New mulcher head

Texas jerry · Dec 23, 2011

Yellow dog I have looked at fae and the cat I believe it is the hm312. I have only read literature and seen them at a dealer. I have not actually demoed one. From the previous post you have put a lot of hrs on one and have had good experience. That head has the variable 2 speed motor?

Johnnybee how many hrs have you put on the terex head. What kind of machine do you run it on. Do you buy direct from fecon for teeth replacement? Sorry for so many questions but this is the feed back I was looking for. People that actually run these machines, not a salesman .

QwikDraw · Dec 23, 2011

I've been very happy with my Fecon head. It has lasted through two carriers and is still looking good at 3200-3300 hours. I have run all types of teeth and presently run the stone teeth. Rougher finished product but the teeth are lasting much longer on my very rocky jobs. Also mulch size is not an issue on my wildlife projects which 95% of my work is.

I did demo a FAE and liked that head and it produced a great finished mulch. I felt it clogged up a bit more than the fecon and I could get a little more production out of the Fecon.

I also rented a Bradco and it was good but was quite beat up for the hours on it and I questioned the long term durability but have never seen a high hour unit so I don't know for sure.

I do not like the bolt system on the Fecon tooth, it's slow to change a whole set of teeth and if a tooth loosens up it has a chance of breaking off the tooth holder on the next hard impact. I have broken many .

For my next head I would like to try a FAE again but would probably lean toward the Fecon.

yellowdogsvc · Dec 23, 2011

i don't think the Hm312 has the 2 speed motor. Mine is a 2005 and I don't think FAE had that out yet.

I have replaced the seals and bearings once. The bearings and belts were fine but I had a leaking seal so decided to replace everything while the head was opened up.

Johnnybee · Dec 24, 2011

Texas jerry said:
Johnnybee how many hrs have you put on the terex head. What kind of machine do you run it on. Do you buy direct from fecon for teeth replacement? Sorry for so many questions but this is the feed back I was looking for. People that actually run these machines, not a salesman .

I bought my machine, a Terex PT 100F, used from a dealer in TN over the summer. I was told the head had about 200 hrs on it when I bought it and I have since put ~50 hrs on it.

I purchase the teeth from my local Terex dealer and they are shipped directly to me from Fecon. I recommend calling around for the best price. One dealer in my area quoted me $180 for one tooth. :confused2:

Lastly, I will say Fecon takes very good care of their customers, even if you own a Terex head. I needed a relief valve for my mulching door (I highly recommend one) and they had it to me the next morning.

Texas jerry · Dec 25, 2011

Thanks for all the response. Yall have helped me with some valuable information. I think I am gonna go with the fecon 7460. I should get it at the end of the week. I will keep y'all updated.

AGGIE00 · Dec 27, 2011

I was a little disappointed with the Bradco head until we switched to chipper teeth at $50/tooth. The production is really good now and the finished product is much better. I would not run without the gate, but we work around roads and houses quite often.

Are you planning on running on tires or adding tracks to your machine?

Texas jerry · Dec 27, 2011

Aggie I am running loge ring metal track over lays. The 272 is a heck of a lot more productive then my old 248. The majority of my work is in rocky areas. I don't know if the planer style tooth would hold up. I read in an old thread you put an after market A/C on your 272 . How is it working? I have only ran @ 30 hrs on mine but it is cool outside. Is there anything other flaws or downsides that you have experienced in your machine ?

cat 297c · Dec 27, 2011

Had a cat 297c for couple years which is the same machine as the 272 but with factory tracks. Man I had problem after problem with mine a/c, over heating, fires an electrical problems. I made a custom door for the engine bay made of perfuraded metal for better cooling to try to stop the over heating problem. It helped but didn't completely fix the problem so I just built a bracket to mount my blower to the roof of the machine an I would blow the radiator out ever so often in the spring an summer an also used it to keep engine bay clean from all the debris that the forestry package couldn't keep out. The a/c filter was put in a stupid place right at the top of the tracks, where dust was thrown right into the filter. After fighting this issue for months I bought a red dot power preclean best money I ever spent that solved that problem. Next the condenser on the a/c clogged up all the time an cleaning it took a act of congress, so getting feed up with cleaning it I move it to the top of the cab, build a heavy duty cage and placed a 2 electric fans, 1 on top and 1 under neath so I could run one then turn it off an kick the other one on to blow it out. O an before I got rid of it, she got where if u let it sit longer than a day it would dran the battery completely, took it to cat had it a week couldn't find the short had to put a kill switch on it to fix. There is alot of other issues I had also but fingers are hurting so I think I will stop here. Have a buddy who has had the same problems with his an has lost one to a fire.

AGGIE00 · Dec 28, 2011

I know everybody has different experiences, but I have been happy with our cat. The ac condenser is poorly engineered and impossible to keep clean in dusty conditions. We relocated it to just behind the cab and put two electric fans under it. Have never needed to clean it out and the ac blows plenty cold in August. The fan blowers are weak, but if the air is cold enough coming out it is ok. The only failure so far is the hydraulic motor that drives the condenser/intercooler blower. Cost about $250.00 and 2 hours to fix.

cat 297c · Dec 28, 2011

AGGIE00 said:
I know everybody has different experiences, but I have been happy with our cat. The ac condenser is poorly engineered and impossible to keep clean in dusty conditions. We relocated it to just behind the cab and put two electric fans under it. Have never needed to clean it out and the ac blows plenty cold in August. The fan blowers are weak, but if the air is cold enough coming out it is ok. The only failure so far is the hydraulic motor that drives the condenser/intercooler blower. Cost about $250.00 and 2 hours to fix.

Be thankfull!!!