cbturf
Gold Member
I have a little bit of a problem with you suggesting that the FAE is not a real head. I know that you are semi joking but I have a few questions that I would like you to consider.
What if SM sees this "real head" and and thinks Gee whiz this thing is cool and he buys it then his very next job he is in a rock garden with a few sprigs of brush sticking out that have to be cleaned up. He is in real trouble since he has no carbide option.
What if he is looking at the contract specs and he sees that the job calls for "shredding" or "mastication". He is in real trouble because he has no carbide option.
I would like to see a real head cut and if you can keep teeth on it in my environment and keep up with the production of my 148 on my job I will buy it on the spot. There is no excavator in the world that will do what I need to do and no chipper style tooth that will last a day either on my job in NM or my new one in AZ.
Unless you plan to zero in on your target market like a laser beam you need to consider a few things when making your equipment decision. Will my machines work in a swamp like an excavator...nope, but I have worked some pretty soft ground and snow two feet deep. Can I reach up a cliff like an excavator...nope, but I have worked stuff almost to steep to walk on. Can I race around on the rocks like a rubber tire machine...nope, but if I slow down I can and have still mulched some pretty rocky areas and I can work a lot of areas that would have a rubber tire machine greasy side up real fast. Can I slice through a 12 inch hardwood like warm butter..nope, but i can still reduce it down to a nice shredded mulch in pretty good time. There is not much terrain that I cannot get to and most of the time I will be much faster than an excavator. If you could see the number of hidden rocks that I have kissed this week without breaking a single carbide tooth. The rock is pretty soft here but still way more than any planer or chipper tooth wants. When the "white dust" flies I still cringe but I also know that I can just keep on working without worrying about replacing any teeth for a few hundred hours.
Many contracts specifically identify the type of head to be used and they call for a "Fecon Bullhog or similar horizontal shredder." This is because of the matting effect that the chips from planer style heads and chipper knives lay down. This type of material will line up and form a chip blanket that is very hard for small plants like grass to get through. I have seen this first hand and have pictures of two sites that were cleared at the same time about five miles apart in TN, one with a Fecon and one with a Gyrotrac. The Gyrotrac is still just a bed of grey chips and the Fecon area looks very nice with a lot of new plants germinating and starting to grow. I use this in my marketing presentation but most foresters already know it.
My point is, If you are going to be in this business you must either have a niche market lined up or cast a pretty wide net.
I hope that I am making my point without over ruffling many feathers. This forum used to be a bunch of guys that talked about our machines and our jobs and giving advice to new guys and we would pull out the cyber fire hose and chase off anyone who got on here and tried to sell us stuff. I still try to sell my service and even one of my machines to people but I do it on the PM side of the forum.
You guys make a pretty good product and there is a large place in the market for you heads but there are more things to consider when purchasing equipment than all out speed in perfect conditions. Like I said earlier your technology would not have a prayer on ANY job that I have had for the past three years. My Fecon carbide heads have served me very well and I still have the chipper option if I ever get to a place where the rock is not so heavy.
All that being said I still love ya man!!
I'll still kick there butt in the woods. 
