10-15 years because I was uncomfortable getting on the slope with my tractor and didn't want anyone else on it, either.
Some of the briars are 1/2 thick. There are some trees that will have to be chainsawed, and some 1" saplings.
I decided to cut some of the kudzu infested slope today with the Bachtold just to get it clear in my own mind what it can and can't do. If I raise the cutter and drop it on the brush, I can nibble away at it, and it chops it up pretty well.
However, if I try to just cut it, the vegetation is too tall and it leaves piles of 4-5' of uncut material. I tried cutting by running through it and then making another pass to grind it up, but it was worse than the nibble method.
If I only partly cut up the material and vegetation gets hung on the mower, it's actually pretty difficult pulling it back since the Bachtold has no power reverse.
The area that was just briars was easier to cut than the area that was mixed with kudzu because the kudzu vine clings to everything in sight. I'd say it's 50+ percent harder cutting the area where there is kudzu mixed in. Actually 100% harder if the kudzu is very tall.
After about 8 hours of cutting, it was pretty exhausting.
First picture is the debris that piles up if I just try running through it. It's actually dangerous because the temptation is to pull it off, but the drive belt and blade are pretty exposed on this machine. Once it finally gets to the ground, it's difficult to grind it up.
Second and third pictures are the brush being cut by nibbling relative to the mower. Raising the cutter and repeatedly dropping it onto the brush does a better job of grinding it up.
Fourth picture is the end result. It does grind up the material. It's just the amount of labor required to get to this point.
