A Brush cutter is an amazing tool, it can convert your hours of effort into just a few minutes if you handle it right. They’re very efficient, versatile and looks super cool when in use. However, they are a bit on the pricier side, as a result, if you don’t know how to work with it properly, you’re going to regret.
Thus, we present this comprehensive guide today to give you guys all the insight you need about brush cutters and how they work.
Here is a full explanation on how brush cutter works:
How Brush Cutter Works?
Brush cutters are a type of garden tool necessary for cutting foliage, grass, shrubs, etc. They have different starting and working mechanisms, but the core idea is very similar in every case. They have blades which cut your grass as you drag it towards them.
Here is the starting procedure of a brush cutter:
- First, you need to place it in a well-ventilated area
- Check if there are any combustible materials around you. If there is, remove them immediately. There should not be any combustible materials within a 10 ft radius.
- If your brush cutter comes with a primer bulb, press it 5 times.
- Check if the engine is cold. Use choke for a cold engine.
- Start the brush cutter.
The starting mechanism differs from brush cutter to brush cutter. However, the most common mechanism is the pull-start one. In the pull-start mechanism, you need to pull the cord to start the engine.
These days most manufacturers add some extra starting procedures for ensuring better safety. For knowing the proper starting procedure of your brush cutter, contact with the manufacturer or look in the instruction manual.
Brush cutter types, preparation, maintenance, etc. are described below:
Setting Up Your Brush Cutter
Do keep a few things in mind before starting your brush cutter. They include:
- Prepare your lawn: before you start your brush cutter, make sure your lawn is okay. Inspect it fully to ensure there’s no hazards or anything that might harm your field. Make sure you’ve let your family know that you’re working. Just so none of them end up getting hurt (especially children) by running around in the lawn.
- Understand controls and safety features: Take a minute and get familiar with the controls and safety features. Read the manuals very carefully and if necessary, watch videos about it. Also, make sure you have taken sufficient safety mechanisms to ensure you’re not injured while working
- Fueling: if you have a gas-based burner, manage to refuel it before using. The pre-mix bottles contain enough information for you to set up the fuel tank rightly. So, do it very carefully.
- Also, before setting up fuel again, make sure the engine has cooled down, so it doesn’t trouble you.
Types of Brush Cutter
There are many types of brush cutters available. They have a few basic criteria that change the overall performance of the cutter, some of such aspects are:
- Fuel or electricity: Brush cutters can be run with either fuel or electricity. So look into your demands and decide on having which one can be more useful in the long run. Electric ones have batteries on them which require charging which might have a toll on your electric bills. While fuel based ones involve the hassle of fueling and refueling as well as the fuel costs.
- Type of engine: Generally brush cutters run on two types of engine, either a two-stroke or a four-stroke engine. Two-stroke engines are lighter, but somewhat harder to start and a bit more inefficient than a four-stroke engine. Although four-stroke engines are stronger, they are more expensive and not available much. Also, two or four stroke engines have different levels of oil requirements. Four stroke engines require more oil than a two-stroke engine. Also, there are electric engines that run on batteries and need to be charged. Their efficiency might be a bit low considering the fact that they require frequent charging but a good electric brush cutter can be very amazing.
- Type of head of the cutter: A brush cutter head is the most important part of it, and it’s absolutely necessary to choose the right cutter depending on what you have on your field and how you want it to be taken care of. Make sure they’re at least 2.4mm thick. Due to the fact that anything less than that wouldn’t last too long. However, choosing an automatic or semi-automatic one might be more useful for you if you’re new to it. You can also opt for bump feed where you stroke the head into the foliage. Although this is more effective, they might damage trees around if not taken care properly.
- Steel blades: Steel blades are necessary, but do take note that they’re dangerous. So don’t get yourself too close to a blade, also there are a number of different kinds of blades. That includes 3, 4,8,80 toothed blades for your cutter, all of which are designated for different purposes. From cutting shrubs to big bushes, they all have their roles. So choose one carefully.
- Handles: The handle plays a key role in whether using the brush cutter for a while might leave you with a long lasting back pain or not. So the best option available is having a brush cutter with a handle of adjustable length. In this way, you can choose your preferred length to ensure maximum comfort. If you can’t get an adjustable one, get one which is in the proper size to ensure your maximum comfort. Also, handles have a loop on then to make handling easier. There’s the D- loop and the U- loop. The D-loop is very comfortable and suggested if you plan on using it for long times. However, make sure your string trimmer has a nylon string attached. They help in reducing the extra vibrations and noise from the brush cutter.
- Safety: safety mechanisms are very crucial. The blade is sharp, fast and dangerous, so unless you think about safety, you’re going to get yourself hurt. Make sure the blade is protected with enough covering. Also, make sure the bump feed is covered or you’re going to become a muddy mess. It is suggested that you wear proper clothes, helmet, trousers, safety glasses, etc. to prevent any risk.
- Attachments: Attachments make your brush cutter more effective and efficient, so choose them wisely. There are many different attachments to choose from.
Maintenance
Brush cutters need to be maintained to get their perfect outcome. Some maintenance mechanisms are:
- Make sure your brush cutter is kept at a cool and dry spot after every session, don’t let water get in
- Clean it properly after use. Some parts might accumulate more dirt and in that case, clean them with a bit of oil before any rust grows on them.
- Have a clear idea about the warranty. Know which parts have a warranty and which parts don’t, if anything has a problem with it, manage to fix it via warranty instead of spending money.
Conclusion
Brush cutters are an amazing tool, we can’t stress on how important they are. But to use them properly, you need to have a good grasp on how brush cutter works. We hope this article has helped you to understand that properly. If you are looking for the best best cutter for your garden, check out our brush cutter buying guide.