Brambles cower before me!

Jul 24, 2024 Last reply: 1 year ago 7 Replies

Following on from the "Why are the easy jobs anything but?" thread, today I received a couple of bits to add to my line trimmer pole...



The pole was configured as a twin line trimmer like this:

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So I got this scary looking thing:

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And the bit required to fit it in place of the line trimmer module:
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(To fit, you stuff something in the hole in the top of the head to stop it rotating, and unscrew the whole trimmer head *clockwise* off the threaded shaft. Fit the blade, then the depressed centre washer, then the dome, and finally the nut. Tighten anticlockwise)



So I gave it a try, and boy does it do a nice number on the shrubbery!



Suit up with good boots and a visor - stuff is going to fly. I set the speed fairly high on the machine (the blade is rated to over 10k rpm). It takes a few seconds to spin up to speed!



For big stuff, use it in a patting motion - bring it down onto the plant, bush, hedge, bramble whatever, and it just rips it down, and shreds it into bits.



I was able to clear probably 20 square meters of stuff getting on for 6' tall in about 30 mins. There was no need to get anywhere near the thorns or get caught up in the stuff, and even better, no need to try and de-tangle and pull cut bits out of the as yet uncut plants, and trees. Just shred the lot!



This video I found give quite a good demo:



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(It actually performed a bit better on my power unit since it could spin it faster and had a bit more power)



Generally quite easy to control - just take car if you it the ground at an angle, or something like a tree - the it will take most of the momentum out of the blade and kick the head to the right - so make sure there is no one near where you are cutting.



I've got four-point flat blades for mine, do you think the winglets at the tips make a big difference?

They're the parts I keep expecting to lose from mine ...

My favourite bramble jungle tamer is 1970s rotary Hayterette with Briggs & Stratton engine. Carburetor is designed so it can be used on steep banks. That means you can approach the jungle with the front elevated and blade at 45 degrees or so to the ground, mincing up everything in its path. Can render a 6m x 20m decades old 10 foot high bramble jungle to cocktail stick dimensions in 3/4 hour, no face/eye protection required.

I did my allotment with a Honda brush cutter - beast of a thing. The allotment had been left to seed for several years, a good 5 foot of brambles and nettles

- took me about 2 hours. That was last year, and I dug it over twice. Still a fair few brambles showing an appearance this year, but it certainly saw off the worst of it.

Yup massive difference... I had a flat 3 pointed "tri arc" blade in the past, and while it could cut through stouter stuff than a line trimmer, it was still basically the same action - cutting on one plane.

The wings (and the extra mass of blade) cut on two axis at once and that just wades in a rips stuff apart. The thing that tends to make getting brambles out is the way they intertwine with everything else - so cutting them off still leaves them stuck. This just shreds the mass of growth in all directions, and reduces the thorny bits to sticks only a few inches long.

I can't remember if I ever got them with mine - I think you only get them if you by the head in a blade configuration in the first place.

If you want dig- able soil with no roots in rather than grass, a small digger is a good way to go. Plus some form of giant sieve

Oh, mines a 36V makita, but the parts look v.similar I assume the correct size lefthanded nut is unobtanium when you need one in a hurry

Its a nylock left handed nut with a relief rebate on the back of it, so yup probably not something you will have laying about!

(the big dome thing is also handy since it stops the end of the threaded shaft from getting knackered).

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