Consider before you suspect the motor brushes that the blades might be gummed up with dried sap from cutting. If you can separate the moving blade from the fixed one a good clean might work wonders - a wire brush or wire wool and some WD40 might do the trick.
Failing brushes spark and give off a burning smell - this site might help if you need brushes...
http://www.solenttools.co.uk/carbon-brushes-3898.html
Good Luck...
May 2017