What gasoline brushcutter should I buy?

April 26, 2007 8:37 PM

I need to purchase a heavy duty gasoline brushcutter: I have to clear small trees, multifloral rose bushes, and lots of vines over 25+ acres. I need a 35 to 55 cc engine as some of these vines are 5+ inches wide. Have you used one, and do you have any suggestions as to make and model? I am not looking for a chainsaw.
posted by Runcible Spoon to home & garden (12 comments total)

5 inches wide, you need a chainsaw not a brushcutter.

You need a solid shaft drive weedwacker with a straight shaft. The 4-stroke Honda ones are great. Get the ones with the shoulder harness and two-handed yoke. However they will not get you through anything thicker than 2". Trust me, I've tried.

You will also need a good gas chainsaw, like a 14" Husquvarna or something similar.

Another good option is a 5' Bush Hog brush mower on the PTO of a compact tractor. That will take out almost anything, including small trees (run them over with the tractor, let the Bush Hog dice and slice them).
posted by unSane at 8:52 PM on April 26, 2007

I would agree on the tractor and brush hog recomendation, but would go further and say that you should rent about a 30 hp utility tractor, not a compact. Something like a Ford NAA, MF 35, or Oliver 550. 25 acres is too much to screw around with a weedwacker. With the tractor and brush hog I would guess you could do about 2 acres an hour.
posted by rfs at 9:19 PM on April 26, 2007

I agree with unSane and rfs on the general equipment recommendation, but please don't do this if you've never driven a tractor or operated a bush hog in scrub. You need an owner/operator to come in and clear your 25 acres, this spring, before you need bulldozers. You can probably work out payment options with such people, as they are more concerned with covering costs and keeping their equipment busy than with immediate full payment. After all, it's not like you can pack up the property and disappear, after they've cleared it.
posted by paulsc at 9:26 PM on April 26, 2007

I use my Ferguson TO35 with a 5' PTO rough mower for similar work--though I pretty much draw the line at 2" saplings with it. 5' is all that a 30-35 horse tractor will comfortable run, and even then in thick stuff I occasionally bog down. 25 acres is going to take awhile to hack down if it's as bad as you say. Frankly, I would suggest a bulldozer, a bonfire, and then seed with the ground cover of your choice...

You can buy a typical Ford NAA, Ferguson TO35 or MF35 for about $3K in serviceable condition and a hog for $300-500 used or $7-1000 new (around here). If you borrow or rent a tractor, make sure you know how to safely use it and the hog, especially if you have any hills to tackle. Your blades are going to go dull pretty quick, buy an extra set and learn how to change them safely.

You're probably going to need to take two passes, one with the cutter pretty high off the ground and then another closer to the dirt. Just cutting long grass in our semi-rough 10 acres takes me almost a full day.

You really want to find a tractor with a 2-stage clutch (most everything after the mid-fifties is set up with one). You can buy an inline overrun clutch for earlier tractors like the Ford 8N or TO30 but life is much easier with the two stage job. An 8N is going to be working hard if you went that route.

Think about the bulldozer option, it'll be quicker and be a nice place to start from if you're planning on maintaining the property from this point forward.
posted by maxwelton at 9:38 PM on April 26, 2007

And I agree with paulsc that this initial pass might best be left to the pros. Until you've had blackberries and thistles attacking you as you ride into them and have your hog find the strand of barbed wire you missed (or worse, an old fence post or chunk of concrete), you haven't lived.
posted by maxwelton at 9:43 PM on April 26, 2007

Yeah, when I said 'compact' tractor I meant 20-40hp diesel, not a lawn tractor. A serious tractor.
posted by unSane at 10:07 PM on April 26, 2007

I don't know anything about tractors (well, except that I want one, but who doesn't?). But if you are (also?) looking at handheld brushcutters and/or weedwackers and/or chainsaws, my advice is to buy a low- to mid-range product from a high-end company. Don't buy anything at a big box store. Instead, buy a Husqvarna or similar at a smaller store, and buy one that is at the upper end of the consumer range or at the lower end of the professional range. The ergonomics and reliability are far better than what you will find at the big box store (or at least at the big box stores where I live; yours may have better selections) and if you are really using this equipment as hard as you describe, you will want the follow-up service of a good shop. It's more money up front, but less over time.
posted by Forktine at 3:04 AM on April 27, 2007

If you have good fences and are not in a huge hurry, I would suggest goats. They have been using herds of goats for brush control out west for years now. Goats by nature are browsers, not grazers, meaning they prefer to eat leaves and bark. If you have a large enough herd in there, they will definitely kill all the small trees, vines, and multiflora rose in short order. And no gasoline fumes.

You don't say where you are, but there are people who provide these herds of goats on contract for the various agencies who have brush to clear; perhaps you could locate one of these contractors.

If goats won't work for you, I would second the advice so far: nothing short of a tractor with a bush hog is going to clear 25+ acres of brush such as you describe.
posted by bricoleur at 4:15 AM on April 27, 2007

That's a huge job, man. You're going to need some serious equipment to do that in a timely manner. I can give you a couple of names & numbers, if you want to drop me an email. One of them is the guy who mows the field at the Taco Party house. He is a great guy, honest to a fault. I'm sure he would give you an estimate. I'd be glad to come take a look at it myself... to see what you are up against.

lobstah1 at gmail.com
posted by lobstah at 6:44 AM on April 27, 2007

unSane : I knew what you meant by a compact tractor, and don't think that they would be good for this job - too low to the ground and not enough weight. The ones I mentioned are the minimum size I would recommend, and are much bigger than a 20 HP Kubota.
posted by rfs at 8:56 AM on April 27, 2007

My father has an older (late 40s, early 50s, I think) MF 35 and a 5' bush-hog deck. I've not operated it myself, but I've seen him clear some pretty serious brush. 5" vines might be pushing it, though.

I'd pay someone who owns all the equipment to do this for you, unless you have a pressing need to own and maintain a tractor. Sure, you could rent, but then you'd have to learn all the ins and outs of safe operation.
posted by Alterscape at 9:54 AM on April 27, 2007

Well, I have a 43hp Kubota which is nominally compact, but it will tear a new asshole in the stuff described here...



anyway the point is you are not going to get through this stuff with a weedwhacker alone, and if you try, something bad is likely to happen.

to summarise

-- Bush Hog to clear, 5' version with a 20-50hp diesel tractor (recent, preferably 4wd);
-- Chain Saw to remove everything down to 2.5"
-- Weed Whacker to remove stuff from 2.5" down

no short cuts

after you have tried to take out one 5" plant with a shaft drive weed whacker, you'll realise your mistake.


clearing brush is one of those situations where less power is more dangerous.
posted by unSane at 11:11 PM on April 27, 2007