5.0 – REVIEWS

Below are copies of e-mails received from customers, with their views and feedback after having used the BrushDestructor-Blade.

We Maintain a large property that has been burnt twice in the last 11 years, as a result the majority of the land is covered with thick regrowth gum trees, wattle trees and Manuka (which is a woody bush much like tea tree and is very hard to cut). 60% of the land has exposed rock on steep slopes which makes any mechanical control of the trees impossible.

Previously we have attempted to us a number of blades on brush cutters, from multi tooth blades through to a twin swing back blade. But found more time was spent replacing the blade or repairing the brush cutter. So we reverted to cutting each tree or bush off by hand with large loppers and a chain saw.
2 people where able to clear, clean up and stack into fire heaps around 3000 square meters a day.

Now we have a BrushDestructor blade and everything has changed.

Some more info on Anton’s claims.

No Stopping – you don’t need to stop to change blades, just a quick touch up of the blades at each tank full and unless you badly hit a rock or star picket you just keep going until the tank is dry.

No wasted time – when working in long grass, tussock or blackberries. We no longer have to stop to remove anything wrapped around the gear head, those little anti-fouling blades do exactly what it claimed they will do.

It cuts faster – this would be an understatement claim, once you learn to control your revs and spend some time with this blade getting your approach angle correct for larger trees you will be surprised at how much is possible.

Cuts nonstop – yes it does, its funny how you get use to having a little rest every time you changed to another type of blade or sharpened that blade. I now find myself waiting for the tank to run dry, its hard work in step country.

More cutter power – If you look through a number of Antons pages you will soon read that, a massive amount of research has been done on blades and brush cutters. Anton recommends the best results will be achieved with a 35cc brush cutter, we are currently using a 25cc Husqvarna 525LST which is fitted with a hi torque gearbox. As most of our work is on very step, rocky unstable ground a larger brush cutter would be to heavy and fatiguing. Most of our trees are 10 to 40mm in diameter, so we don’t have the need for lots of grunt to drop them. When cutting through larger trees from 40 to 100mm or larger we just take our time and let the blade do the work.

Longer life – (gear head) I can’t back this claim 100% as yet due to not being able to break the Husqvarna gear head. What I can say, is its looking like it will out last the previous three brush cutters from major manufacturers. They suffered gearhead and shaft failures, due to the types of blades and work the work they were used for.

Fuel saving – I have never really taken into account the amount of fuel used to do the job, what I can tell you is we are clearing double the area in half the time (in good going) than what we have ever done before.

Cost saving – again this is an understatement – If you understand how the blade works and treat it with a little bit of respect you will get weeks not hours out of the flail blades the trick is a very (and I mean very) light touch up as you refuel.

My Claims
Time saving – this is the biggest benefit that Anton can’t push because everyone’s job is so different. For us the amount of downtime has been cut 100% with no more trips back to the workshop to repair and replace parts on brush cutters. Or time spent getting weeds off the gear head and only needing to complete a quick touch up after every tank of fuel.

Benefits to our health – we purchased a set of gloves with our kit after reading Anton page on the effects of vibration. Now at the end of the day we are less fatigued and our fingers still work. The other benefit is we no longer have to bend over to cut each tree by hand and we don’t need to carry a heavy bicycle handled brush cutter up the side of the hills

Price – is it worth the money? WITHOUT QUESTION. The brush destructor paid for its self in a week, this blade is way more expensive than any other blade on the market but no other blade I have used and there has been a few. Would come close to what this blade can do and its service life.
For us the cost is offset by the savings in
Repairs – gear head and shaft replacement
Time – repairs, sharpening blades in the field or at night
Fuel – not only for the brush cutter but running to town to get parts.
Area covered – without question the biggest benefit is this. At the end of the day now we have a fair walk back to the quad, its no longer parked 40 steps away.

If you have read this far, buy a brush destructor kit, cordless angle grinder, learn from Anton’s pages, spend time with you blade to learn how it works and I’m sure you we be as impressed as we are.

David,

Victoria, Australia

 

Thanks Anton,

I had read the page with your designs for the brush destructor machine, but not the review of the Honda. I too was somewhat concerned with the flexible shaft and from the shops I’ve spoken to in the states it still feels like the jury is out on it. Anyway, I appreciate your accessibility. As a new owner of land that needs a lot of reclaiming, your site and videos have been incredibly helpful and provided a lot of hope that I can do the work and maintain it without hiring a crew.

Best, Drew

California, USA

I’m looking forward to testing it!  I live in Athens, GA which is in the southeast USA.  Not sure if y’all have kudzu in AU but we have lots here.  Very thick vines that keep wrapping around all of the brush blades I’ve tried.  I’m hoping that yours with the ‘anti-fouling’ things will prevent the vines from wrapping around the head.  I will give you a report once I use it.

For what it is worth I own a small retail business here in the states.  I’m always appreciate feedback from customers so that I can improve.  I thought you might like to know why I decided to order an expensive brush blade from some guy across the world.  Basically I just kept googling best brush cutter head and found your site.  I was apprehensive at first due to price and not being able to see it in person.  But I loved the fact that your website is like a blog where you go into detail all the testing on the blade.  I also appreciate how you explained why you did the things you do.  Most companies never give reasons for why their products are made the way they are.  Point is that it is easy to see from your website that this is a labor of love for you and I try to always support the little guy.  I found that with most products today it is the accountants calling the shots on material choice and design.  I loved that you as an engineer made no compromises and only used the best materials you could find.  I find that their are too many cheap disposable products on the market today and I appreciate that you set out to make the best product you can.  I think there are plenty of people like me in the world that don’t consider price to be the number one reason to purchase an item.  If the product is the best and worth its price then people will pay for it.  Keep up the good work!

Mark

Georgia, USA

Hi Anton,

Thanks for the reply. Just to let you know that I have tried lots of solid blades and weed whackers and none of them compare to yours. I have 40 acres up on Springbrook mountain and have at least 10 acres heavily infested with 3 m high lantana on hilly rocky slopes and it is the only way to get through it. Keep up the great work. Please don’t stop making them available any time soon.

Regards, David

Queensland, Australia

thanks Anton works as advertised ,certainly makes the job easy.

Simon

Queensland, Australia

Just wanted to let you know that I finally was able to get outside today and your brush destructor kicked some cane grass butt!  I’m so glad I had found out about your product while searching up and down on google.  Some people are already asking me what the heck I’m using 😀  Of course I will be emailing them your website to check it out for themselves.

Mahalo for making this brush cutter, it will save me so much time and frustration!

Much Aloha,

Bev

Hawaii, USA

 Anton-

Hope all is well on your side of the planet.  I received the brush destructor on Monday.  I finally had some time to get it put on my Stihl FS 131 trimmer.  Did just a little test on my property, HOLY CRAP, this thing is amazing.  I will get some before, during and after photos when I start clearing trails on our new lot.

Best Regards.

Texas, USA

Thank you Anton.

The blade arrived on Monday and has been put to work. It’s certainly much more effective than the traditional nylon line and a lot faster. Your advice to do a high cut first followed by a lower cut works well. Also, I was surprised at how little throttle was needed.

best regards David

Queensland, Australia  Greetings Anton,

Just wanted to let you know that your product is absolutely amazing! Keep up the good work!!

Dean

Texas, USA

Hi Anton,

Let me say that firstly I appreciate the work you have put into this blade, obviously a man of considerable engineering nouse and enough motivation to get something better out there. I also appreciate the time you have taken to write the useful bits of information on your website and the videos you have posted on YouTube. Being an engineer myself, I appreciate the technical detail that you don’t shy away from.

Regards Hemon,

New Zealand

Dear Anton,

Late spring in the Adelaide Hills and the brush destructor has been back in action. Every year since buying my first one I feel so grateful that I  stumbled over your website and took a punt to buy a blade. With every use I can’t help thinking how much work this product has saved me, and what a psychological boost it is for dealing with my large steep property with blackberry, broom and annual grasses. 

So again thanks ( and be assured I tell everyone about the blade).

Terry

SA, Australia

By the way the brushdestructor head is amazing, I love it. I will have to do a review and upload some pics sometime soon.

Cheers

Lewis.

NSW, Australia

G,day Anton

I just received my blade and took it on a trial run and they performed exactly as advertised i am super impressed  thanks very much and i hope you make millions.

cheers  shayne

Tasmania, Australia

Thanks for working for better products. That spirit of excellence and innovation is what makes you stand out and make great products. Keep it up!

Thanks mate!

Raul

California, USA

I’ve been meaning to give feedback on the model 17 for a while but have been busy. 

First off the main thing that I wondered was about cutting performance. I knew it would be a good product but I wondered if you had to sacrifice a bit of cutting performance to make a lighter smaller blade to run on smaller machines. Here’s what I noticed. 

The Model 17 is considerably smoother than the model 16. Especially in larger material. Much less rattle and vibration. I thought that it might not cut larger material as well with the lighter weight but it seems to cut even better than the model 16. Im guessing that it gained a little torque with the smaller blade diameter. It doesn’t bog down near as much when I’m doing heavy cutting. I can definitely recover blade speed way faster. Lastly, the blades seem to hold their edge a little bit longer. At first I thought that maybe it was just my own optimism playing tricks on me but I started noticing that I’m consistently getting a few more hours of cutting between sharpenings.

Wesley,

Alabama, USA

Now the biggest issue as one would expect of an electric is the run time, which is only 16 minutes at full throttle nonstop through dense brush. This is with the stock 1.8 Ah 80v, 144 Wh lithium pack. There is a pack double the size but for double the charge time (4Ah) available, and one 5 Ah behemoth, but I have not tried those to see what their bulk and weight does to the balance of the machine. (With the current setup, I have the balance perfect) Luckily, I can fully charge it in thirty minutes, and I don’t actually need to run at full power to cut effectively, which gives me much more time. The only other issue when I use this brushcutter is that the software in the speed controller has what I’ll describe as a sort of “throttle change limiter”, which adds a delay that makes it impossible to tap the trigger to add some power quickly. But at least this will help reduce stress on the driveshaft, which apparently might have a horrible design flaw that a reviewer of this machine posted on the site I ordered it from, this being the coupler between the motor output shaft and the drive shaft that goes down to the gearhead. It is (or was) prone to cracking and slipping because it has no splines or keying, it’s just hot pressed together according to the reviewer. And he was using the nylon line, not a metal blade. Luckily, I have had no problems with this whatsoever, even after accidentally snagging a thick branch between the shield and having the blade stop abruptly, so maybe they sorted this problem out since that review.

The performance of the GST80320 with the Model 17 blade really makes me even more enthusiastic about the BrushDestructor machine you are developing, and I really hope to buy one as soon as it becomes available! I’m curious about what size battery you would use.Attached is what my setup looks like, and some stuff I cleared with it.

Ethan,

Rode Island, USA

Finally the blade arrived on Tuesday morning, about 10:am local, Atlantic Time. I was using my bushwacker, had run out of gasoline, walked back home to get more and found the package in the mailbox. Installed it immediately, fill up the bushwhacker tank and went back to what I was doing and…. the bushwhacker would not start.  So went back to the apartment, dismantled the unit, clean up the muffler, installed a new carburator, spark plug and gasoline tank filter.  and the unit came back to life.  So the next day, yesterday, finally used the bushwacker with the brushdestructor installed.  Honestly, it is as good as you say.

The flail blades work great, a cleaner cut than the trimmer line, much stronger, no dust cloud following you, as in the airecut blade. A tank of gasoline lasted me about twice to trice the area covered.  And when not in used the brush destructor is much safer than a big sharpened disk. Overall a great product. Worth the money paid and the time waiting for the unit.

Thanks for a great and useful product….

Ezequiel

Puerto Rico, USA

Success at last Anton!…I just had to dash inside to say that I got the Brushdestructor up and running this morning … and wow, it works amazing!. So do the gloves!. I can see already that the blade is going change life around here. It deals to the Rhodos just fine. I have already cut a track through an otherwise impenetrable area.  I have stuck the blade to the end of my Styhl 410. More than enough power and everything purs very nicely indeed. I at first tried it on my very old loop handled Husqy 25 however the woody stems of the Rhodos gave a little too much resistance and there was a spot of vibration…as I said it is an old machine. Saving up now for Honda 35 loop handle!. Very pleased I have another blade on the way as I can see Im going to wear this one out!.

Thanks for all your help, Kind regards, Simon

Scotland, United Kingdom.

Hey Anton.

This is Wesley from Alabama again, your brush destructor blade almost paid for itself and the trimmer on its first job so I broke down and bought the Honda with the GX35 engine like I should have done to begin with.

You were right. Those salesman at the Power Equipment supply didn’t know what they were talking about. Even with the high torque gear head, the Echo 266T has less torque and uses more gas than the Honda. It was a pleasant surprise.

Alabama, USA

Hi Anton,

I used your blade when we were managing a 15h property in the Adelaide hills — we’ve since moved to near Dungog to caretake a 300h property (covered in lantana & a grass thats tough as nails) seriously — yours is the only blade that’s actually a pleasure to use ! I wrote a letter when we were still in Adelaide to you with pics showing it effortlessly clearing a blackberry, olive and hawthorn thicket; I’d do the same here ; but we are really flat out.

Regards Michael.

New South Wales, Australia

Hm Sorry i didnt get any before pictures. but rest assured this smashed the shit out of my weeds. woody and the grassy ones.thick stems up to 3cm i guess. Sorry about the language but anything else is an understatement.

here’s the day after please see attached.

This blade rocked my socks off. the gloves worked great too, just for my specific whipper snipper i need more padding on the index finger. cause it’s a 4 stroke i’m using i had to go full revs to get this job done in record time. last time with a nylon blade took me maybe 3-5 hours including setup.

Paul,

Queensland, Australia.

Hi, Anton

Just wanted to drop you a quick line, and say thank you, and how pleased I am with your Brush Destructor blade.  Though I ordered it a month or so ago, I am only just putting it to full use, after a much needed tune up on my Stihl. It’s really doing everything I wanted, and already saving me a huge amount of effort over our property, and doing jobs that would have otherwise taken me much more time and energy. If the various environmental contractors and gardeners who work up on the mountain where we are are unaware of your product, I will certainly be recommending it to them.

Thanks again for the great product, I hope your business continues to go well, and I will be looking out for further models.

Kind regards,

Sam

Queensland, Australia

Hi, Anton

Just wanted to drop you a quick line, and say thank you, and how pleased I am with your Brush Destructor blade.  Though I ordered it a month or so ago, I am only just putting it to full use, after a much needed tune up on my Stihl. It’s really doing everything I wanted, and already saving me a huge amount of effort over our property, and doing jobs that would have otherwise taken me much more time and energy. If the various environmental contractors and gardeners who work up on the mountain where we are are unaware of your product, I will certainly be recommending it to them. 

Thanks again for the great product, I hope your business continues to go well, and I will be looking out for further models. 

Kind regards,

Sam

Queensland, Australia

Lantana well forget about it, this blade eats it, so mate all i can say is WOW SO HAPPY.

Hi Anton,

Thanks for the brush destructor. Some feedback, Was clearing Ludwigia which had died and was 2-3 metres high and woody, much harder than lantana for a machine to cut, and I needed the machine to mulch it. Cord would not work, weed wacker was very slower, and I did not try a blade as it would of made no impact. So I knew nothing else would be effective. The brush destructor did the job in 3 days and we had thought 6 with other methods. I dont think 6 would have been enough with other methods! We had tried to get larger machines in but the ground was too soft. You can see from 060 that one side has been brushcut and 061 shows it uncut. Does not show though how difficult it was.

So me and fellow worker were highly impressed with it. It takes time to learn to keep the revs down, and the weight is an issue, but we swapped around using it and nothing else would have worked. I wondered about a counterweight on the brush cutter to make it easier to manoeuvre, especially as I had to lift a bit. Gloves were fine, I could feel no vibration but glad to take any measure to protect oneself further, so happy with the purchase. Your website is a wealth of information that is hard to find elsewhere, but I feel not easy to navigate. Regards and thanks,

Paul Queensland, Australia.

Here is some feedback: In a nutshell: the only thing wrong with the Brush Destructor is its name; Should be the “Grim Weed-Reaper” or “Plantae-Terminator”. I am impressed! The brush-cutter head does everything exactly like you claim it would.

The Brush Destructor is fitted to my trusty, 12 year old (well looked after) Honda GX22. A bit of history: I am using the Tanaka CH 300 alloy head with 3 mm yellow round STIHL nylon line on the Honda GX22 for general edge work near the house. I use it with 4 strings. That slows the RPM down. Lower RPM makes the string last longer and I get everything done with just two “line-slot” take outs. I only have to stop for drinks of water. The Honda GX22 with Tanaka head gets regular use. I look after my gear. I have to replace one thing regularly: the trimmer nylon cord. Only required spare parts were one spark plug and one petrol primer bubble so far in over 12 years. (Do I like the “little” Honda – or what?!)

My block is 1 km² and adjoins a nature reserve. Council sporadically looks after a fire trail that separates my block from the nature reserve. I am not a tree-hugger, use Roundup targeted where required but prefer mulching on larger areas as it does not have the napalm-effect. I found Terra Fauna had successfully reclaimed again this year after returning from a 3 week holiday. Grass (un-loved) was growing in tufts 1.5m tall, shrubs, Farmers Foes, vines, Acacia and Camphor Laurel saplings. Another few weeks and the place would have looked like an ancient Cambodian temple. The Honda with Tanaka head does manage, however it takes ages to get through high and dense growth. The nylon line does not last very long when “mulching” saplings. I am reluctant to attach a solid blade to a brush-cutter. Hard knocks can’t be good for the gears, shaft, clutch and motor. Long story short – I went and bought a STIHL FS-250 this year, attached the Tanaka head and got the job done in a fraction of the time it took previously with the “little” Honda. The STIHL FS 250 “eats” the nylon string due to the high rpm – but it is heaps faster with cutting high and dense grass in comparison to the Honda. I always put the nylon string in a bucket of water a few days before use and the increased flexibility makes it last longer.

My place has plenty of rocks and the nylon string does protect the brush-cutter from damage. In my opinion: the longevity of a nylon line is determined by the interface between the safety glasses and throttle. I would be able to destroy anything on this planet if I wanted to… My decision to buy the Brush Destructor: The purchase of a second brush-cutter freed up the still perfectly fine Honda and the research began. There must be something better out there to clear bush. Airecut, Slam-flying-blade, WeedShark, WeedWakka, Brogio, AGP, carbide circular blades… Google and YouTube provide useful info. You just have to enable the “B-S” filter in your head. What got me was this video of yours. The type of growth was exactly what I intended to liberate – and it was done with a Honda GX22 (just like mine) in the video. I still wanted to stay clear of solid blades; the Brush Destructor has flail blades. This must be gentler on the hardware… I only want to destroy the bits that the cutter head is NOT attached to. And the Brogio: I leave the launching of deadly missiles to the military – they are not as restricted by the law as I am.

Not being an impulse buyer I spend quite some time on your website, read it all and watched all the videos. Word of mouth does work best though: The grounds people that look after the local gardens recommended the Tanaka head initially to me when I asked them – and I got to see it in action. I purchased the Tanaka CH 300 when I bought the Honda. Professionals don’t seem to use bump-feeds. 12 years later: still good. A colleague is happy with the WeedWakka. It can’t be serviced though.

Cost: As long as something will do its job: price never deters me. However, not being the beneficiary of an inheritance: I am on a budget and therefore have to apply the philosophy of: “The poor man will pay twice!”, “You get what you pay for…” On the very odd occasion I get a gardener to mow and brush-cut around the house when I am too busy for $70 a pop. It is a last resort but well worth it. A 100m roll of STIHL 3 mm nylon costs ~$50 and lasts me approx. 2 years. The solid STIHL mulcher blade would cost $80. And I am still not convinced that a solid blade does no harm to a head gear unit. After the first hours of use of the Brush Destructor: I get more done in less time with less effort. On top of that: cutting and mulching in one. I got the whole Brush Destructor kit with spare blades. I can’t see me sending you any of the gear back any time soon – “you’d need a pry bar” to get it off me. The steel, fasteners and workmanship are very good quality. I will use sump oil to keep it from rusting when not in use (unless you have a better suggestion).

Actual application: Fitting was easy, no problem with the increased weight as I adjusted the harness attachment point to balance the brush-cutter after I installed the blade – before using it. It took about 2 minutes to get used to the Brush Destructor as I did not use a blade previously. To make the most out of the Brush Destructor: use the flywheel effect of the head – just as stated in the manual. I always wear ear-plugs but I noticed: the flail blades are differentiable quieter than string. Started very late Wednesday afternoon as it was one of those steamy scorchers.

With the Honda GX22 and the Brush Destructor head I am able to clear a grassy areas 1.5 x as fast as with the Honda GX22, Tanaka head and 3 mm nylon line. It is as fast as the STIHL FS 250 with Tanaka head and nylon line. However: no feed-out-stops are required. The petrol tank limits the endurance. The Honda with Brush Destructor beats the STIHL with nylon line in a bush and sapling area: 2-3 x faster and there are no feed-out-stops required. And: string is limited from cutting 6-8 mm Acacia saplings on-wards. Less machete time from now on. Another nice “by-product” is the fact that you end up with less botanical matter on you when using the Brush Destructor in comparison to string. That said: I will never ever wear less “body-armour” when brush cutting.

I did not order gloves. I use rigging gloves and found them to be sufficient. I do know the gel type glove style though from my motor bike. The two-stroke STIHL FS 250 vibrates more than the four-stroke Honda GX22 – although the Honda is 12 years older. The Brush Destructor makes the Honda even smoother. It is nearly unavoidable to stay clear of rocks entirely. Touched the first rock with the Brush Destructor – confirmed by sparks. No revs drop as it was just a touch – not a hit. Stopped and checked – no problem. Being very conscious whenever I use any tool: I use a sledge hammer for rocks, not a brush-cutter – so I always go easy when near rocks. I am not going to slam the Brush Destructor into a rock as depicted in your product endurance tests…

No problem for the “little” Honda to drive the Brush Destructor through 50 mm of saplings. The flail blade system runs very smooth at all times. I will only attach the Brush Destructor to the STIHL FS 250 once the Honda will be no longer. That hopefully won’t be any time soon! The trusty old GX22 has got plenty of power. Revs are fine when the Honda throttle is “latched” in the start position. Plenty more revs to go for when the plant matter gets really dense. The new STIHL has a bullbar handle – great for string. The Honda has a D handle – perfect for the flail-blade. My pictures are not really required because the botanics are like the ones in your video. But: I will send through some before and after shots soon. The weather is too hot at the moment to get everything done in one afternoon. I am very happy with your product! Thank yours Erich

New South Wales, Australia.

Hi Anton,

I purchased Brush Destructor Blade to clear Bitou Bush up to 2 metres tall. I am amazed at how quickly and well it mulches.  If anybody saw the area after the brush destructor blade had been through they would think some sort of large machine had cleared the area and how tidy the area looks Your web site is very informative, and your advice is spot on.  I am 100% happy and will not hesitate to tell others of your fantastic product.

All the Best. Kind regards Howard

Gday Anton,

Yesterday was the first day I was able to use my blade and I absolutely LOVE it!

My place is heavily infested with lantana on steep slopes. This season the vines have crawled over the lantana so on the one hand that’s great but the vines are unwelcome as well. With an ordinary blade the vine would have frustratingly wrapped around the centre of the machine head but your Brush Destructor just chewed it up.

I’m also grateful for the advice to buy a loop handle rather than a bike handle machine. I have 2 bike handle machines and NEVER have I been able to comfortably slash bushes vertically – it’s impossible. Also the 4 stroke Honda is great. My others are (2 stroke) Stihl but man…I love the much lower noise and the fuel economy of the Honda.

Congratulations on a fantastic product.

Regards Heidi.

Hi Anton,

I purchased BrushDestructor Blade to clear Bitou Bush up to 2 metres tall. I am amazed at how quickly and well it mulches. If anybody saw the area after the BrushDestructor blade had been through they would think some sort of large machine had cleared the area and how tidy the area looks Your web site is very informative, and your advice is spot on. I am 100% happy and will not hesitate to tell others of your fantastic product. All the Best.

Kind regards Howard

Australia, NSW

Hi Anton

Some feedback on your product:

I have had this for a few months now and firstly let me say this thing is awesome and i give a demo of how well it performs to anyone that i think may be interested or have a need for it (neighbours, clients, random strangers). when you walk up to a 2″ ironbark and cut it down with a few passes it leaves people gob smacked. 

I use it for clearing: 

• long thick stalky grass (guinea grass and the like)
• lantana
• gum tree suckers up to 2.5 inches
• cutting the smaller branches off fallen trees to flatten the crown
• clearing undergrowth from around larger trees.
• taking the lower branches off trees so they are easier to mow around.

the only thing that slow it down is dry hardwood over 1.5” as it takes a few passes to get through but if I kept my blades sharper I am sure I would go through it quicker.

the photos I have attached are of a track that became over grown after cyclone Marcia covered it with fallen trees and I never got round to clearing with the tractor and chainsaw and after over a year the regrowth has come back through it.

So I used the BrushDestructor to clear away the undergrowth as well as most of the smaller branches of the fallen trees. the track is about 150m long and took less than an hour to clear. I still have to cut up the larger logs and clear away with the tractor but have left that for another day. I find it is best to expose any logs before going in with the tractor otherwise I end up with sticks and small logs flicking up under the tractor and damaging hoses, wires etc.

The BrushDestructor is also good for clearing undergrowth in areas with lots of trees where it becomes to un manoeuvrable for the tractor as well as on cross slopes where there is a risk of rolling the tractor.

I have found the blade life to be excellent when compared to the tri-cut type grass blades where you have to hammer them flat after you had hit any hard objects

thanks for supplying a great product.

Ross

Hi Anton

I had seen your blade mentioned in a forum, and from reading your web pages it was apparent you had put a lot of dedicated work; trial and error into its design, so I decide to give it go.

My wife and I manage a 15 hectare property in The Adelaide foothills. Most of it is steep and quite rocky so machinery access is negligible, and for the most part it is infested with olive and hawthorn trees, Intertwine throughout with significant patches of blackberry. In S.A. Olive is a declared weed, in our hotter drier climate it does what lantana does in northern NSW – absolutely smothers everything out — except hawthorn and blackberry! Even grasses won’t grow under the olive. If blackberry is considered tough to clear by hand try clearing hawthorn – a tree with spikes, that can be as long as your index finger, and has a habit of intertwining throughout anything else it is growing with. Often times this means having to fell 2 or 3 trees as a group, as they are so bound together as to be inseparable.

We also have the problem of a wild sweet pea smothering the vegetation up to 2 or 3 meters high, which then dries off – and binds up the brush cutter when you try and slash it.

The circular chain saw blade attachment for the brush cutter works well if there is reasonable access to the base of smallish saplings or bushes, but it’s not effective against a “tangle” of blackberry canes, olive and hawthorn saplings, especially if like us, your clearing on a steep rocky slope

The weed wacker is good on the blackberry, but binds up in the longer grass.

So it turned out fortuitous that I had decided to give your blade a trial, as the day before it arrived we had marked out a fence line to extend a paddock into a previously ungrazed section of the block that we manage.

Part of the proposed fence line ended up heading into a pile of old olive trees I had chain sawed down some 10 years previously, and had promptly forgot about . I admire olive immensely; it gives us olive oil, and Kalamata olives. The olive wood is a dense hard wood with a beautiful contrasting grain, hard to work without power tools, and is a first class fire wood that burns very hot if properly seasoned. It is also a survivor, and without the right amount of experience, time, and poison it will bounce right back from any damage inflicted upon the tree (even ring barking won’t work).

So after 10 years, for every olive tree I had originally sawed down, that stump now had up to 6 saplings shooting off it, each 2 to 3 meters tall. The BlackBerry had also moved back in, twining itself around the olive regrowth, which also provided the sweet pea with an ideal growing frame.

The Fence is supposed to go through here

Underneath this mess of course still lay the olive trees that I had cut a decade previous, forming a thick tangle of old hard branches through which the regrowth had re-shooted.

My first impression of  the BrushDestructor blade is how heavy it feels, I have two brushcutters, a Stihl FS 85 and a smaller Kawasaki KBL 23A. I decided to fit the BrushDestructor blade to the KBL 23A first, just to see if this smaller machine was up to it. I’ve had the KBL23A for about 13 years, I’ve used it a lot, and apart from a gummed up carby once, have never had a major problem with it.

It takes a few revs to get the blade up to speed, but once spinning momentum is very easy to maintain —  and I was through this impenetrable thicket in about 15 minutes!

That just saved a lot of time and work

What I was most impressed with was how efficiently the blade cut through the olive saplings, branches at 50 cent piece diameter it cut with ease

In the Thick of it

It’s been a while since I last used the chainsaw blade on the brushcutter, but on smaller stuff certainly, the BrushDestructor blade feels almost on par in terms speed with which it managed to cut through green branches.

More importantly it demolished the blackberry canes with ease, shredded the tops off the olive regrowth no problems, and having cleared that out I could get in low, and with the same blade saw off the regrowth where it was sprouting out from the original stump, this would have been much harder with a normal chainsaw blade on as it would have constantly jammed or kicked because of the “rubbish” lying around, whereas the BrushDestructor blade will bounce off anything to hard. All of this with an ageing little KBL 23A! Which I was in no way pushing, I think for long term use I would attach it to something with a beefier gear box

I think we’ll make a path about here

It’s that easy

In all, if you have some serious bush clearing to do I can say the BrushDestructor blade is worth the money, it saved me a lot of time, just on my first outing with it.

It is quite heavy to work with though, definitely for heavy duty use only.

Another advantage I noted afterwards, again say compared to a circular saw type, was ease of cleaning and sharpening. Because the blades are flat it was quick to scrape them clean of residue, and sharpening is much easier than filing saw teeth. The blades are very hard; dry olive is a hard wood, and although I was trying to stay clear of the dry stuff, I was still running into occasionally and I was really surprised to note when I examined the blade later there was no noticeable dulling of the teeth – at all. So I ran a file over the blade just to see, and I can say they would ruin a file pretty quick.

Thanks  Anton for your time and effort in designing the BrushDestructor, when summer comes around next I will try the blade on our “summer grass”, which I had given up on trying to slash due to it just binding up on any blade I had used on it – even our back up team failed to get the job done

The back-up team

Well actually they were getting to fat and we have to much rich grass, so hopefully now we can manage the paddocks more effectively.

Regards

Michael

Hi Anton

The attached photo’s may be of interest especially if anyone has questions about the strength of the blades. Whilst clearing blackberries covering a fence and being unable to see star pickets they were impacted on four occasions 3 only lightly and the other more heavily.  As a result of the more heavy impact a cut of about 1 cm was made in the star picket.

The blades were obviously in need of sharpening after that, but as can be seen in the photo they did not break or chip.

Regards Ian

G’day Anton,

I received the blade on Tuesday and yesterday I had my first proper go with it and I am impressed.  I have fitted it to my Honda UMK435 and it works a treat.  I have two Honda brush cutters: a UMK425 loop handle that I have configured with the bump line and the UMK435 bike handle that I use with a blade.  I have tried several blade types and have generally been disappointed; my experience has been that a blade that will handle grass won’t handle woodier weeds and a blade that will handle woodier weed frequently clogs when cutting grass.  As I haven’t been able to persuade my weeds and grass to grow in neat, separated rows; this has meant that generally I have found using a blade fatiguing and frustrating.  With your blade I was able to work until the petrol ran out and still feel pretty good; in that time I would estimate I was able to clear two to four times the area I would have with previous blades.  I worked through quite a range of vegetation: lantana; vines; long thick grass; rocks [whoops] and small wattles.  I did manage to wear about 2mm off the blades so although I thought I was keeping an eye on the blades by having a quick look at the slot on the cutting tooth I had worn the blades to the point where they were no longer working efficiently so I will have to be more attentive to that in future.

Regards, Mick

Hi Anton,

We took some photos of a current clearing job we are doing, and I wrote a bit of a blurb about my experience with your blade because it really got a job done in 15 mins that otherwise would have taken up the day. I’m definitely glad to have the the BrushDestructor Blade in the tool box!

Regards Michael

Hi Anton,

I just ordered four BrushDestructor’s. My friend and I both have the Stihl 450’s and 460’s so that’s the need for the 20mm arbor. The blade works so effectively though, that I will put one on my smaller machine to be able to reach a little higher with a lighter weight motor. I’ve been busy lately, but plan to do some clearing in the next few weeks so I’ll take some photos. I’ll sell as many here as I can. I’ve worked in the tree and landscape business for over 30 years so lots of guys I can ask. To me, nothing else comes close.  Keep up the good work!

Clarke MA. USA

Hi Anton,

Thank you for looking after me.  The reason it took so long to use it to its full capacity is that I have just been cutting grass at home (which it does wonderfully well) but I spent a day clearing the neighbours “jungle” from my fence line.  Also there are some areas of my property that I only attack well before the fire season.

After putting your blades through a true test on the various materials named in my last email the difference between the “Airecut” “Weedwacker” “tri blades” “saw blades”  which I have tried all and your blade was seriously ridiculous. Your blades actually do destroy vegetation rather than just cut it and you are not covered in debris like with the Airecut. Simply a far superior, truly professional outcome. You are welcome to edit and quote me if you wish.

Yes I think you may be levelling out on your development as I really can’t see much more room for improvement from a users point of view. You have developed a terrific product and I hope that sales for you go to the next level. I will be looking at your website from time to time to see what else you might come up with.

All the very best.

Alan

Hi Anton,

Alls well here thanks.  I used your blade extensively for the first time yesterday where it could  show its true capacity on reeds, blackberry, grass and gorse in the neighbours property. Your blade reminded me of a chipper – using it on the vertical it just sent a stream of fine particles out from the blade guard. Its ability to turn tough fibre into a departing stream of fine debris was outstanding and without excessive physical effort!  I had struggled when I was clearing my place years ago with every form of blade there was – I wish I had your blade then. Even though I have spare blades I needed to stockpile in case you decide to retire or something.

  Best Regards

Alan

SA, Australia

Hi Anton,

Please see photos attached, this is approximately 5 fuel tanks of work.

Blades going well,sharpened 3 times and then changed out the blade set due to hitting a large rock.

I have broken 2 of the anti-fowling blades, I will order some more today, the way I am using the blade on the Sifton bush would be described as abusive to machine and cutting head but is a very quick way to clear, (sweeping motion at every thing under 1 1/2 inches)

Regards Blair

Hi, I purchased one of these last Month and got to use it over Xmas, it is absolutely the best blade I have ever used almost cuts through anything. Thanks very much.

Regards Greg

Hi Anton,

I received the blade. Very impressive! We have purchased a 3 acre lifestyle block and it has waist high grass, broom, gorse, blackberry and it needs a good thrashing. I have been impressed with how much I am able to clear and how quickly I can do it using your blade. 

Cheers Karl

Summerfield

Hi Anton,

WOW! The blade is AMAZING! the pics I’ve sent you is what I am working with now, an area where the court inspection was to happen, so had to clear the path. This area usually takes 3 labourers and a whole day, took me less than 30 mins (actual work time…can’t work in the heat!) Lots of the plants might look thin, but have thorns and are springy, so if one uses a machete it bounces back, and the regular blade kept getting stuck with the plants coiling around the shaft. But your design is so well thought….Not even once did I get the grass or any plants winding around the shaft. This is without sharpening the blade.

Can’t wait to sharpen and then have a go at the bigger areas. Will take a vid of the sharpening too, so ppl can understand its not difficult.

My mate isn’t so skilled in taking vids or pcs…as I’ve eventually discovered!! so You’ll have to make do with these pics and will try n upload a few vids.

And yes I don’t have power on my property, so couldn’t do the sharpening of the teeth. I’ll get a grinder from a workshop to do it. Also give me some time, I want to write a proper review when I am at peace at my land, and not in the city. I’ve also shown your blade to a few other farmers and will be leaving it with them for a week each…and when I am back will get vids of them working and their reaction to the blade too…if its anywhere close to mine, its going to be priceless. Especially the design of the top of the blade and the flail..its so ingenious, I hit the blade twice on stones and didn’t even feel the shock!! and never once did I have to stop because of plants entangling…. WOW working has just become hassle free!!! I also understood why you rave about the 4 stroke weeder. Once the blade picks up momentum..its like a juggernaut!!! Also the handle. Will make some mods so that I can control the blade better. Like a Honda type handle on the shaft should give me better leverage…. and now my mate got me a boiler suit (no more itching!) and earmuffs so working is more comfortable I am already suffering from tintinitis because of the machine.

Anyways, I just got back, couldn’t wait to write to you.

Will write to you soon, hopefully with more pics, but the next time I do the work, I’ll do a before and after pics and vids so its more clear how much of brush gets cleared and even mulching.

  Bye for now, Be safe and stay healthy.

From a happy relieved Indian farmer

Anton,

The original blades stood up extremely well to the abuse I’ve dished out to them. The whole attachment works better than I could have hoped for.

Followed your advice and purchased a Honda 35cc brush cutter to drive the blade, and have been constantly impressed with what it will cut and just how quickly it can turn impenetrable Lantana into short twigs on the ground.

Can honestly say that of all the tools I’ve purchased (and my partner keeps reminding me that there have been far too many) your development far exceeds my expectations. Best bit of kit I’ve got.

Actually looking forward to wearing out more blades!!

regards Glen

NSW, Australia

Hi, I purchased one of these last Month and got to use it over xmas, it is absolutely the best blade I have ever used almost cuts through anything.

Thanks very much Regards Greg

New Zealand

Hey Anton,

I finished going through a tank of gas with the blade and could not be happier! This thing is amazing!!!! I do not know what I can do to help you gain more traction but I would be happy to do what ever I can! The balance and cutting power amazed me. I am sure you get this often but wow! I will tell everyone I know about your amazing blade.

Joe

WA, USA, 2015

This letter is from a customer, who brought a set of replacement blades in what I thought was a short period of time after purchasing the original blade and below is his reply to my question about this.

Anton, 

The original blades stood up extremely well to the abuse I’ve dished out to them. The whole attachment works better than I could have hoped for.

Followed your advice and purchased a Honda 35cc brush cutter to drive the blade, and have been constantly impressed with what it will cut and just how quickly it can turn impenetrable Lantana into short twigs on the ground.

 Can honestly say that of all the tools I’ve purchased (and my partner keeps reminding me that there have been far too many) your development far exceeds my expectations. Best bit of kit I’ve got.

 Actually looking forward to wearing out more blades!!

regards

Glen

NSW, Australia 2015

Hi Anton,

I have received and used the BrushDestructor blade on my Husqvarna 345 this weekend.  I have to say it met my expectations.  I have attached some before and after pictures of some of the area I cleared.  The pictures are looking down a slope making the area look smaller than it really is. The brush was mostly Scotch Broom, which is very hard, and over six feet tall.  I could have easily fell the two pine trees (eight to 12 feet tall) but they become difficult to work around on the ground. Note the one picture of 3 inch diameter Scotch Broom I was able to cut through with the blade.

Btw, I think using a flail blade like this is easier on the equipment than solid blades.  When I hit a stump the flail absorbs some of the shock and a warning to back off whereas solid blades don’t. If I could add a feature to the blade, it would be mulching ability.  Ironically, all that fallen debris gets in the way of clearing. As requested, I donated $36.00 to the BrushDestructor machine to account for the exchange rate.  Again, its what I needed to clear around my property, even found the property line.

Thanks, Ronald

CA, USA, 2015

Hi Anton

We live on the side of a small mountain at 670 meters on about 50 acres with a lot of bush, rocks and poa grass that runs rampant. This grass is incredibly tough and would wrap around the blade and completely jam up the works. I’d spend more time trying to clear it than actually cutting.

With the destructor blades, the grass can still manage to wrap & jam, but most probably only at about 10% of what it used to. What appears to happen is that a small quantity wraps around the gearbox and inside of the top cutting/clearing blades. The grass then builds on this and will most times clear but occasionally jam. (I’m running a Sthil FS450 which has a bit of grunt).

It’s a lot better than what I had to put up with previously so I’m very happy with the destructors.

Many thanks. Cheers Dimitri

TAS, Australia 2015

Hi Anton,

I have been flat out with the new JUNGLE DESTROYER BLADE. I can only say that your invention is absolutely amazing and incredible. I reckon i could beat Superman with that blade mate. Cheers:

Roger

Hi Anton,

As promised, here are some before and after pictures using your Blades. The pictures were taken from my place of work, Arnos Park North London. I hope you like the results! I know I do!!

P.S. Pictures below show a recent hack ‘n slash with your blades. The garden in question belonged to my recently deceased Uncle. I think a team of Ghurkha would have struggled with that amount of bush!

Cheers, Bob

United Kingdom

Hi Anton

Thanks for the prompt delivery of the BrushDestructor blade. I put it straight to work yesterday clearing long grass and regrowth under a paddock fenceline. I have previously used other brands of brushcutter blades and found that these would not last as long, losing sharpness and cutting power. I have used the brushdestructor to cut through saplings of tea tree, pine trees, purple top weeds and thistles that seem to grow under the fenceline. I did have some clogging of long grass around the head of the brushcutter – this seemed to occur on setaria and blady grass that was quite thick and green with the stems winding around the head. I did have much better clearance of debris with removal of the guard – not the best idea I know, but it worked much better. I was really impressed with its ease of cutting and speed, in fact after a while it became a little addictive since a big job was transformed into something manageable and I was covering a large area in no time at all. The only thing that seemed to wear out was me after several hours of constant clearing. I’ve attached the brushcutter blade to a Honda GX31 brushcutter without any problems and despite accidently hitting many rocks that have been hidden in the long grass and the odd star picket fencepost, the blade still cuts well. The blades now need sharpening so I have now ordered a replacement set and sharpening blade. I look forward to these coming soon so I can continue to tackle some more clearing.

 Thanks John Spearpoint

NSW, Australia. 2014

Hi Anton,

Just to let you know the blade set arrived yesterday – many thanks! I’ve got to say… What a tool! The thing eats through bramble like a scythe through jelly. Amazing. After 3 hours of constant use (back is a wee bit sore – need to take more breaks) the blades hardly needed touching with the angle grinder. I know, with care, I’m going to get many many hours out of these blades. The pictures below show you the bramble, ivy and suckers all smashed by the blade. More pictures will follow.

Well, I think you can guess I’m one happy customer. As long as I stay away from hard surfaces I know I can make a huge difference in my park using your blades – cheers!

Best regards, Bob.

Middlesex, England. 2014

Hi Anton,

I am exceedingly pleased; we have been using your blade to clear bush tracks for our next big round of the state championships hosted by Gold Coast Mountain Bike Club. The thing is ravenous when pointed at Lantana. Plus it works well everywhere else. It was quite funny to work a section of trail with exact overgrowth from both sides at the same time as a mate with a metal tri-blade in a brush cutter with a much bigger engine than my small old Honda and see him get sour because I was making nearly double his progress and cutting lower and deeper. Only occasionally do I come across a product that surprises me by working better than expected.

Attached are some photos. Thanks heaps, Robbie Cross Country Race Director Gold Coast Mountain Bike Club   2014, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Some photos of area cleared of thick lantana.

Isaac – 2014

QLD, Australia.

Hi Anton,

This is the second blade I have bought from you …I recently  gave  the first one to a friend who just bought a 3 acre block with about 60% cover of 2m high blackberry bushes.   I have been so impressed by your brushcutter blade…it easily halves the time to clear blackberries over a 3 tang fixed metal blade and happily saws through thick stems of gorse and broom.  The psychological benefit is probably understated..your brushcutter blade makes clearing so much easier (and even fun) so it isn’t as daunting to tackle large projects (as in my case with a large steep block that requires a lot of effort).

It also is great to use for long grass…far less accumulation of grass to foul the brushcutter head.

So I am definitely a strong advocate for the blade. It certainly requires a more powerful brushcutter to drive it,   and also requires users to wear robust personal protection. Uses should be aware that metal blades causes lots of sparks when they hit stones and metal..so have the potential to start a fire in dry veg.

Thanks for your vision

Terry – 2014

SA, Australia.

Hi Anton

The BrushDestructor is the best blade I’ve used.  Where the other blades would have to slowly chew through some of the thicker brush, your brushcutter blade easily cuts it.  I ordered some replacement blades to have on hand so I won’t have any down time.

Best, Van

Hi Anton

I mounted the blade and did a test patch, it looks very promising.  I will put it through the paces in the next week or so and see how it does. I’ll let you know when I have some photos. Best, Van – 2013

WA, USA

Hi Anton,

Yes, the bicycle handles are better for big areas but the compromise is definitely a reduction in precision.  Rocks I am particularly wary of, I’ve lightly glanced one or two, a few sparks but no apparent damage to the blades (pretty impressive steel you’re using).  Getting close to trees is more a problem, the blades tend to grab the tree and pull closer.  It’s really only a problem for the tree but it does come as a surprise when it happens.

Thanks for the spare blades – and best of luck with building up the business. Hopefully you can break into the Yanky market they’d love this unit.

Cheers, Darren – 2013

ACT, Australia

Hi Anton