Looking like something out of a horror movie, and I’m sure this machine has been associated with more than its share of emergency room visits, this cool and scary 1950s David Bradley Brush Cutter can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Manawa, Wisconsin. The seller is asking $175. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the tip!
Born in 1811, David Bradley was a farmer and manufacturer whose family sold the company to Sears in 1910. The David Bradley Company became the world’s largest maker of riding garden tractors by 1958. I ran across this incredible but small catalog, and I couldn’t find much at all on this scary and unique tree saw, or brush saw. They both look exactly the same to me, and both apparently used a 20″ saw blade.
I can’t help but chuckle at how dangerous old machinery was back in “the good ol’ days,” when men were men and all that fun stuff. You know, those men with six total fingers, only one foot, one eye, etc. The David Bradley Company offered a 20″ mobile brush saw and a 20″ mobile tree saw, or power saw. A lot of info on these comes from forums, which unfortunately have a lot of “If I recall correctly…” entries, so it’s hard to nail down any specific information on this old equipment.
Most of us have seen the David Bradley walk-behind tractor, which also has an exposed spinning death blade attachment. The company offered dozens of different power tools and this one was supposedly used for cutting small trees and brush. We have a walk-behind wheeled string trimmer, which is sort of the same concept for tall grass, weeds, brush, etc., but it wouldn’t work for cutting down trees. This one would, and it’s a great idea. I’d want some sort of guard, though.
Here’s a somewhat similar machine on YouTube, although it isn’t running. It’s fun to listen to the gentleman explaining it, though. I saw a couple of them as being shown on TikTok, but I don’t do TikTok, so I didn’t include a link. It’s an easy search to find one that’s operating. We don’t know much about the engine other than it’s apparently a Briggs & Stratton, and it isn’t currently in running condition. Have any of you seen a crazy exposed blade saw like this David Bradley Mobile Saw?
Good Grief!!! What were they thinking back then? I half would want to reatore this and get it running. Half of me would not because I’d be too afraid it would become an accessory to a murder case lol 😆 😅 😂
But still, its great that theres still a lot of vintage equipment still out there. I know a good portion of David Bradley and Sears equipment used Tecumseh engines, like the Sears tractor Scotty just wrote up. Finding a Briggs on something from them is a bit a of a rarity I would think. I am thinking this is a rope pull starter too. Just one more danger to add to the mix.
Thanks Scotty and Lothar too for the cool find and write up.
Good grief is right!! I’ve been handling Manufacturers Product Liability insurance for nearly 50 years and in all my time, I have NEVER seen anything that scares the bejeesus out of me like this would.
But, a totally OSSUM chunk of machinery!!
I gues I could buy it & put in with the Lawn Darts,Flexi Flyer,
& Honda ATC 90 3 wheeler.
I laughed at this, but then had the thought that my father would not have hesitated to tell my brother and me to take that machine and go cut brush when we were about 11 years old or so. He thought childhood was highly overrated (that’s funnier if you know the sad situation he grew up in), but he would have of course told us to watch out for that blade.
As someone who wielded a nylon-string-“blade” Weed Whacker before my age was in double digits, I agree.
LOL. My old man had me firing a nailgun with gunpowder blanks, when I was six. Parenting was a little different back then…
Yes, my Father was “farmed out” at 12 to another farm and the money went back to his parents who never even sent him a Christmas present. We grew up cutting kindling and hauling and splitting firewood at probably 8 years old but I survived and built a decent life.
What could go wrong?
Really. I mean it’s got a guard on it!
My grandfather had a big old yellow walk behind machine made by a company I forgotten the name of. Two cycle.It could thatch,plow,rototill,and came with a variety of other attachments. One of those was a large saw blade that was attached to the axle after removing one wheel. Used as a portable lumber mill. No guards,talk about sketchy!!
Marked “Pending” now.
And now not marked “Pending”.
A.k.a. the widow-maker?
The ankle biter?
Dad wouldn’t hesitate instructing me to take this thing to the fence row at the back of the property during the fall and clean everything up (must wait until mom and sis have harvested all the blackberries for fall canning before starting) We had a green Tecumseh push mower, no guards could be found on this, and he unhooked all the throttle controls and wired the throttle wide open with a bread tie. When you shut it off, you reached down and slipped the spark plug wire off the plug and you’re done. Quickly learned the correct location to grab that wire! And it always started on the first pull. I am often amazed that I still have all my toes and fingers!
Ha, great comments, folks! I was hoping it wouldn’t be a bust. It would sure be a fun little restoration project.
The day your posts are a bust, is the day I’m gone, my friend. We, as a society, sure have gotten soft. Perhaps it’s Hollywoods macabre movies of zombies being disemboweled by chainsaws, that has some a bit leery, but honestly, I don’t see a problem with this. I’m sure UL tested it thoroughly. Are they still around? Meh, who cares. The problems come from, like anything, someone unfamiliar with its operation. If one had tall brush to clear, this was a stark improvement over the sickle used previously. These were used extensively with no problems. It’s when something did happen, it was big news. I’d say a bigger hazard would be the pivoting head. We learned, or should have learned about anything like this by observation. There was no self help You Tube, trial and error, and a familiar ring from the elders,( snickering if it wasn’t too serious),”bet you won’t do that again”. We just don’t have that kind of interaction today, and yes, in that manner of speaking, this is incredibly dangerous. Whole industries sprang up in “keeping people safe from themselves”. The man in the ad would have more protection than a football player today. Besides, what was an ER visit in the 50s,,like $8 bucks? Survival was iffy, however. Great find.
Where’s the big red emergency stop button?
Too funny! As a teenager I resurrected a David Bradly walk behind unit that had a snow plow blade on it. I loved uncovering it (too big for the garage) and plowing our driveway – and anything else – I could when it snowed. I wonder if it was shown in that catalog pictured.
Care to look for me, Scotty?
troy built prototype.
Think of Sling Blades comment, he would be grunting almost orgasmic like.
Great for kudzu, cottonmouths and gators…
Ralph Nader would have a hey day with this!!!
Ha. Unsafe at Any Speed, even while off.
A strong voice required for operation. Looks like the prototype for a modern DR trimmer.
only have one question , when starting this machine , does the blade ENGAGE when the motor STARTS or is there a lever that engages the BLADE AFTER it starts , other than that it,s looks like it could handle small jobs I guess ,
It looks like there’s a clutch on the drive pulley, controlled by a lever near the handle bar.
It looks like there’s a clutch on the drive pulley, controlled by a lever near the handle bar.
That could be quite handy…
By the time I was 10, I was an avid operator of a red David Bradley garden tractor. But I wouldn’t get within 20 feet of this rapid amputator. Whatever happened to David Bradley anyway?
Went the way of the Dodo bird. If you want a real death mower take a dual wheel (4 tires) Gravely walk behind and get one set of tires caught on a fence post. 100′ of four strands barbwire, posts and no way to shut it off as it circles the post with the handle bars dragging the ground and the big ol mower blade spinning at 600 pm or higher. My dad finally jumped in and smacked the grounding strap onto the spark plug. Fun times
Only people with to much estrogen would be afraid to use this little beauty.
This would be perfect for trimming around a fish pond or golf course water hazard.
I like how the guy in the magazine ad has removed his suit coat to work with this machine. I guess it considered a moderately formal tool.
Hmm a lot better than my swisher walk behind that keeps breaking plastic strings that I dont use it anymore I tried wire HD tie strings ect. So the thick brush grows
I saw someone putting long zipties on their string trimmer, on Youtube. I keep meaning to try that.
What do you mean you’d want it to have some sort of guard? It has a guard, mainly to keep you from getting a sapling on the wrong side of the blade. Put too much guarding on it and it can’t perform its intended purpose. I’d like one with a sickle bar attachment.
This might even be a great prop to put on your lawn for Halloween! I’ve never seen one of these, and yeah, I wouldn’t even think of using this! Of course, in the ’50’s, anything was fair game – you can imagine how many “homemade” units like this were built from reading a Popular Mechanics magazine. Itis an interesting piece of history and nostalgia, although a few folks may have some not so pleasant memories…
I worked for a large rental store chain in the Seattle area for 13 years. We actually rented similar mowers for brush cutting at least into the late 90’s until a quit and moved on. They were for cutting brush and black berry bushes. We heard a story where a fellow saw a bottle and didn’t want to break it up and have it fly all over so stopped and walked around front to pick it up but those self propelled VP-75’s had a tendency to vibrate into forward motion and it, well you get the picture. Lots of horror stories when you work at a rental store. I actually bought one of those machines for my property but haven’t got around to using it yet.
I might buy and use this.
It’d be to cut the pesky willow trees that keep popping up by the pond. They take no time to get to be too much for the string mower.
And there’s a fella with a museum in mañawa that
I haven’t seen in years.
Will trade for prosthetic leg!
I have the saw blade setup for the larger David Bradley’s with the hood. Has the same 20 inch blade and guard, but a longer and heavier mounting setup. Never tried it, came with the tractor I bought, the guy selling it was a little leery about giving it to me but finally did. Couldn’t find a picture on line but the part # is 917-60117 if anyone cares to look.
My In-Laws had a tool they called the “Singapore Sling” that was a backpack motor, 5 foot drive pole with a 8 inch, unguarded saw blade on the end. You could take down a group of saplings in seconds. It was terrifying to use.
This David Bradley seems rather gentle and quaint compared to “The Sling.”
If I was in Wisconsin…I might consider it!!!