# Brush Cutter Advice



## tootall44 (Apr 17, 2022)

Hello 
I have 1 acre of hillside brush that I want to maintain. Thick brush, tall grass, bush sized weeds and thorns and some small saplings (under 2"). I assume that I will only need to to clear it a few times a year so it won't get tons of usage. I'm assuming there is a product that I can do this and possibly also have string trimmer option if I want. I'm thinking gas powered, handheld. Suggestions....Brands, models, attachments?
Thank you very much, Mark


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## ATH (Apr 17, 2022)

I have a Husqvarna 555FX. It is a beast for brush. The stock blad for brush. 3 prong blade for grasses.

You want bicycle handlebars for cutting brush.


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## Boredrob (Apr 17, 2022)

ATH said:


> I have a Husqvarna 555FX. It is a beast for brush. The stock blad for brush. 3 prong blade for grasses.
> 
> You want bicycle handlebars for cutting brush.




I have a 545 and a 555 husqy. Either is likely overkill "IF" the trees are really under 2 inches. 460 and 560 stihl are the stihl equivalents.

Definitely want the bike handles.

If the brush is honestly 2 inches and under then a blade on a mid range machine would be fine. Stihl 131 or Husqy 336 or anything similar will handle that work. 

If you want a machine that doubles as a stupidly heavy weedeater the husqy 545 is better than the 555 due to the gear angle. Either will cut hardwood 5 inches or more through. The 545 comes with a bump feed trimmer attachment and grass guard as well as the scarlett blade and blade guard and a 3 tooth grass blade. The 555 has a higher pitched gearhead for directional felling and a shorter tube definitely more aimed at only tree cutting. 

But if your cutting 2 inch stuff at most, the smaller machines will work fine. A cheapish 525 from lowes would be sufficient.


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## James Sawyer (Apr 18, 2022)

You didn't say how steep your ground was or if equipment was usable. But regardless I'd spay if it was me! I would spray Garlin over Crossbow. Crossbow out gases and can kill trees when it evaporates off. Garlin won't kill the over head trees during evaporation and you don't have care about how hot weather wise its going be on the day you spray...but anything woody Garlin if its sprayed will kill it pretty much the 1st time. I wear raingear and respirator when I spray now that there is so much hip about sprays/health effects. But the Garlin and Crossbow will kill all the woody plants...Crossbow you might have too spray a few more times in spring and fall (is the best time because this when the plant pull in the sap before winter) to remove it totally from the property. Both sprays will leave the grass and most weeds without the woody stock. If you really want to clear it spray it with Round-up in the late summer ... mow it short a few weeks later. In the Fall just before the rain starts over seed it with grass seed. I don't know where you live but here in Western Oregon it doesn't get that cold...plus we are the grass seed capital of the world so grass grows easy here. I'd follow the grass seed planting required for your area... what every you do not till it you'll bring up all the doormat seed that been collecting over the years and you'll be dealing with the same problem again.

After all the brush is dead and dried-up... If it not that real steep I'd just rent a tractor with a brushhog and mulch it. Brush hogs are not all the same, some will only handle 1 inch material but some will handle up to 3". I have a Woods heavy duty model that will handle up to 3" material but you need at least a 40 to 45 hp tractor for 60" mower. 72" mower you'll need more hp to handle the 3" material. 4x4 drive tractor are lot more available now too these days. 1 acre isn't that much but depending on how high the brush is doing it by hand... that a lot work. They make weed eater blades that will cut thru that big stuff, but that still is some work and has some risks. Then again you still have to deal with the piles and burning.
I've cleared 10 acres with crossbow and 4x4 drive tractor with a brush hog, The brush and blackberries were 6 to 8 feet tall. I suggest spray it let it die and dry out... a few months later then mulch its. I just ran thru it with tractor... I had a big cat i could have used but less damage and no piles to burn. This spray and mulch method works well.

Another option if its not that steep is to hire someone with a skid-steer with a mulcher attachment made for clearing ground, those things are amazing. Spray it afterwards after it starts coming back. If it was me, I'd Round-up everything and plant grass seed, then you just have deal with the weed until the grass gets established. Anyway... this is how I'd do it and I'm sure there are other cheaper ways.

The Garlin is much better then Crossbow that what I use now its about 1/3 more in cost but worth the money not to have spray several times and no worries about overhead tree. If you use Crossbow and you have overhead trees, spray on a cool... cool day. Either sprays make sure there is at least no rain for a 24 hours to 36 hours.. works best for me. The Round-up spray when ever... just no Rain for 12 hours if you use the Round-up Pro... 24 hour on non-pro. They say the Pro is a 4 hours spray but on any sprays just read the direction and use the dilutions rate. Oh ... you'll get the better results using a sticker added to your sprays or at least add dish soap. Just don't spray anything plants/ trees you want to keep. This is my hands on experience I've used...not something someone told me or I've read.

Those track skid-steers guys with a mulcher or grapples work well depending on what your clearing whatever way you go you're going have to spray is my opinion. Word of caution ... using equipment on steep ground is risky unless you know what you're doing and have experience. What I call steep might be different then what you call steep! I grow-up working ground with equipment so my perspective I'm sure maybe different then you're.


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## computeruser (May 7, 2022)

I'm going to offer a contrarian answer: You don't need a 45-55cc machine for this work. Echo PAS 2620 or Stihl Kombi system (131 would be best) will do the job, and leave you with a machine that can run other attachments that you might find useful.

I spent three hours this morning with an older Echo SRM 260 that I converted to PAS last year, running a brushcutter head and Stihl 8" 22t blade. Set this machine up this way so I can fit it in the trunk of the sports car; a regular shaft machine won't fit, and a bike handlebar machine would need to have the handlebars removed. I spent the morning cutting honeysuckle up to 3" diameter just fine if I metered the blade in, and buckthorn up to 2" fell with a swift pass through the trunk. Smaller stuff got sliced clean through with essentially no RPM loss. This machine is set up _without_ bike handlebars, using a Stihl cross shoulder sling-type harness, not the serious backpack one that goes across both shoulders. The harness is run short, so it acts to limit the ability of the machine to move back toward me, which stands in for the primary safety benefit you would get from the bike handlebar setup. Put a ton of trees and shrubs on the ground today.

Now if you're going to be cutting 2-4" trees, yeah, get the bigger machine. 

And unless you have a really good reason not to, get the bike handlebars.


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