Hello out there in Permie-land.
My wife and I have just paid off our 9 acre plot of land outside of Corvallis OR. The property is forested with a dense understory of blackberry, false brome and then lots native plants as well. We want to eventually build two small homes and put in a garden. The site has a gravel road which allows access to most of the land. The terrain is variable, but hilly and it contains a large stream and a small stream which both run year round.
I have been using a Makita electric weed whacker with a brush blade on it to control blackberry and when I follow up by digging out the roots its pretty effective. But I have only applied this to a small area and it wears out the batteries quickly and $99 or more per battery I am loath to buy more. I acquired a dead DR brush mower a year or so ago, put a used Briggs and Stratton motor on it (which promptly blew up too) but was able to drive it around a little and confirmed that the transmission seems to function and the blade turns.
My question is, is it worth buying a new motor or should I consider an alternative option for knocking back the blackberries.
Goats are not an option as well don't live on site yet and there are at least three cougars which frequent the place.
The land is pretty hilly as well, so there are probably some places where the brush mower will be unsafe to operate but that can be accessed with the makita or a machete.
Cheers,
Jon
