We are now on our second petrol strimmer and have endless problems with it. Is there any manual tool that gets anything like the same results on long grass, nettles etc? I realise it will be harder work, but maybe less frustrating!
Can only think of a Scythe, when I watched the old gardeners using them it looked so effortless.
i used a tool called a bill hook to clear my allotment of weeds and grass - http://www.get-digging.co.uk/tools.htm - bit like the long handled one - but not as long handled - got given it some months ago by my mum who was clearing out her shed - didnt have a use for it then - but im one of those that wouldnt fling something like that out - you never know when you will have a use for it lol - which i found.
I prefer a sickle over a strimmer anyday they are also sold on the get-digging site although i don't know what the quality is like. I find a lot of the new ones availiable are very flimsy whereas the old ones often sold as antiques on ebay are brilliant & cut through just about anything once they are sharpened. Last week I offered to clear part of one of my neighbours gardens when I saw him trying to clear chest high brambles with just a pair of secateurs it took me about an hour to clear the area with a sickle (a slope with a 50 degree inclination 120'x30') in addition to the brambles there were also a lot of young self-seeded trees the sickle went through those that were up to about 2" thick effortlessly the larger trees required a bow saw, then it took us another 3 hours too get everything moved & shredded & there were 2 of us doing that bit.
Another of my neighbours has the tail end of that slope where it is not quite so steep & better maintained generally it is bracken, grass & rosebay willow herb growing on his it only gets cut back when it is waste high (about once a month through summer) on several occasions he has made bets he can clear half the slope faster & more evenly cut with his petrol brushcutter than I can with a sickle on every occasion I have won the bet finishing before he is halfway through the only difference being that the half I cut is shorter & looks more like a lawnmower has been used on it.
That should help give you an idea what you can do with a sickle & a bit of practice.
Thanks, will look out for one on ebay, or maybe treat myself!