Forestry Mulching Fail

[Jeff]

The Mulcher came today. I had everything flagged. And Dave don't need me beyond pointing to where the flags are.  I took minimal video today, as Cedar requires my attention for a few days. Well, I aint the only one having break downs. A half mile back Dave started losing power. He drove clear back up. Figured it was def related. I ran him to town for a 2 gallon jug, he got it going again, got almost to the back and it started again, throwing some sort of catalytic def error. No rev. So back up to the cabin, loaded up and coming back Monday. He wouldnt take any cash for the first hour and a half, said that way I knew he was coming back. I said good point.

Still pretty amazing what he can do in such a short time.

[charles mann]

This is why i would rather not rent a skidsteer and mulcher, in the off chance the machine decided to have mechanical issues and now iv gotta call the rental place out to fix it or replace the machine or have to come back at a later date once a replacement machine comes available. At the same time, hiring someone to do the job, that may not work the machine to its full capability and taking longer to do the job, which then would cost me more money bc they are dragging behind. 

[Magicman]

A few years ago, we were thick with folks buying skid steers intending to get rich in the mulching business. 

They are no longer there, probably all ordered sawmills during the past 2 years.

[SwampDonkey]

They tried to use them to thin paths through thickets that thinning crews could work off of to space the trees out. It was a nightmare, the trail of spears. There is a big difference between sparsely treed ground and stems every 1-4" apart. :D After a year or two they disappeared, never to be seen again. I think the margins on profit are pretty slim.

A few years ago portable mills were abundant, there might be 3 left around here in a 30 mile radius. One a retired school teacher, another was used to fix up an old homestead and little else on inherited land with several hundred acres-retired government paid telecom tech, the other a hobby farm. None make a living off sawing. ie, If not for a government cheque, no sawmill.

[Corley5]

A few years ago, we were thick with folks buying skid steers intending to get rich in the mulching business.  

They are no longer there, probably all ordered sawmills during the past 2 years.

Or went into the firewood business ;D

[SawyerTed]

A tree service guy and eventually a friend runs a forestry mulching operation in addition to the tree service.

His business includes some right of way maintenance contracts so the mulching operation fits.  He does other mulching jobs but the ROW business pays the way for the track loader and mulching head.  

It is a high maintenance operation due to the hard life of equipment and the odd piece of metal that the mulching head "finds".  Barbed wire is a constant headache. 

There's a list of pre-owned equipment I won't ever buy.  One is a track loader the was used as a mulching machine.  

[Walnut Beast]

Lot's of talk! Everything can break down. There are Skidsteers being run day in and day out mulching that do just fine. Who owns one? Ask Yellowhammer how good his smaller excavator with a mulching head runs. 

[Jeff]

I had big plans and high hopes to get the first ever trail to the farthest corner of my property. The Southeast corner, buried in this section, a half mile back. Well, we got close. Then the Cat became ill. This issue has nothing to do with the mulcher. The cat got sick.  I think these mulchers are the best thing since sliced bread. 


GOOD GRIEF! WHat HaPpened?? The Forestry Mulcher could barely crawl out of the woods!! - YouTube

[Magicman]

I agree and have no issue with the mulching operation.  It's just not the "get rich" scheme that a few folks thought that it would be.  They overbought the market, at least here.

[Walnut Beast]

You will love it. It's nice having trails through and around the boundary lines of your property. Sometimes it's just nice to go for a long ride to check things out. In my experience and trail cam pictures to prove it. It made no difference riding on the trails through the woods and the game  will use them like a highway 

[SawyerTed]

Lot's of talk! Everything can break down. There are Skidsteers being run day in and day out mulching that do just fine. Who owns one? Ask Yellowhammer how good his smaller excavator with a mulching head runs.

There's a huge difference between a man (especially one like YH) who owns a compact track loader/mulching head and uses it on his own land compared to a compact track loader/mulching head  that's been run commercially.
We had a compact track loader that had run a mulcher at the wood products company.  It was a hand-me-down from the owner's grading company.  It was beat up with 2,000 hours of mulching and lots of headaches.  

[SwampDonkey]

They use excavator machines to mulch power lines , ditches and field edges here. Last winter one farmer did all his field edges on 100's of acres getting his field edges opened back up. Some of our heavy power lines are on the roughest ground imaginable, through unsettled areas. With all the rocks, bog holes and ruts in some of it you can barely walk it.

[Jeff]

I plan on using my backhoe as a rotoriller here in a couple weeks. Should be able to rake out the tag alder roots in prep for putting in posts and then soil amendments for a planned blueberry patch.

[Jeff]

Just got a text, he is on his way back this morning. He musta got it figgered out.

[barbender]

I would second Ted- I would never buy a second hand post-mulching operation track loader. Those things spend the day putting out max horsepower, with the cooling system doing it's best to keep up. No thanks. I'm of the opinion that the new track loaders and skid steers put out more horsepower than is good for them. It's one thing to have a 100 hp machine if you're loading pallets all day at a nursery or something. That's easy time. But if you're out doing hard digging, mulching, and other high power draw tasks, if the power is there you're going to use it. And that's when you can really damage stuff and tear the machine up.

[Jeff]

He didnt get it figured out.  :-\
Maybe tomorrow. Cat tech coming to his place tonight

[SwampDonkey]

Could be something simple, which isn't so simple these days with all the electronics. :-\

[YellowHammer]

I hope it's under warranty...he has to get it fixed to get back to making money so he has no choice.  

I never even considered buying a mulcher until I saw some of the original posts that Jeff did about clearing his property with one.  He is right on, these machines are amazing!  You have to see one operating in person to appreciate what they do, not just the sight of it, but the sound and impact of trees and brush vaporizing into chips can be felt in your chest quite a distance away.

I currently have two mulchers, one carbide/bladed disk style that can take down trees the sizes of telephone poles, and it's like a bomb going off.  Nothing left when it moves on, and typically I run it wide open to get as much energy into the cutter flywheel as possible.  When I mulched some trees and tall nightmare privet off of my Son in Law's parents property this spring, he said he'd never heard his dad cuss so much in excitement.  Things like "He's not going after that tree?? No way!! ### ****!!  It's gone!!"  He told he's been hand clearing that acreage for years, which is why he asked me to bring the cutter and when I was done he said in one day I did what would have taken him five years!  Since I don't have a mulching business, I only use the mulcher when I need it, much like a plow.  It gets done pretty quick, it's high load, and I take it off.          

The other mulcher is a drum rotary mulcher for my mini excavator and it is like a scalpel.  It is incredibly effective for slowly tracking down roads, driveways, and field edges just sweeping overhanging branches and limbs into chips as far up as the cutter head can reach.  It's pretty easy on the machine as it only requires about half to three quarter throttle to cut individual limbs but I do wind it up if I'm going to eat a tree from tip to ground.  It's not really an area clearing tool, but is unmatched for trimming overhanging limbs back and leaves a nice clean cut.

     

[Jeff]

The word is it is a sensor and should be fixed Friday, but worse case scenario for the area he was working, we are currently getting a big rain. An excited to see my filling pond when it is over kind of rain. .38 inches so far

[wesdor]

I had an operator running a mulcher for 3 days last week.  Took some nice video and wonder how to show video here.  FYI I do not have a YouTube channel and need some guidance on how to show video here on the Forestry Forum.

He had a 60" mulcher on a tracked John Deere skid steer. Very smooth operator and he cleaned lots of brush from the timber.

[Jeff]

I heard from Dave last weekend. I Don't know the details, but it was a $5000 repair. I'm hoping he will be here tomorrow to finish.

[beenthere]

wesdor
Load your videos onto YouTube or Rumble. Once there, then just link to your video in your post.

[wesdor]

Thanks BeenThere.  I don't belong to either of them.  Probably lots of other good videos.  Thanks for the information.

[Jeff]

Here is where he was mulching behind my sheds. I raked it out with my landscape rake and burnt the slash, but the alder roots need to be ground out yet. Hope he comes tomorrow.


 

[SwampDonkey]

Nice to get that growth away from the buildings. Makes the critters more hesitant in getting in there to make a mess. A squirrel near a spruce tree can makes a mess of anything parked inside with shelled cone scales all over along with poo poo. Eliminate the veg corridor from bush to building. :D I like squirrels, but like'm much better outside in their own space. I get a kick out of all the scale piles out on the woodlot. They are busy. :D