Machete, brush cutter or other for small saplings

[livemusic]

Say you see a tree you want to get and it's 150' into the woods and you don't have a way to get your vehicle in there. It is thick with undergrowth. Around here, many, many small saplings and vines. Say, something that will whack saplings 1/2" to 2" or so diameter. Or we could limit it to, say, 1" max and I guess could look into using a gasoline brush cutter for bigger stuff. (I have never used one, and wonder how well those work.)

I have looked at many machetes and I have no experience with a machete other than cheap ones with plastic handles. I guess plastic is okay if it isn't cheap, lol. But anyway, I am 6'2" tall and if a machete is, say, 24" overall, I have to bend way over to whack a sapling. And a brush hook (what we call it... council ditch bank thingy?) is too heavy and cumbersome for my liking. I keep thinking if I could find a 36" overall length machete, that might work, but I really don't know. I found one made by Ralph Martindale (England) company but do not find a source. Any suggestions?

EDIT: Also, let's say that you are going to make a trail through the woods for an ATV (side x side with rubber tires). After you cut saplings, do you think you need to do anything else to the stumps/stubs? I would try to cut close to ground, but wonder how much a tire can take on these modern ATVs/UTVs. Should you inject them with a stump rotter solution? That could get burdensome, lol.

EDIT: And here is a 32" lopper -- http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-32-Inch-PowerGear-Bypass-Lopper/dp/B00004SD74. I wonder which lopper is best for saplings.

 

[TreeswingerPerth]

I use a Stihl clearing saw ( brush cutter ) with a mulching blade , it makes short work of any saplings etc that it gets aimed at .

 

[Brushpile]

An 8" 'Renegade Blade' on the end of a straight shaft trimmer. I've cleared more brush, undergrowth, and saplings up to 2" or better with this thing in the last year than I could have ever imagined. Carbide tipped teeth. Unreal what they can accomplish.
Swing it like a scythe, and watch 'em fall before you.

 

[svk]

Man, I need to get one of those! The standard steel Husky blades I buy are less than impressive.

 

[Oldman47]

I have one of those Fiskars loppers but would never be tempted to use it for clearing. Because it is geared you need to open it a long way to get things into the jaws. I use mine for removing small, under 1 1/2 inch diameter, branches as a pruning cutter rather than break out any kind of saw. It is very effective but not a good design for clearing a path. It will have you leaned even closer to the ground than a 2 foot machete or corn knife. I have to go with Brushpile on this one and suggest a straight shaft trimmer equipped with a brush blade.

 

[Brushpile]

Man, I need to get one of those! The standard steel Husky blades I buy are less than impressive.

You won't be dissapointed.

 

[svk]

You won't be dissapointed.

Who sells them?

 

[Shagbark]

If you have quite a lot of brush to clear, a tractor and bushhog does a great job. I cleared an area about the same size of everything 3" and under. If it went under the 25hp tractor it got cut. Pass two was to mulch the tire poppers

 

[Brushpile]

Who sells them?

Ebay.

 

[abbott295]

I am a fan of a good machete. I really came to appreciate them as a peace corps volunteer 30 plus years ago. Nothing else is going to be as portable, but there are better options if you have larger areas to clear. A machete won't run out of gas, but you might. All a machete needs to keep it running good laugh a file, just about any kind will do.

That long ago, to me, the best machetes seemed to be the brand "Corneta." Made in El Salvador by IMCASA, I believe. Industria Mecanica (?) CentroAmerican, S. A. I discovered they also made agricultural equipment such as disc blades. I think they used the good steel in the machetes. Other Latin American brands seemed to be about one step below the Corneta, but usually still good.

I am about your size and also prefer a longer blade, but any way you look at it, to get down close to the ground, you will have to get down close to the ground. Or use power equipment.

I have not used a mulching blade on a trimmer, but I have read that the bigger, more aggressive blades require a bigger, more powerful, more expensive engine.

Maybe to avoid pointy stubs, they could be cut with a pruning saw? Again, not something I have not done. And you would have to get down there with it.

 

[H-Ranch]

I like the Swedish Bush Axe for limbs up to a couple of inches, but it may not be the best for cutting flush to the ground. It is a good tool for widening trails as they grow in over the years though.

 

[7sleeper]

I agree completly with the first reply! Brush cutter with mulching blade! Absolutely devastating! Like the finger of god...

Requirements for the team is for me:
1. a real brush cutter with straight shaft and full antivib and at least 40ccm, a simple trimmer will never last a few hours!
2. mulching blade is either 2 or 3 leaf with the end of the leaf bent down 45 or 90°.

7

 

[Mad Professor]

If you have quite a lot of brush to clear, a tractor and bushhog does a great job. I cleared an area about the same size of everything 3" and under. If it went under the 25hp tractor it got cut. Pass two was to mulch the tire poppers

I concur, but a 40+ Hp tractor and HD rotary cutter is better.

Trim the stubs. No fun changing tractor tires and they are not cheap.

 

[zogger]

Pro grade heavy duty brush cutter with the bicycle handlebars, etc on it. That is *the* man portable tool designed to do exactly what you are describing. Here are the huskies

http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/brushcutters

You want to cut flush and square, a machete, etc is going to leave you a zillion little pointy punji stakes, not a good idea. A string trimmer just with a blade mounted on it will work, but will be seriously under powered. The real forestry saws will cost like a good mid size pro saw, so be prepared. You get what you pay for. I don't have a pro class one..yet, but certainly on my list, just too handy.

 

[Cheesecutter]

I guess I cheat, but I use my skidsteer. It levels a 5 or 6 foot path /trail depending on which bucket I use. If anything stands back up it gets ripped out when I head back the opposite way. Any P.I.T.A. saplings get dug out by the roots. I've done miles of trails this way for clients.

 

[livemusic]

I guess I cheat, but I use my skidsteer. It levels a 5 or 6 foot path /trail depending on which bucket I use. If anything stands back up it gets ripped out when I head back the opposite way. Any P.I.T.A. saplings get dug out by the roots. I've done miles of trails this way for clients.

How, exactly, do you do this? Do you put the bucket down and go forward first pass or drag it behind you first pass or what? And then, second pass, what? Thanks! I love Bobcat machines!

But, from a practical standpoint, it might be a good brush cutter for my budget for now. But, I am going to buy me a good machete or arm-powered whacker!

I guess some people are hired out to make money clearing trails for people. A Bobcat would be great!

 

[066blaster]

I would use your chainsaw for anything you can't just run over. It would be the quickest and easiest. I never had a problem with the stumps, I have tractor,kawasaki mule, fourwheeler. Cut low and straight as possible. Even a lopper would be quick on smaller stuff. Unless you got a real jungle. I've swung my chainsaw like a machete more than once to clear stuff.

 

[Sam_choq]

For a machete , tramontina brazil the only one i try on picket and dont curve , If you only work with machete , change the handle for a ax handle this is realy great ,but if you do that watch your face its dangerous when the steel broke in 2 part

 

[Cheesecutter]

How, exactly, do you do this? Do you put the bucket down and go forward first pass or drag it behind you first pass or what? And then, second pass, what? Thanks! I love Bobcat machines!

But, from a practical standpoint, it might be a good brush cutter for my budget for now. But, I am going to buy me a good machete or arm-powered whacker!

I guess some people are hired out to make money clearing trails for people. A Bobcat would be great!

I drive forward with the bucket tipped slightly downward and just scrape the surface. This knocks almost everything down. I then turn around and scrape the opposite direction to "peel" the stems and roots out. I may use a hatchet to finish up so the landowner can maintain the trail with a lawnmower or brush hog.

 

[DrewUth]

Have been cutting enduro trail with machetes for years...I wouldn't use anything else. I have an old one that I think may be Military surplus from the 40s...Hard plastic handle. I keep it honed razor sharp and it lives in a leather scabbard across my handlebars. Once you know how to swing it right (different types of trees/brush need different angles to cut cleanly), it will take a 2" oak branch or bush (we have scrub oak around here that is brutally tough) in one whack. Light, easy to carry, doesn't tire you out, quiet and stealthy, not hard to conceal when needed.