jimy22
New member
I am building some trails on about 60 acres of hills, woods, creek and brush. These trails will be used for hiking, mountain biking, and ATV access.
My intentions have been to purchase a tow behind, powered brush cutter, probably the Swisher 42" cut. But these weigh upwards of 500 pounds and the trails are steep and rough in places, along with a shallow creek crossing etc. I worry a bit about the safety of towing this around, plus I want to keep the trails fairly narrow.
I am thinking about making something smaller to tow. I have a sulky frame from a 2 wheeled tractor and a nearly new 5 HP Eager vertical shaft engine. I believe a fixed blade will give me trouble with my rough terrain. Seems like I need either a swinging blade or possibly a string attachment. I am hoping for around a 24" cut - certainly a pain for fields, but not a problem for trails. That seems about right for a small engine.
- The engine is from a craftsman leaf blower/vac thing and has a nice heavy chopper/blower/fan thing on the shaft. It looks like a good thing to adapt swinging blades to. Any thoughts on the safety of this? Just cut some lawnmower blades and bolt them on? I wouldn't want it coming apart.
- Any ideas for a string attachment? Or anything similar?
- is the engine rpm correct for either string or a flail blade?
- obviously in either case - I will need to make up a good deck for safety.
- I will be cutting the big stuff by hand as I make the trails. This will be for maintenence - blackberries, goldenrod, grass, etc. But if it were able to cut more, I would make use of that.
thanks for any ideas...
Jim
My intentions have been to purchase a tow behind, powered brush cutter, probably the Swisher 42" cut. But these weigh upwards of 500 pounds and the trails are steep and rough in places, along with a shallow creek crossing etc. I worry a bit about the safety of towing this around, plus I want to keep the trails fairly narrow.
I am thinking about making something smaller to tow. I have a sulky frame from a 2 wheeled tractor and a nearly new 5 HP Eager vertical shaft engine. I believe a fixed blade will give me trouble with my rough terrain. Seems like I need either a swinging blade or possibly a string attachment. I am hoping for around a 24" cut - certainly a pain for fields, but not a problem for trails. That seems about right for a small engine.
- The engine is from a craftsman leaf blower/vac thing and has a nice heavy chopper/blower/fan thing on the shaft. It looks like a good thing to adapt swinging blades to. Any thoughts on the safety of this? Just cut some lawnmower blades and bolt them on? I wouldn't want it coming apart.
- Any ideas for a string attachment? Or anything similar?
- is the engine rpm correct for either string or a flail blade?
- obviously in either case - I will need to make up a good deck for safety.
- I will be cutting the big stuff by hand as I make the trails. This will be for maintenence - blackberries, goldenrod, grass, etc. But if it were able to cut more, I would make use of that.
thanks for any ideas...
Jim