I need a 'round the yard machete

fast14riot

fast14riot

Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
8,721
Well, as the title says, I need a machete for yard work. Mostly light pruning and trimming, lots of overhead work, nothing more that 3/4" to 1" soft branches. Must maintain an edge reasonably well, I don't care how hard it is to sharpen, I can deal with it. Will not see any camp or trail time, I have dedicated tools for that.

What do you guys think?


-Xander
 
I am still a bit new here (the forum) but I just ordered a Himalayan Imports Khukuri (the 15 inch Ang Khola) and it looks like just what the doctor ordered for doing things like you want to do around the property.
 
ESEE Lite Machete holds a edge very good and is the best machete on the market in my opinion for the best price!

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if you can sharpen it properly and only need to get thru 1 inch branches, id imagine even a 6 dollar walmart machette would be fine.
 
Condor Eco-Survivor.
Very light and thin. Easy to swing overhead. Excellent for grasses and light vegetation cutting. Not for heavy chopping.
I think it would be good for your specified uses.
 
Woodmans pal by Pro tool industries. the best machete i have ever owned and the last i will ever need. they give a very nice discount if you order in bulk. i organized a group buy on a forum in 2009. we ordered roughly 50 machetes. they gave us the deluxe machete with treated leather sheath for $90. very good people there.

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18" Tramontina would do well. Not much reach, but you also might look at the Condor Bush Knife. It's a favorite of mine and works wonderfully for pruning and trimming work as it's based off of European billhooks which were used for similar tasks. Rides well on the hip, too. About how much reach do you think you need?
 
Tram, condor eco (about the same as the esee light machete, but without the cool skull logo and the really good micarta handle. Allot cheaper though and basically the same blade.), condor el salvador, mora 333.....all really good bang for the buck and all can be gotten from 42 blades.

I picked up that mora insulation knife, turned into light machete the 333, recently from 42 blades and it is one awesome light machete. I used to grab one of my cheapo, but good trams for most tasks, now I am grabbing the mora. Might be too short for your needs though? How much reach do you need?
 
For those size limbs, even a 12" Ontario Cutlass would do, once sharp. If you're talking about needing reach from the ground, then of course you'll need something longer. The Ontario is 1/8" thick, and the weight forward design makes it a great chopper. 42Blades does an upgraded version, convexed edge, reshaped handles, and a sheath, it's the best value/price/deal you'll find for one. I think the Ontario 1095 holds the edge better than Imacasa/Condor's 1075. The heavy duty Ontario's can be convexed in a way that they will take less damage, in my experience.
The 18" Ontario @ 1/8" is a bit heavy, it's a good machete, but maybe overkill. Ontario does offer an economy line, it's thinner stock 1095.
The ESEE Lite machete's handle is a bit large, IMO, but made well,
Condors are very sharp out of the box.
Fiddleback's have excellent handles, and sharp edges.

It's the Tramontinas and Ontario's that have no edge to them, and that's an issue for some. I don't have a belt sander, so I've modified two Ontario's by hand, files and sand paper. It's a good lesson to do so, but in the future I want a faster method.
 
The ESEE handle is worth the extra cash.
But you can make a $6 Tramontina handle durn nice with a little work.
And the Tram is a workhorse. One of the best values out there.

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I do that sort of stuff with my Condor Bolo. It's a good chopper, but it also does great at slashing up the thinner things.
 
A 28" Tramontina would be ideal for yardwork and should be around 10 bucks. While they are inexspensive they have a very desireable, thin, blade profile and are made of carbon steel that will take an incredibly sharp edge.
 
For light trimming and grasses a thin machete might be best. 1/8" stock will be a little heavy to repeatedly(like working for the day) swing quickly, while 1/16" or thinner will cut like a laser. Anything over 3/16" will be a good chopper but will perform poorly when doing the tasks you mention. For over head work, lighter is better until the branches get so thick that the blade will not cut it in one pass. Most machetes are made of simple carbon steels, stainless steel is also available and the smaller versions can also be used like a big trail knife, the blade being easier to keep clean than simple carbon steels. Stainless can be hard to sharpen(I know this is not a point of contention with you) but that may be an acceptable trade off when you consider the many positive attributes of stainless steels. Thin, light and correctly convexed(harder to sharpen but cuts better than any other machete grind), such a machete is a truly useful multi purpose tool.

Ross



_______________________

Aki Blades
custom machetes
http://www.akiblades.com
 
Yup! thinner will be better for overhead applications--even in weight-forward designs. Better to be exerting a little more effort to swing the tool than spend more energy holding the darn thing up.

I remember reading a study on why virtual reality hadn't taken off as a medium and the reason was because there's nothing to brace your body on so people got tired out quickly. In daily life we use objects for support against gravity much more frequently than you think, and as soon as you start trying to hold your arm out unsupported you start feeling it pretty quickly. As an experiment, try holding both arms straight out in front of you, zombie style. Now see how long you can hold them there. I guarantee it won't be for as long as you think!
 
Although I'm no Walmart fan , the suggestion to get a $6 Walmart or some other store's cheap machete is what I would do in your situation . Out on the trail somewhere having a knife fail on you can ruin or even indanger an otherwise good time . However in your back yard if the knife brakes , you just go get another $6 one and carry on . No need to spend much on a knife for around the yard if it's design makes it realitivly strong as in the full tang , scales on either side machete .


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HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS !
 
Mike-The-Knife said:
Although I'm no Walmart fan , the suggestion to get a $6 Walmart or some other store's cheap machete is what I would do in your situation . Out on the trail somewhere having a knife fail on you can ruin or even indanger an otherwise good time . However in your back yard if the knife brakes , you just go get another $6 one and carry on . No need to spend much on a knife for around the yard if it's design makes it realitivly strong as in the full tang , scales on either side machete .


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HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS !
Click to expand...


I absolutely disagree with the suggestion of using the Wal*Mart machete. Biggest waste of money EVER in my opinon. :o For the same money you can get yourself a stock Tramontina that is vastly superior in quality, even if it needs a little elbow grease out of the box. For not a lot more you can get one that's brought up to par and the performance is easily ten times that of the Wal*Mart one. That particular machete has done more to turn people off to the tool than any other machete on the market. Stories of the blades bending into S shapes from striking light brush abound.

If the Wal*Mart machete works for you that's all well and good and I mean no disrespect, but I find them downright repulsive--especially when you can get true long-lasting quality for so little extra.
 
I agree with 42Blades on the Wal-Mart machete. It's just a machete-shaped object, the MSO just happens to look like a machete. Just like their guitars, back around the other toys, just look like guitars, GSO's.
I've seen machete's at local hardware stores that have to be better. Also, any camping/army surplus/hunting and fishing stores will have something better than WM.
Unfortunatly, what I see at big sporting good stores are the SOG's and the Gerbers. IMO, they are overpriced and designed by people with marketing degrees, or worse, Bear Grylls.
Even if you don't think you need a $20+ machete, it will last the rest of your life, and pay for itself. Meaning it will outlast all of the cheapest MSO's out there. Just get a decent full tang carbon steel machete.
 
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