I would guess that era machines were well before the ideas of an excavator doing anything but ditch digging and not have much excess capacity in the pumps. But that is a guess just based on what excavators were bought for in the US market. At that time, a "mini ex" was a rare bird in the US altogether.
On another note, I have a Ambusher rotary mower on my big Gehl SS with something like 28 gpm on the standard flow circuit. I know that this mower is not comparable to a *forestry mower but I'd estimate that your 4-6" goal would be unreasonable. I could be f.o.s. and be completely wrong, and perhaps I'm envisioning too much production from a low hp machine but you and I both know mowing-grinding up that kind of stuff requires HP and lots of it, particularly hydraulically driven motors.
* the small mowers available for small excavators that I've seen are basically a heavy flail mower, not the fixed carbide cutters.
I've been considering getting into a mulching service to off set my personal clearing needs for a few years now. My conclusions are for a small machine that can be moved by a 550/5500 size truck, a ctl has the power for production and hopefully a profit. This puts you into a $60-80k investment and that's in the used market. Also on my land a ctl is not the right machine, not enough ground clearance for my boulders that are scattered everywhere.
Wow, I sure can ramble on eh?:thumbsup:
Good stuff Rustyiron, but maybe some background and context would be useful here. I have 2 main uses
Cutting high brush and digging out rocks. So a SS would Hebb helpful, but less ideal than a mini ex.
Almost all my brush cutting falls into 2 categories: pond banks (steep) and field edges (branches). Skid steer not useful here.
While breaking my back cutting field edge branches 5-25 off the ground with a pole saw, I realized I needed a cutter with an arm that can reach up high and grind-off branches.
I also do 2 different customers annual large cuttings around streams and ponds. These are good paying jobs. However, I have to stand in canals or on pond banks to cut them with weed whacker and saw blade for weeks to complete them. The pond has a flat-top berm which a mini ex could be driven on. With properly weighted smaller mulcher head, I could sit in cab and cut pond on one side and canal on the other. I could also sit on dry ground and reach over swampy land with dipper stick. This would cut my weed whacking task down by 80-90% and allow me to keep the contract well into my older years.
Rocks:I cut about 250 acres of hay fields. Some fields have significant rocks and a few stumps which are deadly expensive to hay cutter. Removing them lowers risk of damage and injury.
There are other uses. I still build an occasional construction project where a foundation or footings are needed.
I have seen some KX161 and U45 models that are fairly affordable, but the KH28L was really clean and cheap. However, if the aux circuit doesnt have any GPM, whats the sense in buying it.
Also, I have a 200HP Massey Ferguson 7495 I could mount a front mulching mower on, but I don’t really have a lot of brush in open space to cut. Its mostly field edges.
