Thread: Weedwakka Bruch Cutter Blade

What type of shaft does your 'un have?

Forgive me if you already know all this, but just to eliminate any confusion:

Rule of thumb: if it's a bent-shaft unit it's a grass-cutter. If it's a straight shaft, with g/box on the end, then it's probably a brushcutter.

Apart from HP differences, a brushcutter is also generally more robust at the working end and is designed to take the mechanical loading from blades, etc.

A grasscutter, on the other hand, isn't designed for this... and even if you can simply fit a blade to it at best you'd still be shortening the life of the machine. At worst it'll let go and you'll be lucky if it's only your pants that end up soiled.

(Mind you, I have seen bent-shaft brushcutters and straight shaft grass-trimmers. The first are generally very low quality while the latter are usually good quality.)


Assuming it is a brushcutter, well... the HP matters. It'd probably work fine, so long as you're not in a hurry and take smaller bites to prevent stalling the head. But the same machine would very possibly cut just as fast with it's original head which makes buying the new 'un pointless.

I guess I'm saying that "it depends." Which still doesn't really answer your question, does it?

Above is the conventional wisdom. In practise it's slightly more complicated. If you are just cutting grass the blade can actually load the machine less than a line. The problem arises when you hit something solid. Even a stick. A bent shaft trimmer has basically a heavy duty tacho cable in it and they can break as mentioned above.

The other problem is what you are trying to do. I had a complete collection of blades and I still have a couple but I've not used them in years. The thing with lines is apart from not trying to cut through bricks and tree trunks they also throw the grass aside so you can see what's going on. Blades can slice through the grass and leave it in place so you really don't know where you are.

Different people have different preferences but do consider before you spend $$.

The renegade machines are good enough but like everything they make different models for different purposes.

I only use my tap to feed heads now and the last some years twisted pair nylon line bought in a big spindle off ebay. Soak the line occasionally to hydrate it and you will have less breakages.

2c

There used to be two weedwacka versions, the all metal version you linked to, and another that uses replaceable plastic tip blades instead of the metal tip blades in your link. Primary difference is the plastic tipped unit is less destructive in situations where you need to cut along right up to an edge, the metal tips can cut into thin sheet metal, concrete blocks/pavers etc. Alternatively, the metal tips are better for cutting thin brush etc because the tips a heavier, more durable and have more inertia to shear through obstacles. I have used both with a 27cc (nominally 0.75KW/1HP) Stihl RC 55 brushcutter and a variety of material. I tend to prefer a manual feed line head for most grass materials though as I run without the guard and use quite a long line (abt 350mm tip radius and 3mm dia line) , which leaves the cut material much further away from the hub, so it is less prone to get caught and wrapped around the hub. I do a mix of regular edges and occasional slashing of long material around wire fences trees and other obstacles, where I regularly try to mow to within 60mm of the obstacles then trim every few months.
The wacka heads can definitely run faster than the long line head as the line length loads the machine more, and I have no issue with them for materials that they are for.

I recently purchased a whipper snipper and on second use the auto line feed failed[not a cheap one a sthil], I had a bag full of weedwacker blades and couldn't remember where i purchased the worn out weedwacker from, thank you for informing me.

I've used all of the various gadgets mentioned in this thread over the past 15 years or, on both a 2-stroke (Stihl) and 4-stroke (Honda) straight-shaft brushcutter. We're on acreage, so use ranges from grass cutting through to tougher things like tussock grass, bracken, blackberry out in the paddocks.

IMHO, for normal lawn/around the house trimming the normal bump feed head does the job just fine. However, the Stihl version is pretty crap - when mine failed after minimal use, the guy at our local Stihl distributor basically admitted this and put me onto a SpeedFeed head instead (Google it). Easier to load with line, works properly without fail, and comes with adapters to suit most threads found on brushcutter heads.

For tougher customers like tussock grass, my go to is the metal WeedWacka. Does a better job than line, lasts a long time, no comparison. I've actually worn out two of these over a period of many years and heavy use, but you can touch them up by filing the cutting edges square again if they get rounded over (like a mower blade).

I have tried the WeedWacka with replaceable plastic blades (purchased when our local outlet couldn't get stock of the metal version), and wouldn't go there again. The plastic blades get chewed up fast if they hit the ground or any rocks, while the metal ones just throw off a few sparks and keep going.....

My Honda 4-stroke brushcutter has been fitted with the carby from the next model up to give it more ooomph, but the 2-stroke Stihl was definitely better when using a WeedWacka - doesn't bog down so much when chewing through something thick. I'd agree with the comments re. straight shaft vs. bent shaft; the former is definitely preferred for heavy work.

Thanks for the advice guys.
I got one, my brushcutter runs it no problems and it works great.
A word of advice to anyone considering such a blade - stay the hell away from copper pipes.