Blades of a brush attachment for a weed eater.
So far, the only gas powered tool I’ve needed to use in the garden is a weed eater, given to me by my dad. The task of cutting down a few hundred square feet of Sunn Hemp was daunting me until a friend recommended using a brush attachment on a weed eater. Earlier in the summer I was asking around for a weed eater to cut back the Buckwheat and by coincidence my dad was getting rid of a perfectly good one. It worked great for the soft thin Buckwheat stems, but I knew the regular string trimmer wouldn’t hold up against the woody, thick Sunn Hemp stems. Turns out a brush attachment was cheap, easy to find, easy to install and works like a charm.
I don’t particularly enjoy handling gasoline and engine oil, but it’s been okay since I’ve made an effort to keep all my gas supplies neat and clean. A 2 gallon jug has lasted through cutting down all the Sunn Hemp in both gardens! Talk about efficient! As far as the physical strain of using a weed eater, it took a couple of tries to get the hang of it, but eventually, with the right motions and momentum, it was actually pretty okay.
I've been able to coop with handling gasoline by keeping it very neat. I have a box that holds a small gas jug, oil, a clean rag and all my weed eater accessories.
Wearing the right safety gear made a big difference in the comfort level during the work. Eye protection is obvious. Long pants and boots helped. I finally got around to using ear plugs half way through the work and they provided a nice relief.
Sunglasses protected my eyes, ear plugs protected by ears and my trusty Leatherman helped to unclog the blades of netted Sunn Hemp fibers.
Long pants and boots for protection.
