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I'll be using it a lot, but not commercially. There's about an acre of woodland to tackle and then maintain.
I'll be clearing a lot of ivy, brambles, corse grasses and various other shrubs that we don't want there.
For that use you would be mad to look past stihl.
Fs450 with a triblade brushcutter
Fs450 with a triblade brushcutter
I have a FS200 with that blade and it's a beast. But I can tell you that walking around strimming an acre gets boring very quickly. If you need to do it regularly I'd be looking at using a mower.
That said, stuff grows fairly slowly in in our wooded bit so it only gets done once or twice a year.
Or get one on those wheeled strimmers.
AS said above strimming is hard /boring
Can you not hire a decent strimmer to get on top of things, then mow?
Used to work for a local authority and we used to strim as little as we could get away with.
One last thing, cover up well, nothing worse than a dog egg to the face 😉
If there is a lot of bramble you can get a 2 prong blade with bent over tips that smash it a treat.
I'm very much a Husqvarna person, but Stihl seem to have it on brushcutters. Expect narrow bars on a new machine, we're hanging onto some old Husqy 240's for their wide bars and guts.
Would get a tractor in for the initial clearing if I could and it hasn't been done for a while.
Don't be tempted by a four stroke, not used or heard of a good one yet.
Is it worth getting a 2nd hand 450 or is it likely to be goosed?
We use to use Stihl for work and found them bombproof. Even when they were dunked in the water a good dry out and change the petrol and they be off again. And we were using them 6 hours a day for at least 5 months a year everyday.
I had a similar requirement a few years back & bought the Stihl FR-130T, which is the "backpack" version that takes the kombitool system. Flipping marvellous and not given a single issue; recommended.
Honda 4 stroke. Powerful, no fuel to mix and most importantly very low vibration. Have used stihl, but am surprised no one has recommended Honda four stroke brushcutters. I can't see any disadvantage.
Bought a 2nd hand 450, thanks for all the advice!
Bought a 2nd hand 450
That's what I did, I used mine without issue until last week, it lost its drive, with some help from Arbtalk I easily fixed it. Really simple engineering.
I'd invest in some chainsaw trousers, steel toe capped obits and a helmet with ear muffs and visor. Be extra careful when using it near car or house windows.
I'm off to the farm/hardware store on Friday to get some boots and trousers.
Any recommendations are welcome.
Visors the most important thing IMHO.
Those bit stihls are lively
Pair of overalls will do. What timber says a visor is more crucial. Had my chin split open by a stone flying up and that was with wearing a full face visor.
I can't stand stihl, they have high vibes and are very unrefined to use compared to other brands. Echo stands out for me but husqy and kawa are also up there with tanaka. You can get a more powerful, smoother more durable machine than a stihl for the same money or less.
Irrelevant I know as you've bought one now. An acre I'd be using my zero turn 36" ferris though. 🙂
I did a clearance of a garden last year that was 10x40m of 7ft high brambles. The only machine I used was a 22" commercial etesia walk behind (pro 56) set to high. The job took an hour. One hour! It flattened then chomped everything. That was an easy days income I'll tell you! Neighbour came out saying he expected a laugh when he saw my mower but soon changed his mind 🙂