I have a DR Field and Brush mower i've had for about three years and it works great for clearing brush. If i remember it will cut up to at least an inch diameter maybe more. Check out DRpowerequipment.com

A high quality lightweight brush cutter will do the vertical cutting. Brush cutters look like string trimmers but have metal blades of various configurations for cutting heavy stalks of vines, small trees, and various types of brush. I have trails too and understand your problem. Round-up type herbicide in a pump sprayer may be needed for larger areas.

I wish someone would post a here ya go link to the perfect product- but I don't know of any for small equipment. Of course, for tractors they have articulating flail mowers that do that. I think that may be a worthwhile project. I was gifted a sturdy old garden tractor with a front PTO that might turn into a vertical mower for my lanes in woods. Or buy a bunch of orange toys....

Advertising Blackberries for $15 a gallon today so might want to think twice about cutting them. I understand that you just want to trim vertically to protect your pathways.

Walt Conner

Thanks for the ideas. The power company trimmed back the line of trees on our property with a helicopter that used some sort of vertical blades, I figured that there may be something (not airborne!) which may work for the trails. Oh well. :)

I never knew that brush mowers existed, and that may be the best option. The DR looks good (thanks for the suggestion). We have a string trimmer w/ a blade, but it's quite heavy and there is almost a mile of trails to cut.

Walt, I hear you about picking those blackberries! I've been doing just that, and once the trails are cut back I will actually be able to access even more of them (pie, pie, pie!!!).

Thanks again for the input, everyone.

A farm tractor and old sickle bar mower works best one type work one want you want one with belt out to bar they run lifted. I maintained 22 acres Blackberry Hedge rows this way tractor speed down row can be fast with engine speed about 1400 rpm's. I used thick piece pvc pipe to lift low canes so get into sickle teeth 1 1/2 pvc pipe vine slide right up into teeth. The sickle bar mowers are raised to angle pass straight up to transport you come up with method so be stationary position you want. You can buy used very cheap if bar bent are end pieces are bad most come in 7 ft. 9 ft. torch can cut off to 4 foot still work.

There are such things. I see them used by the county and state to maintain road right of ways all the time. Question is are you able to afford such a contraption?

http://www.wikco.com/offsetcutter.html

Our borough has a rotary cutter on a large tractor, and it is mounted on an arm that lifts it up and over the hiway guard-rails, and tilts it vertically, and it makes the roads look great!
Our State of Pennsylvania has never seen anything like that! The condition of the roadsides here is terrible. It is starting to look like those TV shows: "Life after people!"