best all round tool for woodland cutting back

[treadlightly]

I'd like some advice please on the best all-round tool for cutting back woodland undergrowth, especially brambles and general lopping of small branches etc.

I thought a machete might be my best bet but maybe I'm missing something and there's a more suitable tool out there??

 

[brozier]

How about a Brush hook / Bill hook?

Mine was great for clearing brambles and nettles around stiles this year. It's a Stihl branded one full steel tang and leather handle :-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stihl-Swiss-Switch-Bill-Hook/dp/B003K653UI

You can get them on longer handles for big jobs....

Cheers
Bryan

 

[Bushwhacker]

Ferreting in hedges requires such a need from time to time.
A long (or short) handled clearing hook, secateurs and folding saw (all available from garden shops) are ideal.

 

[dwardo]

A while ago i helped to free some hazel coppice from brambles and the like. A long handled clearing hook was great to get started and then a hand billhook followed by a good sharp spade for digging out the bramble roots. Kind of needed them all so it would be tough to say which one only i could get away with. All pointless unless you get those bramble roots out though Also making sure everything is cleared afterwards so they have no "scaffold" to cling onto and grow again. Pretty sure i am still finding bramble thorns in my hands today and that was 6 months ago...

 

[Jared]

If it's bramble, a slasher is hard to beat, imo.

36"+ handle keeps the prickly stuff away from you.

My personal preference is a double edged irish slasher, hook side for cutting and dragging bramble, and the straight edge for woody stuff.

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=88831

 

[brozier]

My personal preference is a double edged irish slasher, hook side for cutting and dragging bramble, and the straight edge for woody stuff.

That looks just the thing for big jobs

Forgot to mention the hook part is great on undergrowth as it cuts as you drag it through.

For more info than you'd ever need have a look at http://billhooks.co.uk/

Cheers
Bryan

 

[Redwall]

If it's bramble, a slasher is hard to beat, imo.

36"+ handle keeps the prickly stuff away from you.

My personal preference is a double edged irish slasher, hook side for cutting and dragging bramble, and the straight edge for woody stuff.

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=88831

+1 for a slasher. Mines only single sided but with a good edge it can do serious damage because of the length. Make sure bystanders stand well back.

 

[Jared]

Yeah, the other option would be a single edge dunse style slasher.

And Morris of Dunsford makes one of them

http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/morris-single-edge-dunse-slasher.htm

Which I'd suspect would be better quality than a bulldog or a spear and jackson.

 

[Imagedude]

I'd be using a 2-stroke clearing saw. Available from most tool hire shops.

 

[R.Lewis]

My Grandad used a single edged slasher to great effect. Having also used it I can also agree a Slasher is the tool. He did have and it still is around (my Mum inherited the land etc) A slasher that was welded onto a scaffold pole! Tiring to use but lethal to Brambles.

 

[santaman2000]

How big an area are you talking about? If it's any real size (and densely grown) I'd go for power tools.

Either a DR Mower:
1) www.drpower.com/Field-Brush-Mower_Walk-Behind_Gallery.aspx
2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNu2sKPViuo

or a bush-hog

Probably a bit much to buy but just as probably, reasonably priced to rent.

 

[Exploriment]

Swedish Clearing Axe.

 

[treadlightly]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm leaning towards a double sided billhook, something like this...

http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/double-edged-billhook-p-20036.html

Seems to me it would be a good all-rounder and quite compact to carry about. Thoughts?

 

[Dave Budd]

I would avoid the double edged ones like the plague, too dangerous and heavy.

Like Imagedude, I would use a brushcutter and chainsaw by preference But, I don't always feel the need to break out the power. In which case I use a long handled slasher that is much like a sickle attached to a 4 foot pole for brambles, nettles, and other ground dwelling/prickly stuff. Then a billhook (Devon pattern normally) for snedding and other normal cutting of woody stuff.

Brush clearing isn't something I do for fun, its just something I have to do since my workshop is part of a 10 acre wood that needs managing. So this time of year I am outside cutting and burning all sorts at least one full day each week often more when the weather is good)

 

[Jared]

A double edged billhook is usually what I grab first, though its a yorkshire pattern which are quite larger and heavier than the staffordshire. Just a preference.

When bramble/brush clearing tended to have a glove on my off hand, so can hold the bramble to stop it whipping back at me, when it gets cut.

 

[Tristar777]

How about a Brush hook / Bill hook?

Mine was great for clearing brambles and nettles around stiles this year. It's a Stihl branded one full steel tang and leather handle :-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stihl-Swiss-Switch-Bill-Hook/dp/B003K653UI

You can get them on longer handles for big jobs....

Cheers
Bryan

Hi I have to agree. A bill hook has been the chosen tool for British woodlands/undergrowth for centuries. Tried and tested.

 

[treadlightly]

I did wonder about danger when using a double edged one and I will listen to dave's advice. I like the billhook best but it seems short for bramble work - my back may never recover from all the bending

 

[R.Lewis]

Thats why my Granddad used the slasher! Its a billhook on a long handle really..

 

[Samon]

Why not just use a machete for everthing under 2"? That's what I do as I found billhooks too heavy and sickles/scythes that are affordable to be cheap and barely sharpenable.

I use a 3 footish matindale machete for all my nasty bramble beating!

 

[treadlightly]

Why not just use a machete for everthing under 2"? That's what I do as I found billhooks too heavy and sickles/scythes that are affordable to be cheap and barely sharpenable.

I use a 3 footish matindale machete for all my nasty bramble beating!

Now that was my original thought but you're the first person who has suggested this. Everyone else recommends billhooks or slashers.