If you’re in search of a high-quality power tool to keep your foliage, trees and plants in top condition, brushcutters are the way to go. Made with detachable blades and trimmer heads, these tools can be used for a host of different applications in the garden, whether you’re maintaining a plot of land or your backyard.

 

As indispensable as powered cutters are for cleaning up lawns, many people don’t know how to effectively use these tools to get the most out of their features. Here at BS Power, we offer a diverse range of cutters for gardeners and farmers alike. In this quick read, we’ll be breaking down how to operate a brushcutter so that you can maintain your lawn like a pro.

 

What Is A Brushcutter?

 

Before we explore the different ways you can operate brushcutters, it’s important to understand what powered cutters are and how they work. These machines are cordless, hand-held garden tools that are used to trim small trees, weeds, overgrown brambles and other foliage. Unlike line trimmers, brushcutters use rotating steel blades to cut foliage, allowing them to tackle tougher jobs like cutting through thick vegetation and trimming small hedges with thin trunks.

 

Brushcutters also come with an impressive set of features that make them especially nifty for tending to gardens or large expanses of land. If you’re maintaining your garden or allotment, you can opt for a smaller brushcutter model. However, brushcutters also come in larger, more heavy-duty models if you need to maintain bigger allotments or agricultural land. Additionally, brushcutters come with variable speed triggers, allowing you to work more safely and efficiently. The built-in speed triggers and detachable trimmer heads make these tools especially versatile for performing a variety of different tasks.

 

 

Secret Tricks For Using Your Cutter Professionally

 

To operate your brushcutter with a high level of expertise, it is essential to prioritize both safety and efficiency. This approach ensures optimal performance and results. Presented below are three advanced techniques for utilizing your brushcutter in a more professional manner:

 

Adjust Your Acceleration

 

Brushcutters work by using high-speed rotation, allowing you to cut foliage with generated energy. If you want to get a more accurate and efficient cut out of your brushcutter, the wire end will need to move faster. By picking up momentum and accelerating your blade, you can trim your lawn with far more precision than without adjusting the acceleration. You should, however, be sure to throttle up your brushcutter before each cut and decelerate at the end of each cut. This way, you can achieve clean, precise cutting without overworking the motor of your brushcutter.

 

Buy The Right Model For Your Terrain

 

While brushcutters are especially versatile tools for tending to lawns and trimming foliage, it’s highly recommended that you choose the right brushcutter model that is best suited for your terrain. If you want to invest in a brushcutter that has longevity and will get the job done well, you need to have a thorough understanding of the tasks you need to perform in your garden. The terrain of your allotment will also determine which brushcutter head you’ll need to purchase.

 

If your primary concern is cutting fine shrubs and finishing your garden lawn, electric brushcutters are the way to go. Should you have brambles or overgrown areas to tend to, it can help to attach a 4-tooth blade for smaller brushcutter models. When it comes to handling thicker vegetation, however, professional brushcutters are preferable. Attach a 3-tooth brushcutter blade if the area you’re working on is overgrown.

 

Refine Your Cutting

 

If you want to handle brushcutters like a pro, getting the right model for your garden is only half of the job. You need to use a brushcutter correctly if you want to achieve a clean cut, which is why it is crucial that you refine your cutting action. Depending on the results you want for your garden, your cutting techniques will differ.

 

For a lawn with evenly cut edges and a tapered effect, use the brushcutter at an angle. When it comes to fences and pathways obstructing your cutting action, tilt the brushcutter vertically to avoid any hiccups along the way.

 

 

Brushcutter: Cutting Techniques

 

Now that you’ve been clued in on some helpful tips and tricks on how to use brushcutters more effectively, here’s a quick breakdown of some of the main techniques used when operating a brushcutter:

 

Basic Technique

 

If you’re simply trimming grass or weeds, a basic brush-cutting technique should be sufficient. Most brushcutter attachments rotate in a counterclockwise direction, so you should operate your brushcutter from right to left. By using this method, you’ll achieve a quick, clean cut of the area and your trimmings will fall on the area you’ve just tended to.

 

Cutting Large, Flat Areas

 

Brushcutters work wonders for maintaining large expanses of land, but it does help to use certain cutting techniques to get the job done. If you’re tending to a large, flat area of land, we recommend dividing the lawn into squares and trimming from the border of the square into the centre. This efficient cutting technique is referred to as the square method and is especially useful for trimming larger allotments.

 

Long Grass Trimming

 

Unlike shorter grass, long grass needs to be trimmed a certain way to ensure a consistent cut of the area. If you use a basic brush-cutting technique to trim long grass, you may not cut each section of grass evenly. To avoid this, you should try to trim long grass in two phases. In the first phase, cut the top of the grass by passing the brushcutter from right to left. Once you’ve trimmed the top of the grass, lower your brushcutter and trim from left to right. Cutting in these two phases will allow for a cleaner, more even cut of the area.

 

Trimming Around Obstacles

 

If you’re trimming your lawn but need to avoid cutting surrounding shrubbery or trees, it’s best to use your brushcutter’s deflector to create a mowing line. The deflector works well as a guide for navigating around obstacles in your garden, allowing you to trim your lawn and get up close to trees and bushes without cutting them. By placing the deflector up against the base of your bushes or trees, your brushcutter can guide you as you move while protecting the trunk.

 

The Strip Method

 

When mowing a lawn with slopes or hills, we recommend implementing the strip method for a clean, consistent cut of your grass. If you use a basic brush-cutting technique to trim a slope, it could leave your lawn uneven or even unearth soil. The best way to trim a slope is by cutting it strip by strip. Find a strip parallel to the slope, trim it and continue cutting along the section. If you repeat this technique, you should be able to evenly trim any slopes without issue.

 

Cutting Dense Shrubs

 

Dense, tangled undergrowth can be tricky to trim, which is why it’s better to avoid trimming the root of the plant first. To avoid a messy trim of the area, we recommend lowering your brushcutter slowly onto the shrubs with the head of your brushcutter raised to the height of your waist. With the blade parallel to and just above the ground, you should be able to cut any dense shrubbery without issue.

 

Saplings & Trees

 

If you have small trees or saplings in your garden, you can either trim around them or use your brushcutter to cut them. For trees that have smaller trunks of less than 5cm in diameter, a circular saw blade attachment works best for cutting trees or saplings. To cut a tree, you’ll need to place your brushcutter against the right side of the tree’s trunk. Once your brushcutter is held in place and you feel steady enough, pass the brushcutter over the tree until it cuts through. This method, however, only works for trees with a diameter of less than 5cm, so be sure to fell any larger trees with a chainsaw.

 

Types Of Brushcutters

 

If you want to go the extra mile and learn how to effectively operate a brushcutter, it helps to familiarise yourself with the different types of brushcutters and their model types. These various models differ in application and start-up process, which is why it’s recommended that you understand the key differences between them. Below is a summary of the three main types of brushcutters:

 

Tow-Behind: If you’re tackling expansive areas with large bushes, you may want to invest in a tow-behind brushcutter. These types of brushcutters attach to a skid steer, tractor or ATV and use rotational energy to cut through weeds and thick bushes.

 

Handheld: For a more convenient, versatile trimming garden tool, handheld brushcutters are the way to go. These brushcutters are perfect for cleaning up details in tight spaces or clearing tall grass. Handheld brushcutters can be fitted with various attachments and often come with safety harnesses due to their heavy weight.

 

Walk-Behind: A walk-behind brushcutter is another term used to describe a lawn or weed mower. If your lawn doesn’t require much maintenance aside from some pruning or cutting, then a walk-behind brush cutter works well for handling grass, weeds and saplings.

 

 

Get A High-Quality Brushcutter From BS Power

 

Whether you’re clearing your front lawn or working on a dense plot of land with diverse foliage, brushcutters make a world of difference when it comes to keeping the land in top condition. From cutting long and short grass to trimming slopes and saplings, a brushcutter makes the job of managing your garden all the easier with added convenience and efficiency. With detachable trimmer heads and handheld operation, you simply can’t go wrong when investing in a brushcutter.

 

If you’re looking to invest in a high-quality brushcutter of your own, BS Power has got you covered. Stocked with bottom and top-of-the-range products, our array of brushcutters is sure to provide you with the power tool suited to your gardening needs. To get your hands on a brushcutter today, simply peruse our online catalogue of brushcutters or drop us an email at info@bspower.co.za to find out more about the equipment we offer.