PTO mulcher?

[Overtaxed]

Anyone have/used a PTO powered mulcher? I have a lot of land I'd like to clear, and while I can rent a skid/mulcher combo, it's mighty expensive (close to 4K/wk). I was wondering if anyone made a PTO powered mulcher that would work, I'm sure it won't be cheap, but, compared to the rental, perhaps not that bad if I figure a few weeks to get the job done. I'm also sure I'll wind up hurting bad from looking backwards so much! But, before I rent it out, I just want to make sure I've considered my options. Have 50HP at the PTO, in case that's a big constraint.

 

[Code54]

UML/ST - FML/ST - Forestry mulchers

Beaver Valley Supply Company - Baumalight Brush Mulchers

MINIFORST small forestry mulcher 6-1 HP | SEPPI M. - Seppi M.

 

[Overtaxed]

UML/ST - FML/ST - Forestry mulchers

Beaver Valley Supply Company - Baumalight Brush Mulchers

MINIFORST small forestry mulcher 6-1 HP | SEPPI M. - Seppi M.

Anyone use any of these? Seems like they are pretty niche offerings, none of the major names seem to make one (Woods, for example).

 

[mark02tj]

I've been looking into options for clearing land as well. I have about 3.5 acres to clear of honeysuckle and buckthorn. Not to mention a ton of dead ash trees that have fallen. Hiring it done is about $2500/day and I was told a good operator can clear about an acre a day. Like you, I've found that I can rent a skidsteer setup for about $3500-4000/week.

THANKS Code54 for posting those links - I wasn't aware that a PTO driven implement was an option. But for me, they're not an option as they look to require 60+ HP at the PTO and I have a little more than half of that.

Last week, I was taking about brush clearing with the park manager of one of our large MetroParks. They have a mulcher that gets shared among their dozen or so parks. The problem with the mulcher is that it only gets down to just a hair above the surface. That means that it leaves the roots of the invasive species which then causes them to be able to grow back - often with a vengeance. The mulcher also leaves little "stumps" which are good at puncturing tires on mowers and tractors.

I'm not sure what kind of conditions you have, but I'm still not sure that a mulcher is going to give me the finished results that I want/need. I will be watching this thread to see who else chimes in!!

 

[nybirdman]

I have been working on my 100 acres of over-grown farm land for ten years.Land had not been touched in at least a hundred years.Lots of thick brush;honeysuckle,red alder and all kinds of trash type trees.So thick in spots a beagle had a hard time going through it.
1.hired a small dozer to open a road in
2.hired two different fellows with 100 HP.tractors and large bush-hogs.
3.purchased my own tractor;first a 32 HP then a 44 HP(both with new bush-hogs)
4.last year hired a skid steer(65 HP) with a rotary head type cutter
a.cleared about 4 acres in two days but left a lot of scrap/pungi stakes.
5.last year;hired a skid steer (90 HP) with a FECON mulcher
b.cleared another 5-7 acres in three days,minimal clean up
6.Bottom line,hire it done with the proper equiptment

 

[Bill Stecik]

Look on my U tube channel . I have videos of my clearing stuff . I can turn any bush into dirt in no time .GT25XP Gyro-Trac Mulcher - YouTube .918 Fendt and Seppi 25 Multiforst - YouTube .Caterpillar D6c cold start and V brush cutter demo - YouTube

 

[Overtaxed]

Look on my U tube channel . I have videos of my clearing stuff . I can turn any bush into dirt in no time .GT25XP Gyro-Trac Mulcher - YouTube .918 Fendt and Seppi 25 Multiforst - YouTube .Caterpillar D6c cold start and V brush cutter demo - YouTube

Wow, those are some impressive machines. None of them look like they would come close to fitting anything resembling a "budget" for this project though. Of course, I'd only need to rent that GyroTrac for about 4 hours and I'd have all 50 acres down to dirt!

 

[Bill Stecik]

Best way to clear on a budget....Use a cat to cut and pile the trees. when regrowth starts spray . Use a breaking disk to work the land and chew up the stumps which should be rotted in 1 to 2 years. All the stuff can be rented and the breaking disk doesn't have to be a monster. We clear 100s of acres a year on our ranch. A D6 can cut 1 -2 acres an hour . It can pile 1 acer in 2 hours . You can disk about 1 acre an hour going slow. Forestry tillers can till 1/2 an acre an hour. I believe that I owned the first seppi forestry tiller in North America . I use that old Vee cutter because it cuts clean and dirt free in both summer and winter.

 

[NC419N]

I have been working on my 100 acres of over-grown farm land for ten years.Land had not been touched in at least a hundred years.Lots of thick brush;honeysuckle,red alder and all kinds of trash type trees.So thick in spots a beagle had a hard time going through it.
1.hired a small dozer to open a road in
2.hired two different fellows with 100 HP.tractors and large bush-hogs.
3.purchased my own tractor;first a 32 HP then a 44 HP(both with new bush-hogs)
4.last year hired a skid steer(65 HP) with a rotary head type cutter
a.cleared about 4 acres in two days but left a lot of scrap/pungi stakes.
5.last year;hired a skid steer (90 HP) with a FECON mulcher
b.cleared another 5-7 acres in three days,minimal clean up
6.Bottom line,hire it done with the proper equiptment

EXCELLENT Advise
There is almost no way one person can have every piece of equipment needed to Clear your property. Also don't get in to much of a rush and space out project areas to help keep you from getting burned out by the size of the total job

 

[Overtaxed]

That forestry tiller looks like the cats meow for what I'm doing. Need a smaller one, my tractor is only 60HP, but most of the clearing I need to do is brush, 10 years of overgrowth after a logging operation, so at most, trees that are 15 feet tall and maybe 2-3" around. Most of it is much smaller than that; which is why I thought a mulcher would be great, but the rental prices on them are so amazingly high that I start thinking "what if I could just buy one". What did that Seppi look like for pricing?

I'm seeing around 3500/wk for a skid steer forestry setup, which seems really high to me, I'm generally of the thought that if buying it costs less than 2X the cost of a rental, buy it. And I'm not sure I could finish everything I want done in a week.