Hedge Cutter or Mulcher

arctictree

I wonder if someone could give me some advice.

I acquired a few acres recently and the place needs to be cleaned up. (No work done on it for 30 years). The land is good but in places the hedges encrouch about 20 feet into the fields. I was thinking of getting a lad in with a hedge cutter but then I saw on the internet one of those mulching machines which seem to do a great job and no big piles of hedges left over e.g: http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/machinery/3056791

There are also some big patches of rushes and I presume this machine could go through them too.

Any comments?

Cheers

A

JohnBoy

If you've bushes coming 20 feet into the fields then I'd get in a man with a track machine to clean them down, and make one hell of a bonfire.

you need to wait another month before you can start work on ditches.

I myself am planning on having a hedgecutter and digger lined up for the first of september!

arctictree

Thanks, Bonfire is not an option as we are surrounded by forestry and the owner will not allow it - fair enough. That mulching machine looks like it does a very neat job...

bbam

arctictree wrote: »

Thanks, Bonfire is not an option as we are surrounded by forestry and the owner will not allow it - fair enough. That mulching machine looks like it does a very neat job...

But you'll still need to cut the hedges first.. I mean if you have a seriously overgrown hedge on a ditch I doubt that mulcher would just go through ditch and all... why would you want to.

The way I see it you'll need a track machine or a tractor and saw to cut back the hedges..

Now, if you have scrubb and stuff to dispose off it looks like quite a machine, I wonder what the hourly rate is for that job..

reilig

Are you spreading a lot of seed when you mulsh it all up and mix it through the soil??? Would you need to come along with a brushwood spray afterwards once a year for a couple of years to keep them at bay?

Have cleared bushed from land, but always with a track machine. Cleaned the drains while I was at it.

If I couldn't burn the bushes, I'd bury them.

redzerologhlen

I spent a good while using one of those seppi mulchers and you would be suprised what they would go through given a bit of time. A bit severe on a tractor though.

lakill Farm

op - you say you acquired it (so are you not the owner?)

i say it depends on the ditch. Maybe a track machine with a saw head on it. easy on the grown and does a great job. then put a bucket on the digger and push into heaps. Then hire a diesel mulcher machine (€180 a day) and mulch the branches. If you know who owns the forrest they may let you blow the mulch in at the base of the trees if they are mature.

Lad beside me in westmeath has a ex 120 with the saw on it. about €40 an hour for ex120 with buckets, not sure about the saw sorry

1chippy

I payed 50 an hourfor a mulcher at the start of the year. the tractor slid on a hill and the mulcher got bent on the only tree he could hit. finished with a track machine and reckoned far better value for money.

Markcheese

Kind of a side note but the field of gorse in the video link above was mental, would that have any value as biomass or wood chips, I mean people spend a fortune establishing mescanthus and willow to chip it... And gorse Definitly burns hot ...

bbam

The land round here isn't great for ploughing..
Would something like this be good if you didn't have a great depth of topsoil? Or would it just create a "paning" effect on clayish soils?.. It would seem to do a plough & till action in one pass which is quite attractive..