Abstract: A guard assembly (2) is used to protect the cutter blades (20, 21) of a cane cutter (10). The guard assembly includes a guard body (4) which is mounted to the cane cutter. A series of guard blades (6) are pivotally mounted to the guard body. The guard blades are shaped, sized and positioned to permit smaller diameter objects, such as a cane (18) of a grapevine to pass between the guard blades so to be severed by the cutter blades while preventing larger diameter objects, such as posts (26), stakes and the trunks of the grapevines, from passing between the guard blades, thereby protecting both the cutter blades and the larger diameter objects from damage.