Putting a CIRCULAR saw blade on a TRIMMER 

That looks super sketchy. I'm going to try it tomorrow.

I read the comments about all the bad things that can happen doing this. I looked at brush blade kits for my trimmer and found they were expensive and I wasn't sure I'd be that much safer. I had an old 7.25 inch circular saw blade and tried that. It was a plain metal blade so no issues with carbide teeth falling off. It was rated for 7500 rpm. My trimmer output 10,000 rpm with no string and about 7500 rpm with the string head loaded. Also I didn't run the trimmer at max. rpm. I experienced kick back running the trimmer left to right against thick trunks so I avoided that. Cutting right to left I was able to take down up to 3" trunks easily. This worked really well for honey suckle bushes, brambles, etc. Much easier than my previous method of using a chainsaw. Thanks for putting this out there.

When the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse starts, I'm converting my trimmer to this in short order.

Don't Do This ... I owned a mower shop over 40+ years. Standard circular saw blades are made to run at about 3,500 RPMS ... the Echo (sold hundredds of them) turns up on the PTO end upwards of 9,000+ RPMS ... a circular saw blade, especially those with carbide cutters WILL SLING ITSELF APART. One customer tried this and killed his helper in the late 1980's ... bottom line let the RU-vid fools have the blade come apart at ruin his health ... not yours.

Thank you. You just answered my question. I have several circular saw blades that I don't use, and don't want to spend more money on a "brush cutter" blade. So I am now going to try using my circular saw blades on my Echo trimmer!

I need to put something like this together for the kids to play with while unsupervised.

I put this kit on my Echo. But I used a light-weight circular saw blade specifically designed for this purpose. It works great!

Glad to find this information. The plastic brush flails that come with the cordless Ryobi string trimmer are useless, so I'm working out how to fit a circular saw blade on the edger that came with it. Haven't yet gotten the blade to stay centered so I can't use it, for fear of destroying the bearings.

also if you remove the seat belts and air bags from your vehicle the weight saving will give you improved miles per gallon.

Well done . Thanks a lot I’ll try that very soon and follow all your instructions. Very helpful.

I did this with my Stihl a few years back (still do, pun intended 😜). Used an old dewalt 10” and festool 7 1/4” blade at different times. Works brilliantly for bamboo but because there’s more teeth, it can bog down on thick cuts, as you experienced too. You need to watch for kick back as you also showed happening. The Stihl doesn’t use a cotter pin though as the thread is reversed so that the spinning action will tighten the bolt. Thanks for the video.

While living 33 years in the high desert of central Nevada I ran 10 inch saw blades on my trimmer to keep the sage brush under control. Never had a problem, but you had to watch for any type of kick out of the blade every now and then..

Happy to use a circular saw blade in a very dodgy practice that could cause shrapnel from too high a rpm, or even cutting off a limb, but makes sure to use earplugs incase his hearing is damaged. Got to love this.

I use dedicated brushcutter blade for this. More convenient and with no doubt SAFER option. You can sharpen it and even bend align teeth on the spot in a minute! Mine is husqvarna scarlett, but I'm pretty sure there is same ones from other brands incl. echo too. So far I have managed to seriously damage only one of them by stucking in larger tree (it had a small crack near one of teeth)

I have cleared brush and grass with this on a large lot twice a year. Took me a week each time. I used the larger blade with 40 or 42 teeth. My grasscutter has a big yoke style handle. That helped imensly with the kickback. And it does. I cut brush as thick as my arm. I never had an accident and I was always by myself. You want to be very careful and never forget that with a sawblade on that end it's a very dangerous tool.

I have a Homelite st-200 . It is a string trimmer with a blower attachments and an includes guard for the 9" circular saw blade. It wiIl cut down 3-1/2"+ trees. I use the saw blade for saplings and triarc blade for big weeds and small trees. It's 30 years old and I still use it lots.

I can give you a suggestion on using a saw blade. I have been experimenting with all sorts of setups for years. First, don’t use a grass trimmer, use an edger. You take a standard edger blade and weld two saw blade teeth on each end of the edger blade. You get more ripping action with that setup. I purchased a commercial Echo edger with a metal guard. I cut all kinds of surface roots in the ground. Really works great. I have been doing this for years. Thanks.

When I worked clearing/brushing trails around the Condon District, MT we had brush saws that were purpose made for cutting brush/saplings somewhat similar in build. But again, they were specifically designed for the purpose.

Have used 10 inch blades before on week whackers, but they were plywood blades. I ground off every other tooth so it wouldn't "Load-Up" when cutting green wood. Cuts through 2-1/4" green saplings like butter, but it takes longer (and it's a LOT safer, too!).

I did the same thing with the same kit and the same trimmer. After about a year I removed the guard, it’s gets caught up a lot. I tried bigger blades, but the trimmer lacks power for that and if you use a bigger trimmer the weight becomes an issue. This thing works great. We have a plethora of azaleas on the property and they spread like mad. This tool beats everything I have tries when it comes to cleaning them up for the mowers to get close. It’s fun too.

One consideration you didn't mention was a trimmer can reach speeds of 7,000 rpm's which exceeds the recommended rotational speed of that carbide blade and promote the carbide cutters to fly off.

Very nice. I would suggest integrating something to prevent the end from kicking which can lead to an injury. Also, suggest not using carbide tipped blade since carbide is brittle and can chip. You can always hand file plain steel blades.

Done this for 40 years. Cleared 4 acres of brush and poplars on my farm. 8 dollar blade from Lumber yard cheep and affective

I've done this for over two decades with the Echo 410U brush cutter. I take off the blade guard too which makes the job easier and I think safer. I've cut trees up to 6" down with it. I've cut 1000's of saplings down to the ground. Some of the carbide tips have come off so be aware. I only know this from looking at the blades after using them awhile. I've never had one hit me.

In England we use these things called 'Chainsaws' for cutting down trees and pruning. You want to try one, they are much better than what you are doing there and don't ping off into the stratosphere slicing limbs as they go.

Thanks so much,i was wondering if this would work,going to use this also now

Hi I have a STIHL FS-40 string weed 'whacker'. Took a 5/8 deep socket (the drive nut, on the trimmer, is this size) and ground down the socket, on that nut end, so as not to bind with housing mount of the wacker drive) . Then, centred an old 7 1/4 inch blade onto the other end, welded 'er up. Belt sanded it down some, and used a spacer nut, and washer, then screwed nut on drive threads. Cuts like a damn, just gotta balance it a bit more. Next project, is maybe a 10 inch blade, same idea. BE SURE the socket fits snugly on the drive-end.

It'll work. Japan has the exact setup you're referring to (trimmer with rotary saw blade) hanging in hardware stores (Makeman). It's an amazing general purpose tool for weeds, bushes, tree trimming, sapling removal, oooh and extreme speed amputations. If this is your trade, it may be worthwhile to see what other countries are using. For instance, they wear jackets in the hot humid summer. The jackets are equipped with fans to keep them cool. Japan has other tools you might find useful, but this is only one country of many. Perhaps look around a bit.

As a landscaper with my own small business.. I can tell you from personal experience that this is one of the dumbest things you can do. I used that chainsaw chain for the Stihl weed eater head replacement and I had to leave a customers yard half way done because I needed some stitches

I would suggest using a 2620 and a 10 inch plywood blade it works very well for clearing saplings up to about 4 inch

Thanks for a good vid. Only thing I can think of not to use a carbide tipped blade. Since you are moving the blade around stuff, like small rocks you could fling off one of the tips at a very high speed. Other that that, cheap way to go.

I have a Ryobi 40V trimmer with a brush cutter attachment. I take the brush cutter blade off and put on an 8" demolition circular saw blade. I had to use a grinder to grind away some of the metal guard for the brush cutter head, but that was easy. Or you can just use a 7-1/4" blade and you won't have to grind anything. I'm able to use it to make quick work of cutting off small branches and clearing brush right at the level of the ground. I'm also able to cut larger branches as long as I cut around the branch at the bottom and then around the top and sides. Usually the weight of the branch will cause it to crack off at some point. It's a lot easier than using a chainsaw, since I can reach over my head without using a ladder and I can stand to the side away from the branches I'm cutting. I can chop off 2 inch branches in a second or two, so trimming trees is super easy.

Keep up the good work. And thanks a bunch

I bought a blade built for this purpose. It absolutely destroyed the clutch in my Troybilt. I'm talking shredded springs, warped "pressure plate", fragged one of the actual clutches.

6:00 You might, consider rotating the guard, about 3 inches more clockwise; this will help you gain CONTROL of the saw. Having it 'pull toward you '' allows for ALOT BETTER CONTROL. HAVE the branches, on the right side, as blade is controlled by your body weight.

My dad mentioned this idea and got me curious. Thanks for the clarification.

Been doing this for years. Old, dull circular saw blades make great brush cutters on the weed whacker. I still have all my extremities. Fingers, toes, wrists and ankles still all intact. Taking the guard off gives a deeper cutting capacity, but more dangerous. Use your own judgment. Be safe. Ill be trying the 10 inch blade off my table saw when it gets to dull for woodworking. If you’re an idiot, don’t do this. You might hurt yourself.

I used one a long time ago, it was made for cutting brush and had a much bigger blade, I told everybody on my crew to stay at least 20 feet or more away from me when I was using it, because if it hit something and kicked out, they could end up a foot shorter in a hurry.

I tried this today before seeing the video, used it to cut down a bunch a blackberry brambles and tall milkweed… works like a champ. And it does work on edging too!!

This attachment has been around for many years. Often used by garden maintenance. Make sure its a straight shaft. Great for pruning shrubs.

This works really well i use a stihl fs 85 brush cutter with a 9 inch tunkstin tip saw blade note you have to file out the inner hole about .5 mm to make it fitt nice but works way better on tee tree thick bush it does flick a lot of shit out i wear chain saw chaps and glasses never had a blade brake and done it for years .

I been using saw blades for 10yrs. They work just as good on my 27cc-36cc commercial weedwhackers. Quick & easy on brush work

A 12 inch miter saw blade works great. Clears a pretty big area in one pass since its so big and you can get them with carbide teeth and a big range in the amount of teeth you can get. They already have the perfect arbor for most stihl trimmers too.

As a kid I rented a brush cleare, which is a trimmer with a saw blade... works great!!

Been doing this for a long time. When you have miles of fencing you have to trim it makes it a lot faster just by not having to refill the spool all the time.

Cutting is more productive when the material is held steady. Also, you would be better off using a chain saw. Worth the investment.

I did that in the late 80’s. It works awesome.

I did this to my Ryobi 40volt trimmer. My teeth are much closer and I use a 6inch handheld chainsaw to gut any thing over 2 inches, but my Ryobi whacks right through smaller trees, takes down brush like it's nothing. Way better then those 3 bladed brush blades. Adding my own upgrade (just a blade) saved me over $100 and still getting a 3 blade brush cutter.

its great for brush cutting and cutting back shrubs or small bushes

Yeah it works. I have one that I use to cut brush and small trees. Also handy to take out “ jabber bushes” Just be careful of kick back!

Nice demo. That Echo arbor nut is reverse thread just fyi for anyone trying this.

Something I wondered about. Now I know. Thanks.

I used 9 3/4 inch blade on mine and used a cup spacer on the bottom of the blade to keep it clear of the ground . Get to full revs before starting the cut and ease back when the revs start to drop .

I would worry the weed eater motor is spinning faster than what the manufacture recommends. The blade could fail causing a lot of damage and or injuries.

did this back in 2015, works great on Brush but you have to have a lower grip to prevent the trimmer from swinging way out

All the cutting power of a circular saw with none of the control.

I have been using this trick for over 15 years. Much cheaper than bush blades.Also metal cutoff blades work good for cutting metal fence or hawg wire. Just be careful about kickback.And. wood chips flying.

I have a DeWalt string trimmer. I removed the string trimmer head in order to put on a saw blade, but the saw blade hole is way bigger than the string trimmer threaded shaft. I can't find an adapter

The teeth on the circular saw blade have quite a bit more rake than those on the Echo blade. (The "rake" is the amount of hook on the teeth.) More rake means that the blade will grab & pull more. This doesn't mean that it's unusable, just that it will be harder to control. This can be seen in the video. If you're using a non-carbide circular saw blade the teeth can be re-ground to have less rake, but it might not be worth the trouble.

I have a cordless strimmer that takes blades with 10 millimetre hole, do i require a flange put on first with other parts ive got to put 20 millimetre hole blade on ?

You remind me of Richard Karn. A compliment. He's cool, good vid!

Hi, is there a way to lock the trigger switch in the "On" position so I don't have to keep it pushed in with my hand while I operate the trimmer?

Very nice. Can you use this for edging lawns? I am tired of changing trimmer cords

Good work

I have been doing this for 30 years and love it I have cut small trees 3inch diameter,

think we just found the first man in history that reads the instructions

I’ve been using saw blades on my Stihl weed eater for years now. Also using saw blades on my Dewalt Flex volt power head and it works great.

Can this be used on a Greenworks cordless trimmer?

What's best weedeater to use?? Echo?? I have lots of brush.

Stihl do a range of blades now, some with chisel teeth and some carbide tipped ones. I saw a video before of a guy using one of them chisel tooth ones and it went through what looked like a 3 or 4 inch branch in a fraction of a second without kicking back at all. I have a Kawasaki strimmer but I only buy Stihl stuff and it fits. My bolt doesn't have a hole for a cotter pin and I have had a blade go loose on me, but it's never come off, it just stops turning. I guess you don't have to buy Echo stuff just for an Echo strimmer as long as it fits. It might be that a normal mitre saw blade might shatter if it got forced sideways in a cut, I don't know. I got the Stihl 8 tooth blade, but only use it for tall grass and thick weeds, but it does go blunt after a while. I also got the scratcher blade with lots of small teeth, which is handy, but does jam and kickback on anything thicker then a finger, but it's gone really blunt now after cutting down a few blackthorn (prunus spinosa) suckers which are really hard wood and grow like weeds here in the UK.

imagine throwing this tool into a gladiator fight in the colosseum

Stihl makes so-called chisel-tooth blade which I think has bigger diameter than the Diablo blade. I used the Stihl blade recently to clear dried reynoutria (up to 4m in height, 1.5 inch diameter) and it worked very well. It also cut a 2 inch diameter tree. I accidentally cut into a rock too but it did not seem to dull the blade but also not violently break off shards of rock. I think that saw-style blades are safer than 3 and 4-bladed disks. Biggest risk is kickback so never use it on device without straps (so it kicks it safely around you!) and make sure nobody else is too close when cutting.

Running saw blade in normal direction will cause teeth to catch, jerking violently on whatever weeds blade ensnares. The blade turned around and run backwards, sharpened so as to cut from this direction, works like little shark's teeth knives. Running blade backwards from normal direction, does not catch weeds in gullet of blade, but thrusts weeds away as they're cut. Sling blades attached onto the saw (back further away from saw's cutting edge), works wonders cutting smaller weeds, while reserving saw blade's cutting teeth for tough wood-type cutting. Better than saw blade, is "chainsaw teeth" brush/grass blade, which does good with weeds, grass, saplings as well. Project farm has video comparing blades.

Looks lethal to me, I certainly will not try this. If you do don't wear flip flops.

Do it all the time, works great on heavy brush and small trees.

The diablo is carbide tooth blade and tips will break off easy when you wobble around during cut I think this should scare you.

This idea is one of the scariest ideas I have heard so far. Gives me the Willie's just thinking about it. The injuries if it failed in any way. Eeeek

A cotter pint is made with soft weak metal. If it fails the rotating circular blade may come off flying and cut anything in its path. No thanks. I will stick with the nylon wire. I like my legs.

In the late 70’s I used a blue homelite chainsaw converted with a brush blade. It used a circular saw blade. Nothings new!

Circular saw blades are Not rated at as high an RPM or as high of an impact as the brush cutter blade made for the trimmer. It will fit, but not really safe. Saw blade can fracture and fly apart. I have the brush cutter on my Echo and it does everything it is suppose to do.

Kids and pets will be in awe, watching this i.d.yacht work.

MAKE sure, whatever number of teeth on your blade, THAT ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST 3 TEETH, BITING INTO WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE SAWED. THIS APPLIES TO ALL SAWS.....ANY FORM, SIZE AND TYPE ! examples: 24 teeth, for large branches, trees. 32 for smaller stuff, and smaller ones, for even just large weeds. This makes sure, that the teeth, don't '' lock / grab and hold '' the item, being sawed.

You can mount an 8 or 9in circular saw blade. It clears the guard on mine easily. Echo's blades are too expensive and do not stay sharp.

New safety expert non-certified.

Stihl by example makes a brush blade specifically for this purpose. And the teeth are designed for the job at hand. Most circ saw blades are not.

7.10.22 Question: Does anybody happen to know if this saw blade idea will work on an electric 56v EGO ST1502LB string trimmer?

I’ve been doing this for 20 years and it is sketchy however it’s easier and safer in my opinion to use smaller battery power tool blade arbor is real close to right size use a couple of heavy fender washers and your ready to go

Dis is amazing.

I haven’t read all the comments but would like to say that if that blade shatters I wouldn’t like to be in the vicinity. Not being negative, just super cautious, take care ppl ✌️🌻

Stihl makes about three different types of brush blades for their timmers. Just get the right tool. The saw blade they make is sharpened with the same round file you use for your saw.

Heck ya! Great idea. I want to put a circular saw blade on my push mower. I wonder if it will work on brush?

This looks like a visit to the emergency room. There is a better option I’m sure

Been doing that for 40 years, never used a guard on a weedeater with string or blade. The sweet spot to avoid kickback is 9 to 12 and 3 to 6 also guard off gives you more blade width and better control and visibility, thick boots, long pants and eye protection, gloves help also for the occasional flying branch. also watch cutting 2" or bigger already cut branches they can fly back at you. Cut all briars, vines and rose bushes with the new blade first.

I would not use a small blade on saplings... The best (slow) method is the chain-n-tractor complete removal method, but a quick way is to use a Stihl electric chainsaw. (pull or cut - you have the same disposal issue) I run two Stihl trimmers: the one related to your posting has a 10" x 40-tooth blade. I have removed the guard. This blade dispenses with tall grasses, woody weeds, etc. I used all sorts of string trimmers on a 400' frontage drainage ditch over the 35yrs I have had this place - the blade works best. There is one extra trick when standing atop the ditch: adding a Darwin's Grip. Without bending more than my knees, I can sweep this blade like a scythe and flip a glob of weeds up onto the bank in one motion. Maybe one out of 8 times I have to stop and pull out a glob ...but, this combo is the best! At 79 I have had plenty of practice. Cheers. Jim

Thank you for good review. Could you do review on the types of weed eaters to which the blades can be attached? Specify the weed eaters and the blades.

Does anyone know what nut to use besides the Echo left hand nut? I bought a 10x1.25 and that doesn’t fit. I’ve lost both of my nuts out of my two kits.

My brother does this although he runs the blade backwards for no kickback seemed to work fine

Is the nut left hand thread?

You can buy them ( made for the brush cutters ) I have one on my Stihl it's great :) NOT a standard circular saw blade tho..

Great idea for the homeowner who has too many toes.