JD Mulcher...

floridaforestry · Oct 28, 2010

John Deere bringing down their new mulcher to demo for a few days. Looked at it in Birmingham at the factory, now we get to put it through the ropes. Will post some pics and feedback afterwards. Anyone else ran one yet and got feel for it?

floridaforestry · Oct 29, 2010

JD mulcher works very well. Lots of nice features. Don't care much for the head though. Ran it for roughly 7hrs. Found only minor issues, i.e. needed guarding, tracks seem to gouge easy. Overall nice well thought out machine.

fishfactor · Oct 29, 2010

Yep. Rubber tracks get destroyed pretty quick in the mulching business. We keep a spare to get us out of the woods if one breaks. Last one broke 3 miles deep in the woods while cutting a transect 6' wide. That was a fun day! That's also when we started keeping a spare. Rubber tracks are not ideal for most jobs, but a must have for residential.

It sure is nice, clean, and scratch free. Could you tell who made the head?

beenthere · Oct 29, 2010

You didn't get it very dirty.

How about some action pics of it working? Maybe a video on YouTube?

JDPN · Oct 30, 2010

Darn it, i was expecting a real mulcher, not a CTL. Maybe just maybe deere will one day make a competitor to barko and tigercat.

Robbie Hegwood · Oct 30, 2010

The head looks like a Fecon made unit. Similar to the ASV/Terex unit.

treeman40 · Oct 30, 2010

just put head on a 643 or 843 cutter

floridaforestry · Oct 31, 2010

The pics were taken before we used it. It rained most of the time we had it so the action pics are limited. It does come with a Fecon head as the standard. JD can get just about any other brand that one likes though. GR is handling the forestry packages on the CTL for the mulching applications. JD has addressed all the common issues that compact mulchers have, i.e. cooling, winch, accessibility to motor compartment, cleanout. The extra sound proofing and preasurized cab made using great. Can talk on the cell and listen to the optional radio with ease.

Eagleview · Nov 1, 2010

How much horse power ? how much oil per minute @ what pressure , is the cab pressurised ?

palmettobrush · Nov 1, 2010

hey guys been a while been mulching i have just changed the tracks on my pt forestry machine it had 2050 hour on the first set and the other on has 1750 on it with plenty of track life left

Digdeep · Nov 2, 2010

floridaforestry said:
The pics were taken before we used it. It rained most of the time we had it so the action pics are limited. It does come with a Fecon head as the standard. JD can get just about any other brand that one likes though. GR is handling the forestry packages on the CTL for the mulching applications. JD has addressed all the common issues that compact mulchers have, i.e. cooling, winch, accessibility to motor compartment, cleanout. The extra sound proofing and preasurized cab made using great. Can talk on the cell and listen to the optional radio with ease.

I bet they had some serious work to do on the new machines based on feedback from three guys up here that bought the 332s for mulching (none own them anymore- one CAT and two ASVs). Bradco/Magnum has an extra cooler on their brush cutter just because of the overheating problems Deere had on their machines.

In any case, I just don't see a machine with a small 3.1L engine putting out about 34gpm@3400psi or so being all that productive running a 60" drum in thick material.

I'm sure someone in this industry can educate me if the Deere actually is a workhorse compared to other machines with more engine torque, higher hydraulic flow and higher operating pressures.