Best $17 yard tool - Bolo Machete

[LWJ]

Not sure what rock I have been living under, but I just discovered the Tramotina Bolo Machete. I have a nasty yard with blackberries, ivy, and holly that needs constant attention. I have had a no-name machete for years and assumed they were all similar. Somehow I got wind of Tramotina from Brazil. Bought the Bolo as I thought it would be a nice size to clean up Dirtbike trails. Sharpened that sucker up, sanded the handle a touch and WOW! I hacked up a ton of holly just now - including the Mothership that was 3" in diameter.

Thought you all might want a heads up on a cheap and stupidly effective tool.

[sc_rufctr]

Note the shape of the blade on the end... The extra metal equals more weight.

I've carried and used a similar one when I was in the Aust Army. (There was a focus on jungle warfare at the time)

Old School but effective.

[masraum]

Cool! When we went to the Amazon in Brazil, the guys on our last day when we were in a market in a city told us about the well loved local machetes. I have no idea if they were Tramotina or not. At the time, I had no need, so skipped it. I kind of wish I had purchased one.

Now that I've got property, I've gone old school. I've got a ditch blade which I don't much care for. I've also got a bush/brush axe that I cleaned up and hung on a new handle that I haven't tried out yet. And I've got a billhook and slasher from England. I need to put both on new handles.
bank/ditch blade

bush/brush axe (regular 3' axe handle)

Billhook

slasher

[masraum]

I wonder how the Tramotina would compare to something from Fiskars.

[LWJ]

Funny, I read a review that was very slanted away from Fiskers and toward the Tramotina.

Question for Steve above. Tell me about these prehistoric bush cutters?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Funny, I read a review that was very slanted away from Fiskers and toward the Tramotina.

Interesting. I'd considered getting one of the fiskars items a while back, but thought I'd go for something more interesting (aka, old).

Question for Steve above. Tell me about these prehistoric bush cutters?

The bush/brush axe isn't that unusual in the US. I think it was used by forestry folks. The head is quite heavy (like an axe). I think they are designed for smaller stuff, less then 3-4" diameter.

The billhook is common in the UK and Europe (I've also seen them used in Asia). Back in the day, most villages had blacksmiths and eventually forges, and those places made billhooks. They were used by pretty much everyone with a yard for small jobs (maybe less than 2-3"). There are a bunch of different patterns that were used by folks in different areas. Some of the common uses are hedgelaying, pruning trees (vines in France and Italy), coppicing, etc.... Pretty much anything that you can imagine having to do with more sturdy woody stuff that couldn't be done with a sickle or scythe or didn't require the heft of an axe. Billhooks also often came in 5 different sizes per pattern, and some manufacturers in the UK had catalogs with well over 100 different patterns.
billhooks




slashers

[Superman]

In the Pacific Northwest, the macbete is THE primary gardening tool. Vegetation control is the challenge. Getting stuff to grow is the easy part.

[serene911]

What did you use to sharpen the blade.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Superman

In the Pacific Northwest, the macbete is THE primary gardening tool. Vegetation control is the challenge. Getting stuff to grow is the easy part.

Exactly.

~$40 on Amazon, there is this.

Grampa's Weeder has been pulling out weeds and their roots for over a hundred years! This ingeniously designed weed removal tool was invented in 1913 in Seattle, Washington and people living in the Great Northwest quickly made it the MUST-HAVE weed puller for getting rid of weeds quickly and easily. Production of the stand-up weeder stopped in 1941 so that all available metal could be put towards the war effort and unfortunately, once the war ended, manufacturing of this wonderful weed removal tool never resumed.

-

This all changed in 1999 when my husband Greg found my mother's strange looking garden tool in her garage. Once he figured out what it was and how it worked, he was hooked! The next thing we knew, Grampa's Gardenware Co. was born ....

[LWJ]

Serene- if you were asking me? A file. About 10 incher. Just added a nice edge. I am impressed.

[serene911]

Thanks !

[greglepore]

Be careful with those billhooks, easy to cut yourself as they're so short.

[GH85Carrera]

A blade is certainly one way to get through foliage. I have a battery operated hedge clipper that eats a nice flat cut through most things up to a 3/8 inch with ease.

We did have two really bushy bushes that had to be trimmed. My master gardener bought them as cute little plants and they grew huge. Finally se decided to remove them, or more accurately, have me remove them. That was almost like removing bamboo, only it did not keep coming up from roots.

We have no hedges or similar plants now. Just the plants the master gardener likes. She points at a spot on the ground and and grunts for me to dig a hole. I just ask how big. It is just less area for me to mow.

[jyl]

Scary. Isn't that why we have the .45 cal?