Content
Hedge, shrubs and dwarf trees - all this decorates the suburban area, gives it comfort and the necessary shade. But only well-groomed plantings can be called beautiful, and, unlike flowers, shrubs need not only watering and fertilization, they must be cut regularly. Only in this way the bush will retain its ideal shape, the hedge will not look like a hedgehog with thorns of different lengths, and the entire site will become the subject of admiration and slight envy of neighbors.
A special tool - a brush cutter - can help the owner create an idyll in his own garden.... How to choose a brush cutter for your site, how these tools differ, and what they are capable of - read below.
What is a brush cutter
Probably, every person is familiar with such a tool as a garden pruner. With this device, branches are cut, a crown of young trees is created, excess or dry shoots are removed, and vines are formed.
The pruner can cope with pruning several dozen branches, each cutting movement with it requires the muscular effort of a person. Therefore, with the help of a pruner, it will not be possible to form a hedge, trim tall or voluminous bushes - all that he is capable of is to slightly trim the formed bushes.
For larger-scale works, a brush cutter was created. Its distinctive feature is longer and more massive blades... In addition, brushcutters are not only hand-held, often the tools are driven.
How to choose a tool for a site
To date, there are the following types of brush cutters on sale:
- gasoline brush cutter
- electric
- cordless brush cutter
- mechanical or manual devices.
The choice of tool should be based on the characteristics of the suburban area and the green plants that plant it. Before buying a hedge trimmer, you need to do a little analysis and answer the following questions:
- What is the area of the site and the remoteness of the bushes from the house.
- What type of shrubs are planted on the site, what is the average diameter of their branches.
- How long will it take to beautify the hedge and bushes.
- How often the owner will work as a brush cutter.
- Who exactly will hold the instrument in his hands: a strong man, a fragile woman or a teenager, an elderly person.
- What is the maximum height of bushes and hedges.
After analyzing these factors, you can choose the most suitable tool. Brief descriptions of each type of brushcutter will help with this.
Manual brush cutter
You can buy manual hedge trimmers only when there are very few green spaces that need regular pruning. For example, one lilac bush grows near the house and some other shrub in the garden.
It is clear that for such a front of work it is not worth spending money on automated tools, a mechanical brush cutter is quite enough here. It looks like a large pruner, the length of the blades often reaches 25 cm, the same size and handle.
When choosing a manual brush cutter, you need to rely on your own feelings - you need to pick up the tool and try it "in action". If the handles fit comfortably in the palm of your hand, the brush cutter is moderately heavy, easy to open and close - that's what you need.
Electric brush cutter
The tool with an electric motor can develop a power of 0.5 to 1 kW. The frequency of revolutions will be from 1300 to 4000 per minute.These characteristics indicate that the productivity of the tool is quite high.
The cutting end of the tool resembles a chainsaw, only without a chain. Two knives are located parallel to each other, the cutting effect is achieved by making the knives reciprocate in mutually opposite directions.
In the course of work, the branch falls into the gap between the teeth and is cut off by one of the knives. There are two types of knives:
- both moving blades;
- one stationary and one moving blade.
More functional and productive tools with two moving cutting edges. They cut unnecessary branches faster and more accurately, allowing you to perform large amounts of work.
Besides, there are double-edged knives and blades with one sharpened edge... Of course, double-sided blades work faster, but in order to master the skills of such work, experience is required. After all, one inaccurate movement will lead to the appearance of a hole in the bush.
It is much easier to make a straight vertical or horizontal cut with a single-sided knife. But such a tool is not suitable for curly cutting; it cannot make wavy edges and complex elements.
The main advantages of electric brush cutters are:
- Light weight - the mass of the tool ranges from 1.8 to 4 kilograms. This allows people of any size and physical strength to operate the device.
- High productivity - Compared to a manual hedgecutter, an electric tool is much faster and more comfortable to work with. A person can only make translational movements, the rest of the work is done by the blades of the device.
- Low vibration compared to petrol brush cutters.
- Environmentally friendly - the tool does not emit exhaust gases.
- Possibility to install a telescopic boom and trim tall hedges.
- An electric brush cutter with close blade spacing can be used as a lawn trimmer.
Most often, with electrical appliances, you can cut branches up to 20 mm in diameter.
The main disadvantage of an electric brush cutter is the wire. Without carrying, you can trim the bushes within a radius of 30 meters from the outlet. The live cable itself is especially dangerous: you can get tangled in it or cut the wire with an inadvertent movement.
Feedback from owners of electric models suggests that devices often lack power.
Cordless brush cutter
A prototype of an electric tool, the improvement of which is to complete with a battery. This solves the cable problem, but causes several other inconveniences:
- Regular charge - The cordless hedgecutter is not suitable for seasonal use. If the battery is not charged for a long time, it will significantly lose capacity.
- Limited operating time - the device can smoothly cut bushes for 20-40 minutes, after which it must be recharged.
- More weight - the battery adds an extra 1-1.5 kg to the hedge trimmer.
Gasoline brush cutter
This device is mainly used by professionals. The fact is that an internal combustion engine is much more efficient than an electric motor - its power can reach 6 kW.
With such a tool, you can cut not only hedges around a private house, they are used to treat the bushes of parks and squares.
To work with a gasoline appliance, certain skills are required, and this applies not only to the haircut itself, the engine consumes a mixture of oil and gasoline, they must be able to mix and fill.
The advantages of a petrol hedge trimmer are obvious - productivity and mobility, due to the lack of a wire. But he also has disadvantages:
- large mass - over 5 kg;
- the need for regular refueling;
- the need for the motor for service;
- traffic fumes;
- high price.
Reviews of the happy owners of such devices speak of their high reliability. With this tool, you can cut branches with a diameter of up to 5 mm, as well as clean the area from dead wood.
Results and conclusions
Just gasoline brush cutters can be classified as professional devices, so their purchase is justified only when there is an extensive amount of work. For private houses and summer cottages, an electric model is sufficient.
The brush cutter is a handy tool that is indispensable for suburban areas with a decorated landscape, shrubs and hedges.
With this device, you can quickly and easily arrange the bushes, giving them a well-groomed appearance and the desired shape.
