New brushcutter advice

Alfrescodave

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

arbrighton

You won't get anything decent to do the work for under £100.
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

Davesnave

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Hoping to spend less than £100....

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

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.