String Trimmer/ Brushcutter Recommendations

[jbrumberg]

I have a FS130 with a autocut string trimmer head as well as a circular chisel tooth saw blade. I am not unhappy with its power. I have taken out some pretty nice size trees with it, and it is still lightweight enough to allow me to cut a hiking/snowshoe path down my very steep hillface . Jay

 

[Champy]

Open Questions for everyone.......

Would you recommend getting the bike handles or the loop handle?

Is smaller diameter string better for cutting weeds - or go larger?

 

[Unregistered2013]

i have the husqvarna 265Rx --

-- it's 65cc's and 2-stroke --

- the blade rarely, if ever, gets worn -

 

[Michael_E_Tx]

Open Questions for everyone.......

Would you recommend getting the bike handles or the loop handle?

Is smaller diameter string better for cutting weeds - or go larger?

If you're planning on using a brush blade, bike handles.

Second question: Larger.

Mike

 

[InlineDieselFan]

I'll through in another vote for Stihl, after much abuse my FS 86 the controls finally are worn out, the motor still works fine. Once it is running it stays at full speed, I felt that it was unsafe to use as a brush cutter anymore. So now it does the trim work around the house. To buy a new handle and speed control trigger on a 15 year old machine was more than the value of the machine so I bought a new FS 130 a month or so ago. loads of power to cut through things.

jbrumberg, if you are doing brush cutting I would get the bicycle type handle bars.

steve

 

[jbrumberg]

Steve- I do have the bicycle type handle bars. My dealer would not sell a brush cutter without them for safety reasons. The FS130 is a well balanced bear ! Jay

 

[RobertN]

You have to have handle bars if you run any kind of blade. If you hit something, the whole trimmer will kick back or deflect; very hard to control with the loop handle.

I use my Husky and Honda mostly for cutting weeds, mostly with string. It goes so much faster, and is much more comfrotable, to use the machine with the with handlebars and a full shoulder harness for lots of weedeating.

I use my Stihl with the loop handle for tiny area's, or for detail work. It can do large area's but is not as easy to control or carry.

I have 5 acres and can only access with the tractor to about 2/3rds of it. I mow those 2/3rds, and weedeat the other 1/3rd. For that I use the bigger machines with the handlebars and full shoulder harness. I used to do work for other people too; use the big handlebar machine for work in the field.

Open Questions for everyone.......

Would you recommend getting the bike handles or the loop handle?

Is smaller diameter string better for cutting weeds - or go larger?

 

[jbrumberg]

I have a double full shoulder harness for my FS130. Jay

 

[RobertN]

I have a double full shoulder harness for my FS130. Jay

I think I have the same thing. Goes over both shoulder, has a strap and buckle on the front. A strap hangs down on the right side, with a hook(usually a pad behind the hook) that rests kind of on your hip. Trimmer hooks in there.

I have one that came with my Husky 225R, and another that came with the Honda. They are similar; I have seen the Stihl version and it is about the same.

When I get harnessed up, I can weedeat for hours. All you are doing is directing the trimmer; you are not supporting it with your arms. That Honda will go about an hour on a tank of gas, the Husky about 45 minutes.

 

[jbrumberg]

RobertN:

With a setup like ours and a balanced trimmer you can literally cut for hours without fatigue. It did get a little cumbersome when I was traversing down one of my steeper hill faces when I was cutting my tail . Jay

 

[anthonyk]

one other thing to consider is VIBRATION!

My first trimmer was the top of the line craftsman, worked fine.
Only problem was you couldn't crank it full throttle for more than a few seconds without your hands getting numb. That was pretty useless.

Got an echo now, much less vibration.

anthony

 

[JamesH]

I have a Stihl FS90 with a small oval handle. It is mainly used for only grass around all the outbuildings and trees on the property. I would have prefered to go with the bike handles but after reading much on the subject decided on the small oval handle. From what I read only, the bike handles would make it difficult to tilt the head one way or the other if you were trying to do edging or something. If using for brush when the blade is parallel to the ground the bike handles would be the best bet.
I have put one of the blades on mine and used it on 1" or smaller saplings and it does work. Not something I do a lot of or would recommend with the small handle.

 

[dmccarty]

Anthony,

Even on my FS85 the vibration can get to you. I know the later models do better with damping the vibration. One thing that worked for me was to relax a bit and not clamp down when holding the trimmer. That seem to help quite a bit. Even relaxing a bit after a few hours on the FS85 my arms would shake for an hour or two. Not good. I forgot the medical term but this is not a good thing. How the guys do this 8-10 hours a day boggles the mind.

Later,
Dan

 

[RobertN]

No, the bigger brusher/trimmers do not work well for detail work(like tilting to edge etc). They are good for bulk cutting. I keep an oval handle(my Stihl Combination setup) for detail.

I have a Stihl FS90 with a small oval handle. It is mainly used for only grass around all the outbuildings and trees on the property. I would have prefered to go with the bike handles but after reading much on the subject decided on the small oval handle. From what I read only, the bike handles would make it difficult to tilt the head one way or the other if you were trying to do edging or something. If using for brush when the blade is parallel to the ground the bike handles would be the best bet.

 

[Champy]

Reposting this question from another unanswered thread......

Has anyone here ever tried to simply bolt a saw blade onto your string trimmer head to make a brush-cutter? A friend of mine says he has done this and didn't need to go out and buy a new trimmer specifically made for brush-cutting............. seems like it might be dangerous to depend on a single bolt holding the blade???

 

[Michael_E_Tx]

Has anyone here ever tried to simply bolt a saw blade onto your string trimmer head to make a brush-cutter? A friend of mine says he has done this and didn't need to go out and buy a new trimmer specifically made for brush-cutting............. seems like it might be dangerous to depend on a single bolt holding the blade???

Hey Champy. I realize you are posting someone else's question, so it's a little awkward to answer, but the person posting the question has a couple of wrong notions.

The first is that all brushcutters that I know about, my FS250 included, rely on a single bolt to hold the blade on. There is nothing exceptional about that idea whatsoever! The only caution is to use the special "washer" (for my FS250, it's sort of a cup kind of deal) and nut provided by the manufacturer of your unit.

The second wrong notion is that merely attaching a blade makes a trimmer a brushcutter. The primary difference in terms of trimmers/brushcutters is whether or not the machine has a flexible or solid shaft. Solid being the norm for machines sold as "brushcutters". This is why most, if not all units sold as legitimate brushcutters have straight shafts. There are a couple of exceptions to this, but I don't remember exactly, perhaps there are a couple of Echo machines that come with flexible shafts and are meant to run brushblades. At any rate, the idea is that a flexible shaft will not last as long when used with a brushblade.

Horsepower is another factor. It takes more HP to turn a brushblade than a trimmer head. For this reason, diameter of the blade is important. For instance, most Stihl blades are a maximum of 8". Could you use a saw blade? Sure, why not, assuming the diameter is small enough, and it has a 1" arbor, which most smaller saw blades do not. If one really wanted to put a blade on a trimmer not meant for brushblades, why not use a brushblade instead of a saw blade?

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[EddieWalker]

I just bought some of that square line they sell at Lowes. It's the same diameter as the round stuff that came with my trimmer, but it's allto more aggressive. It also lasts allot longer!!! When this small amount I bought is gone, I'm going to buy the big roll.

I've run into a few saplings and weeds that are too big to cut through with my weed eater, so I start at the top and shred the leaves and smaller branches off of it. Then I come back later with me lopers and just cut it off at the base. I've only ran into three of these that I had to come back to in 1,000 feet of fence.

Eddie

 

[_RaT_]

I just bought some of that square line they sell at Lowes. It's the same diameter as the round stuff that came with my trimmer, but it's allto more aggressive. It also lasts allot longer!!! When this small amount I bought is gone, I'm going to buy the big roll.

I've run into a few saplings and weeds that are too big to cut through with my weed eater, so I start at the top and shred the leaves and smaller branches off of it. Then I come back later with me lopers and just cut it off at the base. I've only ran into three of these that I had to come back to in 1,000 feet of fence.

Eddie

They make even longer lasting stuff then that. Its silver, it is fluted the entire length. Its available at professional type lawn stores. Another thing is that folks tend to buy the really thick string which can last longer but also eats up the power. I use .155 almost exclusively. Thick, but not to thick.

 

[RobertN]

I have three trimmers. My Husky and Honda are both bigger rigs with Handlebars, sull shoulder harness etc. They use string or blades. The Stihl has the oval handle, and only runs string when using the trimmer head(It is the Stihl combo setup).

I would not use a blade unless you have the handle bars and a harness(manufacturers same same thing). When the blades kick back or get pinched, they would be very hard to control with the regular oval handle configuration.

The trimmers with handle bars and full harnesses give you much more control of the machine. I would not be as concerned about the arbor bolt, as in controlling the trimmer with that rotating blade. At least with sring, if you accidently bump you leg, it just stings. If you get hit by that blade during a kickback, you may lose a limb(yours, not the tree's!).

Reposting this question from another unanswered thread......

Has anyone here ever tried to simply bolt a saw blade onto your string trimmer head to make a brush-cutter? A friend of mine says he has done this and didn't need to go out and buy a new trimmer specifically made for brush-cutting............. seems like it might be dangerous to depend on a single bolt holding the blade???

 

[AlanB]

Eddie, for line, around here, we run the .095 from Wal Mart. $17 or so for a 3 pound roll, works real well. I think it is shakespear line.

We find running the 105 around the chain link that it cuts it off to quick, the 95 has a bit more give and works better in our application triming around homes.

If you want something slick, get one of the new Shindawa heads, I forget what they are called, but you cut your string, pass it through the head to the halfway point and then wind the head like a watch and it auto spools it up (you have to do it often to appreciate this feature)

Champy, sure, you can run whatever you can mount on the end, and it will work to a degree, but the idea of that little gearbox shredding itself and the blade coming off is enough to scare me away from doing it.

There are MANY adapter sets etc. out there, but I would only want a blade running on a fairly stout trimmer, and even then, to be honest, they scare me enough I usually look for other ways of doing things.

(We trim the trails at our event and we have tried it a number of ways)