Thats some power Howard, grrr grrr, I'm lovin it, lovin it, lovin it more
every day, it makes sushi out of thick scrub using the strimmer head, I
have
ordered a brush cutting blade as back up in case I meet any heavy gorse
material, it purs like a kitten in idle and roars like a lion when its
cranked up, I like it so much that I am almost tempted to go out right now
at 12.45 am to give it a little run but my neighbours might go ballistic.

I probably bought the wrong one, the head I ordered has 4 points, is that
the right head for heavy material? The bloke in the shop said the head
covers all types of material that I am likely to meet, theres also a head
with 3 points and one almost like a circular saw blade which I assume is
for
heavy bramble type tree material.

Hi Chris,

My brush cutter blade has three points. I am not sure how a four pointed one
will differ in performance but I suspect that cutting the big stuff may be a
little harder as there is less gap between the points. If you move the blade
into small trees slowly, it will try to burn its way through and quickly
damage the tip of the blade. If you chop at the tree, the blade will take
chunks out of it.

The blade needs to be a substantial one. Some of those available are little
more than bent tin. Try to make sure that it is made by Stihl to be certain
(although there are other good blades available).

The circular saw blade is the clearing saw blade that I mentioned. This is
for taking out trees up to about 6 inches diameter. I use the brush cutter
blade for everything unless needing to cut close to something that I do not
wish to damage (e.g. stock fences, trees I wish to keep, etc) or which might
damage the blade (e.g. stone walls).

The blade on this machine runs anti-clockwise as seen from above. When
cutting things that might throw off big bits (such as small diameter tree
stumps), try cutting from left to right. This will throw the bits away from
you. Otherwise, invest in some sort of leg shield. :-) A full face visor is
also advisable, particularly when working near animal excrement.:-)

I know the enjoyment you are having with it. I started off with a "normal"
brush cutter and this was hard work. I then took a forestry course at a
local agricultural college and was introduced to the Stihl. I bought one
myself and it is now one of my most important machines.

Regards

Howard Neil