The thing that inspired this rant is a bank. It is way too steep to mow with any kind of mower. It has got to be at least 30 degrees maybe even slightly steeper. About 100 feet long and over six feet wide for most of its length. Very uneven in parts. It grows over with thick grass and vines quickly. I really don't like mowing it with a loop handle. It is very taxing to do a swath that wide in one pass. But two passes would take a long time. Maybe my technique is bad.
Hey a newsawyer ,,
What you describe here is my office.It is a horrible nasty place,,and usually stink hot here in Aus.Add a few rocks , slippery terrain, some tough growth that requires a blade and it can be your own private hell.Vines straight up tell me your gunna get some kickback.The difficult and steep terrain tells me your gunna need your balance and grip , in this situation it is ideal to be running a clearing saw in conjunction with a well balanced harness and some quality boots, maybe even an ipod to distract you from the pain,,, LOL. Really you just want to reduce your time in such hard and tiresome situation so power and technique is always your fastest way out.This is how I would approach your situation . I would be reaching for my fs 480 or something in the in the 45 cc plus range, you want some power to get the job done fast and some dependable nylon, I would be using 3.9mm desert extrusion with a bump feed head to stay efficient, less time on those banks the better.Usually the majority of your energy is being used trying to traverse the terrain more so than the burden of a slighty heavier brushcutter,, which a good harness should compensate for.Personally I would be doing 2 sweeps both working from left to right along the bank, starting from the bottom then going back to the start and doing the top(My back seems to like this better).Once this was done I would tidy up any woody growth that remained with a shredder blade to keep the job tidy.
Hope this helps a little ,,