metal-bladed weed wacker

[JeenLeen]

I need to get a new weed wacker to do some lawn maintaenance. Mainly some vine trimming, maybe some edging on bushes plus normal edging where a mower can't reach. (I don't want just a plastic-wire type since I don't think it can cut some of the vines I need to trim. Though I guess one where I can swap out metal blade to wire would be good.)
I see a few viable-looking ones via Google and can probably run by Lowe's to buy one, but wondering if anyone has experience to share to help avoid pitfalls or a bad purchase.
Most of them I see are battery, not gas. Which is fine, I guess.

[snowblizz]

Do you have other powertool needs? It's quite common today for manufacturers to make ranges of tools that fit their own battery. So eg I have Makita cordless drill and screwdriver (I realise now it probably has abetter name) at 18V it makes sense to look at a 18V battery-powered trimmer because I need less batteries or have more them that are interchangeable. My parents however are bleeding idiots and went and bought a 12V Makita trimmer for the garden even though we already have 18V tools. Meaning 2 sets of chargers and less work-time as can't share batteries.

Unsure if you get metal-bladed ones on battery? The Maktia had option of switching between plastic cord and plastic cutting blade (at least on the weaker 12V version). Just thinking when you go metal bladed you expecting to cut so much harder stuff you might want a gaspowered one, but not sure. I'm all for batterypowered though. Less hassles in upkeep.

Just saying thinking a bit on which brand and batterytype you pick can have other impacts. So might be worth considering. The battery adds significantly to the price of powertools hence there are synergy savings by consolidating.

[gomipile]

I emphatically do not recommend any of the ones that use a single piece blade on a normal "weed eater" style device. It's way too easy for them to turn sideways, dig in, and then walk themselves quickly in whatever direction they would go if they were a wheel. Because at that point it is a suboptimal wheel that is designed to cut things going where it wants, not where the operator wants. A family member of mine almost lost toes to one. They did get a very bloody injury to their big toe that required stitches and a lot of healing. Tore through a heavy leather boot to get to them.

The articulated steel trimmer heads are probably okay, but I'd wear steel toe boots and be very very careful with them. Also I'd still use a regular string trimmer head instead as much as practical.

String trimmers can have trouble with hard stuff, but they can also do more than you think if you work into a target spot on a stem slowly.

There are also other options depending on your needs. If the vines are thin enough, hedge trimmers work a treat. As mentioned upthread there are interchangeable head devices with string trimmer and hedge trimmer heads.

Also, there are articulated plastic semi-disposable trimmer heads that work kind-of okay for vines and such, and are also more or less okay safety-wise. Only a little less safe and hard to control than a string trimmer. Probably okay with heavy boots. Not recommended, but not truly awful in any way.

There's also just using garden shears and anvil cutters for whatever the string trimmer won't handle.

[halfeye]

There's also just using garden shears and anvil cutters for whatever the string trimmer won't handle.

Here garden shears are called "secateurs":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruning_shears

[gomipile]

Here garden shears are called "secateurs":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruning_shears

That style can work really well, yeah. Especially the long-handled ones.

[Rynjin]

I would personally find a machete much more comfortable, effective, and safe than using a metal bladed weed whacker for most purposes.

[gomipile]

I would personally find a machete much more comfortable, effective, and safe than using a metal bladed weed whacker for most purposes.

Same. It does require a different set of skills, knowledge, and practices to use a machete effectively and safely, though.

I mean different than a string trimmer in general. I also lean against using any of the spinning metal blades I've seen for these.

[warty goblin]

Same. It does require a different set of skills, knowledge, and practices to use a machete effectively and safely, though.

It ain't exactly rocket science, keep your bits clear of the blade path, make sure if you hit a rock or something and the blade skips that you are clear of it. So really keep your bits clear of a reasonably large cone around the blade path.

Also a machete costs under $20, and can cut through everything from annual plants to several inch thick trees with moderate effort. Very handy for general purpose clearing work.

[Ionathus]

I emphatically do not recommend any of the ones that use a single piece blade on a normal "weed eater" style device. It's way too easy for them to turn sideways, dig in, and then walk themselves quickly in whatever direction they would go if they were a wheel. Because at that point it is a suboptimal wheel that is designed to cut things going where it wants, not where the operator wants. A family member of mine almost lost toes to one. They did get a very bloody injury to their big toe that required stitches and a lot of healing. Tore through a heavy leather boot to get to them.

I'd never heard of metal-bladed string trimmers (grew up calling them weedwhackers or weedwhippers) before this forum post. It sounds like a terrible, dangerous idea, since the whole point of a weedwhacker is to be lightweight and to extend your reach to trim wide swathes of very light materials.

Adding a full-blown saw-type blade to the end seems like it would give you the worst of both worlds - you're overextended and have reduced leverage and control, the cutting edge is no longer flexible plastic, and also the blade still doesn't have as much cutting power as, say, a chainsaw, since you're not able to brace it as effectively. Weedwhackers are already one of the most fickle landscaping tools out there - taking away their main safety feature? Hard pass.

I'd echo what others have said here: get either a machete or pruning shears. I've had lots of success with both in the situation you seem to be describing, and I'm struggling to think of vegetation that couldn't be handled by one of those two (short of, y'know, a full-blown tree).

[Rynjin]

If you have concerns about not being able to use a machete or shears for whatever reason (disability, fear, etc.) there are also those doohickeys that are like "hedge chainsaws" that work pretty well here.

These are fairly lightweight, easy to wield (a family friend of mine with very late stage cerebral palsy can use one), and much safer than strapping an urumi to a motor and hoping nothing goes wrong.

[Peelee]

If you have concerns about not being able to use a machete or shears for whatever reason (disability, fear, etc.) there are also those doohickeys that are like "hedge chainsaws" that work pretty well here.

These are fairly lightweight, easy to wield (a family friend of mine with very late stage cerebral palsy can use one), and much safer than strapping an urumi to a motor and hoping nothing goes wrong.

Hedgetrimmer, my mom called it.

[gomipile]

I'd never heard of metal-bladed string trimmers (grew up calling them weedwhackers or weedwhippers) before this forum post. It sounds like a terrible, dangerous idea, since the whole point of a weedwhacker is to be lightweight and to extend your reach to trim wide swathes of very light materials.

Adding a full-blown saw-type blade to the end seems like it would give you the worst of both worlds - you're overextended and have reduced leverage and control, the cutting edge is no longer flexible plastic, and also the blade still doesn't have as much cutting power as, say, a chainsaw, since you're not able to brace it as effectively. Weedwhackers are already one of the most fickle landscaping tools out there - taking away their main safety feature? Hard pass.

Yes. And yeah, it's wild and awful that these exist. Especially the ones with a circular saw type blade, or the triangular solid blade ones.

[Rynjin]

Hedgetrimmer, my mom called it.

Yeah, that's the official term as I learned just a moment ago. There are also really small handheld ones ("pruning chainsaws" apparently) which can be nice. They look like the Ripper from Fallout.

But if you have a baseline level of coordination and an understanding of blade safety, a machete is going to be cheap and effective. You don't even really need much upper body strength to use one as long as you maintain it well.

[cZak]

Are you using for places a mower can't reach?
My property doesn't have a 'yard'; mountain area so I have more brush than grass. I got a Toro 25cc 2-stroke trimmer. Can swap head for string (patches of grass) or 4-tine metal blade for brush which works on <1" diameter thick stuff
Kinda pricey @$150... been looking for an old fashioned scythe to try

Had it for 2+ years and very happy with it's function
2-stroke so you have to mix oil & gas
Easy to prime/start and very ergonomic. I have ~400 sqft of area I brush cut
String head works for trimming grass around deck and fruit trees. I don't have a standard mower, terrain is too varied or trees too dense

[Tyndmyr]

There are also other options depending on your needs. If the vines are thin enough, hedge trimmers work a treat. As mentioned upthread there are interchangeable head devices with string trimmer and hedge trimmer heads.

Yeah, that works pretty good. For stuff too large for a hedge trimmer, but too small for a chainsaw, a reciprocating saw works pretty well. Fair notice though, if you use a hedge trimmer or one of those for any decent length of time, your arms will feel it.

I use the good ol' harbor freight Bauer brand for all of these, cause interchangeable batteries mean you kind of get locked into one brand, and it sits at a decently affordable/still fairly functional tradeoff point for me.

[J-H]

A metal-bladed weed whacker is going to have a solid shaft, and will end up heavier and more expensive.
You may want to look at the replaceable plastic blades that you can get. It just requires changing out the head. Made a huge difference when I put them on my Stihl trimmer. It'll handle anything woody up to about 1/8" thick.

Go with a gas trimmer. It's a huge difference in power. I buy the oil/fuel mix from Stihl rather than trying to mix my own... it's same fuel my chainsaw has.

A hedge trimmer works great for shaping/trimming bushes. I think I got mine for $10 at a pawn shop 10-12 years ago. It was a plug-in, but for the price... worked well.
I think it's still sitting here in my shop, hasn't been used since we moved to the country.

for bigger/tougher stuff than you usually see in the suburbs
If you have a bunch of tough vines close to the ground, I recommend a brush axe for more cutting power (it looks like a short naginata, in case your area calls it something different...). Just be careful with springy saplings. I was clearing a fence line a couple of years ago and had some vines whip a flexed sapling back at me hard enough that I got a concussion. I wear a hard hat for things like that now.

If you have a lot of thorny stuff, get a good pair of work glove (I like the Mechanix brand leather-palm ones), and if you're doing a LOT of work, my wife got me a set of Arm Chaps that really do the job for forearm protection, too.

16 acres with a perimeter fence + interior electric fence line I have to keep clear.

[gomipile]

A hedge trimmer works great for shaping/trimming bushes. I think I got mine for $10 at a pawn shop 10-12 years ago. It was a plug-in, but for the price... worked well.
I think it's still sitting here in my shop, hasn't been used since we moved to the country.

Yeah, plug-in hedge trimmers and weed eaters are great, even if you also need a fuel or battery powered one for some things.

It's lovely to be able to just plug in a trimmer for some small task near the house, without worrying about gas or a battery.

[Vinyadan]

A dedicated weed wacker I once saw used for brambles had three metal chains instead of the wire. The chains ended in the rotor with both ends, so, even if they broke, most of the pieces wouldn't fly away (I guess the broken ring could still detach, but I think it was a riveted flat chain, so I'm not sure even that was possible). The shaft holding the rotor was very long, so the chains were pretty far from the user. It was a very powerful gas-powered tool, and I think it takes some experience to use it safely; I certainly would wear eye protection.