A MULCHERS x-mas

[Terra Firma Scott]

Yep, its coming soon X-MAS!!

Maybe santa will bring me a SuperTrak with Cimafs DAF-180...Ive been a good boy this year..really..keep dreamin right?

I just came home from watching a SK120 with Cimaf head grind up 8,10,12 inch live oaks like they were tooth picks.....DROOL>................Spoke to the operator for awhile he LOVES it....600 hrs on the head now no issues-just grease and sharpen....12k winch on the rear, 287b on steroids....Built like a tank..

Makes my wee little 257 look like a fisher price toy.......

 

[QwikDraw]

What???

No pictures

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

This operator will be there all week...They (Large Tree Company) are clearing for a gas line company like 5 miles long by 75ft wide.......Ill try and snap some shots...of course they wont be as elegant as yours ted, all your photos rock....

Just to hear this thing running you can tell its tuned.....sounds good..ooh i want one....

 

[ForestryMowCo.]

The SK120 is not a bad machine, but the head is the difference. The 120 is not a cheap machine and can be hard to work on and maintain when it gets some hours on it. I have a GT10 with a cimaf/gyro head that will be running long after the SK120 is dead and gone.

 

[AX MAN]

In order to cut this size tree as you described. It had to be because of the planer teeth. Horsepower wise the machine is probably not much stronger than yours or mine. Gots to be the teeth.
Here's my question? What happens when the head goes to the ground? When you are cutting in areas where you can't see the ground and hit rocks?
Just yesterday I cost myself money because of grinding the tops off big rocks that were covered in weeds,bushes ect... What to you people that have these teeth VS carbide do in these situations? Will they keep going?

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

Ax, the sk120 is DOUBLE the horsepower I have...hence the fact it never stalled or slowed the head more than about 25% of running rpms....and he said he wasnt even running WOT....I have to run Wide Open Throttle all day....Not sure what Hp or cutter you own..Mine is only 60Hp....just takes longer I have to sharpen every 8 hrs...

Definitely had planer teeth...and a few did look like steak knives but i couldnt tell by the way it was cutting.....27 teeth he stated....sharpens them at 15 degrees on the head....

As far as running the head in the ground..I dont think there is any remedy for that other than skim the material and dont push it into the dirt....Covered rocks and rocky soils not to much of an issues in this sandbar of a state I live in..guess it would be frustrating buying new teeth every job cuz I wanted a closer cut....

 

[ForestryMowCo.]

It has been my experinence that fixed tooth cutter heads of any kind have no business in rocky environments. The only time they would be any good in that case is when you are cutting standing material. A swing tooth head is far more efffective for me around rocks.

 

[cbturf]

I would have to disagree on the fixed tooth theory. Between two sets of teeth I have about 800 hours on my Fecon carbides and have not broken a single tooth. I just replaced a set of teeth about a month ago and the ones I took off had about 600 hours and they were not completely worn out. How many hours do you get out of your swing teeth? And yes I am in an extremely rocky environment! (mountians of New Mexico at about 8,000 feet plus elevation)

 

[SSP&M]

The Sk120 is no harder to work on then any other skidsteer. I dont know how long it will last but we have around 3000hrs on ours now with no problems. The supertrak takeuchi is probably the most reliable machine out there in the under 150hp class but doesnt quite have the power the others do. we have around 4500 hrs on ours. I guess it is all in how you take care of them. I have heard nitemares from the gyro owners with reliability issues on some of the 13s,18s, and 25s. we had to get rid of our gyro swingtooth mulcher due to it not being reliable, belt issues, bearing issues, and vibrations. I guess they all have there good and bad aspects.

My christmas list: another denis cimaf to install on my sk120.

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

SSP/m , the operator of the SK i speak of had a fecon on his when they first got it...said the cimaf is night and day in comparison...

Ill tell santa to drop one at your place after he drops one at mine...

 

[SSP&M]

I bet it is, we installed one on our Supertrak Takeuchi about 700hrs ago and love it. Teeth are lasting us between 125 and 150 hrs depending on what we are mulching. I installed the chipper teeth on our fecon and that made a big difference also, just wish i had the extra width of the cimaf and the efficeincy of it also.


I just hope he can get it down our chimney!! hahaha

 

[TMTS]

I have to agree with SSPM about the belt, balance, bearing and vibration issues on the gyro-trac swing tooth head...I have been running a fecon with carbides for 2+ years with excellent reliability. No balance, bearing or shaft issues with 600+ hrs of mowing in NH. With all the rock up here in NH there is no way I'm seeing a planer tooth rig in my future.

 

[cbturf]

If Santa is bringing mulchers I will sneak in your house and build a fire in the fireplace. Then I will leave a note with the milk and cookies that you are storing your machine in my shop and please leave your new head there.

No knives of any kind for me though...Like I said earlier I got 600 hours out of my carbides working the site like the pictures. Since the beginning of the year I have cleared over 500 acres out here and I have not broken a single tooth.

 

[mwoods]

Hello everyone, I kinda feel like the kid asking if he can play ball with a bunch of kids he's been watching for a month from the other side of the fence.

My name is Mark Woods, I live in East Texas and I've been looking at your mulching discussions for about a month. Last summer I bought 35 acres that had about 12 years worth of growthon it after being clear cut on the backside of it, approx. 15 acres. Mostly sweetgums, red oaks, and some other tree I've yet to identify all growed up in clusters of about 5 - 10 where they sprigged out of the stumps that were left behind.

I had a few guys come out and give me bids to doze it over. They all wanted anywhere from 75 to 120 an hr. So I debated buying my own dozer.

Then I started thinking about all the HUMUNGOUS piles that I would have to burn and stoke and roll and reburn so I started looking at the mulchers.

Called around for a few bids and they wanted 175 to 200 an hr. Whoah!!! How many acres can you clear a day I asked. Well it depends on this or that from what your descibing probably 2.

Well I did the math and came up w/ about 12K to get it cleared. With my job I have a little bit of dowtime and figured if I bought my own mulching rig I could clear my own place off and hopefull work it a little bit on the side.

So after quite a bit of research I went and bought (financed) a Cat 297C with the High Flow XPS and a Bradco Magnum Mulching head. So far I have cleared about 10 acres and put 60 hrs on it. I know that comes to 6 hrs an acre which probably isn't very productive but this stuff is THICK. Plus I am no skidsteer operator but I am coming on!

Yesterday I took the mulcher off ot it and put the bucket on it. I diverted a creek set a culvert and moved a big ole brush pile away from some power lines that I had bunched up w/ my tractor to burn. I guess what I'm getting at is these little skid steer machines are so versatile w/ all the attachments and suprinsingly stout. I've got some dozer operating experience and they are limited in their capabilites, PUSH~. After stepping back and looking at what I've accomplished with this thing I'm so glad I did'nt buy a dozer.
Now I just need to hustle up some work so I can let it pay it's note. Good luck, Right!

I'm not real familiar w/ this site, how to use it, post pictures, etc. This is my first posting. I would like to get involved in some of ya'lls conversations, I've got lots of questions.

 

[ClearViewGroup]

welcome to the discussion! skid steers are the most versatile machines around...even more so if you can afford to buy all the different attachments! you will find that the longer you have one the more uses you can come up with for it...some better than others but all useful! ask away with the questions there is alot of knowledge here!

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

Waiting for Robbie and Fred to chime in here... They are probly busy at SANTAS workshop building our X-Mas Cimafs....

I want mine with racing stripes ok? haha

 

[RobJ]

What's x-mas...

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

Its December 25th...Rob-clean your chimney!

 

[yellowdogsvc]

If Santa is bringing mulchers I will sneak in your house and build a fire in the fireplace. Then I will leave a note with the milk and cookies that you are storing your machine in my shop and please leave your new head there.

No knives of any kind for me though...Like I said earlier I got 600 hours out of my carbides working the site like the pictures. Since the beginning of the year I have cleared over 500 acres out here and I have not broken a single tooth.

That looks like what I grind in Texas. My carbide teeth on FAE/Cat mulcher hold up well. 2 teeth replaced in 2 years! I am blown away by how long they have lasted and how good they look for at least 1000 hours on the teeth.

 

[RobJ]

Its December 25th...Rob-clean your chimney!

Ok well we call it Christmas...5 more letters. Actually its not a totally bad thing, The X comes from the Greek translation of Christ (starts with the letter X). And has been carried down...somewhat. My guess is most people who use it haven't got a clue to this. Does an atheist send out Xmas cards...Oops.

Chimney, your right, even with the little burning we do down here it does smell after a burn. My guess is to much pine form the previous owner. Wife has been on to me about it!!! Now you at TBN!!??!!

Rob