brush cutter/mulcher...

[cosmiccowboy]

I saw an ad on craigs list for land clearing using a brush cutter/mulcher. It looks like this...(pic too big to hotlink)

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/joshasutton/TexasTimberMulchers002-1.jpg

Has anyone used one of these on your ranch? how did it work? What was regrowth like? I want to clear several thousand yards of new roads on our place and was wondering if this might be the way to go...

[bboswell]

For roads and area prone to erosion it is great because it does not disturb the soil.

If you use it on areas that you plan to plant then be prepared to turn it under pretty deep after you clear because the mulch left by this machine can be so thick that it keep anything from growing (just like mulching a flowerbed)

These are just like stump grinders in that the close to the dirt you get or the more you get it into the dirt the faster you will go through blades.

[cosmiccowboy]

It is very thick guajillo, mesquite, prickly pear, and black brush. I've got a feeling I would be fixing a lot of flats for awhile.

[bboswell]

No more or less than if you pushed it with a dozer.

And if you push it then you have to come back and burn what you pushed.

[JeffJ]

It is very thick guajillo, mesquite, prickly pear, and black brush. I've got a feeling I would be fixing a lot of flats for awhile.

FOAM FILL whatever you get. We foam filled our bobcat tires before we started using it. No flats thus far and I have pulled quite a few sticks, etc that WOULD have been flat tires.

[Junebug]

We recently finished all our brushwork. Started with a pair like you have pictured. They work well, though slow. For the amount of work I needed, it would have taken all season. Traded in the bocats for a d6. If I could purchase one just to have it would be fine. But for rented equip it didnt make sense for us.

[cosmiccowboy]

We recently finished all our brushwork. Started with a pair like you have pictured. They work well, though slow. For the amount of work I needed, it would have taken all season. Traded in the bocats for a d6. If I could purchase one just to have it would be fine. But for rented equip it didnt make sense for us.

How much was the rental on the ones you got and where did you rent them?

[expressfish]

I saw that post on craigslist too yesterday, pretty neat machine.

[qzilla]

I have both a D6 and a Cat 272C that we use. The cat has a brush cutter and a tree shear and a tree grubber.

They all have their uses. I know you want to cut brush but what are you really trying to do?

Based on the type of brush you are talking about I am thinking you would want to roller chop it as when it comes back and is small it is great for deer?

If you are putting a permanent road in I would doze it and then use the grubber to pull the roots the dozer left.

The skid steers are incredible and leave a small footprint. They are great in tight spots and places that need a little more detailed work.

I can clear brush faster with a skid steer and a tractor or another skid steer with a grapple than I can with my D6 if I have to pile it for burning.

I do not like the mulching heads, they are slow and high maintenance. I would get a HD shredder or brush cutter and go to town.

[Roosterpt1]

My dad and grandfather own and run a land clearing company out of Austin. They have 4 hydro axes which is like that skid loaded you have pictured but the machine is the size of 950 loader more or less. Two of the machines have the fecon like the one in the picture but alot bigger and two have a rotary axe same concept as a shreader, but its a shreader on steroids. Email me if you want more info Roosterpt1@sbcglobal.net

[cosmiccowboy]

I have both a D6 and a Cat 272C that we use. The cat has a brush cutter and a tree shear and a tree grubber.

They all have their uses. I know you want to cut brush but what are you really trying to do?

Based on the type of brush you are talking about I am thinking you would want to roller chop it as when it comes back and is small it is great for deer?

If you are putting a permanent road in I would doze it and then use the grubber to pull the roots the dozer left.

The skid steers are incredible and leave a small footprint. They are great in tight spots and places that need a little more detailed work.

I can clear brush faster with a skid steer and a tractor or another skid steer with a grapple than I can with my D6 if I have to pile it for burning.

I do not like the mulching heads, they are slow and high maintenance. I would get a HD shredder or brush cutter and go to town.

Qzilla, I saw the pic of that new cat rig y'all got and was lusting for it LOL.

I am working on a small play/investment place we bought just south of San Antonio. It's about 50 acres that backs up to a 500 acre place (absentee owner, low fence). Both places are classic thick south Texas brush that is an island of brush in the middle of cultivated agricultural country. It's loaded with deer and hogs. The brush is head high+ and so thick you can't walk through it.

To start with, I want to cut a couple of thousand yards of meandering ranger roads through it, then come back and do some selective clearing to set up a couple of small food plots and a few bow stands. We might do a little roller chopping later. We are gonna buy a skidloader, but not one as nice as yours.

The guys I was talking to on the mulching head want's a thousand dollars a day and if he can clear the acreage he claims he could easily cut all my roads in two days. I thought that would probably be the easiest and most cost effective way to get started.

[william]

I have been thinking about the same thing. I think I might just get a brush cutter and try that first. The cost of that mulcher attachment is very expensive for the work load I have.