New brushcutter advice
Alfrescodave
Forumite 892 Posts
I need to purchase a brushcutter to tackle a very overgrown piece of land. I considered hiring one but due to the amount of work I'm sure the cheaper option would be to buy one.
Question is what should I be looking for: 2 stroke/4 stroke ?; any good makes? makes to avoid?. Hoping to spend less than £100
Any advice would be much appreciated
Question is what should I be looking for: 2 stroke/4 stroke ?; any good makes? makes to avoid?. Hoping to spend less than £100
Any advice would be much appreciated
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What's the vegetation/ area to be tackled?
The best, i.e. used by professionals for large areas are Stihl and Husqvarna. They will be two stroke.
Depending on the vegetation, you will need a blade rather than a line and to keep it sharp, although that's easily achieved with a file. A comfortable harness, gloves, eye and ear protection are a must. I would recommend long sleeves etc too, especially once the weather is better- sap + sunlight can equal phytophotodermatitis, which is really really unpleasant from experience
Sorry, but that is very wishful thinking. There are lots of cheap Chinese brushcutters on eBay, but if they last to clear what you have described, it'll be a miracle....and meanwhile, they may have shaken all your fillings out!
As above, Stihl & Husqvarna are good and you could look for those secondhand, but there's also less well-known makes like Mitox, Echo and Tanaka which are respectable, but less sought-after, so fetch lower prices.
Most machines are 2 stroke, but there are some 4 strokes on the market, the most notable of which are Hondas. 2 strokes give more power per cc, but my 35cc Honda is OK and until it was 6 years old, it never failed to start. Now, apparently, it's getting a bit long in the tooth, but I have thrashed it very hard.
Metal disc or line is your choice. Mine is 4mm line, which my Honda can't quite handle, so I use 3.5mm on an Oregon Jet fit head like this:
http://www.thegreenreaper.co.uk/oregon-aluminium-jet-fit-head?gclid=CN7Nls-O1soCFQsKwwodecULPg
It's optimistic of that advert to say that a 25cc machine will power 4mm line, but you certainly don't want a bump-feed head for tough work. They are wasteful and often don't work very well.
So, to sum up, you might get a good machine secondhand for around £225-250. The state of it will give a very good indication of how much its done and how it's been cared for.