Brown tree cutter vs skidsteer with mulcher head

[fishfactor]

Can a mulcher head flush cut the treestumps without dulling the cutting knives/hammers?

Both heads will get flush with different methods.

A carbide hammer head can get flush easily and even engage the dirt. It will decrease the life of the hammers, but that's what they are meant to do. We typically break them on rocks or hidden debris before they wear out. Not as much learning curve as a knife head, but you are more limited in diameter. As the hammers get several hundred hours on them hardwoods will start to leave little sprigs sticking up.

Knives can get flush but takes more practice to keep them out of the dirt. Your skids on the side of the head help if they are the right height. Sharp knives will leave a stump that looks almost like it was cut with a chainsaw. It's easier in larger material because you have the mulch that kinda creates a barrier between the knives and the dirt. My first set of knives on the GT25 lasted about 40 hours. Now I can get about 120 out of them. It just takes practice.

 

[25002500]

What does a set of knives cost? Same question re hammers?

 

[fishfactor]

What does a set of knives cost? Same question re hammers?

Knives for our GT25 which are the same as any gyro trac head or cimaf head start at about $25 for aftermarket. $30 from Gyro Trac. You start getting price breaks at 100.

The hammers for our bobcat head go up and down from $120 to $140. I think fecon teeth are a good bit less, but they won't fit our head even though it is made by fecon (bobcat specs).

 

[Hollow]

Can a mulcher head flush cut the treestumps without dulling the cutting knives/hammers?

They are like a chainsaw, if they get in the dirt they dull (especially in rocky soil). Two things you need to conciser with the Brown are how you plan on cutting with it. Because unless you plan on getting a tractor with the Woods Boss package on it you will need to cut in reverse which means two things. 1st: You'll have to have a brush rack mounted to the mower to funnel the brush underneath the cutter or else your going to spend more time going back and mulching tall brush that fell to ether side of the mower when it was cut than you spent cutting the initial path. 2nd: "Stumps," they will tear regular ag tires to pieces so you'll ether need them foam filled or buy forestry tires so you don't spend more time fixing flats than mowing.

 

[Hollow]

I didn't know if you had seen what this guy had done? It seems like a lot of work but it could save you a lot of cash if you wanted a front mounted system without buying a bobcat.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/228924-running-high-gallons-per-minute.html

Also, have you considered one of these? You have to be careful when buying a cutter like these (there's a lot of junk on the market) but US Mower and Brushmaster are suppose to be some of the good ones. Another one is Dave Co but I think they can be a little hard on the wallet.

http://www.usmower.com/products/skidsteer/qa72/qa72.html

http://www.bushmasterequipment.com/TSL601.htm

 

[mattriggs]

2500 evryone is right. Your deciding factor should be the type of material and lay of the land you are working on.
We run a couple of the Tree Axe on 108hp tractors. The operator needs to be careful when running these mowers. Old large stumps are not your friend. If they are hit at the wrong angle you will bend the shaft comming out of the gear box. Always be wary of which way your debree is blowing out the back. They will sling everything from tree branches to childrens toys out the back at a high rate of speed. I'd recomend that you have some type of protection for the operator. A lot of our mowing is done in reverse. So a lot of debree comes back toward the operator.
If you think the Tree Ax can be used also as a rotary mower let me warn you it don't deliver a smooth cut on grasses like a rotary does. The last one I purchased was a used one that a local bought thinking he could mow his yard with it also. He returned it to dealer and I was able to purchase it for around 4500.00
Keep an eye for some used ones at local auctions or equipment dealers. If you find a used one ask that they hook it up so you can see it run. Watch for vibration on the tractor. If the tractor tends to have a lot of vibration when the PTO is on then this usually means that the shaft is bent or the large dics is slightly warped. A little vibration means that it probably just needs needs new blades.
Also need to keep an eye on your bolts that holds the blades on. I usually put a socket wrench on them every other day of running just for ease of mind.
To give you an idea of what it cost me to set up one of our machines. Kubota M108S 4x4 $32,000.00, cage for tractor 4500.00 to 8000.00 depending on how you want it set up, Forestry tires 8500.00 front and back, tree ax mower 7000-10000.00 depending on if you want a mulching door or not. Watch the auctions. I've seen machines already set up that come off of Quail plantations auctions for a sell great deal less.

I just bought a brown using a 9540 Kubota. The cutter works great. Needs a weld on push bar to force trees back after shearing. I've promptly learned they don't shred, just shear. I shred a little then clean up the mess with a grapple. Trees gone in milliseconds but if backing into them they fall on tractor as per Brown manual. Weld on guard is the only legit option for backing into trees, or going fwd which will require skid plates, cage, foamed/aircraft tires, etc. FYI, even on my 9540, you cant go slow enough in low 1 if backing into trees. You will need the optional granny gears to go slow enough at 540 rmp. Matt

 

[25002500]

Matt:

Great info. Thanks