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Anyone use them? It's basically a lawn mower that had a ball on the front and uses heavy weedeater line about 4X the size.
Anyway... My situation is, I have about say, 70' wide x 45' planting area, it's really rocky. I probably should have truck loads of much dumped on it over the rocks, but they would probably surface again. Anyway, the cane grass is slowly taking over the area.
I have a few star fruit trees and an avocado tree as well...
I guess I am asking is... are my expectations pretty high for that type of mower to cut through thick brush like cane grass? Before I buy one, 2-300 range, and any feedback from anyone that has used one or has one, that would be great! Oh and how long would it take to mow an area of that size?
I guess, once I get it whacked down, I'd mow that area all the time. I use to mow it with my regular lawn mower till I started hitting a lot of rocks. I was also thinking maybe getting a few truck loads of mulch every year might make more sense.
Thanks!
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I am slowly improving my lawn by setting the mower as high as it will go, then one by one removing the rocks I still hit and filling the holes with cinder. It's a long process.
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We had used one for a couple of years on our yard, as I worked on getting the weeds more under control....only problem with it was having expensive new plants girdled by the dang thing.... After 2 newer trees, that I had dug out rocks to plant, were accidentally girdled in a matter of a month I vetoed it from our orchard yard & one of our farm friends was looking for one, so we sent it to the farm!
To be fair, our yard is way over planted with fruiting trees & this was good for when there was`t as many young trees to worry about...
So if you are dealing with an older orchard, or just rocky, weedy ground, it is an OK tool
PS, we rescued one recently from the transfer station AFTER giving ours away...& DH was able to resurrect it, & is looking to find someone that wants an older (~20yrs) not great looking one...
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I bought one at Del's and hated it. There was nothing wrong with the trimmer, it just wasn't a good match for our terrain. I wound up selling it on Craigslist. If you want one, wait for a sale, they have them $100 off several times a year. That way when you decide you hate it and sell it for what you paid for it, it will be $100 cheaper than what's in the store for whoever is buying it and you'll get all your money back. Win-win.
Basically I hated it because it was impossible to maneuver over rocks. It worked great on flat terrain but that's what the lawn mower is for. If you want to run a test, load up a wheelbarrow and try to maneuver it in the area you want to use the trimmer. If you have to struggle to do it, then the string trimmer might not be a good match.
Also the string is really thick but for some reason doesn't last as long as I would have thought (probably from whipping the lava rocks I was struggling to maneuver over). The unit came with 4 pieces of 'starter string' and oddly, Del's doesn't sell the string. I had to buy a roll of it at HD and cut pieces to length. They were out of the cheap string and the only one they had in stock was over $30.
They can also launch some fairly big rocks with a lot of force. I couldn't use it near the house for fear I'd break a window.
Like Mark I'm using the mower on high and making lawn that way. I do hit a lot of rocks and I'm sure it's taking years off the mower's life but they don't seem to last long nowadays anyway.
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I had a sickle-bar mower that had power-driven wheels but it just didn't have the ground clearance. It was an ordeal to use it in the rougher parts of the property. I ended up selling it. It would have been great for tall grass on pastureland.
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Check out Home Depot Tool Rental.
Couple months ago, we rented a commercial weedeater for cutting overgrown brush and ferns, at that time they did have Line Trimmer Mowers for rent. We also looked at renting the Hydraulic Brush Hog for rough terrain.
Daily and weekly rates, and it is worth paying extra for full coverage insurance to cover rental equipment.
Sears does sell the Line Trimmer Mower.
If you are good at fixing machines, not a problem. We did buy the extra insurance from Sears as the mower has issues with our uneven rocky terrain. It is currently in the shop for repair, that is the third time this year!
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That machine may be the best option for your nasty grass.
I used one once and was quite impressed with what they can do with tall grass. Much easier and faster than a weed whacker.
I would try to dig out any rocks that you can. Good luck!
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We have a gasoline powered one from Sears. Not durable in rocky terrain. We have broken the spool on it twice. The parts are reasonable but the shipping was $23!
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Thanks all, who reposted. Some valuable input here.
Eric
