The best brush cutters under €400

How we picked

Under €400 you’re close enough to professional-grade equipment that the real question becomes which trade-off suits your land, not whether the machine is “good enough”. We ranked candidates on power-to-weight (how much cutting force you get for every kilogram you carry), build quality (engines and motors that are built to last rather than to hit a price point), and how far your money stretches — whether that’s a bare cordless tool for existing battery owners or a complete petrol kit for someone starting from scratch. We also weighed real-world running cost: fuel and 2-stroke oil against extra battery packs, and blade capability against line-only convenience for lighter jobs.

Our picks

The Makita DUR368LZ is one of the lightest pro-grade cordless brush cutters around — at roughly 3.9 kg it makes long grass sessions far less tiring, provided you already run 18V LXT batteries, since it’s sold bare.

The Husqvarna 128R is the easy-starting way into petrol, with Smart Start technology and a bike handle and harness included as standard — a dependable, no-fuss choice for regular grass and light growth.

The Honda UMK 425 brings Honda’s famous GX25 4-stroke engine into this budget: quiet, mix-free running and the kind of reliability Honda is known for, though its 25 cc displacement is modest for the toughest brambles.

The Makita DUR369LZ is the standout for raw cordless power here — a 1000W brushless motor that handles dense grass, scrub and small woody stems, closing much of the gap to a 30 cc petrol machine, again sold bare for existing LXT owners.

The Husqvarna 122C is the lightweight specialist: a curved-shaft, line-only trimmer that’s easy to swing all day on grass and edges, though it can’t take a blade so it isn’t built for brush or brambles.

The Metabo FSB 36-18 rounds out the list as the German-engineered alternative for anyone already on the Metabo 18V platform — twin-battery brushless power with genuine blade capability and a 40 cm cutting width, at the cost of extra weight around the head.

Which should you choose?

If you already own Makita LXT batteries, the DUR368LZ or DUR369LZ are the smartest buys under this budget — take the 368LZ for the lightest possible handling on grass, or the 369LZ if you need real force against scrub and small woody growth. Starting from scratch with no batteries, the Husqvarna 128R or Honda UMK 425 make more practical sense, with the Honda worth the extra outlay if mix-free, low-maintenance running matters to you. If your work is really tidy grass and edges rather than brush, the Husqvarna 122C is the lighter, simpler tool for the job. And if you’re already invested in Metabo’s 18V system, the FSB 36-18 gives you blade capability without buying into a new proprietary battery platform.