Advice on mulching head for midi excavator

[hayden]

I have a Kubota KX080 (9 ton machine) that I use to manage a large, mostly forested property in New England. A significant amount of time is spent cutting back along stone walls and fence lines, reopening old logging roads/trails, and then keeping those roads/trails cut back over time. 80% or more of my time on the machine is hacking back brush, saplings, and small trees up to maybe 6". And nearly all are hardwoods.

I've been using a flail mower head on the excavator and it works fine for the brush and anything up to about 1", maybe 2". But beyond that it's a slow struggle. The flail mower I think it really better suited to maintenance, cutting back smaller material. And I'm thinking a mulcher head would be much better and faster for the initial clearing of all the overgrown saplings and small trees.

My question is about pro's and cons for different heads. I'm only interested in something that will be solid and hold up. I learned my lesson long ago about cheaper, lighter duty tractor equipment, and I have no use for it. Weight alone tells a lot about the difference between equipment. Not the whole story, but it's a significant indicator of robustness and strength. Brands that seem to come up are FAE, Cimaf, and Fecon. Would any of those be better for my use? Any other brands I should consider?

I'm also a bit fuzzy on hardened steel teeth vs carbide. It sounds like steel cuts better, and lasts as long as you stay out of the dirt and rocks. And that carbide is better if you are mulching right into the ground. Is that right? Are there other considerations? I have only been cutting into the ground and rocks by accident and my flail blades have held up well.

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks

 

[nyone]

I use to work for the state dept of transportation. They had alamo flail axe heads on booms. You wont have a problem cutting down 6in trees even if you can only reach 10ft high. How ever they dont like rock walls, but no cutter will.

They also had diamond rotory blade heads. Basicly a brush hog on a arm. The arm was heavy but the cutter head was weak and very poorly made.

You want a drum type and not a rotory style. The rotory style has a huge area in the center that you cant use to cut with so your left swinging the arm around over top of trees.

 

[treemuncher]

Your production will be directly related to the flow and pressure available from the hydraulic system. 38 gpm at 3500 psi was the smallest I've ever owned (large skid steer) and it was pathetic for my needs. You can cut any size tree with a drum head if it has access to it but the speed at which progress is made is directly related to the flow/pressure variable.

Of the 4 manufacturers that I've owned, FAE would be my first choice for another unit. Remember, the smaller the rotor diameter is, the more torque you will have available. This will be most important on a small system. With the right drum choice, numerous tooth styles will be available.

 

[Bill Stecik]

I have a fecon CEM 30 and a cimaf and a rotary They all work good on a Cat 308e

 

[D&Mmachine]

I'm also a bit fuzzy on hardened steel teeth vs carbide. It sounds like steel cuts better, and lasts as long as you stay out of the dirt and rocks. And that carbide is better if you are mulching right into the ground. Is that right? Are there other considerations? I have only been cutting into the ground and rocks by accident and my flail blades have held up well.

One isn't better than the other in all applications.

I would also consider the cost of operating the teeth. Carbide can't really be field-sharpened so rather than having a knife edge you are watching productivity decrease as the carbide rounds over and weighing that against the cost of replacement. Then again, the time and materials spent to sharpen steel isn't free either.

As nyone said, rotary style mulchers are going to be most productive on the outer edge of the wheel as the teeth in the center aren't moving as fast. Not that you would engage the entire cutting surface of a mulcher into a hardwood stem on a KX080 anyway.

Your Kubota has plenty of power to eat through 6"+ hardwood trees with the right setup and operating technique. With a drum style you are pretty much limited to turning everything into chips, with a rotary style you can mulch into chips or work faster producing larger size chunks - all that size reduction takes energy that has to come from somewhere.

Another consideration is if you need to manage debris/stumps/boulders/etc, if so the ability to use your thumb with the mulcher may be a valuable option.

Regardless of drum/rotary steel/carbide the big variables are available flow/pressure at the end of the stick and how deep your pockets are. A cheap tool is an expensive tool but it doesn't sound like you will be running it 365 on contracts where downtime isn't an option. Hope this helps!