Feeling overwhelmed by the long grass today, I asked Kawasaki-san if I could use the hammer knife rotor. He gave me and Tod a quick tutorial and off we went. It’s been a dream for two years to try this beast!

It is a powerful and complicated machine with a lot of controls. A pull-start gasoline engine powers rear wheels independently controlled by squeeze grips on the handles – it turns like a boat. It is self-propelled with three gears and a reverse. There’s a paddle lever to stop and start motion and one to engage the blades. There is a blade height adjustment screw at the front.

Wow, is it effective. Not only does it cut and mulch whatever is in front of it, but it terraforms along the way, too. So all the pits created by boars which made the hatake a lumpy mess, were shorn off by the blades and left as bare earth. It also uncovered trash in a couple of spots. Hello again, Gomi Mountain.

The hammer knife rotor will take out saplings as well as bamboo, and it doesn’t like rocks (of course) so as Tod drove, I walked ahead and protected my baby trees and pointed out all the rocks. Using this machine gave me an all-new mental map of hazards.

Our first go round was a learning experience, but we trimmed up the Ent road, the jungle paths, and the edges of the hatake. Some parts are mud, places where we turn corners awkwardly were unevenly trimmed, but I feel like we will maintain the property much more effectively from now on.