it, it was about $56 for 24 hours including insurance.  I've rented it about 5 times now, and 3 of those times, I took it back broken or missing a belt.  With the insurance, it didn't cost me anything.  Once, it broke in the first hour, and they comped my whole rental.  What they didn't know is that I got the worst part finished before it broke and was able to finish with my riding mower.


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## NOYDB (Jul 2, 2011)

Something that might work for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Troy-Bilt-TB2...?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1309636848&sr=1-36

The Troybilt (or anyother brand with swappable extentions) weedwacker 2 or 4 stroke that you prefer. Get a second one of the string trimmer shafts they sell extra, straight works best for me. Then replace the string head with one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Grass-Gator-4650-Replacement-Trimmer/dp/B00004R9XN/ref=dp_cp_ob_ol_title_3

Blades: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0P96DQFTEF7F67FPX7P2

Then you just swap out the end shafts for whatever you want to do. You can cut down saplings, heavy briars and other tough plants etc. But you can swap back to the string trimmer for work around gardens, flowers and other more delicate things.  

You can get extra shafts with the saw blade style brush cutters also, or the pruner for overhead stuff.

I like having only one power head to maintain. I also have the edger, hedge trimmer, and blower attachments. Takes up less space than seperate motors for each thing.


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## Todd E (Jul 2, 2011)

Rent the BillyGoat as above stated.

If you want something to buy, then get the DR BrushMower. You can even buy the "mower deck" as an optional attachment. I have had customers who wanted me to clean up areas on their property. I have ran saws for the bigger stuff and ran weedwackers with brush cutting heads. Best thing you can do is....................

rent or buy the walk behind self propelled brush mowers.


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## Killdee (Jul 3, 2011)

Todd E said:


> Rent the BillyGoat as above stated.
> 
> If you want something to buy, then get the DR BrushMower. You can even buy the "mower deck" as an optional attachment. I have had customers who wanted me to clean up areas on their property. I have ran saws for the bigger stuff and ran weedwackers with brush cutting heads. Best thing you can do is....................
> 
> rent or buy the walk behind self propelled brush mowers.



What Todd and Eddy said, I have used the HD rental cutter 4-5 times over the years to cut stuff for other people and they work great.  Then you can buy something else more appropriate for just the yard.


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## thomas the redneck (Jul 3, 2011)

i have had several troy built was the best of them out of the ryobi's weed eater's and one homelite
i went and got a swisher 5hp walk behind brush cutter and it's awsome


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## CAL (Jul 4, 2011)

Go ahead an fence the spot.Put a couple of cows in there and they will kill everything but what has to be cut with a chain saw.


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## city boy gone country (Jul 5, 2011)

goats


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 5, 2011)

If you have any friends with a tractor & bushhog, then try to get help from them.

If time & ease is more important to you, then rent the Billy Goat or DR Brushmower.  

If cost is more important to you, then go with a straight shaft 31cc or larger gas powered trimmer with the Grass Gator metal edged trimmer head.





NOYDB said:


> Something that might work for you.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Troy-Bilt-TB2...?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1309636848&sr=1-36
> 
> ...



Those Grass Gator metal edged blade trimmer heads work GREAT for quickly cutting down small stuff, but BE VERY CAREFUL not to hit any trees, stumps, rocks, or big sapplings that are too large because it will break off the locking metal push button that locks your trimmer head shaft to the motor shaft which has happened to me.  

If you buy a 2-cycle or heavier 4-cycle trimmer, make sure it's motor power rating has a minimum of 31cc & must be a STRAIGHT shaft for heavier, thicker cutting.  

What I use & what you can buy at Walmart for $124 is a 33cc Poulan Pro straight shaft string trimmer which I've used for years which I have bought the other attachments to use with it (brushcutter, long pole saw, hedge trimmer, tiller).   For wood sapplings up to 1/4" diameter & thick briars or saw briars, I use the Grass Gator metal edged blade head.  For larger wood sapplings, use a good by-pass lopper pruner or your chainsaw which will be quicker for lots of 'em.  For heavy weeds, I use 3-string & 4-string universal trimmer heads with big 0.155" line.

Good luck with your decision.


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## 1gr8bldr (Jul 19, 2011)

You gotta get one of these, it's called a "beaver blade" and goes on a weed eater. Every person who has tried mine has bought one. It's a round blade with a chain saw chain atached. So basically you have a circular chain saw. Amazing what this thing does. Overhanging limbs for example don't cut good with a chain saw because they move on you, not with this, the teeth sort of grab. You don't cut through it like a saw, you just bump it and it cuts it like butter. You hardly even feel trees the size of your wrist. Timber companys around are now thinning there woods this way. They cost about $55. You gotta get one. Would be your fastest method and probably be the least work involved


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 19, 2011)

*Couple More Questions*



1gr8bldr said:


> You gotta get one of these, it's called a "beaver blade" and goes on a weed eater. Every person who has tried mine has bought one. It's a round blade with a chain saw chain atached. So basically you have a circular chain saw. Amazing what this thing does. Overhanging limbs for example don't cut good with a chain saw because they move on you, not with this, the teeth sort of grab. You don't cut through it like a saw, you just bump it and it cuts it like butter. You hardly even feel trees the size of your wrist. Timber companys around are now thinning there woods this way. They cost about $55. You gotta get one. Would be your fastest method and probably be the least work involved



Thanks for posting  your experience with the beaver blade which looks like a chainsaw blade wrapped around a circular saw blade.  

Which size do you recommend (4", 7", 8", 9", etc.)???

I almost bought one a while back but I did not hear of anyone who had used it & I could not find it in  a regular retail store.  Where did you buy yours?  At an online web site or special order thru a local outdoor power equipment store? 

http://www.google.com/search?q=beaver blade&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbm=shop&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wf

Above web link is a quick google shopping search on price ranges for the beaver blade.


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## 1gr8bldr (Jul 19, 2011)

BornToHuntAndFish said:


> Thanks for posting  your experience with the beaver blade which looks like a chainsaw blade wrapped around a circular saw blade.
> 
> Which size do you recommend (4", 7", 8", 9", etc.)???
> 
> ...


 Mine is about 9in just guessing. A friend owns an authorized Stihl chain saw shop. He keeps them in stock. That's the most cutting thing you could imagine. Hard to explain the "ease" it takes. I'll say almost like weed eating grass. No, it's more ease than cutting grass. When it's sharp, and it seems to stay sharp, I could line up 10 trees the size of my wrist and cut them before you could count to 3. Sometimes I use it in tall stemie grass cause one pass and it's looking for a place to fall. I wonder if it could be seen in action on youtube???


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## BoxerLuvr (Jul 19, 2011)

Does it dull up easily ?  Seems like it would get dull pretty fast since you'd be cutting stuff off at near ground level and probably hitting the dirt with it.   Just curious.  

Do you resharpen it like a chainsaw ?


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## 1gr8bldr (Jul 19, 2011)

BoxerLuvr said:


> Does it dull up easily ?  Seems like it would get dull pretty fast since you'd be cutting stuff off at near ground level and probably hitting the dirt with it.   Just curious.
> 
> Do you resharpen it like a chainsaw ?


 I'm surprised that it don't dull easy. The design I guess. On the bottom of my weed eater is an adapter for blades that came with the weed eater. It stands about 1in tall. Since your shaft extends out, there is not much way of getting it in the dirt unless you rotate by twisting your wrist. If it does you sharpen like a reg chain saw. Mine is about 10 years old and been sharpened about 4 times.


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## 1gr8bldr (Jul 19, 2011)

Those who buy one of these things, please post a reply as to how good this thing cuts so no one will think I'm a nut


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 20, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> Mine is about 9in just guessing. A friend owns an authorized Stihl chain saw shop. He keeps them in stock. That's the most cutting thing you could imagine. Hard to explain the "ease" it takes. I'll say almost like weed eating grass. No, it's more ease than cutting grass. When it's sharp, and it seems to stay sharp, I could line up 10 trees the size of my wrist and cut them before you could count to 3. Sometimes I use it in tall stemie grass cause one pass and it's looking for a place to fall. I wonder if it could be seen in action on youtube???



Thanks. 

Where did you buy yours???


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## erniesp (Jul 20, 2011)

Dead Eye Eddy said:


> Rent the Billy Goat walk-behind brush cutter from HD and pay for the insurance.  The last time I rented it, it was about $56 for 24 hours including insurance.  I've rented it about 5 times now, and 3 of those times, I took it back broken or missing a belt.  With the insurance, it didn't cost me anything.  Once, it broke in the first hour, and they comped my whole rental.  What they didn't know is that I got the worst part finished before it broke and was able to finish with my riding mower.



You are lucky you did not get charged with the repairs and the rental. It is not insurance you buy. It is liability coverage and it does not cover neglect. Glad it wasn't mine you rented.


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## erniesp (Jul 20, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> Those who buy one of these things, please post a reply as to how good this thing cuts so no one will think I'm a nut



I have one for my Husky. Make sure you have a straight shaft weed eater. Just use a dremmel tool to keep it sharp. Works great. I bought mine at Stamey's in Monroe a few years back.


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## 1gr8bldr (Jul 20, 2011)

BornToHuntAndFish said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Where did you buy yours???



 A friend owns a authorized sthil dealership. He carries them although nothing to do with sthil. In NC


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks, sounds like ordering thru local stores works for ya'll & probably best for me, too.


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## Dead Eye Eddy (Jul 20, 2011)

erniesp said:


> You are lucky you did not get charged with the repairs and the rental. It is not insurance you buy. It is liability coverage and it does not cover neglect. Glad it wasn't mine you rented.



You are mistaken.  It is not liability coverage.  You waive them of any liability when you sign the rental agreement.  The insurance is damage coverage.  For 10% of the rental charge, they sell you the coverage.  They don't care what happens to it as long as you bring it back clean.  One guy told me that it could be stolen while in my possession, and as long as I got a police report, I wouldn't owe a dime extra.  They make more money on the damage coverage than they pay out on repairs or they wouldn't sell it.  When I rent it, I run it through the woods and mow over small trees with it.  Sometimes it stays together.  Sometimes it comes apart.  I prefer that it stays together so that I can finish all my trails, but I don't really care.


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## Cadcom (Jul 20, 2011)

erniesp said:


> You are lucky you did not get charged with the repairs and the rental. It is not insurance you buy. It is liability coverage and it does not cover neglect. Glad it wasn't mine you rented.


 
Dont see where he said he mistreated it. It's rental equipment - your basically insuring yourself from the yahoo who rented it ahead of you and did who knows what with it. Sounds like a pretty good deal and if HD was losing money on these transactions I am sure they would rescind the insurance offer or raise the price. It's not like HD had their arm twisted to offer this type of coverage. I'm sure he is glad he didn't rent from you either....


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 23, 2011)

Has anyone ever successfully & safely used circular saw blades on their brush cutter trimmer attachment with no problems??? 

The challenge is that the circular saw blades I've bought have 5/8" hole for mounting but my brush cutter trimmer attachment requires a 3/4" arbor hole, while the even better outdoor gas power equipment like Stihl requires a 1-inch arbor hole.  I don't know of adapters I wish I could buy or how to enlarge the tough carbon steel blades since drill bits that large are not common or cheap, and metal punch out sets that cut holes by tightening with wrenches are not common or cheap either.

I've thought about this for several years since circular saw blades are much cheaper than the beaver blade.  I've been wanting to clear a trail across a 500-600 yard long cutover along a pond drainage thru some thick woody sappling sections which I may have to break out a chainsaw to which will require lots more strain on the back having to bend over close to the ground for extended periods of time.  Thanks for posting any experiences or thoughts about this additional brush cutter question.


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## 1gr8bldr (Jul 24, 2011)

BornToHuntAndFish said:


> Has anyone ever successfully & safely used circular saw blades on their brush cutter trimmer attachment with no problems???
> 
> The challenge is that the circular saw blades I've bought have 5/8" hole for mounting but my brush cutter trimmer attachment requires a 3/4" arbor hole, while the even better outdoor gas power equipment like Stihl requires a 1-inch arbor hole.  I don't know of adapters I wish I could buy or how to enlarge the tough carbon steel blades since drill bits that large are not common or cheap, and metal punch out sets that cut holes by tightening with wrenches are not common or cheap either.
> 
> I've thought about this for several years since circular saw blades are much cheaper than the beaver blade.  I've been wanting to clear a trail across a 500-600 yard long cutover along a pond drainage thru some thick woody sappling sections which I may have to break out a chainsaw to which will require lots more strain on the back having to bend over close to the ground for extended periods of time.  Thanks for posting any experiences or thoughts about this additional brush cutter question.


 They are nothing alike as far as they cut. The saw blade has to make it's way through. This takes holding the blade in one spot with it trying to kick out, untill it eats through. With the beaver blade, you just bump it once and it is through. Splitsecond. No holding in place, no binding, no stalling, just one bump. The curve of the teeth being in a circular shape grab the tree like fish hooks and the momentum od the blade does the work. I wish I could explain the difference better cause they are worlds apart.


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 24, 2011)

BornToHuntAndFish said:


> Has anyone ever successfully & safely used circular saw blades on their brush cutter trimmer attachment with no problems???
> 
> The challenge is that the circular saw blades I've bought have 5/8" hole for mounting but my brush cutter trimmer attachment requires a 3/4" arbor hole, while the even better outdoor gas power equipment like Stihl requires a 1-inch arbor hole.  I don't know of adapters I wish I could buy or how to enlarge the tough carbon steel blades since drill bits that large are not common or cheap, and metal punch out sets that cut holes by tightening with wrenches are not common or cheap either.
> 
> I've thought about this for several years since circular saw blades are much cheaper than the beaver blade.  I've been wanting to clear a trail across a 500-600 yard long cutover along a pond drainage thru some thick woody sappling sections which I may have to break out a chainsaw to which will require lots more strain on the back having to bend over close to the ground for extended periods of time.  Thanks for posting any experiences or thoughts about this additional brush cutter question.





1gr8bldr said:


> They are nothing alike as far as they cut. The saw blade has to make it's way through. This takes holding the blade in one spot with it trying to kick out, untill it eats through. With the beaver blade, you just bump it once and it is through. Splitsecond. No holding in place, no binding, no stalling, just one bump. The curve of the teeth being in a circular shape grab the tree like fish hooks and the momentum od the blade does the work. I wish I could explain the difference better cause they are worlds apart.




I have a circular carbide toothed blade that's made for my weed whacker.  Don't know what blades you used, but there's no holding this one in one spot.  It will take down 2" stuff as fast as you can swing it.

BorntoHunt:  

I ran into someone the other day that was shopping for a circular saw blade to put on their weedwhacker.  Said they had read about it on the internet (where else?).

I don't mind McGiver'ing up something, but where there is a substantial risk of losing a body part, I'd prefer to use stuff as it was intended.  There's really not that much money to be saved using the circular saw blade over the weed whacker blade. Biggest limitation is that your weed whacker had to have the HP to swing the blade.


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## gtparts (Jul 24, 2011)

Twenty five ought six said:


> I have a circular carbide toothed blade that's made for my weed whacker.  Don't know what blades you used, but there's no holding this one in one spot.  It will take down 2" stuff as fast as you can swing it.
> 
> BorntoHunt:
> 
> ...



Ditto, 06! In fact my carbide cutter blade on an old straight-shaft Echo has taken out many 3" scrub pines for trail and shooting lanes, going back some 15 years or so.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 24, 2011)

Thanks.  The 4-pt. & 8-pt. brush cutter blades made for my Poulan Pro 31cc & 33cc straight shaft trimmer (as mentioned above) with the brush cutter attachment are too slow & almost worthless on significant woody saplings so it sounds like the beaver blade is better for me or use a chainsaw that requires lots of bending over or long handled manual bypass lopper on 2-inch or less saplings.  Poulan is very similar to Sears Craftsman trimmers which I'm surprised do not have more trimmer head & blade options.  Last year, Husqvarna bought the Poulan & Weedeater business from Electrolux.  Maybe with help from good forum folks I hope to find better weedwhacker blades made for mine.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 28, 2011)

Here's a post below in another "Brush Clearing" thread in the Deer Hunting forum section that shows at his "Food Plot" forum thread great photos of before & after progress that may offer more folks hope, inspiration, & motivation to take on similar projects with good success by just renting some equipment. 



http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=544807 



wyldwulf said:


> Here is a post I made last year of some really nasty spots that I cleared with just a rented unit from Home Depot. You will work and get your fair share of scratches, but it does the job.
> 
> http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=544807


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jul 30, 2011)

Let's go ahead & add a couple short demo videos under 1 minute of the DR & Billy Goat Brush Cutter Mowers.  Really convinced me with all the savings of time & can cut down up to 2 to 3-inch saplings. 



DR Field and Brush Mower

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Billy Goat's Outback Brushcutter

<object width="640" height="510"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/zhuOSrTSFMI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/zhuOSrTSFMI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="510" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> 



Here's a couple more that are a few minutes each for more in depth details. 



Billy Goat Outback Brushcutter

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Model Overview - DR Self-Propelled Field & Brush Mower

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