Orec tracked flail vs Grillo wheeled flail vs ride on

[MossRoad]

Wow!

 

[2manyrocks]

It was certainly a WOW when I saw how they were able to mulch standing trees right down to the ground in less than a minute. This machine can clear patches of growth in a matter of minutes that it would take me a week to clear with a chainsaw, tractor and grapple, but they are able to mulch it on the spot instead of me having to move the debris somewhere else.

 

[Jens767]

Hi again 2manyrocks

Thank you very much for your update

It’s always nice when someone takes the time to share the result of a long and interesting thread, like you have done here. It’s also much more useful to other members, who might at some point have a similar job at hand, and it’s also a little reward to the many members who have contributed with their posts and ideas.

I feel confident that you made a very wise decision by getting a contractor to do your initial job, and comparing the two photos, one can only be impressed with the result. - Well done! Some jobs are simply too tough for small and light equipment, and are better done with some heavy machinery, like in your case.

You of course have many options regarding how to best keep the vegetation down over the coming years. If I remember correctly, you only need a solution for this one plot, and if that is the case, I find it difficult to justify any of the solutions mentioned. Talking about $25,000 is in my budget a lot of money, and even half of that for a used mower that will only be used once or twice a year, is hard to justify I think. Have you considered letting your contractor come once or twice a year to mulch the plot? From now on he can probably clean your plot in half the time needed for the initial job, and for a fraction of the money you will spend on your own mower.


Best regards

Jens

 

[2manyrocks]

Now that the heavy brush is cut, the contractor could probably cut the entire hillside in less time than his 4 hour minimum.

I have three other threads open discussing slope mower options. One involves buying a used Kubota F3680 with 2200 hours from a dealer asking $8,900. Another involves buying a new Power Trac PT1445 and brush cutter mower that would be about $39,500 delivered. Another discusses remote controlled slope mowers, but the entry price is about $35,000 for just an air cooled gas powered finish type mower with a cutting width of 48 or so inches.

It is difficult to justify spending that much on any of these just to keep the hillside weeds cut.

 

[MossRoad]

Now that the heavy brush is cut, the contractor could probably cut the entire hillside in less time than his 4 hour minimum.

I have three other threads open discussing slope mower options. One involves buying a used Kubota F3680 with 2200 hours from a dealer asking $8,900. Another involves buying a new Power Trac PT1445 and brush cutter mower that would be about $39,500 delivered. Another discusses remote controlled slope mowers, but the entry price is about $35,000 for just an air cooled gas powered finish type mower with a cutting width of 48 or so inches.

It is difficult to justify spending that much on any of these just to keep the hillside weeds cut.

I agree. $39,500 buys an awful lot of someone else doing it instead, plus no equipment to maintain.

One of the nice things about the PowerTrac, though, is that is does so much more than just slope mowing.

 

[2manyrocks]

One thing that appeals to me is there is still no DPF on the PT1445 which tempts me to buy one while I can, but $39,500 is still a lot of money on top of what I already spent on a L2501 and used MX5200. If I had this to do over, I might should have just bought one PT1445 instead of the L2501 + MX5200. I made some poor decisions already.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

As smooth as that looks can you use your MX now and just go up and down the slope?

 

[2manyrocks]

My mixed up answer is I don't know for sure and have reservations because this used to be cut by an operator who had a larger dual wheel New Holland tractor. My MX has single loader style tires. There is a steeper area near the bottom where the operator of the forestry mulcher rode the slope to the bottom, and he has a lot more experience operating on slopes than me.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

It sounds like the picture doesn't do it justice then. I would not enjoy being a passenger on a heavy equipment ride like that...

 

[Shrew_Gardens]

Goats?

 

[2manyrocks]

I have used goats to clear areas of kudzu on the farm before. The drawback is there would be a lot of labor installing a good goat fence on this hillside. This hillside isn't kuduz infested, but it grew up in thorns and saplings due to not being mowed periodically.

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This other hillside is infested with kudzu. Goats would actually be the better long term option for clearing the kudzu off because they eat it down to the point that they actually kill it where mowing doesn't actually do that. Or I can mow/spray it and the spray will kill the kudzu.

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The last time I fenced for goats, I ran several strands of electric wire and that worked so long as I kept the charger battery charged and kept weeds off the wire. Standard field fence would be more secure, but 330' of standard field fence weighs 192 lbs where goat fence with the smaller openings weights 261 lbs which feels noticeably heavier to handle to me.

What is new to me is the temporary goat fencing made from electrified mesh and lightweight step in posts. I haven't used them myself. They are something I have on my list to learn more about before making a decision on what to do next.

 

[Jens767]

Hi again 2manyrocks

Spending a large 5-digit sum of money to keep the weeds off this one hillside only, is indeed hard to justify - and on top you have to do the work yourself!

On my 6200 m² (around 1.5 acre) meadow, I have tried a few different solutions over the years. I usually mow twice a year with my BCS 740 2-wheel tractor and my Zanon drum mower, but have also done it once with a sickle bar mower instead. Then I rake the grass into swaths by hand, and finally I gather the grass and leave it on a handful of heaps at the edge of the plot to decompose. The mowing is the easy part, but as I don’t get younger, the rest is getting harder and harder

I have no experience with goats, but 2 month ago I had 80-85 sheep „shaving“ my meadow as a test. A professional shepherd in my area brought his animals to me for 5 days. As I have no fence around my meadow, he put up a temporary fence of the sort that you describe:



I have no experience with this sort of fencing, but as the shepherd constantly travel this area with his herd, and often stays only a day or two on each plot, he has to be able to put it up and down very quickly. The sheep had a lot of respect for the fence and always kept a safe distance.

This might be a possibility also in your area, and like with your contractor with the mulcher, you don’t have to invest in anything, and an experienced person will even do the job for you.


Best regards

Jens

 

[2manyrocks]

I haven't used it, but have read that is the style of temporary electrified shock mesh fencing that is the easiest to install for goat containment.

Another idea I've considered is using a winch to lower and raise a towable ATV style mower up and down the hillside, but the hillside terrain varies so much that steering control would be needed. I think this would also be time consuming even if I figured out how to add remote control steering to a towable ATV mower. Or perhaps there is a way to add a guide cable to keep the mower mowing on a certain path?

The larger robotic self propelled Spider mower is advertised for roughly the same almost $40,000 price in the USA as the Power Trac PT1445.

 

[jeepcoma]

Update: I hired a company who used a Cat299d equipped with a Cat mulching head to clear this slope.

It was money well spent because they were able to grind up even some small trees on the slope in only a few hours that would have otherwise turned into a chainsaw job plus having to drag the debris off the hillside. It also made a difference that the operator was experienced operating this equipment on slopes.

The mulch residue left behind is pretty deep in places, and there are still some shattered tree stumps here and there.

Now that I am able to walk on it again, I feel like I need a ride-on solution of some kind or a remote control cutter because I doubt I can personally handle using a walk behind to maintain this slope.

Before as seen from top of hillside:

View attachment 841179

After as seen from bottom of hillside:

View attachment 841180

Curious how progress has been? What have you done to maintain the land? What's it look like now? Most important - Did you get a 2-wheel tractor??

 

[2manyrocks]

I bought a power trac pt1445 because it would be a lot of physical work using any 2 wheel machine and I dont like the idea of running into snakes on foot. I saw one rattler mowing with the pt1445 last year. Neighbor saw another in our fence line last week.

There are still steep areas I cut with a echo brush cutter during the winter that might yet be easier cut with a 2 wheel walk behind or remote control cutter.