Forestry Mulcher

[sumpnz]

https://youtu.be/O5jJbP7MC4M

Santa??  🙏

I need to clear brush and stumps and so forth on probably an acre or so.  That machine would be awesome sauce, with an awesome cherry, over awesome ice cream.

Too bad it's so expensive to hire a guy to do it.  Hard to find anyone renting them too.

[Boomhauer]

I work on the excavator mounted ones sometimes, and I did a custom install of one on a mini ex for a customer. Trust me hiring is cheap compared to owning one, or probably even renting one. They go through carbide teeth like candy and they tear up a lot

[RoadKingLarry]

Would come in handy at the next Antifa riot.

[RoadKingLarry]

Walk it off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftV2HeKPeBM

[Calumus]

I ran one of these for about two years while I was getting my business up and running.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rbi5911DX94

What boomhauer said is dead on. The guy I worked for charged $1500 a day for machine, operator, and a spotter.  I was making $22/hr, and the spotter who sat in the truck and watched that no one ran in front of me while trying to save their favorite tree that just happened to be growing in the power company's right of way, made $13/hr. The owner cleared around $850 on a day when nothing broke. Those days were rare. Between constantly replacing teeth, and having hydraulics, rebuilt the machines can be a nightmare to keep running. A ton of fun when they actually do run though. Well, until you accidentally hit a junk car that's half buried in thick brambles...

[230RN]

https://www.progressrail.com/en/infrastructure/maintenance-of-wayequipment/brushcutters/klearway500.html

Engine:     Equipped with Cat® C6.6 liquid-cooled diesel engine rated for 202 bhp @ 2200 rpm. Engine equipped with exhaust muffler and large capacity cooling system.

Wow.  Just guessing from the activity in the video, I thought it would be around 500 bhp.

Let that be my worst mistake of the week.

Terry, 230RN

[Boomhauer]

We’ve had a couple of those Kershaw units in lately.

Terry, it’s all about torque with Diesel engines and those machines are all hydrostatic (meaning hydraulic pumps and motors do the propulsion, no physical transmission. The 6.6 and 7.1s are pretty commmon engine sizes on medium size equipment.

The larger excavator based units have the counterweight replaced with a power pack consisting of an engine, hyd pump, hydraulic tank, and big ass cooler all dedicated to the mulcher head so the excavator is not splitting its flow to run its functions and the very high flow mulcher head. Shinn Systems is a maker of those.

[Ben]

Terry, it’s all about torque with Diesel engines and those machines are all hydrostatic (meaning hydraulic pumps and motors do the propulsion, no physical transmission. The 6.6 and 7.1s are pretty commmon engine sizes on medium size equipment.

If one is not familiar, it's hard to wrap your head around it. Somebody sees a little 400HP Mustang, then sees some ginormous tractor ripping a field and thinks, "Man, that's gotta be like 1500HP!" when it's likely only 150HP (and the price of six of those Mustangs). :)

[230RN]

Well, I know diesels are torquey, but somehow 202 horsepower is only 202 horsepower.  I guess the hydraulics explains a lot of it.

"If one is not familiar, it's hard to wrap your head around it."

I'll say.  It's just a little beyond my ken, I reckon.

I wonder what HeroHog thinks about it.

Terry

[HeroHog]

Diesels are about Torque, not HP. The hydraulic system can be "geared" for torque or RPM based on the needs of the application. That is a rather heavy rotating mass being spun at fairly high RPM. It's mass acts like a flywheel and the hydraulics are constantly applying high pressure. Notice that the operator doesn't just stay on the work piece but does it in passes allowing the cutting bar to regain RPM between each pass.

[Hawkmoon]

Well, I know diesels are torquey, but somehow 202 horsepower is only 202 horsepower.  I guess the hydraulics explains a lot of it.

"If one is not familiar, it's hard to wrap your head around it."

I'll say.  It's just a little beyond my ken, I reckon.

It's like comparing Clydsdales to quarter horses ...

[sumpnz]

I ran one of these for about two years while I was getting my business up and running.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rbi5911DX94

I'll be in my bunk.

[charby]

Mineral oil and herbicide.

[RoadKingLarry]

Kill it with fire.

[sumpnz]

Kill it with fire.

That just helps propagate blackberries.

[charby]

https://pnwhandbooks.org/weed/forestry-hybrid-cottonwoods/forestry/vegetation-control-herbicides

[Angel Eyes]

I ran one of these for about two years while I was getting my business up and running.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rbi5911DX94

Biggest Kershaw I've ever seen.

[sumpnz]

https://pnwhandbooks.org/weed/forestry-hybrid-cottonwoods/forestry/vegetation-control-herbicides

Herbicide won't help with eliminating stumps or blackberry root balls.

[charby]

Herbicide won't help with eliminating stumps or blackberry root balls.

But it kills them and stops suckering. Blackberry/raspberries will re-sprout from cut vegetation. I clone ribes species every year.

[sumpnz]

Yes, I'm only too well aware of that.  But if I can seed the area and mow it (or graze sheep/goats on it) the blackberries will be kept under control fairly easily.  Or, if I need to, spray new growth after the clearing. That would cut waaayyy down on quantity of herbicide required.

[230RN]

Diesels are about Torque, not HP. The hydraulic system can be "geared" for torque or RPM based on the needs of the application. That is a rather heavy rotating mass being spun at fairly high RPM. It's mass acts like a flywheel and the hydraulics are constantly applying high pressure. Notice that the operator doesn't just stay on the work piece but does it in passes allowing the cutting bar to regain RPM between each pass.

Well, yeah, but.

Seems to me if you have to let the thing rewind between cuts, you need more horsepower anyway.

It's like saying you can lift a car 10 feet if you gear a wristwatch down enough, but you have to rewind it a lot and it will take ten years.

I realize the video may not be showing any "resting" periods.

Back to herbicides.

Terry

[charby]

Back to herbicides.

Terry

Garlon XRT and basal oil sprayed in dormant woody vegetation knocks the snot out it.

[HeroHog]

Well, yeah, but.

Seems to me if you have to let the thing rewind between cuts, you need more horsepower anyway.

True enough but notice how instead of just setting the blade on the stump and running it down, he instead runs back and forth on it slowly eating it down. The cutter quickly regains revs between passes. You CAN "ride it down" but you have to watch the pressure so as not to bog the cutter and lose efficiency. Also consider that more horsepower will probably require upgrading the downstream components to handle the added horsepower. Consider that hydraulic lines can only handle so much flow and pressure as well. It tends to be slow and powerful or fast but "week" at a certain point.

[Andiron]

True enough but notice how instead of just setting the blade on the stump and running it down, he instead runs back and forth on it slowly eating it down. The cutter quickly regains revs between passes. You CAN "ride it down" but you have to watch the pressure so as not to bog the cutter and lose efficiency. Also consider that more horsepower will probably require upgrading the downstream components to handle the added horsepower. Consider that hydraulic lines can only handle so much flow and pressure as well. It tends to be slow and powerful or fast but "week" at a certain point.

Exactly. 

That,  and if you force the issue,  stuff breaks.  There's a lot of finesse to getting the most performance out of the machine without breaking random bits.

[Calumus]

Exactly. 

That,  and if you force the issue,  stuff breaks.  There's a lot of finesse to getting the most performance out of the machine without breaking random bits.

This.  You get a feel for how hard you can lay into something. It's similar to running a chainsaw through various kinds of hardwood. You figure out how much you can push it into whatever you're working with, and once you get a feel for it, you start making good time. Main difference is with the Kershaw, you have to control the forward speed of the machine as well as how hard you grind down on a living tree or a stump.