I feel your pain. On the cooler days I'm starting to clear an old driveway at the ridge w/ heavy grass & blackberries aplenty. I have both a blackberry blade and 1 that, rather being round- has a clover shape. They have their shortcomings. The best I have used for just grass/ weeds etc. was the fixed head where you put in a length or two of .130? line. My guess is that a metal woven cable would fray and get dangerous, but I have not tried it. These things need a flail mower attachment...

The main thing I'm concerned about are any well known serious dangers in using a metal/wire with the brush cutter.

metal wire will wear out quickly. the flexing back and forth will break it.

i use the x or t shaped line and both work MUCH better than regular string.

I can't imagine why a metal saw type blade would not cut through almost anything. I have an old ECHO string trimmer with a saw blade attachment as an option. It simply saws through most anything. It even "rings" like a power saw blade while it is slowing down after a cut. I just have to be careful not to push it too hard or fast where it will "Kick" off what it is cutting. They usually recommend "Handle Bars" for better control over it kicking out of control. Charles Ranheim

I tend to agree with charles, if the saw blade can't cut it, then a brush hog or chain saw maybe in order????????

"O" Metal wire spinning about 3 grand don't give me a warm fuzzy. My feets and legs don't like foreign objects sticking out of them. meaning the wire has weight behind it and as mentioned above good chance it will break and fly off any which direction. if you use it just make sure there are no kids within 50 yards.

PLEASE DON'T use metal wire.

About 25 years ago we moved into a house that had been empty for several years and the yard was badly overgrown.I had a Homelight Super 2 chainsaw with a weedeater attachment on it. It was frustrating to keep replacing the line. Soooo, I got the brilliant idea to use "Heavy Duty" clothes line wire.
I was humming right along thinking this is working great. Then all of a sudden I was laying on the ground gulping for air.
To make a long story short. The wire had wrapped around a metal grade stake,the x-rays confirmed 2 broken ribs and the weedeater attachment for the chainsaw went into the trash.
That was one of the dumbest "smart" things I've done. Go on and laugh - I can now. :)

Wire is way dangerous! Even with a pair of chain saw chaps!

You could try using .105 line and letting just the tip of the line do the cutting. Line breakage at the head eyelet is usually caused by pushing the trimmer too quickly into the weeds, this causes the line to flex at it's base and break off.

You could also try using a fine tooth brush blade, not one of those 4 edged cutting disks. Use a "stomp down" approach on the weeds starting up high and going down on the brush instead of just cutting at the base.

Wear safety glasses.

Hi Eric,

I too had an "aha" moment and installed electric fence wire in a weed eater when I was a teenager. It worked well for about 40 feet and then it stopped cutting. I looked over the head and both wires had snapped off. I then noticed that one of the wires was sticking out the side if the sole of my tennis shoe. Had it gone in one inch higher, it woulda been through my foot. I went back to running plastic wire...

i watched a guy yesterday put electric fence wire in a weedeater. i told him it would nto work, but he swore it would. i even told him to give me 1 minute to go across the yard and get my line and i would give it to him to finish his work. he cranked that unit up, revved it one time and i heard the line snap and go flying. we found the wire laying 50 ft away! imagine how that could hurt you at the normal 2-3 ft at most your legs are fromteh head.

I experimented with wire in my weed wacker after the head would no longer hold the mono filament like it was suppose to. I installed 2 screws to hold the wire ends and tried 2 different types of wire I had on hand. One was a thin stainless steel wire, and the other was a stiffer steel wire, the type used in electric fences, and although they both really cut the weeds and grass with a fury both broke and didn't last more than a few minutes, my guess is that the metal is just too brittle, because it usually sheared off at the edge of the head and did not get pulled off the mounting screws. The biggest issue with wire is safety; I read this at another web site, later, after my experiments, when mono filament breaks it does not fly very far because of air resistance and it does not have any penetrating power, but a wire is a different story, it is a dangerous projectile at the speeds it would go flying off your trimmer head.

what about a metal chain design

I have no experience with this sort of thing, but please let every one know when you are going to be doing this, as safety wise it is getting quite scary.

Is your objective to cut in
tight areas where a mower will not go and mulch or cut grass as a mower? Very little blade could be exposed out of the
guard if you know the area is clear except for brush. Plus, a 2nd bar/blade could be mounted
to hold grass to be cut. Or, think abut mounting
the hedge cutting attachment on the wheels.

1. Why not use a straight
   shaft trimmer with a hard blade for trimming parallel to the ground with 1 or 2
   fixed wheels clamped to the shaft close to the head for control and weight?

2. Why not reduce a mower’s
   body to 12” with a hard blade if wheels and motor will allow?

My fs80 had a cutter that basically had 2 bicycle chains and on the end of each chain a piece of metal sharpened. Good luck at finding one on the market. the original 80's made in late 70's dont exist according to their parts lists, only the currrent 80 and all dealers around here have never seen mine. I still have it somewhere. Ill look.

People objecting to your idea i think have a point- as the wire trims i assume it is flexing and will quickly reach fatigue and break off.

I have a friend that has used vinyl coated clothesline line with a twisted galvanized wire core. He has used it for years. He pulled the center out of the tap n go feed head... cuts a piece of the wire about 20+ inches long... then ties a knot about 8 in from each end.... slides the ends into the head to leave the long ends sticking out.... cuts most anything... just feed slow to thicker vines and things.....works for him like a dream.... going to try it myself.

Take the string off the spool. Drill a hole in the spool. Get some .90 or larger

string. Cut off about 15 inches. Ty a simple overhand knot in one end and

insert the other end into the hole. The knot stays outside the spool. Wrap the

string around the spool once and slide it under itself and out of the feed slot in

the spool cover. Cut it off at the length of cut off knife on the guard. This set

up will give you much more cutting time. Don't use wire. When it breaks it

will STICK in something.

I use what I feel is similar .90 or largest strongest rough
surface plastic line.

!. Except, I have two
exit holes in the hub, allowing a second line for balance.

2. I cut sections of line long enough to tie two knots to
stay inside the hub allowing 8” out on two sides.

3. I try to be patient, use the tip of the line w/o flexing
at the hub, where it will melt from flexing.

4. I was about to trash lines for hard blade only until this
worked well w/o breaking my line after years.

Good Luck! I never
had this problem with my 70s Sears Electric vs when I went to gas in the 80s, why?

I tried a line out both sides, but, alas, my little electric motor was 2 weak to

do the job. As you say, patience and care works wonders.

Thanks

I'm so glad I found this thread.

Saved me from doing something stupid.

Thanks everybody :)