Serious tree mulcher .

Eagleview · Apr 9, 2009

It seems this guy was not impressed with the machines available for mulching , so he built his own . Based on a CAT track loader with a 420hp C12 CAT engine hanging off the back , with a belt driven self built mulching head on the loader arms . It also has a rear mounted winch . Have a look at the thickness of the mulcher body in the picture of the rotor . I'd love to see it in action , it's for sale for $350,000 AU .

Scooby074 · Apr 10, 2009

Pretty impressive to take on that build. It looks pretty well done. Im curious as to why he went with a belt drive over hydraulic? I cant think of another direct belt drive mulcher off the top of my head.It'd be cool to see a video of it in action.

Renze · Apr 10, 2009

Scooby074 said:
Im curious as to why he went with a belt drive over hydraulic?

Belt drive is more efficient than hydraulics: just figure that a belt drive needs no additional cooling: the need for cooling means that mechanical energy is lost into heat...

I do wonder how he tightens those very long belts though...

Scooby074 · Apr 10, 2009

Re: Long belts. Yeah thats what i was getting at. I know belts are more efficient, but its a long way from the power pack to the head. Even if he used several short belts, it could be a nightmare.

Also dont forget that he'd need some sort of a clutching arrangement to prevent burning the belts if the rotor jams (which can happen a fair bit with a mulcher)

Eagleview · Apr 10, 2009

If you look at the first picture you can see a downward facing protrusion just before the rotor pulley on the belt cover . I would say it has a spring loaded idler to keep the front belts tight . There would obviously be a pulley at the loader arm pivot point where the front and rear belts meet so lifting the arms would have no effect on the belts . I would guess that the C12 engine would be running at low revs , using it's available torque to give good fuel economy and the rotor speed increased by the use of maybe a 2-1 pulley ratio . I would think it would be more efficient than running a hydraulic pump at high revs with all the associated losses .