Good power tool for clearing heavy undergrowth/briars

adocholiday

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone could recommend a good power tool that would be useful for clearing away a lot of briars and heavy undergrowth around trees? Woodies have this one that I'm looking at and I wonder would it do the trick?

https://www.woodies.ie/garden-and-outdoor/garden-powertools/grass-and-brushcutters/procut-plus-43cc-bicycle-handle-straight-shaft-brushcutter-1133973

Alternatively any recommendations are welcome. I've a fair bit of heavy stuff to clear so need something pretty good.

pawrick

Cant comment on a particular one but if it's a once off job would hiring one not work out less expensive / offer the chance to use a better one or try some out if they have them available.

adocholiday

Thought that myself but I've a significant garden that would probably need a bit of work done on it annually anyway so thought it would be better to have my own rather than renting each year. Plus I can do the work at my convenience then, definitely a good few days work in it

victor8600

Yes, a brush cutter like you linked is ok. I used a 50cc one to clear an overgrown site. But 90% of time was spent in removing the cuttings. I would go in, lay the path of destruction into the tall grass mixed with brambles for a few meters and this would create an impenetrable heap of cut grass and branches.

I may have done better with a power knife / machete to target brambles and to remove them separately and then cut the grass faster.

Lumen

Rent something fit for purpose. The clearance will only be done once.

Flail mower?

https://www.powerplant.ie/our-range/landscape-garden/flail-mower-2/

adocholiday

That thing looks great. Would it manage fairly thick briars and stuff. There's parts of my garden that are completely impassable right now with thick briars and bushes etc. that I just want gone

victor8600

adocholiday wrote: »

That thing looks great. Would it manage fairly thick briars and stuff. There's parts of my garden that are completely impassable right now with thick briars and bushes etc. that I just want gone

Please let me know if you find a flail mower/power scythe to rent for less than €100 a day.

jhenno78

I've had to do plenty of this and honestly, it's never as hard as it looks.

How I've done it is to take a good long-handled garden sheers, cut the briars at the base as far in as you can and then cut vertical lines so you break it up into <1M^3 blocks. After you've cut all around you take a rake and pull the block out, get it out of your way and move on.

I know it sounds like tough work, but really you just get going and you'd be amazed how quickly you can clear the junk. No more effort than sweeping the yard IMO.

A variation I've used is to use a multi-tool strimmer like this:

Use the hedge-cutter attachment to cut the briars into blocks and pull out with a rake as above. Not too much different to using a shears except you have better reach and you can then use the bush-cutter to clear around the edges (there won't be any growth underneath the briars).

Best advice though is to just get into it.