Safety Gear for Brushcutting?

[Matt Meiser]

I got a new trimmer this weekend. Its a straight-shaft Stihl with their EasySpool head that allows you to cut a couple pieces of line, stick them in the holes in the head and wind it in by twisting a knob. So much nicer than my 10 year old Homelite which makes my hands go numb after a few minutes.

I also picked up a brush knife for it. We've got about 7 acres of property that I'm allowing to go wild to some extent. However we've got brush that comes up. I can't remember what its called but I was told that the Michigan DNR introduced it in our are to provide a habitat for birds--then found out its an invasive species. Rather than brushhog everything, taking out wild blackberries, pines, poplars and grasses that are coming up, I"m going to selectively cut. I wore hearing protection and safety glasses, but after an hour or so of use its clear I need more. So fare the only ideas I have are a forestry helmet or a face shield like the turners use.

Anyone have recommendations. I have to say the manual is rather lacking on the topic surprisingly.

BTW, this is a 3-tooth 10" blade. Has a 1" arbor though so I can't run it on the TS. :D

[Jim Terrill]

Forestry helmet and chaps. A good heavyweight sweatshirt helps as well. I used something similar when clearing brush in a sugarbush, where it can reduce available nutrients to the sugaring trees and sooner or later you will have rocks hitting you. The chaps and the helmet along with an insulated charhartt sweatshirt helps. I'd choose the forestry helmet over the turning visor since the metal mesh doesn't scratch when rocks and sand go across it and the integrated helmet/visor/hearing protection is a good combo IMO. If they made a clear visor for the husky helmet, I'd wear it turning as well.

FWIW, I got my helmet and chaps through fleabay for about $40 total.

[Frank Stolten]

I suggest using the Stihl safety helmet. It has hearing protection and a flip up safety screen. I find it very comfortable and like the screen instead of a rigid face shield because it allows air circulation. I've used separate ear muffs and a rigid turners shield in the past but always had it fog up. Unlike turning, where you're always stationary, using a chainsaw or weedeater makes you sweat and if you're having to stop frequently to clear fog from your shield it becomes a major nuisance.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360147258409

[David G Baker]

Matt,
i have a Shindaiwa Professional trimmer that came with a blade that was similar to a table saw blade. It had 90 teeth per inch. That blade cut some very heavy brush and even cut down a 6 inch tree. I have a similar blade to the one you have in your photo that I use on heavy weeds but I didn't like it on woody brush. I use the head that you install lengths of string into for most of my grass and weed cutting. Yellow jackets do not like the sound of my cutter as I found out the hard way eight stings later. I wear eye protection, a hard hat and ear protection on occasion.
If the DNR brush is the same brush that a friend of mine had cutting it may not take care of it, he had to pull all of it by the roots in order to eradicate it. It has small white flowers on it and not sure bit it may also have thorns as well.

[Matt Meiser]

David, That sounds like it. I don't think I'l erradicate it but hopefully I can keep it under control this way. Its very widespread in our area so I have little hope of actually eradicating it. I did clear about an acre of it when we first moved here but they were 8+ feet tall and I was able to do a lot of the work with the tractor loader. It took a couple weeks of work to pull them, burn them, and then regrade the whole area.

[Jerry Bruette]

Matt

I use a blade similiar to what David described and it works great for woody brush up to about 3".

You might want to get more information about the brush you're trying to erradicate. It's possible you could be causing it to grow back even thicker if you cut it but don't actually kill it off. I've read about a way to do this by painting the stump with a RoundUp type brush killer.

Jerry

[Scott T Smith]

Forestry helmet and chaps. A good heavyweight sweatshirt helps as well. I used something similar when clearing brush in a sugarbush, where it can reduce available nutrients to the sugaring trees and sooner or later you will have rocks hitting you. The chaps and the helmet along with an insulated charhartt sweatshirt helps. I'd choose the forestry helmet over the turning visor since the metal mesh doesn't scratch when rocks and sand go across it and the integrated helmet/visor/hearing protection is a good combo IMO. If they made a clear visor for the husky helmet, I'd wear it turning as well.

FWIW, I got my helmet and chaps through fleabay for about $40 total.


+1. If you want high quality chaps, Bailey's sells kevlar chaps (for chainsaw use).

I would add a good pair of steel toed boots to the list, and if the chaps don't go all of the way down some type of legging to protect above the boot and below the chaps.

Good eye protection is a must.

[Dave Johnson29]

Hi Matt,

I got sick of wrestling with that stupid plastic cord and bump thing on the Ryobi Click-Link straight shaft. I machined up an adapter for an 8" carbide toothed saw blade, drilled two holes to attach it and I'll never touch the cord again.

I have the blade running backwards so it does not dig in and pull, but even backwards it cuts through saplings in a heart beat.

It has had about 30 hours use and the teeth are rounding a little after hitting numerous rocks and much gravel, but it is still very efficient.

For protection, I wear one of these, the plastic face shields are way too hot here in AZ...
Harbor Freight.com
Item Number=99848

[Jim Terrill]

Forestry helmet and chaps. A good heavyweight sweatshirt helps as well. I used something similar when clearing brush in a sugarbush, where it can reduce available nutrients to the sugaring trees and sooner or later you will have rocks hitting you. The chaps and the helmet along with an insulated charhartt sweatshirt helps. I'd choose the forestry helmet over the turning visor since the metal mesh doesn't scratch when rocks and sand go across it and the integrated helmet/visor/hearing protection is a good combo IMO. If they made a clear visor for the husky helmet, I'd wear it turning as well.

FWIW, I got my helmet and chaps through fleabay for about $40 total.

Ooh. Husky does make a helment with a clear visor http://www.husqvarna.com/us/forest/accessories/safety-equipment-and-clothes/head,-hearing-and-sight-protection/construction-helmet-system/

Don't know if you can get the clear and mesh visor separately, but it could justify buying the helmet if you can use it both in the shop and out clearing brush. Something about turning wood wearing a forestry helmet just says sweet to me.

[Matt Meiser]

I picked up a Husqvarna Pro Forest Helmet System at Lowes yesterday. http://www.husqvarna.com/us/forest/accessories/safety-equipment-and-clothes/head,-hearing-and-sight-protection/pro-forest-helmet-system/

I remembered I had a Harbor Freight 20% coupon in my wallet and gave it to the cashier who didn't bat an eye and adjusted the price to $36. Luckily the giant Husqvarna logo on the front was just a sticker since it doesn't match my Stihl trimmer. :D

Thinking about how chaps work, the idea is that they quickly shred and jam up the saw. I think you'd need a lot of layers of chaps to jam this blade up. And the thorns on the brush I have to wade through would be pretty hard on them so I think I'll stick with a pair of jeans.

[Scott T Smith]

I picked up a Husqvarna Pro Forest Helmet System at Lowes yesterday. http://www.husqvarna.com/us/forest/accessories/safety-equipment-and-clothes/head,-hearing-and-sight-protection/pro-forest-helmet-system/


Thinking about how chaps work, the idea is that they quickly shred and jam up the saw. I think you'd need a lot of layers of chaps to jam this blade up. And the thorns on the brush I have to wade through would be pretty hard on them so I think I'll stick with a pair of jeans.


Matt, the multiple layers of material inside of a good pair of chainsaw chaps also serve to dissipate the blow from something striking them. As an example, if your trimmer head struck a rock and it flung back at your legs, the degree of hurt would be much less if you had on a good pair of chaps over your jeans as opposed to just jeans.

I wear chaps when operating my sawmill in order to protect me if a carbide tip flies off of the blade, or if a metal or rock strike comes at me.

The professional ones have a cordura tear resistant surface on them, which is thorn resistant.