Excavator mulchers. Brands, thoughts and skid loader mulchers

[hayden]

So I ended up asking for quotes on Loftness and Baumalight.
Loftness retail is like 24k. Baumalight is allegedly less, but haven’t got actual dealer quotes back yet.

Amazing that these mulcher heads are close to what I paid for my used 9.5 ton excavator

They are very expensive, for sure. Did you get a price back on an FAE? I'm curious where they are priced now since everything has gone up so much.

 

[Hay Dude]

Waiting for a quote from FAE. Good thing I’m not in a hurry….

Also getting hydraulic thumb quote from Werk Brau.

 

[Hay Dude]

Update:

On Monday, I called and spoke with 3 different dealers who carry Loftness, Baumalight and FAE for prices on Excavator mulchers and not one has returned call or emailed a price.

I guess they must be super busy in the dead of winter with 15” of crunchy snow on the ground.

 

[Rustyiron]

You'd think that a call from someone calling about spending $10-$20k (or more) on an attachment would warrant at least a response of "hey great, it might take me a few days to hear back from...... but I'll be in touch ASAP"!
I really think it's a generational thing.
I just went through something similar looking for a replacement wood boiler- during that very cold snap 3-4 weeks ago after mine sprung a leak after 16 years. With just under $15 on the line the lackluster response was an eye opener to say the least!

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Update:

On Monday, I called and spoke with 3 different dealers who carry Loftness, Baumalight and FAE for prices on Excavator mulchers and not one has returned call or emailed a price.

I guess they must be super busy in the dead of winter with 15” of crunchy snow on the ground.

The whole not returning a phone call really scorches me, are they in the business of selling equipment or not ? I will say that even though I didn't buy from Rut Manufacturing they have always been easy to get a hold of and returned phone calls , by far one of the more professionally ran businesses that I have spoken with.

 

[Hay Dude]

The whole not returning a phone call really scorches me, are they in the business of selling equipment or not ? I will say that even though I didn't buy from Rut Manufacturing they have always been easy to get a hold of and returned phone calls , by far one of the more professionally ran businesses that I have spoken with.

agree.
If I were an equipment store manager, and knew my sales people wouldn’t even return a call, send an estimate, or even call back and say “sorry for the wait, but I am working on your estimate”, I’d be furious.
I went the entire week with no answers. That’s insane.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

agree.
If I were an equipment store manager, and knew my sales people wouldn’t even return a call, send an estimate, or even call back and say “sorry for the wait, but I am working on your estimate”, I’d be furious.
I went the entire week with no answers. That’s insane.

Yeah and while to me every customer is important , you would think one looking at making the investment that you are would be a priority. I wanted to purchase an offset harrow several years ago and after numerous phone calls to the Athens & Brown dealers in our area with few return calls, I drove to South Georgia and bought an Industrius America offset disc because they wanted to sell me one and acted like my business meant something.

 

[hayden]

agree.
If I were an equipment store manager, and knew my sales people wouldn’t even return a call, send an estimate, or even call back and say “sorry for the wait, but I am working on your estimate”, I’d be furious.
I went the entire week with no answers. That’s insane.

Call the store manager? If you were the store manager, wouldn't you want to know?

 

[hayden]

I wanted to purchase an offset harrow several years ago and after numerous phone calls to the Athens & Brown dealers in our area with few return calls, I drove to South Georgia and bought an Industrius America offset disc because they wanted to sell me one and acted like my business meant something.

I think this is critical information for a business owner/manager, and the greatest service you can do for them and for you is to tell them. If they don't care, then they really shouldn't be in that business.

 

[groundcover]

These guys have a good reputation in this area .

Brown Forestry Products

Brown Forestry Products: Your trusted source for high-quality forestry equipment. Innovative solutions designed to meet your needs.

brownforestryproducts.com

 

[Hay Dude]

Update Part II: I got back one estimate for a Prinoth mulcher for $28,500. Just for the mulcher itself.
The Lamtrac CTL is still for sale for $85,000.
I have been processing some other angles on the excavator. I really always wanted a thumb, so I contacted local Wacker dealer. Going to get package price on a mulcher, Werk Brau thumb, safety windshield, and also get some repairs to leaking cylinders done all in one “big beautiful bill”
I will compare the total of that to the Lamtrac. I’m guessing the excavator will still be substantially less than 1/2 the Lamtrac.
Good thing we are BURIED in snow and can’t do any work anyway, I guess?

As the old Tom petty song said “The waiting is the hardest part”.

 

[Rustyiron]

for thumbs!
Worth every dollar on an excavator, and so is the "backfill" blade that I think it's actual design purpose is a stabilizer for smaller, lighter machines.

 

[Hay Dude]

Obviously a CTL mulcher will cover more ground faster, but excavator can cut higher limbs and reach over fences which will be a decent amount of my mulching work.
I also cut around ponds with weed wackers w/saw blades. I think I might be able to do some of that with the excavator/mulcher.
The Ex thumb was always in the works, but finding a dealer to get everything done with is next to impossible.
Excavators seem to be harder to build out with aftermarket attachments than CTLs because the attachment point on a CTL is consistent, whereas the excavator has dozens of different attachment pins/spacing, etc.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I'll have a Kubota KXO80-5 excavator soon. I know from tractors you can't have too many attachments and the mulcher sounds like something I'd want. My question is I have lots of time, and I have a long pile of cut brush about 12ft high by 10 ft deep and 200 ft long, from sticks to logs (firewood length) some 2ft diameter. Would mulcher take care of it? Some oak logs sitting a few years are 4ft across. Would mulcher chew them up going slow?

 

[anomad]

I'll have a Kubota KXO80-5 excavator soon. I know from tractors you can't have too many attachments and the mulcher sounds like something I'd want. My question is I have lots of time, and I have a long pile of cut brush about 12ft high by 10 ft deep and 200 ft long, from sticks to logs (firewood length) some 2ft diameter. Would mulcher take care of it? Some oak logs sitting a few years are 4ft across. Would mulcher chew them up going slow?

It would certainly put a dent in it. Another option would be to rent a big chipper now and then to whittle away at it. Then you could just hang out in the Kubota and feed it. Can you burn in your area?

The thing I don't like about renting is I feel like I have to "get my money's worth" and work the maximum hours allotted. But you could rent a big chipper for a long time before ever coming close the the cost of a mulching head.

 

[Hay Dude]

Buy the excavator with a thumb, pull the big logs out. Then have the longer, large diameter logs hauled away by a log trucker. They aren’t too expensive. I’ve had lots of logs hauled recently for about $500/load to a wood processor, or wood shavings plant.

Then burn the smaller stuff a small pile at a time and feed it with the brush as the pile burns down.

Or use the excavator mulcher to grind down a lot of your debris if burning is not an option.

It isn’t its ideal task, but it’ll do it.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

It would certainly put a dent in it. Another option would be to rent a big chipper now and then to whittle away at it. Then you could just hang out in the Kubota and feed it. Can you burn in your area?

The thing I don't like about renting is I feel like I have to "get my money's worth" and work the maximum hours allotted. But you could rent a big chipper for a long time before ever coming close the the cost of a mulching head.

The chipper would be a pain because I'd have to feed the stuff in. Yes, I can burn here but 1) my wife hates smoke smell, even 1/2 mile away & 2) yes, the articulated bucket has a thumb. My curiosity is I would think the mulcher would chew it all up. I would think it would if I go easy.

 

[anomad]

The chipper would be a pain because I'd have to feed the stuff in. Yes, I can burn here but 1) my wife hates smoke smell, even 1/2 mile away & 2) yes, the articulated bucket has a thumb. My curiosity is I would think the mulcher would chew it all up. I would think it would if I go easy.

Send your wife to a hen party - LOL! Just kidding of course, I go to great lengths to keep Mama happy.

I saw a video of a KX-80 with a shear-ex mulching head. It was impressive. If I can find it again I will put it here for you. Cotontop3 YouTube channel.

 

[Hay Dude]

The used Loftness 20 series Battle Axe is still available, too.
Very appealing because it leaves the door open for either the Lamtrac or other.
15K for the used.
30K for the new.

Used:
Mount is exact same 55mm pins & 12” o/c spacing.

Would need to change to carbide blades.

Has “spade”

 

[Rustyiron]

Would the guy let you haul your machine over to try it out? Hopefully he'll have a little patch of something you can chop up for a proof run.
The fact that it's got the correct attachment for your rig has value that's not to be ignored.
Iirc I paid Baumalight near $3k for a 60mm ? pin grab setup!