hayden
Veteran Member
I thought I'd share my experience with these three different attachments after owning and using all three. I use(d) them on a mini/mid excavator, but I think this largely applies to use on a tractor or skid steer as well.
I've watched a number of Youtube videos where people work their way through buying these attachments, just as I did, until they find the right one. My hope here is to save people some time and money by picking the right attachment in the first place.
I started with a rotary mower on a 4 ton mini excavator. It's just a brushhog with swing blades that mounts in place of the bucket and is hydraulically driven. It worked well, but it's important to understand the limitations. A rotary mower works well on grass and similar vegetation, light brush, and woody material up to around 1", maybe 2" if the wood is soft. The advertisements for these mowers will tell you they can cut up to 4" or something similar, and they can, but they don't do it well. Not at all. Material that's too big just gets hammered and pounded, not cut. Or it just gets flattened to the ground and not even cut off at the stump. So for anything beyond light brush, it's really not the right tool. I've seen people buy these, as I did, with the expectation of clearing saplings and other bigger material, and it just doesn't work well.
Next I got a bigger excavator (8 ton) and this time got a flail mower. I had never owned one before, and I have to say it was the biggest disappointment. Like the rotary mower, it's really only good for grass, vegetation, and light brush. The advantage over a rotary mower is that it chops up the material better, and leaves a more finished cut. So if you are mowing road sides, or stream or pond banks, and want a finished cut, it's probably the best choice. But it's even worse at woody material than the rotary mower, so make sure you only need to cut light stuff. Also, the flail mower was very heavy - frankly too heavy for the excavator. It was a very heavy duty attachment, and the attachment/excavator weight relationship will vary widely from case to case, but this is something to keep in mind with any of these attachments.
The majority of my clearing work involves some amount of woody material. Brush, saplings up to 4-6", and a lot of lighter vegetation, but being able to cut the heavier stuff is essential. For that, nothing beats a fixed tooth mulcher. I'd say it does better with everything except for grass, and for grass it's about the same as a rotary mower. Not quite as good, but pretty close. If you have anything other than grass and light brush, or need to do finish cutting, don't waste your time on any of the other attachments - go straight to a mulcher. They are more expensive, but it's where you will end up sooner or later.
I've watched a number of Youtube videos where people work their way through buying these attachments, just as I did, until they find the right one. My hope here is to save people some time and money by picking the right attachment in the first place.
I started with a rotary mower on a 4 ton mini excavator. It's just a brushhog with swing blades that mounts in place of the bucket and is hydraulically driven. It worked well, but it's important to understand the limitations. A rotary mower works well on grass and similar vegetation, light brush, and woody material up to around 1", maybe 2" if the wood is soft. The advertisements for these mowers will tell you they can cut up to 4" or something similar, and they can, but they don't do it well. Not at all. Material that's too big just gets hammered and pounded, not cut. Or it just gets flattened to the ground and not even cut off at the stump. So for anything beyond light brush, it's really not the right tool. I've seen people buy these, as I did, with the expectation of clearing saplings and other bigger material, and it just doesn't work well.
Next I got a bigger excavator (8 ton) and this time got a flail mower. I had never owned one before, and I have to say it was the biggest disappointment. Like the rotary mower, it's really only good for grass, vegetation, and light brush. The advantage over a rotary mower is that it chops up the material better, and leaves a more finished cut. So if you are mowing road sides, or stream or pond banks, and want a finished cut, it's probably the best choice. But it's even worse at woody material than the rotary mower, so make sure you only need to cut light stuff. Also, the flail mower was very heavy - frankly too heavy for the excavator. It was a very heavy duty attachment, and the attachment/excavator weight relationship will vary widely from case to case, but this is something to keep in mind with any of these attachments.
The majority of my clearing work involves some amount of woody material. Brush, saplings up to 4-6", and a lot of lighter vegetation, but being able to cut the heavier stuff is essential. For that, nothing beats a fixed tooth mulcher. I'd say it does better with everything except for grass, and for grass it's about the same as a rotary mower. Not quite as good, but pretty close. If you have anything other than grass and light brush, or need to do finish cutting, don't waste your time on any of the other attachments - go straight to a mulcher. They are more expensive, but it's where you will end up sooner or later.
