Decision on brush string trimmers

[LSmith]

Hello All,

I need to clear about 5ac of unlevel rutted land. It is covered in waist to chest high grass & weeds. I am thinking a string type brush cutter might be the answer. I have looked at the Troy bilt and the Murray and they seem to be fairly similar. The Troy has a 22" cut and a 6.5 Briggs And the Murray has a 22" cut and a 6hp Techumesh engine. Warranties are identical. The big difference seems to be price. The Troy is $450 & the Murray is $275. Any opnions or user feedback?


Thanks.

L.Smith

 

[Pacesetter300]

L. That's a lot of area for a string trimmer. I had a Sears and had a lot of problems with it. I sold it and bought an Ariens which works a lot better, but still gets tangled up occasionally. Using one of those on 5 acres is a lot of work. I use mine to touch up areas I can't get with the lawn mower. If the terrain is not suitable for a 3-pt bush hog, which I take it it isn't, I 'm sorry to say I would go with a DR Field and Brush mower. Sorry because you're looking at 3X the $$$, but it's really the only realistic solution. DR has a money back guarantee. Try a DR string trimmer for a while and if you come to the conclusion that it's too much work, send it back for a full refund including shipping and upgrade to the field and brush mower. JMHO
Pacesetter

 

[Chief]

Another idea you may want to consider is a brush clearing saw. I have the Stihl FS 450K. I can take down small trees and sapplings as big a 5" in diameter. It weighs about 20 lbs. altogether and mounts to a body harness. It is not a rotary cutter but can cut down anything a rotary cutter can and gives you more control and versatility as it can accomodate several different cutter heads to include a string trimmer head. Kinda pricey but they last. I have had mine for almost 10 years and it still runs like a champ.

 

[kubotasaurus]

What are you planning on doing with the land once it's cleared? You may just want to hire it done the first time and then use a lighter piece of equipment that you own after that.

 

[Bird]

It would cost a little more (not a lot), but think you ought to look at the DR trimmer/mower from Country Home Products. I had the 6 hp Briggs with electric start and they cost a lot more a few years ago when I bought mine than they do now. I had the 12" Beaver Blade to go with mine so I could cut down pretty good sized saplings pretty fast. And they've added a number of neat attachments to their line now that they didn't have when I bought mine.

 

[slowrev]

I would rent a heavy duty DR field and brush cutter ( hog type not string ) for ther first pass and then you could probably get by with the cheaper string trimmer if you kept it cut fairly often.