Cedar MULCH MANIA!!!!

[Sligh1]

I have a lot of acres that got out of hand. Bad!!!! I’ve run smaller stuff & it’s so slow + underpowered. I finally got a set up that does so much more work vs old methods… not even close. It’s deleted & tuned to 140hp (done right!). Hydro flow is 45gpm & the combo with disc is literally twice as fast as any combo I’ve ever seen before (other than dedicated mulcher).
Got a drum & disc from Vail. Disc is much faster & does a fantastic job. I left some bigger chunks as I “don’t care & want to get things done”. If I wanted it a fine finish- I can do that too.
My cedars had almost no deer use. Can’t travel through these. No growth. No deer use. Wall of cedars in many cases. They can lay on outskirts but can’t use the cedar thickets.

HERE’S A FEW EXAMPLES: BEFORE & AFTER.
Did video some of this. Learning new machine & it’s fun. I’m getting it dialed in. NOW: deer will use it. Browse for deer / sunlight to floor. Still cedars there- just spaced right now. & I can do TSI on the fly- identifying trees from machine & destroying the competition.
I’ll post a legit video later. This machine is insanity!!!

 

[hillrunner]

Here's a couple videos from when I had one. It was hell on cedars but it takes a lot of maintenence when something is spinning that fast. I found a lot of rocks ! One of the other issues I found is nothing will grow through that thick mess of cedar mulch except other cedars. It's sure fun though.

 

[Sligh1]

Here's a couple videos from when I had one. It was hell on cedars but it takes a lot of maintenence when something is spinning that fast. I found a lot of rocks ! One of the other issues I found is nothing will grow through that thick mess of cedar mulch except other cedars. It's sure fun though.

Did u have things break when using for while? What kinda stuff went wrong? I don’t see the vail mulcher having any issues but I imagine the costs on skid steer won’t be cheap. What types of things broke?

 

[Bassattackr]

Wondering if a fire after a year of dry down would open up that floor..

 

[Sligh1]

Wondering if a fire after a year of dry down would open up that floor..

I bet. I’m got it ground down pretty hard core. Literally ground it into the soil. Guys from Vail said I can grind into soil - just wears teeth bit faster. I see a lot of exposed soil when looking close. Lot of soil for variety of seed to get to. Agree on fire. Or even planting some other trees in there. I will keep more cedars out as spacing is great now.
If look close at some pics- u will already see exposed soil.

 

[hillrunner]

Did u have things break when using for while? What kinda stuff went wrong? I don’t see the vail mulcher having any issues but I imagine the costs on skid steer won’t be cheap. What types of things broke?

Mainly teeth being destroyed by unseen rocks. You can spend a fortune on teeth and bolts alone. I tore out a few tooth mounts out as well which is a more involved repair. I also replaced quite a few hoses from being pinched. I'd try to keep them tied out of the way but when you really get going in the thick stuff they can get hooked and moved around. The couplers are expensive enough to make that repair hurt, not to mention the oil that'd get pumped out before I'd notice.
On that skid loader, be sure not to let the mulch build up under the cylinder arms. I bent mine by letting too much build up. That happened early on, I got better at directing the mulch away from the machine.
For maintenance, I'd drop all the guards under and around the machine to clean out mulch every day and I lifted the cab once a week to do the same. I hated crawling under that thing and dropping those doors every day but failure to keep up with that will likely result in a crispy machine.
Other than that, keep it greased and keep the track side down.

 

[Bucksnbears]

Oh Man......,that would be SOOO handy here for prickly ash/buckthorn.

 

[Sligh1]

I’m gonna pry let this sit one year. See what comes up. I might seed some in clovers & dbltree cereal rye mix.

I pry keep thinning & interseed other trees in a few pockets as well…. Some with nuts & fruit.

I’m getting ton done!!!!! Deer will be using lot of areas they quit using before this. Literally “adding acres to a farm”.


***This machine - learning it really well now. This would be 5th day on it. Really getting hang of it better. Above was just a quick pass through first time out. It’s fun getting this machinery dialed in better. This machine run right & with guy who knows his trees…. This thing is getting fun to run!!!! Got it down a lot more. I’ll post vid later too of using it….