Petrol Strimmer blade

[RJH]

A friend has lent me a petrol strimmer (a Landxcape SGT34X.1) that I intend to use to clear an area 20m x 10m of nettles, brambles and various other weeds - over 3 years growth.

I'm told it'll need a brush cutter blade - fine, but I can't see how or if it fits. The strimmer only has the line cassette, and when I took that off it just leaves the 9mm threaded shaft it screws on to, and bearing/plastic shroud assembly (pic:

None of the brush blades I've looked at have that sort of attachment.

Am I missing something here, or is this strimmer not designed for brush cutter blades?

[RJH]

⌃⌃⌃⌃⌃don't⌃⌃⌃⌃⌃

[GB]

I've never done this, but this video may help.

It says not to use a strimmer like yours with a metal blade.

[Michael Chare]

My brush cutter came with a metal blade and the bits that are needed to hold it onto the end of the shaft instead of the line cassette. The plastic line will cut nettles but not thick brambles.

[fred]

I tried various brush cutters in a Stihl strimmer and was unimpressed. Can you try thicker line. I use a wheeled strimmer which uses a very thick line ( 4mm?) and is very effective

[RJH]

Thanks all - looks like the one I borrowed won't take a blade then. I got the brush blade idea from the allotment staff where I need to do the work - it's their default apparently. I'm going to hire their machine and see how it goes

- it's quite a monster, £300-worth (£15 hire) apparently - I'll report back.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Wear thick boots and face guard and gloves. These things toss stones a long way.

[RJH]

Thanks, yes, good point.

[Michael Chare]

I did buy a drum of square cross section line which does just fit in a Stihl brush cutter. It is suppose to be stronger than the normal round stuff.

[Brian Gaff]

Yes I believe that it can seriously unbalance some strimmers. I gather the ones the council use are not strictly strimmers but chain flails, which often are more balanced as there are two cutting or more like it pulverising chains and it seems to be going faster, fast enough in one case for a stone to break a double glazed door 10 ft away!

Brian

[RJH]

Worked really well - cleared the plot completely in about 2 hours. Raking up the debris took the rest of the day. The strimmer is a Honda UMK 425E with a 3 point blade - can't fault it.

[Andrew]

The roots are still there. Is this an unused plot ?. Some hefty double digging is going to be needed.

[RJH]

Picture of the plot before/after:

Yep. The network of bramble roots is astonishing, and I think they'll be the most challenging.

It has been unused for at least 3 years.

Well, there's a school of thought about that :-)

The old hands reckon cardboard/mulch is the most effective, so I'm going to try that over half. The remainder will be shed, trees, paths and a couple of trial beds. They'll be a combination of digging, and control fabric/chippings.

[Chris Hogg]

When the bramble roots start shooting, probably in the spring now, and when they're about 6 inches high, zap them with glyphosate.

[Tim Lamb]

There is going to be a lot of viable weed seed on the surface. The agricultural solution would be to encourage germination and then spray off when the seedlings are vulnerable.

Your allotment people should be able to help with knapsack sprayer and Roundup. Bramble really needs Grazon pro or one of the other

*Trichlopyr/Clopyralid* sprays intended for woody plants. You won't be able to buy this but anyone with sprayer qualifications can.

Don't spray your neighbours cabbages:-)

For the shed/paths I'd go with a strong fabric mulch topped with stone chippings. Prior to digging and burying all those seeds, you might consider borrowing/hiring a garden flame gun. Won't help much with bramble roots though.

>

[The Natural Philosopher]

Just keep mowing/strimming/removing them Half my garden looks like that - I mow it once a year. No brambles, just grass and wildflowers

Hire a mini digger £100 and a days work will sort that