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Trail cutting tools

The land that I've been able hunt was logged a few years ago and the under story brush has really taken over. Does anyone have suggestions for a gas powered machined to cut/maintain a path for a guy finding his way to the tree stand? Been looking at the brushcutter versions of the weed wackers, but wondering if a gas powered hedge clipper might be better. Thanks.

Sorry I cannot suggest a power solution to clearing your trails. We did all the trails on my property with hand tools, axe, hatchet, machete, folding saw and bow saw. In total we cleared almost one & one-half miles of walking/atv trails. The trails were cut wide so we could walk them easily in the dark coming in & going out. We cleared the trails down to the dirt & kept them clear by dragging them afterwards,...used old metal bedsprings with concrete blocks on them, pulled by an atv,...that smoothed them out and it is easy to keep them clear this way. A word of caution, if you are not going to use a flashlight when you walk in & out in the dark be sure to remove all roots, vines, small sapling stumps, and "trippers" right down to the level of the soil. If you don't do this you will stumble & trip & fall in the dark. We learned this the hard way - no fun! We spent hours & hours & hours doing the trails this way, but it was worth it. The deer use the trails too and you can use some of the areas (sunlight dependent) for mini food plots. Good luck to you. Keep all on this forum posted on how it goes.

Small limb chainsaw and a good set of pruning snips. Doesn't take much to cut a shoulder width path.

A Fecon mounted on a Bobcat 870. A trail clearing tool I rent.

A Fecon is by far the fastest. I can do miles in a couple hours.

DR Brush Mower. That's what I use for cutting trails and it works great.

Seems like now-a-days the answer is in power tools.

A further note on my above post,...we cut those trails in the early 1990's,...was going through a divorce & had more time than $$$. Yep, power sure would have made it easier but the power tools available to an average deer hunting landowner back then were much more limited than now and, I assume, were not as efficient as what is available at present. The sweat equity applied back then solidified the affection to the property,...it was a labor of love.

I use my Stihl Brush cutter. Works great.

Stihl makes a blade that replaces the string head on a string trimmer. Looks similar to a circular saw blade and sharpens like a chain saw. I can swap out my string head and the blade in 2 minutes or so, very easy. The thing is flat out amazing and will cut 4-6 inch trunks with easy. Not sure how universal it is or if you need a Stihl trimmer.

I had the same scenerio once, I cleared with a hand saw, lopers, and machete. I was nice, but the deer started using them as there main trails. Actually worked slick for two things walking in and out, and funneling deer.

Cheapest option that would do a good job is a DR brush mower rented from your local rental or hardware. Otherwise, a nice heavy duty Stihl trimmer with brush blade works too.

I use Stihl Brushsaw. It has string trimmer head and brush blade that I swap out. If using one of these make sure you buy the correct saw. The blades are not to be used on lower weed trimmers, only on models made for doing both weed cutting and brush cutting. Mine works great and I have cut a lot of miles of trail. Keep the blade sharp is best advice. And don't let anyone close by while operating it in case it kicks out. They call it the circle of death.

Again, the Stihl bladed trimmer is what we use. Mine is over 10 years old, gets a lot of use and is "Stihl" going strong. Once you have it cleared then it's just a matter of trimming back any new growth. Get a spare blade. You can sharpen these pretty easily, but a sharp spare is good advice. BC

Thanks guys. Probably going to rent a DR trimmer. Only downside to using one of those might be not being able to reach the multiflora rose that seems to be able to come from miles away. If that doesn't work out switch over to a brushsaw.

I have a remedy for keeping trails open once cleared and has worked well for me. This is especially true for knocking back resprouts from stumps. If interested, PM me.

I have rented both the DR and Billy Goat brand mowers. They are ok, but the problem with rentals is they are beat and not maintained well. If I pay money to use something, it better damn well work like it should. The last few years I have used a heavy duty weed eater with a brush blade on it. Definitely harder on my already shot back. But much more reliable and does a better job. I was going to buy a rough cut mower for behind the 4 wheeler. But I think I will just save a bit more and buy a tractor and bush hog. I need the tractor for other projects anyway.

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