mulcher head vs. tree saw

[Robbie Hegwood]

I would look toward total burn ban's. Several states have adopted this already. My numbers were based on doing this as a business. Of course you can find cheaper and alternate route's but you get what you pay for and it takes HP to grind tree's!!

 

[jbooth]

I would look toward total burn ban's. Several states have adopted this already. My numbers were based on doing this as a business. Of course you can find cheaper and alternate route's but you get what you pay for and it takes HP to grind tree's!!

I live in the heart of the Flinthills of Kansas. When the tall prairies are being burned it is visible from satellites or the space shuttle. Like you I expect burn bans to be the norm in most areas. The spring controlled pasture burns are an economical way of controlling invasive brush. I also agree with your HP statement. 2 gallons of diesel on a burn pile and I have mulched 10 - 20 acres. I believe that saws for our area are better than mulching as we are trying to restore rocky pasture ground. Mulching would require reseeding and at up to $80.00 a pound for native grass seed that can be very expensive. When cutting the trees at ground level the grass will generally recover. In my case cheaper is also better. Large dozers are still used, but are losing favor due to the impact on grass/ground. Resprouting is also a problem and I would not know how to spray a mulched area.

There are quite a few in KS. who do this as a business and all have larger and better machines than mine. (All I know about run saws or shears) They don't do better, but they are faster and more expensive. Most will not come to the flinthills to do cutting which leaves a nich for old farts like me and I am not looking for business. I guess location is a big question!!!

 

[Ken45101]

My mower has a large roller on the back and skids on the front that prevent me from mowing under about 1". It's a Quick Attach Attachments Inc. made in Alexandria Minnesota. What brand do you have Ken45101?

I have a Brush Monster. The skids are tapered in front so that you can tilt it down and scalp the ground. That's not my preferred way of operating but there are times when that comes in handy for taking out saplings at ground level. At other times, I wish it would float like yours. No implement handles all situations perfectly.

Ken

 

[oksteve]

have you given any thought to a tree shear I have a company in oklahoma I use a M&M 16"tree shear 2 blades cuts ground level works very well.I also have a brushmonster brand mower works well ,but after a while you get cracks around bobtack plate. Not impressed with design of bracing ,5 ft mower just cracked ,6 ft mower broke away from mower . They are sending new deck but would not add more bracing ,guess you get what you pay for.

 

[fishfactor]

have you given any thought to a tree shear I have a company in oklahoma I use a M&M 16"tree shear 2 blades cuts ground level works very well.I also have a brushmonster brand mower works well ,but after a while you get cracks around bobtack plate. Not impressed with design of bracing ,5 ft mower just cracked ,6 ft mower broke away from mower . They are sending new deck but would not add more bracing ,guess you get what you pay for.

Same issue with our brush cat. Nothing that a few pieces of scrap steel I had laying around wouldn't fix.

 

[Digdeep]

I think Dymax out of Kansas makes a skid steer saw. I used to sell their tree shears up here in Wisconsin. Good products.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

In case anyone else is interested in this type of clearing and chipping, I saw this older thread and wanted to mention that a self loading chipper works very good with sheared or sawed trees. I use a Vermeer BC 2000 with a grapple loader and can be very productive all by myself. I can chip trees up to 20" and I can lift a 3,000 lb log or tree and pull it into the feed wheels on the chipper. For the 1-10 acre clearing contractor, this method works pretty good. I'm not sure if I am the first guy down in Texas to do it that way but Vermeer originally told me it wouldn't work well but when I got my system down, I was very productive. You can get into a used chipper like that for about 40k and that's less than half of what they would go for new if Vermeer still made it. I think Morbark and Bandit still make a chipper with a loader and I imagine there is a good used market to choose from.