Brush cutter recommendations

[recom273]

Just moved to a house with a garden, I think it’s a little over a rai, with a bungalow in the middle.

 

The rent includes a gardener, but after arriving, I don’t think he will do anything other than cut the grass and leave it., the landlady has advised us to find our own gardener and she will cut the rent. 500B.
 

I checked on Lazada, there are some models for 2000-2500B (so,e cheaper) - I could do most of the work myself and get a new brushcutter out of it.

 

When I was fish farming in the UK, I had a decent  stihl weedwhacker, but I see that these, along with honda motors are 6500B+ 
 

How worthwhile are the cheaper models? It’s not worth my while getting a decent one because it will take over a year to recoup the money from the landlady.
 

They all seem to have metal blades, I’m ok with a circular blade but would prefer a bump feed nylon blade, are they not popular here?

[kickstart]

This subject comes up often on here ,most say and myself the 2000-3500 baht strimmers are a wast of time, I had one and spent more time repairing it ,biggest problem is they do not like the gashol fuel.

When I was in the UK I worked for a landscaping company ,we only used Stihl ,,as you said them and Honda are 6500 baht plus ,but worth it , most members on here will agree  ,mine is a Mitsubishi  2 stroke that was 5500 baht 4years ago ,never a problem.

You are like me ,for around the house i like the nylon line, but for the Thai's the blades are a lot cheaper than replacing the  line ,I got 110 yards of 3 mm line for 450 baht ,I use it on a plate cut about 10 inches of line  and thread it on to the plate works OK but if you hit a stone, that is it  line snaps ,often.

I brought a bump feed ,like I used to use in the UK from Home Pro, Chines , 450 baht lasted 3 weeks, locking tab snapped and bits went flying ,next time I am in the UK I am going to buy a Stihl .

One thing,  the Thai ( or is it Chines), yellow square line in <deleted> ,does not last .

[recom273]

29 minutes ago, kickstart said:

This subject comes up often on here ,most say and myself the 2000-3500 baht strimmers are a wast of time, I had one and spent more time repairing it ,biggest problem is they do not like the gashol fuel.

When I was in the UK I worked for a landscaping company ,we only used Stihl ,,as you said them and Honda are 6500 baht plus ,but worth it , most members on here will agree  ,mine is a Mitsubishi  2 stroke that was 5500 baht 4years ago ,never a problem.

You are like me ,for around the house i like the nylon line, but for the Thai's the blades are a lot cheaper than replacing the  line ,I got 110 yards of 3 mm line for 450 baht ,I use it on a plate cut about 10 inches of line  and thread it on to the plate works OK but if you hit a stone, that is it  line snaps ,often.

I brought a bump feed ,like I used to use in the UK from Home Pro, Chines , 450 baht lasted 3 weeks, locking tab snapped and bits went flying ,next time I am in the UK I am going to buy a Stihl .

One thing,  the Thai ( or is it Chines), yellow square line in <deleted> ,does not last .

OK thanks so much, I need to have a go back and search every post. (Sorry, sometimes the search doesn’t do so well) 

 

Looks like I will have to step up, I’m not averse to spending money, I like buying decent tools, my stihl ran for years and years.
I remember it didn’t have bump spool, it had 3x plastic paddles but you could just threaded the nylon through the disc and looped it over a hitch. You just kept a load of precut lengths in your cargo pocket.

 

So what gives? Are the western stihl accessories not available here?

[KeeTua]

These Hondas are great cutters for performance and reliability but may not be worth it for you if you don't plan on several years of use. ฿8,500 at Dohome. Be careful of the Chinese copies of this cutter in the smaller shops, they look virtually the same but cheaper price and quality. I left a nice Stihl trimmer back in the US and these Honda's are as good if not better than the Stihl and the Honda is 4 stroke.

https://www.dohome.co.th/honda-mower-rigid-umk435t-red-10159016.html

 

These string head attachments work good. I prefer this to the blade if I'm working in lighter stuff. Its faster and far easier to use when cutting around trees, concrete etc. You need to pre cut the trimmer line which is how I prefer it, I never liked the bump feeds but I guess it depends on what you're used to. I run it with four lines total instead of the eight lines as advertised. You can see what I mean in the pictures at Lazada.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/trimmer-head-i429314872-s811046595.html?

[kickstart]

I would say the genuine Stihl accessories, by the time they get here import tax etc would be just to expensive for the Thais ,say look at Lazada at genuine  Stihl Strimmers and chainsaws ,almost twice the price of the Chines equivalent ,

I have looked at Lazada etc for bump feed ,no luck just 200 baht Chines things ,Amazon have them ,but shipping to Thailand, is a problem with them .

I am like you, I like to buy good quality stuff ,where I can ,but Thai's think the big name company's products are expensive  Chines is cheaper,

,I live in a big dairy cow area ,I see farmers out  cutting grass for their cow's all the time  quite a few strimmers are Honda's ,but even more are Chines 2-stroke jobs ,plus a few Chines rip-off Honda's .

I have seen those plastic paddles ,ok for light stuff ,but anything heavy ,they will not cut.

I use this plate 170 baht ,it is OK,.but the line will snap if it hits anything hard ie stone ,you replace the line  ,but you discard as much line as you use .

With the  line ,I would say it would be to light for your 1 rie ,but I have found cut it with a blade first off then the new regrowth you can cut it with a line. 

[RussellGee]

@kickstart @KeeTua

 

Yeah those plates look perfect - just something simple that the line is clipped into.

 

Im not too sure how the one in the lazada link stays fixed but if you say it does the job then I’m down.

 

Yeah, 8500B is a bit out of my need, I have this rental and we own a Rai around the corner which we will build on, so it will get some use but not that much if I can help it.

 

I searched back a few pages and found another post warning against Chinese brush cutters, so that’s made my mind up - something around 5500-6500 is cool. 
 

Thanks to both.

[sherwood]

I got one from Global House a couple of years ago, TUF 4 stroke and so far so good. Three blade disk and self feed line cutter head. Paid around 2700 baht at the time. Had to fit a new carburettor two months ago along with a new primer bulb ( 245 baht on Lazada) but apart from that not a problem.

The thing has about 180 hours on it now and works fine. Just change the oil often and keep the thing in good shape.

I do like Stihl products or Honda but you can get BAD in any brand.

Might change the spark plug next month.  

Just got a 124cc 4 stroke Bison lawn mower the other week. piece of plastic <deleted> and you need to fine tune the thing. Only a lawn mower not a slasher. Does the job but you need to have some knowledge and a few basic tools. 6000 baht.

I will make it work! 

Edited July 4, 2021 by sherwood

[KeeTua]

I have two different models of the metal plate types similar to kickstart's picture and they both break lines easily. The hole the line passes through is too sharp of an angle. The one I put a link to in my previous post hasn't broken a line yet in a year of use, I just replace the lines when they get too short.

 

It has two parts. The inside part attaches to the shaft of the cutter the outside part screws into the inside part and pinches the trimmer line. I swap back and forth between the blade and stringer attachment depending on the stuff getting cut. If you stay on top of the cutting you can get by with a string but if you let it go too long its time for the blade.

 

Since you own a rai of land already I'd definitely go for the Honda for trouble free use for years. A lot of the cheaper models are probably 2 strokes which can be finicky to get started and probably smoke some too unless you use good quality 2 stroke mix. Looking at sherwood's post saying he needed a new carb I imagine there was some frustration trying to get the thing to run decent before replacing the carb. I hate it when that happens, you want to get a job done and the darn machine won't start or run properly.

[kickstart]

16 hours ago, KeeTua said:

I have two different models of the metal plate types similar to kickstart's picture and they both break lines easily. The hole the line passes through is too sharp of an angle. The one I put a link to in my previous post hasn't broken a line yet in a year of use, I just replace the lines when they get too short.

 

It has two parts. The inside part attaches to the shaft of the cutter the outside part screws into the inside part and pinches the trimmer line. I swap back and forth between the blade and stringer attachment depending on the stuff getting cut. If you stay on top of the cutting you can get by with a string but if you let it go too long its time for the blade.

You are right ,the sharp edges are a problem , it probably breaks off more line than it uses ,the bump feed ones have a feral, so the line flows ,no sharp edges .

I looked at your link , I have looked at them before, one thing I can not see the mountings ,is the mounting a female ,it screws on to the strimmer head , with a left-hand thread? ,been using it a year must be ok 

My strimmer is as I said is a Mitsubishi it has a lot of power  more than a 4-stroke ,with the cord it can cut though some big stuff ,but it has to be the 3 mm cord ,any less it will just snap off.

[KeeTua]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

You are right ,the sharp edges are a problem , it probably breaks off more line than it uses ,the bump feed ones have a feral, so the line flows ,no sharp edges .

I looked at your link , I have looked at them before, one thing I can not see the mountings ,is the mounting a female ,it screws on to the strimmer head , with a left-hand thread? ,been using it a year must be ok 

My strimmer is as I said is a Mitsubishi it has a lot of power  more than a 4-stroke ,with the cord it can cut though some big stuff ,but it has to be the 3 mm cord ,any less it will just snap off.

Here's a couple of videos that show how it attaches. The second video shows the set up I use, four lines instead of eight. To be honest I never tried the eight line method as it seemed excessive but I might test it out for the heck of it.

 

That's a good point you make about the 2-stroke being more powerful than the 4-stroke. You'll get higher RPMs out of the 2-stroke. Maybe the eight line method would work good on a 2-stroke.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY4r8WQw5RQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdTbNsTj8Ac

[recom273]

@KeeTua @kickstart

 

So I ordered a Husqvarna from Lazada at 6500B - the thing that sold me was that the shop is local.

I also ordered the same head as suggested and another 25M of grey chord that seems to be metal braid.

 

The thing that I can’t work out, I just assembled it and everything has a similar feel to the cheaper Chinese machines, there is plastic made to look like metal, parts on my old Stihl that were rubber are now hollow brittle plastic. I never paid for work tools before so I don’t know the price of my old kit, I used to have a husky ride on too so can’t compare.

 

I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed, it is what it is, but I expected a little more “feel the quality” I guess it’s just the way of the world, when you buy a B&D it’s not made in Ireland any more, mine are still working after a few years, so suck it and see.