Has anybody got any experience with one of these saws? I've got about 5 acres of really overgrown pastures that I want to clear and turn into food plots. It's mostly filled in with 6-10ft dogwood and mountain ash that's under 2" in diameter.

I've cleared about an acre so far with clippers and it's a royal pain in the back. I'm wondering if this type of unit is worth the investment or should I just hire a hydro-ax? right now I'm taking the cuttings and piling them for bunny cover in the hedge rows. A hydro-ax, while much quicker, would eliminate the brush piles.

Five acres with a weed whacker sounds like a big undertaking.
How about one of the DR trimmers?
http://www.drpower.com/twostepmodels.aspx?name=field-brush-mower-w&page=fabmodels
early 70's I used a 60's Grvely walk behind brush hog to do a 3 acre lot of 2-3 " scrub and even used a buzz saw blade on it to cut trees.
But I was much younger in those days and I beat the heck out of the machine doin it

Find someone with a tractor and a bushhog.

Agreed on the DR.

I used to do 1/2 acre with a weedwacker, just the trimming and it would take about an hour.

The DR stuff is nice and if I was in your situation, I'd consider renting that or buying.

Combine that with a nice chipper-shredder and you can sell some mulch.

I've used one. They do pretty well on smaller stuff but they will work your butt off! Like mentioned above, I think it's a little out of it's league for clearing that much area. You have to be extra careful with them too. A kickback can be disastrous. Also, if you let the RPM's drop while cutting they can hang up pretty bad.

JMO

Dave

hydro-ax is typically going for $170/ Hr I'd think the stihl would be much less expensive.

ML

That's what I was wondering. That flying sawblade was making me wonder. I actually do have a tractor/brush hog, but this stuff beats the hell out of that old thing to the point I stopped trying to use it for this stuff.

Goats.

My property is bigger than 5 acres, but we really only use the front 5 or so. The rest is a buck haven, ha ha. Anyway I rassled with the undergrowth for years and years but the way I finally "won" was with goats. They kill all that stuff AND keep it dead. It takes a while though.

If you go mechanical, a good weedwacker with a modified brush blade can work ok. Best of all is getting on your knees with kneepads on and using a chainsaw at high rpm's to get it all right at the base. A hellish job, and dangerous. And you still need to burn it.

Really, 5 acres is a goats or tractor job, IMHO, around here anyway. Otherwise it's an eternal job- by the time you get to the end, it's time to start back at the beginning.

I have one of those. It works really well. If you use it properly any kickback throws the blade to the side not toward your feet. It would get the job done for you just a matter of how much time you are willing to put in. I wouldn't care to guess how long 5 acres might take without seeing how dense the brush is.

I have not used the Stihl brush cutter, but I have used a similar cutter made by Shindiawa. I know quite a few people in the logging / tree removal business, and they have all quit using Stihl products. They claim that quality has dropped dramatically in the last few years.

I ran a Shindiawa T-270 for 12 years before I finally wore it out. I've been using a T-260 for the last 3 years with no issues.

What ever make of brush cutter you use, it is the blade that makes all the difference. Shindiawa makes a brush blade called the "Tornado Blade". It is, by far, the best brush blade I have used.

Instead of a continuous ring of teeth, the tornado blade has opposing sets of round tooth chainsaw teeth riveted to the blade in three locations (9") and 4 locations on the 12" blade. This keeps the blade from binding up and dogging down. There is also very little kick-back.

I have cut hardwood trees up to 8" dia. with these blades. They will walk right through 4" and smaller stems.

But... for what you are wanting to do with your land, I'd suggest hiring a small dozer to grub out your brush. This will get the roots and stumps, which play hell with discs and tillers, out of your way, and you can still pile up brush piles for the bunnies.

Bulldozer. Life's too short to try and clear 5 acres by hand. Find someone with a small dozer, pay him $500, and get it done in a day. Keep it mowed with your tractor.

You can rent a tractor and bushhog and have it done faster and cleaner. Once you clear it, what are you doing with all the wood remnants?

I've got a couple of these saws.

I hate slashing brush with those things, the chit falls over on you and your hands are busy with the saw, it's hateful.

I have a 5' bush hog mower on a 30hp tractor, that's my brush saw these days. it chops the stuff up too. Anything too big for that bush hog is way too big for that circular saw rigged weed whacker.

IMO anyways.

Crow, wouldn't a dozer remove the topsoil layer? My idea was to cut the dam dogwood and then frost seed clover or some other cover crop for a couple years in order to get the old root systems to die out enough to turned with a 2 blade plow. Is that a dumb idea?

Not if your operator knows what he is doing. If it's not too wet you can shake most of the dirt off of the root while your piling with the dozer.

You mentioned Dogwood, and I would guess there are other shrub / tree species present, as well. These will re-sprout heavily when cut, and it will take several years of brush hogging to finally starve out the roots. Grubbing with a dozer = "one and done".

I'm thinking everything you cut off a ground level is going to re-sprout and be a nightmare if you don't spray it with something......not to mention the roots and stumps!

that's been my experience also, for both good and bad.

the young growth resprouts are fine deer browse. it'll soon grow up pretty high again, unless re-cut.

but once a year mowing after the initial cutting will keep it in check. pretty cheap food plot.

but, if a change in land-use is desired, moving from young trees to plowed and seeded ground, more intensive site prep will probably be in order, with attendant energy and money displaced. no cheap answers when it comes to keeping tree species from taking over open ground, after the grass and weeds have been overtaken.

What are you going for here? Trying to make a more attractive deer plot?

If so, I'd never cut dogwoods. In fact, I plant them all the time(Flowering, Red Rosier, Silky). Excellent whitetail shrubs.