Is the ground reasonably clear of items? 70hrs to strim 2 acres is nuts. I'd have it done in well under 30, but I'd also be charging a LOT more than 15E an hr!
It sounds like a job for a zero turn mower, 48/52". It'd take under a day if the ground is clear of big branches/rocks.
Agree with GD. I could do it in 70hrs and I'm a feeble girlie! I use a lightweight petrol strimmer with brushcutter attachment but once you have it down you really need to stay on top of it. A couple of weeks and the regrowth will come back with vengence. Top tip. Do it in Winter when you can see what you're doing and it's more stick than leaf. I got ten times more cleared last Winter than I had in the previous four Summers. (With a little lot of help from my friend). When it stops raining I'll go out and check the make of my strimmer and let you know. It was priced in the mid £200s three years ago.
Thanks for all your additional creative suggestions. Unfortunately a blade brush cutter (powerful battery one like the Ego one or petrol) is the only practicable option. The plot is three acres in total and consists of a series of boulder-strewn, rising sloping terraces. The house and garden on the lower one, pool and vegetable garden next, then orchard (all reasonably flat terraces we mow with a ride-on, then strim the banks). The roughly 2-acre wild woodland is toward the top and outer edges and there is a potential future holiday let hidden right at the top. We are going to start coppicing the wood soon.
To be fair to strimming guys, the whole plot had not been touched in many years and was an impenetrable jungle plus the terrain is really difficult. I don’t think it will be quite as bad this time, providing I get a wriggle on and don’t let it slide further.
Re animals, to fence off the wood bits (a very wriggly and very long fence) would be a huge expensive job. I would love to have a couple of Iberican pigs but regulations on keeping animals, even a single pig, are horrendous. Many locals have given up as it’s just not worth it, so the days of being invited to the annual matanza are becoming a thing of the past, sadly. You can’t even legally borrow a few goats unless your land is registered for livestock, you fulfil complex animal husbandry requirements and comply with movement regs. I am however, allowed to keep chickens for ‘personal use’ - the dogs would 💕 that - oh and I can grow a couple of cannibis plants. It’s all nuts!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Perhaps that’s the solution, KT53. It affects your ability to count as well, judging by the huge number of plants my neighbours have hidden away behind their house
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
The local buy/hire shop didn’t have a petrol strimmer to hire for ages, but I did look at a few to buy. In the end, the lack of maintenance, fuel mixing and fume belching turned me off a petrol model so I have gone and ordered an Ego multi tool with 5ah battery, fast charger, line trimmer, blade brush cutter, lawn edger, pole saw and hedge trimmer. The low noise and vibrations also appealed with the battery model. I’ve gone for the D handle rather than cow horns as the latter, I feel, would be quite unwieldy on my slopes.
It wasn’t cheap, but overall, this new bundle (not available when I first looked) seems good value, but of course it’s all in the performance. Should be arriving in a weeks time and can’t wait to try it out! Will keep you posted!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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It sounds like a job for a zero turn mower, 48/52". It'd take under a day if the ground is clear of big branches/rocks.
I use a lightweight petrol strimmer with brushcutter attachment but once you have it down you really need to stay on top of it. A couple of weeks and the regrowth will come back with vengence. Top tip. Do it in Winter when you can see what you're doing and it's more stick than leaf. I got ten times more cleared last Winter than I had in the previous four Summers. (With a little lot of help from my friend).
When it stops raining I'll go out and check the make of my strimmer and let you know. It was priced in the mid £200s three years ago.
To be fair to strimming guys, the whole plot had not been touched in many years and was an impenetrable jungle plus the terrain is really difficult. I don’t think it will be quite as bad this time, providing I get a wriggle on and don’t let it slide further.
Re animals, to fence off the wood bits (a very wriggly and very long fence) would be a huge expensive job. I would love to have a couple of Iberican pigs but regulations on keeping animals, even a single pig, are horrendous. Many locals have given up as it’s just not worth it, so the days of being invited to the annual matanza are becoming a thing of the past, sadly. You can’t even legally borrow a few goats unless your land is registered for livestock, you fulfil complex animal husbandry requirements and comply with movement regs. I am however, allowed to keep chickens for ‘personal use’ - the dogs would 💕 that - oh and I can grow a couple of cannibis plants. It’s all nuts!
The local buy/hire shop didn’t have a petrol strimmer to hire for ages, but I did look at a few to buy. In the end, the lack of maintenance, fuel mixing and fume belching turned me off a petrol model so I have gone and ordered an Ego multi tool with 5ah battery, fast charger, line trimmer, blade brush cutter, lawn edger, pole saw and hedge trimmer. The low noise and vibrations also appealed with the battery model. I’ve gone for the D handle rather than cow horns as the latter, I feel, would be quite unwieldy on my slopes.
It wasn’t cheap, but overall, this new bundle (not available when I first looked) seems good value, but of course it’s all in the performance. Should be arriving in a weeks time and can’t wait to try it out! Will keep you posted!