# Brush cutter or power scythe?



## cjohnson (Jul 14, 2004)

Brush cutter or power scythe for attacking a wall of blackberry and raspberry plants?

Need to maintain a 1.5 mile section of single track that has basically been clear cut by a tornado.


----------



## ajd245246 (Sep 1, 2008)

the brush cutter seems to be more versatile, but then again what else do you have to clear other than the blackberry and raspberry plants? pictures?


----------



## singlesprocket (Jun 9, 2004)

widely used up here:
http://www.stihl.ca/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=17&x=FYHv+XF4mF7doeX4mc2vDQ

everything from staking mining claims way up north to clearing trail through hawthorns.

handy tool.


----------



## Trail Ninja (Sep 25, 2008)

I've used a hedge trimmer quite a bit on blackberry and I'm pretty happy with the results. The drawback is that it will get jammed by thicker stems. I assume a power scythe would too. 

The saw blade brush cutter will cut through almost anything but I found it slow going compared to the hedge trimmer. Easier on your back though.

My favorite tool for that kind of work is an old style hand scythe. Not a sickle (some people get them confused). I cut the blade down to about 24" before I found out you can buy short brush blades for them.


----------



## cjohnson (Jul 14, 2004)

*picture*

Photo was taken in November after the salvage loggers cleared the big stuff (1 million board feet). In Spring the berry plants are coming. Blue line is our route. We'll end up with a total of 2.75 miles of trail like that. Used to be all mature forest. (lots of good views now  ).


----------



## Loren_ (Dec 3, 2006)

I've got a power scythe on my Stihl kombi-tool. It'll gnaw through pretty much anything that fits in the tines without stalling, about 1 inch in diameter or less. It's the tool I would grab for something like this.


----------



## HypNoTic (Jan 30, 2007)

I've worked on something pretty similar in term of terrain and a mix of trimmer (such as Husky FX345 or Sthil 480) and a walk-behind would do wonder. Once you clear the line you want, use the walk-behind to push the the crap away, including berries, and work the soil as required. Drainage is sometime harder to manage in open field like this one. A machine help a lot.

Keep in mind that bees and wasps build their nest in that kind of place too.


----------



## ajd245246 (Sep 1, 2008)

HypNoTic said:


> Keep in mind that bees and wasps build their nest in that kind of place too.


Good point, i know from this summer! bastards followed me for almost a mile :madman:


----------



## Trail Ninja (Sep 25, 2008)

OK, but only one wasp story. I have hundreds. Cutting into the wasp nest log with a chainsaw. I got stung 8 times on my head and an uncountable amount of times on my body. The saw stayed in the log for 3 days. It took me 2 days to get back with some wasp spray. Sprayed the nest and then came back the next day and got the saw out.

I rerouted the trail.


----------



## HypNoTic (Jan 30, 2007)

I rolled over a good sized wasp nest with a mini-excavator that only had a canopy. Even in Rabbit mode, the damn thing is not moving very fast...


----------



## cjohnson (Jul 14, 2004)

*ground hornets*

I heard buzzing by my foot looked down and saw a green hornet (a fuzzy wasp, but green with gray stripes) crawling on my shoe. My eyes panned to my other foot, which was entirely covered by a fuzzy green mass. Hokey Pokey city. Shook my foot all about. Got stung a few times only!


----------



## ajd245246 (Sep 1, 2008)

Trail Ninja said:


> OK, but only one wasp story. I have hundreds. Cutting into the wasp nest log with a chainsaw. I got stung 8 times on my head and an uncountable amount of times on my body. The saw stayed in the log for 3 days. It took me 2 days to get back with some wasp spray. Sprayed the nest and then came back the next day and got the saw out.
> 
> I rerouted the trail.


Sounds like another one of my stories, we had about 3/4s of a new trail completed and 50 feet before the end there was a hornets nest, it was in some rocks and not in the ground, and to make a long story short we went back to my buddy's house and got the paintball guns and in 30 minutes they were decimated


----------



## Trail Ninja (Sep 25, 2008)

OK, one more. I purposely built a trail to go under a HUGE paper wasp nest hanging off a tree branch. You had to duck to clear the nest. I even sprayed a little red paint on it. It lasted 2 years. I have no idea who eventually hit it.


----------

