Safety first! Wearing gloves, long sleeves, eye protection (hard hat if felling trees) etc is recommended as with the use of power tools. Weird stuff can and will happen and you will be happy to have your gear to avoid serious injury. I am not a certified arborist and the following is my opinion based of field experience. I assume no liability for any advice given in this thread.
I have seen mention of machetes on a bunch of threads but had not located a thread dedicated to them, and I feel like they are a useful “tool in the toolbox” for anyone who has an orchard. I wouldn’t suggest using them to prune trees you want to keep or to graft (although ostensibly you COULD do either if you hone your blade). So what would you want a machete for in the orchard?
Use Cases
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Probably the most obvious - clearing and grubbing “wild” land if using power tools is not your prerogative, or if you need to lose weight and want a workout outside instead of paying for one at the gym!
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You have purchased a tree that is not what you thought it would be, and you’ve decided a healthy way to approach your frustration is chopping it down. A machete may be much more therapeutic and healthy release of energy than a chainsaw or handsaw. See above for workout. I guess you could consider this the manual labor version of what my boss calls “machine therapy” when he needs to get away from the desk to run equipment for a change of pace.
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You have a more vigorous or invasive plant on your property that needs a stern talking to.
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Your lawn mower or weedwhacker is broken or you forgot to get gas for the tank.
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Your hand pruning saw or chainsaw is stuck in a tree and you don’t have an extra to cut from the other side.
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Quickly cutting a path through an overgrown area you haven’t visited for awhile, and nature has reclaimed the area.
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Defense against a particularly aggressive cackle fruit which needs to be harvested, or other undesired orchard visiting critter that has decided you are a threat.
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Cutting open, peeling, or assistance harvesting your fruit
Choose your blade style
I have personally used a few styles of machetes. There are the straight “sword” styles, some of which have an alternate serrated edge for sawing small trees, wide straight bladed, and the “bolo” style with a thicker weighted tip. I am partial to the bolo style. They are inexpensive, simple, and I feel the thick tip of the blade provides a great “leverage” point and balance to the blade while chipping away at trees.
Choose your blade size
There are a wide variety of sizes and weights available. I prefer 14" length as a good compromise between length and weight. The longer the blade, the more weight and leverage you have, but it takes a lot more energy per swing and will wear your arm out faster. I’ve found the 14" blade at under 1 lb (about 15 ounces) is a good mix of leverage and my ability to sustainably cut without lots of breaks.
Sharpening your edge
Machetes have various uses, and sharpening your blade to accommodate those various uses is important for efficiency. I would suggest a sharper angle near the tip of your blade for cutting grass, brambles, ribes, and thinner vegetation. A slightly lesser angle for the portion of the blade used for cutting down larger vegetation will allow you to maintain that edge for a longer period of time while still being able to chip/chop woody vegetation. I haven’t done so in the field, but a nice sharp edge near the handle could allow you to slice and dice your fruit for a snack “in the field”. If you are handy with machining, you could turn a portion of the back of your machete into a saw blade if it did not come with one, the caveat here being that you would be removing weight from your blade so it might be wise to size up to account for this if that is your intention.
Tramontina makes an inexpensive
Cutting a tree via machete
While we are at it, for chopping down trees I’ve found the most efficient method is to cut at about a 60° angle and continuously take small chunks of wood away at a time, rotating from top to bottom of the area in question instead of chopping in the same spot with each swing. Basically you are looking to make a “V”, clearing away the wood you just sliced with your last cut, but from the opposite angle each time you swing. The objective is not to take HUGE chunks of wood at a time, rather to make many small chips using less energy to whittle the trunk down. It’s slow work for larger caliber trees but you could chop down a 100 year old oak with that method if you really wanted to. I’ve found for smaller trees (less than an inch or so) that a single cut with the proper force similar to the angle used for whip and tongue grafting will do the trick. Using the bolo style blade, there is a sweet spot, (which is probably a bit different depending on the particular blade you are using) usually right below the wider portion of the tip. It will make a more satisfying “thud” when you make contact, as opposed to a more “hollow” feel where the blade will deflect without making a decent cut, similar to cutting at the wrong angle.
Cutting brush
I’ve found the best way to approach thorny brush is with an excavator. If all I have is a machete, I’ll usually trim smaller sections so the long death tentacles don’t slice me up as I remove the subject in question. For grass and other thornless vegetation, slow and steady is the preferred method. Just make sure you take enough breaks that you don’t get fatigued and accidentally catapult your blade as it slips out of your hand.
Models to buy
I have no complaints with the 14" blade Bolo style Tramontina machete. It is cheap, well balanced, comes with a handle, and has good quality steel that can be sharpened easily. For less than 12 bucks on Amazon, you can’t beat it.
Another option I found which peaked my interest is the Marbles brand Camp Knife, due to the bright orange paint. I will probably be painting our tramontinas a similar color now. They are currently fairly easy to lose in the brush (they blend in with a wooden handle and nice patina) especially if they slip out my hand to an unknown location. This site has it for about 15 bucks, which includes a sheath ( a pretty great deal if you want a sheath). The Amazon listing for this models says it comes with a sharpening stone, and a picture of one is also included on this site so I imagine that is also included.
Other styles may be good for specific activities but I’ve found this style to be a good all around tool. And once again, SAFETY FIRST!!!
