This is a pretty amazing machine. I just finished renting a Bobcat drum mulcher on a Kubota SVL2 95 for two weeks. I cleared about 8 acres of heavy brush (1 to 6in with multi-trunk trees. 5 to 7 trunks) and then cut about 5 miles of trails. Most of the trails were double width (12 feet) . The Kubota broke down the last day of each week but I was running it 12 hours a day. Never could have done this work with any other method i.e. by hand or excavator or bulldozer. I was moving fast and thought that was probably the reason the mulch was so large. After watching several videos now, I realize the teeth were quite dull. Wound it with hi-tensil wire a few times. What a bear the first time until I found that a cutting torch pops that wire like corn. The debris left behind will be a couple of years rotting down since it is so big. I plan to rent it again next year to help the rot (I'll ask for new teeth before I start) and widen the single width trails. Also, I plan on buying the Lane Shark brush hog for the loader on my tractor. This will allow me to "trim" the overhanging branches and move into fresh areas with my tractor. This stuff is so much fun! I need a drone now to map my trails and provide an aerial view of the farm. This video was really quite well done regardless of what some have said (I read every comment below) Thank you. I am off now to find the drum video. Thanks Stan! This is not easy and you do it well!
@@samrochin6749around my way in Pennsylvania, locally no one rents the mulcher because every operator is a 300 pound gorilla on the controls and they never make it through their allotted rental agreement time and it’s already totaled. Puts someone who is careful efficient and experienced at a disadvantage to being able to rent since I do not own any iron yet.
Stanley you did a bang up job of interviewing this guy. You asked great questions and I appreciate your humility in the way you asked the questions because I know you already knew all this stuff personally.
I love seeing the failure points on equipment. The companies are always happy to show you just how much something can do, but knowing limits helps you make better decisions, and when you know just what something can't do, you're less likely to try it and screw up. (unless it seems like it might be fun anyway)
@@lydaelizabethshults3495 That log was sucked in and jammed so tight reversing the motor would not have worked - just wouldn't generate enough torque. Also trying could potentially damage it and/or a hose.
I work on a turnpike and we use the drum style mulcher on the slopes behind the guardrails , the disc style would throw too much debris to use close to traffic , even with the drum you have to keep an eye out and watch what you are doing . You have to keep a good leaf blower or air compressor handy to keep the air filters and radiator and hydraulic cooler blower out , in dry situations you may have to stop every hour or so the blow everything out to keep your machine running cool . Also keep the vent areas for the hydraulic and fuel clean , as they cool they will pull fines in and clog your filters . I have run both and you defiantly want to make sure your machine will handle the mulchers . Use a machine you are familiar with , running these mulchers is not the time to learn new controls , if you run joy stick joy stick stay with that type of machine if you run one with the foot controls and joy stick then find a machine like that . I have run both but prefer the joysticks , I have more control with this type of machine , I can run one with foot controls but it takes me an hour or so to get used to the weight of the grinder and feel of the machine before settle in and can make good time with it .
I have my own Forestry mulching business and I use a kubota svl97-2 with a fae DCR drum with knives. I’m able to control pretty well how far and where all my mulch goes with that set up. You face a new challenge everyday doing forestry work and you will have cost that you would never plan for.
Disks are sweet low operating cost, throw material like a crazy. Cover a lot of ground per hour though. We run both types, each has its place. Drums are excellent around structures, and for large material. Great vid!
If it could be afforded by putting it in the bid, having both styles seems obvious especially when there are mixes of growth and finish look goes to the drum. Any experience with how effective and efficient a drum or disc is for mini excavators? I envision doing all types of vertical shaping and cutting back away from power lines and right of ways and bank management. I just worry that the small pump on mini excavators aren’t enough to be fast or powerful.
Good interview, the engineer guy was obviously nervous but he came out of himself with your help. At first I thought he was going to be difficult but you got him through. That is one serious piece of kit!
Drum makes less of a mess in the initial knock down then can leave perfect rows that look like a carpet when backing out of a site ... customers only think of the finished product. Not how cool it looked doing it lol
To everyone asking about reverse. They could reverse the hydraulic flow from the machine but it wouldn't do anything. In every brush cutter I have seen there is a one way bypass valve between the hoses going from the cutter to the machine. This bypass valve prevents an operator from reversing the flow and damaging the hydraulic motor on the cutter. To reverse the flow you would have to swap the hoses going to the machine. Either swap the quick disconnects or swap the hose ends at the cutter motor. Some brush cutters have a two sided blade and during normal operation only one side of the blade gets used. To use the other side you have to reverse the flow by swapping the hoses. Though keep in mind that not all hydraulic motors are made to run both ways. I suspect this forestry cutter may be one of them. It's very likely reverse wouldn't work in this situation anyways.
@@carlosarango7210 My fecon on My Racyo C87 reverses. It can be handy from time to time, but it's limited. If you jam it, which is very rare, it's easier to set it down on the ground, and back up, which reverse rotates the drum and clears it 99% of the time. I prefer drums over disc for this reason.
I'm not impressed at all. While it was working it was great, but the way everything to a standstill when it jammed makes it obvious this is a terrible design. It looks like there is no way to reverse the spin of the disk and no way to easily remove the cage around the blade. I can think of several ways this could be made so that it is easy to clear jams by only removing a couple bolts from the side that has a jam.
I totally disagree. That is one standout machine, works fast, doesn't bog easily and built like a tank - and it has to be. As soon as you start attaching the side skirts with bolts (instead of welds) with the forces generated those bolts will work loose and/or shear and you'll have loose sides flapping in the wind and a potentially bigger and much more dangerous mess. Sure the machine found it's limit with this log but the operator even said - it was the worst jam he's ever seen so obviously this is a one-off not every day event. However, it was operator error/over confidence that caused it. If he'd approached that big log at more of an angle it wouldn't have got sucked in all at once.
I have dreamed of a ASV RT120F as I've been around Bobcats of my own n experience. I almost pulled the trigger on one new, but my physical abilities have changed with age. Anyone that gets into this business or just general dirt work. You best be very mechanical n welder n understand how machines work. I would love to get into this, but my age n abilities throw up red flags. Hidden cables n wire n steel in the woods n bush can caus thousands along with stress of the job.
I ran a barko 930 for a long time. The drum mulcher is my preference never jammed it up. And forced some pretty big material 30+ inches through it. But it definitely did not like barbed wire
Also, there are alot of comments about how it would be better to have a reverse to clear a jammed or bound cutting head. The hydraulic motors that the mulching heads have (disc or drum) do not have enough torque to free the head. If the object was tough enough to stop the head from spinning in the first place (while the cutting head was at speed) then manually clearing whatever stop it is the only way to get it spinning again. The hydraulics on the big dedicated machines, i.e. not skid steers, are more robust, but I believe the same applies for them as well.
Scott Hofner what about an extension cylinder mounted near the edge that when extended would engage divots cut into the wheel perimeter pushing it backward.
I use a Diamond Forestry head on my skid steer. It has advantages and disadvantages. The three main disadvantages is the size of the shredded material is slightly larger than most drums, it throws material much further than most drums and it does not like to cut material longer then 5' perpendicular to travel path. However, to two huge advantages are it is much faster then most drums and cost/life cycle of the teeth is by far better. I keep the hardwood chute on mine to prevent me from accidently sucking in material too large to chew up.
I have diamond forestry head disc on my kubota 90svl2 ... amazing forestry head .. very fast ... I try not to much logs .. for they will jam disc ... use for chipping branches only and leave wood for firewood .
I wouldn't trade my disk mulcher for anything, its awesome! Just like everything else, you do run into problems though & there is a steep learning curve but once you get it, it clicks & you only get better the more you do! I'm able to fell trees a lot closer to the ground & faster than a drum, most trees 10" & smaller will get pulled in & explode as long as you keep the head speed up. I have had a jam similar to that when back-grinding a pile of about 5 tress I had fell earlier, it was 100% operator error. Not enough head speed & not paying attention to what I was allowing on top of the blade, took about 45 minutes to removed a plug of wet hardwood that wrapped all the away around the blade against the shroud. I had to place one perimeter tooth against a tree at a time, pushing forward straight with both tracks rotating the blade backwards 6" at a time until the plug no longer moved. I then had to place a choker around the plug & pull it out the rest of the way. This does not happen often & the times it has happened has decreased significantly as I become more experienced.
What is a start up setup to get into the industry? Im wanting to expand my business and looking at this very heavily. Mainly not trying to start out 100k in debt
@@Guardianautoservices from scratch, $73k for new kubota 97. 2018 f350 dually $65k. $10k for gooseneck trailer. $15-25k for mulching head. Obviously, you can buy used and cheaper things, but I’m $73k,$65k, $10k, and $16k in personally.
@Lyda Elizabeth Shults it's the momentum that makes the disc work. Once it's stopped you have very little power. So even if you plumbed it backwards it wouldn't have the power to back a plug out. Most of the time, the disc stops it isn't jammed up. You just backmout and build speed again. To jam the disc you have to be pushing pretty hard into material.
Very awesome piece of equipment, I definitely want one!! Lol That thing is definitely a beast! One day I’ll get my hands on one….and my troubles will be over in regards to cutting the road across our wooded property. Thank you for sharing this with us, very educational!
A disc is much more amazing and scary. Entire trees up to 6 inches or so are sucked in and explode. Larger trees can be mulched with the bottom of the disc in a few seconds. Everything happens very quickly. A disc is 2 to 3 times faster at clearing area than a drum. The drum doesn't throw as far and makes much finer mulch.
@Jeff Schwab thanks ..just from watching the vidio this disc would work best on my property. I dont have a bunch of bigger trees that I need to take down and not much brush ,its mostly 4-6 inch diameter trees .mostly maple and black oak ,they grow faster than weeds it seems like lol .. the disc would get the job done quickly I think but I also need to consider were I'm going from there and future projects but thanks for the video and reply ,channels like your takes alot of the guess workcand trial and error out of big purchases
Stan, do you know why you get hundreds of thousands of views? CUZ YOU ARE A BAD ASS AND SHOW US ALL WHAT WE WANT TO SEE. We know we are getting the truth about these products not just videos from the manufacturer. They would never show a tree getting stuck. Thanks for all your videos and books. David Hoover Chattanooga, TN.
I have been running a CAT 299d with a drum mulcher 10+ hours a day for the last 2 months removing invasives in southern Illinois. I have it say it is a lot of fun, but it is very challenging being that there are so many things to pay attention to. I havent used one of those disk heads but they look effective. The drum head will get jammed up every once in a while but it always takes less than 2 minutes to get running again, unless you find a steel cable 😂
Do you have any videos on tools to help maintain our heavy equip. Tools like the best cordless grease gun, power washers, jacks etc. Tools that will help keep equipment operating top notch and last longer on the go at the job site. Or make emergency repairs alot easier, like mobile crimp for repairing hydraulics hoses in the field when no place is open to get a new hose. Really enjoy the videos, always good to see ways to work smarter not harder and all around more efficient.
4 Land's Sake LLC Gower Missouri Phillip Schwarz Owner Operator I own both the Diamond Mowers 60" forestry mulcher and 84" brush cutter. Started on a 2017 333G Deere with poor results due to lack of hydraulic capabilities and over temp issues. Deere purchased the unit back at 400hrs due to 60k in warranty work and months worth of my lost productivity while unit was in the shop repeatedly. Purchased a new 2018 ASV RT120 forestry. Night and day difference in the two carriers. 250 hrs and loving the power and smooth ride. Deere has more lift capacity but willing to trade for the hydraulic horsepower of the RT120F. Diamond Mowers has done well with any issues and has exceeded my expectations as an manufacture. Never had a jam that wouldnt clear by working it out agianst another standing tree with the diamond product. Drum or disc will be a long debate for years to come. Both have a place, so buy both! Love the channel Dirt Monkey. Welcome to the forestry mulching world! God Bless, Phillip Schwarz 816 724 3954
Disc mulches are more efficient so far as area cleared/time. The cost of that is how far it slings the mulch. I've slung stuff 50+ yards with a disc. It doesn't do that all the time, but it happens. Drum mulches are still very efficient, but area cleared/time is not on par with disc mulches... but they don't sling mulch like the discs do. If you're within 100 yards of something you don't want mulch to hit, you gotta go drum. If slinging is not an issue... disc.
I've used drum mulchers from fecon for several years. Never had a complaint. The only time I jammed them was when you find old cable left in the woods. Other times it clogs you can tilt the head forward, press the drum into the ground, and reverse until it un jams. I wouldn't ever run on anything smaller then a 90hp machine. Also, he's correct when it comes to keeping machines cleaned out. Fires are not uncommon with unkept forestry equipment.
Watching you hook up to the cutter while its on the trailer had to rewind a couple times because that was the fastest aiming and picking I've ever seen. Then I noticed the video cut almost had me fooled.
I'm looking to convert shrub sage brush south texas land to pasture... is there preferred mulching skid steer attachment recommendation that produce a mulch that will break down better than shredding?
That’s attachment looks really awesome! But I was afraid of that exact scenario. We have a Bradco ground shark and love it. But it utilizes blades instead of carbide teeth on the cutting edge. I do believe that requires more hydraulic horsepower to run the attachment efficiently but it does not have any kind of plugging issues. It just mulches on the bottom of the disc and doesn’t let anything pass over top and on larger logs like that you just let the carbide teeth on the bottom do the work. Now I’m not saying I don’t like quick attach products because we have several attachment from them and couldn’t be any happier with their build quality and strength. So great job guys! Y’all made me really re-think our purchase of the ground shark!
Awesome show. (this like a bush hogs big brother). Those square teeth on the cutter are Quadco teeth, like they use on a Feller Buncher. (the teeth can be taken out and turned to reveal another sharp side...3 times). Also when he jammed that cutter wheel with that much inertia to a dead stop. I would think he'd need almost as much inertia or pressure to free it.? I'm just guessing.
one thing that has not been mention is the recovery time that drum or disk need to take the load off the engine and have the necessary rpm too work effectancy as well as working system pressures so the machine is not dumping over pressure relief thus adding heat to the hyds
I’m waiting to see the comparison as well. But there are other vids that show the drum mulcher. I’m hiring someone to clear an acre and a half. One guy uses disk, the other drum. This property is adjacent to the house so drum mulcher it is. Decision made. Thanks
I wanna start my own landscaping business... in my 40's. Health wise,I Cosby think of anything better. Being out there and just cutting grass/ edging is relaxing anyway
The disc mulchers are affordable but only good for small scrub. They jam constantly and the shaft bends very easily and wrecks the whole machine. The drum mulcher are expensive to buy and maintain but do a good job.
I like the idea of bradco groundshark extreme mulchers with a big disc and short stout swinging knives in the perimeter. Seems less likely to jam and bend an axle. Also why don't they use a different type of bearing that doesn't rely on shaft diameter, like a slew ring bearing. Excavators don't use a single fat shaft.
New disc mulchers are very stout and mine will easily eat a 14 inch thick tree quickly. Larger would take a bit more time. As far as cheap it was maybe 10 grand cheaper than a drum. It was 28 thousand for a vail disc mulcher.
I have this disc mulcher and have found it dose 4 " trees OK but not great and it dose get jammed pretty often. Took me an hour on the worst one. I wish now I would have gotten the drum mulcher, but the grass is always greener right?
They all jam up eventually. Doesnt matter if it is a disk or drum. I run a Prentice 2670 with a Fecon head and a Rayco T275. Got to keep the cutter speed up and try not to "suck" up chunks of large wood.
The forestry door is very important. A friend of mine had regular door on his asv and a steel fence post came in the cab with him luckly it missed him.
Good morning sir, just became a new SUBCRIBER .I think the wheel disc is awsome and the 60 acres im cleaning up right now i sure could use one , Well T'S&P'S TO YOU AND YOUR CREW .Be careful and stay safe
Because I like all your past videos . I didn't click OFF, when you played LOUD useless music ,. We appreciate your talking & love the equipment sounds. ( your A+ education vids.= to Good for music, you dont need it like some, if not most people, because music, districts the mind form their BAD VIDEO.
I need land cleared. Lots of scrubby thorn trees. Thinking I should hire out a drum mulcher because it gets below the grade of soil. No stumps left behind so I can come in with a bushhog type mower behind it. Any thoughts on this train of thought?
awy1977 a drum mulched will leave stumps flush with the ground, and if whoever you hire is any good, your property will definitely look better with the drum mulcher!
done that, is good, drum will get even with ground or 1" above max, ok for hogging later, will rot slowly, use Stump Out if you are impatient, in 4 months the hog will pulverize them, or the drum mulcher if they are 30"+ can come back and dust in a minute
We run diamond brand on a high flow new holland track skid. Where you actually get into trouble is in cutting around 3 to 4 inch trees. You will loose rpm and jam a tree in the cutter. Lots of fun backen er out. Find a really big tree
I think it’s a neat machine but I feel like profits are extremely limited for this type of work. Where I live Everybody charges $150hr so potentially you can gross $1500 per day using a high wear $120k machine. That doesn’t impress me financially.
@@mikesamples2534 I'm estimating here, but $40/hr for fuel and maintenance, plus $25/hr depreciation, plus costs for downtime, insurance, transport time/cost, taxes, general business overhead, etc. Figure it costs $75/hr if you're self-operating. With the $150/hr rate, that payoff time isn't 1000hrs, it's 2000-2500hrs.
Hey! I have a property to clear of small shrubby overgrowth, kudZu, blackberry, privet etc. it’s about an acre but is fairly sloped - about a 20% grade. The idea is to cut everything down to the ground (fully knowing that the kudZu will return). Do you think a track skid steer with a forestry mulching attachment would be able to handle that grade? Or is there another piece of equipment you would use? String trimmers with brush cutting blades won’t handle this job... Any advice would be much appreciated.
I dunno if the jam can even be blamed on the unit... that's just a HUGE log to be chipped that way, if it was the bottom you were shredding it with, it'd probly be fine... but not sideways when its that much wider then the teeth....
If you're looking for the weath of knowledge he mentioned, look no further. I have been in the forestry industry for over 18 years. Myself and my fellow crew of orcs didn't have enough fuel to feed the fires... We cut down countless trees in Fangorn forest to meet the demands of the forge. This video shows a lot of good information, but fails to warn you of the trees coming alive and destroying Isengard. 0/10 No Treebeard
These high flow machines have a third (smaller dia) hydraulic line that removes any back pressure caused by jams into the CTL specifically to avoid damage to the hydraulic motor and/or hoses
Just need a manual bypass valve that connect the feed and return. That's probably why he couldn't get it out with the chain and tree, nowhere for the fluid to go in reverse.
how about an attachment for the attachment itself that can help with a reverse flow of hydrohalic pressure. Maybe like a reserve bank attachments for the gallons x minute. Could adding one, be capable, to build without compromising the flexing of any metal and longevity of the all the machinery put together.. ?
Get the new Echo 8010 backpack blower and clean up Maple leaves, and then Oak leaves. You will be surprised how much you can get done with that machine. I was looking at them today and will be getting one to use this winter to clear stairs and walks and so on... snow. We just had our first snow near Philadelphia, 20cm, so it's that time, here. good luck
This is a pretty amazing machine. I just finished renting a Bobcat drum mulcher on a Kubota SVL2 95 for two weeks. I cleared about 8 acres of heavy brush (1 to 6in with multi-trunk trees. 5 to 7 trunks) and then cut about 5 miles of trails. Most of the trails were double width (12 feet) . The Kubota broke down the last day of each week but I was running it 12 hours a day. Never could have done this work with any other method i.e. by hand or excavator or bulldozer. I was moving fast and thought that was probably the reason the mulch was so large. After watching several videos now, I realize the teeth were quite dull. Wound it with hi-tensil wire a few times. What a bear the first time until I found that a cutting torch pops that wire like corn. The debris left behind will be a couple of years rotting down since it is so big. I plan to rent it again next year to help the rot (I'll ask for new teeth before I start) and widen the single width trails.
Also, I plan on buying the Lane Shark brush hog for the loader on my tractor. This will allow me to "trim" the overhanging branches and move into fresh areas with my tractor.
This stuff is so much fun! I need a drone now to map my trails and provide an aerial view of the farm.
This video was really quite well done regardless of what some have said (I read every comment below) Thank you. I am off now to find the drum video. Thanks Stan! This is not easy and you do it well!
What did that cost to rent for 2 weeks, I understand it was a year ago so prices have changed. Just curious.
any updates?
@@samrochin6749around my way in Pennsylvania, locally no one rents the mulcher because every operator is a 300 pound gorilla on the controls and they never make it through their allotted rental agreement time and it’s already totaled. Puts someone who is careful efficient and experienced at a disadvantage to being able to rent since I do not own any iron yet.
Stanley you did a bang up job of interviewing this guy. You asked great questions and I appreciate your humility in the way you asked the questions because I know you already knew all this stuff personally.
Thank you !!
Would've Loved to have this machine during the Seattle protests!!! 😎👍
@ceisers repaid.yes ah
Nc I wish I would of had another one right beside you👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I love seeing the failure points on equipment. The companies are always happy to show you just how much something can do, but knowing limits helps you make better decisions, and when you know just what something can't do, you're less likely to try it and screw up. (unless it seems like it might be fun anyway)
Thanks for watching Rock and glad the videos are helpful!
Why don't they make the disc go in reverse also to dislodge stuck material?
@@lydaelizabethshults3495 That log was sucked in and jammed so tight reversing the motor would not have worked - just wouldn't generate enough torque. Also trying could potentially damage it and/or a hose.
I work on a turnpike and we use the drum style mulcher on the slopes behind the guardrails , the disc style would throw too much debris to use close to traffic , even with the drum you have to keep an eye out and watch what you are doing .
You have to keep a good leaf blower or air compressor handy to keep the air filters and radiator and hydraulic cooler blower out , in dry situations you may have to stop every hour or so the blow everything out to keep your machine running cool .
Also keep the vent areas for the hydraulic and fuel clean , as they cool they will pull fines in and clog your filters .
I have run both and you defiantly want to make sure your machine will handle the mulchers .
Use a machine you are familiar with , running these mulchers is not the time to learn new controls , if you run joy stick joy stick stay with that type of machine if you run one with the foot controls and joy stick then find a machine like that .
I have run both but prefer the joysticks , I have more control with this type of machine , I can run one with foot controls but it takes me an hour or so to get used to the weight of the grinder and feel of the machine before settle in and can make good time with it .
I have my own Forestry mulching business and I use a kubota svl97-2 with a fae DCR drum with knives. I’m able to control pretty well how far and where all my mulch goes with that set up. You face a new challenge everyday doing forestry work and you will have cost that you would never plan for.
Disks are sweet low operating cost, throw material like a crazy. Cover a lot of ground per hour though. We run both types, each has its place. Drums are excellent around structures, and for large material. Great vid!
Thank you !!
🤣🤣🤣
Funny to see you here man!
@@timberlinetactical Yeah Stan and I did some mulching lol
If it could be afforded by putting it in the bid, having both styles seems obvious especially when there are mixes of growth and finish look goes to the drum. Any experience with how effective and efficient a drum or disc is for mini excavators? I envision doing all types of vertical shaping and cutting back away from power lines and right of ways and bank management. I just worry that the small pump on mini excavators aren’t enough to be fast or powerful.
Good interview, the engineer guy was obviously nervous but he came out of himself with your help. At first I thought he was going to be difficult but you got him through. That is one serious piece of kit!
Drum makes less of a mess in the initial knock down then can leave perfect rows that look like a carpet when backing out of a site ... customers only think of the finished product. Not how cool it looked doing it lol
To everyone asking about reverse. They could reverse the hydraulic flow from the machine but it wouldn't do anything. In every brush cutter I have seen there is a one way bypass valve between the hoses going from the cutter to the machine. This bypass valve prevents an operator from reversing the flow and damaging the hydraulic motor on the cutter. To reverse the flow you would have to swap the hoses going to the machine. Either swap the quick disconnects or swap the hose ends at the cutter motor.
Some brush cutters have a two sided blade and during normal operation only one side of the blade gets used. To use the other side you have to reverse the flow by swapping the hoses.
Though keep in mind that not all hydraulic motors are made to run both ways. I suspect this forestry cutter may be one of them.
It's very likely reverse wouldn't work in this situation anyways.
Thanks for the input Mike and thanks for watching
Dfm mulcher can be put in reverse to dislodge material.
Reverse will not work either cause there's no inertia and the power of the hydraulic motor is just too little.
@@carlosarango7210 My fecon on My Racyo C87 reverses. It can be handy from time to time, but it's limited. If you jam it, which is very rare, it's easier to set it down on the ground, and back up, which reverse rotates the drum and clears it 99% of the time. I prefer drums over disc for this reason.
"I've got plan C but I don't want it on film."
THAT was funny! I'm really impressed with that machine. Great informative video.
I'm not impressed at all. While it was working it was great, but the way everything to a standstill when it jammed makes it obvious this is a terrible design. It looks like there is no way to reverse the spin of the disk and no way to easily remove the cage around the blade. I can think of several ways this could be made so that it is easy to clear jams by only removing a couple bolts from the side that has a jam.
I totally disagree. That is one standout machine, works fast, doesn't bog easily and built like a tank - and it has to be. As soon as you start attaching the side skirts with bolts (instead of welds) with the forces generated those bolts will work loose and/or shear and you'll have loose sides flapping in the wind and a potentially bigger and much more dangerous mess. Sure the machine found it's limit with this log but the operator even said - it was the worst jam he's ever seen so obviously this is a one-off not every day event. However, it was operator error/over confidence that caused it. If he'd approached that big log at more of an angle it wouldn't have got sucked in all at once.
I loved that as well.
Plan C: is a chain saw and chunk it out, by cutting length wise until you get clearance to start the disk back up.
I have dreamed of a ASV RT120F as I've been around Bobcats of my own n experience. I almost pulled the trigger on one new, but my physical abilities have changed with age. Anyone that gets into this business or just general dirt work. You best be very mechanical n welder n understand how machines work.
I would love to get into this, but my age n abilities throw up red flags. Hidden cables n wire n steel in the woods n bush can caus thousands along with stress of the job.
You can use a chain binder off your trailer to put some torque-crank on the disk to unjam it. Works great. Usually.
10 ton come-along attached to a big tree & just crank till it dislodges.
I ran a barko 930 for a long time. The drum mulcher is my preference never jammed it up. And forced some pretty big material 30+ inches through it. But it definitely did not like barbed wire
You definitely put to the test what I love about your chanel OK I'm from uk and do this for a living information from you is priceless
Also, there are alot of comments about how it would be better to have a reverse to clear a jammed or bound cutting head. The hydraulic motors that the mulching heads have (disc or drum) do not have enough torque to free the head. If the object was tough enough to stop the head from spinning in the first place (while the cutting head was at speed) then manually clearing whatever stop it is the only way to get it spinning again. The hydraulics on the big dedicated machines, i.e. not skid steers, are more robust, but I believe the same applies for them as well.
Scott Hofner what about an extension cylinder mounted near the edge that when extended would engage divots cut into the wheel perimeter pushing it backward.
So drum or disc what is the verdict , what are the pros and cons of each, speed, quality, cost to run how do the do side by side
I use a Diamond Forestry head on my skid steer. It has advantages and disadvantages. The three main disadvantages is the size of the shredded material is slightly larger than most drums, it throws material much further than most drums and it does not like to cut material longer then 5' perpendicular to travel path. However, to two huge advantages are it is much faster then most drums and cost/life cycle of the teeth is by far better. I keep the hardwood chute on mine to prevent me from accidently sucking in material too large to chew up.
I have diamond forestry head disc on my kubota 90svl2 ... amazing forestry head .. very fast ... I try not to much logs .. for they will jam disc ... use for chipping branches only and leave wood for firewood .
I wouldn't trade my disk mulcher for anything, its awesome! Just like everything else, you do run into problems though & there is a steep learning curve but once you get it, it clicks & you only get better the more you do! I'm able to fell trees a lot closer to the ground & faster than a drum, most trees 10" & smaller will get pulled in & explode as long as you keep the head speed up. I have had a jam similar to that when back-grinding a pile of about 5 tress I had fell earlier, it was 100% operator error. Not enough head speed & not paying attention to what I was allowing on top of the blade, took about 45 minutes to removed a plug of wet hardwood that wrapped all the away around the blade against the shroud. I had to place one perimeter tooth against a tree at a time, pushing forward straight with both tracks rotating the blade backwards 6" at a time until the plug no longer moved. I then had to place a choker around the plug & pull it out the rest of the way. This does not happen often & the times it has happened has decreased significantly as I become more experienced.
Why not engineer the disc to operate backwards as well so as to dislodge the material?
What is a start up setup to get into the industry? Im wanting to expand my business and looking at this very heavily. Mainly not trying to start out 100k in debt
@@Guardianautoservices from scratch, $73k for new kubota 97. 2018 f350 dually $65k. $10k for gooseneck trailer. $15-25k for mulching head. Obviously, you can buy used and cheaper things, but I’m $73k,$65k, $10k, and $16k in personally.
@Lyda Elizabeth Shults it's the momentum that makes the disc work. Once it's stopped you have very little power. So even if you plumbed it backwards it wouldn't have the power to back a plug out. Most of the time, the disc stops it isn't jammed up. You just backmout and build speed again. To jam the disc you have to be pushing pretty hard into material.
I just purchased a Cat 299 D2, will it handle the disc?
Very awesome piece of equipment, I definitely want one!! Lol
That thing is definitely a beast! One day I’ll get my hands on one….and my troubles will be over in regards to cutting the road across our wooded property.
Thank you for sharing this with us, very educational!
Go get em 👊
I haven't seen one of the disc mulcher work in person but the drum attachment I saw was freaking amazingly vicious with what it could do!!
A disc is much more amazing and scary. Entire trees up to 6 inches or so are sucked in and explode. Larger trees can be mulched with the bottom of the disc in a few seconds. Everything happens very quickly. A disc is 2 to 3 times faster at clearing area than a drum. The drum doesn't throw as far and makes much finer mulch.
Dam , I was leaning towards a drum but after watching this and the kind of stuff on my property I need to go thru ,this will work alot better
@Jeff Schwab thanks ..just from watching the vidio this disc would work best on my property.
I dont have a bunch of bigger trees that I need to take down and not much brush ,its mostly 4-6 inch diameter trees .mostly maple and black oak ,they grow faster than weeds it seems like lol .. the disc would get the job done quickly I think but I also need to consider were I'm going from there and future projects but thanks for the video and reply ,channels like your takes alot of the guess workcand trial and error out of big purchases
Stan, do you know why you get hundreds of thousands of views? CUZ YOU ARE A BAD ASS AND SHOW US ALL WHAT WE WANT TO SEE. We know we are getting the truth about these products not just videos from the manufacturer. They would never show a tree getting stuck. Thanks for all your videos and books. David Hoover Chattanooga, TN.
Thank you David for the comments and I appreciate you watching !
I have been running a CAT 299d with a drum mulcher 10+ hours a day for the last 2 months removing invasives in southern Illinois. I have it say it is a lot of fun, but it is very challenging being that there are so many things to pay attention to. I havent used one of those disk heads but they look effective. The drum head will get jammed up every once in a while but it always takes less than 2 minutes to get running again, unless you find a steel cable 😂
Yes I found the cable the loggers left behind. SMH
Looks very interesting and very dangerous you definitely have to have some experience running a skid loader in general report trying this
I have a quick attach tiller, grapples and concrete breaker for my TX 1000 toro dingo and they make really good attachments. I'm really satisfied.
Do you have any videos on tools to help maintain our heavy equip. Tools like the best cordless grease gun, power washers, jacks etc. Tools that will help keep equipment operating top notch and last longer on the go at the job site. Or make emergency repairs alot easier, like mobile crimp for repairing hydraulics hoses in the field when no place is open to get a new hose. Really enjoy the videos, always good to see ways to work smarter not harder and all around more efficient.
Great suggestion Drake, thanks for viewing !
Ran several but my favorite was a Fecon head mounted on a Volvo 160 excavator. Clear house lots in a hurry
Great video.. You showed your SNAFU.. Good display of what can happen if you try and go too fast with big cuts..
11:25 that's what I'm talking about showing the real result of what happens in the real world 🤗🤗🤗 good video brotha man.
We used the drum Mulcher on the end of 70 feet of Boom on excavators mounted on pontoons. We could clear a mile a day of 75 foot right away per day.
4 Land's Sake LLC
Gower Missouri
Phillip Schwarz
Owner Operator
I own both the Diamond Mowers 60" forestry mulcher and 84" brush cutter.
Started on a 2017 333G Deere with poor results due to lack of hydraulic capabilities and over temp issues. Deere purchased the unit back at 400hrs due to 60k in warranty work and months worth of my lost productivity while unit was in the shop repeatedly.
Purchased a new 2018 ASV RT120 forestry. Night and day difference in the two carriers. 250 hrs and loving the power and smooth ride. Deere has more lift capacity but willing to trade for the hydraulic horsepower of the RT120F.
Diamond Mowers has done well with any issues and has exceeded my expectations as an manufacture.
Never had a jam that wouldnt clear by working it out agianst another standing tree with the diamond product.
Drum or disc will be a long debate for years to come.
Both have a place, so buy both!
Love the channel Dirt Monkey.
Welcome to the forestry mulching world!
God Bless,
Phillip Schwarz
816 724 3954
Really appreciate it Phillip. thank you !
Phillip was wondering how much do you charge to clear 1 acre wooded lot?
What is the asv rt120's msrp?
333g with high flow of 41.1 gallons per min is no slouch and better than all the machines on the market other than ASV with 45 gallons per min
Disc mulches are more efficient so far as area cleared/time. The cost of that is how far it slings the mulch. I've slung stuff 50+ yards with a disc. It doesn't do that all the time, but it happens. Drum mulches are still very efficient, but area cleared/time is not on par with disc mulches... but they don't sling mulch like the discs do. If you're within 100 yards of something you don't want mulch to hit, you gotta go drum. If slinging is not an issue... disc.
I've used drum mulchers from fecon for several years. Never had a complaint. The only time I jammed them was when you find old cable left in the woods. Other times it clogs you can tilt the head forward, press the drum into the ground, and reverse until it un jams. I wouldn't ever run on anything smaller then a 90hp machine. Also, he's correct when it comes to keeping machines cleaned out. Fires are not uncommon with unkept forestry equipment.
One day I'll have that set up. Thanks for the video.
You would think there would be a way to spin the disc in reverse for that exact problem even if you had to swith the hydrolic lines or some thimg
Watching you hook up to the cutter while its on the trailer had to rewind a couple times because that was the fastest aiming and picking I've ever seen. Then I noticed the video cut almost had me fooled.
I'm looking to convert shrub sage brush south texas land to pasture... is there preferred mulching skid steer attachment recommendation that produce a mulch that will break down better than shredding?
Plan C, chainsaw the jamed log out. I once got a chunk of firewood stuck in about a 50 ton log splitter, I had to use a chainsaw to get it out.
Question: what would you use to clear a thick bamboo stand to ground as first step to eradication and control?
Can you grind the stumps past the surface level with either style?
I've done that but learned not to brake the tree off chain to the tree close to the cutter and then back up works great
used to operate an takeuchi and that was a drifting power sliding beast
That’s attachment looks really awesome! But I was afraid of that exact scenario. We have a Bradco ground shark and love it. But it utilizes blades instead of carbide teeth on the cutting edge. I do believe that requires more hydraulic horsepower to run the attachment efficiently but it does not have any kind of plugging issues. It just mulches on the bottom of the disc and doesn’t let anything pass over top and on larger logs like that you just let the carbide teeth on the bottom do the work. Now I’m not saying I don’t like quick attach products because we have several attachment from them and couldn’t be any happier with their build quality and strength. So great job guys! Y’all made me really re-think our purchase of the ground shark!
I also think approach angle makes a difference also for jams if you ran over that log towards the driver side it’s less likely to bind up
What if you have a 110hp machine that only puts out 26gpm? Would the additional horsepower make up for the lack of gpm?
Awesome show.
(this like a bush hogs big brother). Those square teeth on the cutter are Quadco teeth, like they use on a Feller Buncher. (the teeth can be taken out and turned to reveal another sharp side...3 times).
Also when he jammed that cutter wheel with that much inertia to a dead stop. I would think he'd need almost as much inertia or pressure to free it.? I'm just guessing.
Try releasing the hydraulic pressure by removing the quuck disconnects and pop the ends a couple of times then try the tree and chain again.
The music at the beginning was the absolute best!! 🤣
Thanks !
one thing that has not been mention is the recovery time that drum or disk need to take the load off the engine and have the necessary rpm too work effectancy as well as working system pressures so the machine is not dumping over pressure relief thus adding heat to the hyds
Props for showing the Malfuction though.!
@Stanley "Dirt Monkey" Genadek Exactly when did you plan on comparing the two machines in your title???
LOL. I believe we've seen the proof that we were trolled. I unsubscribed because of that. I hate dishonest channels.
I’m waiting to see the comparison as well. But there are other vids that show the drum mulcher. I’m hiring someone to clear an acre and a half. One guy uses disk, the other drum. This property is adjacent to the house so drum mulcher it is. Decision made. Thanks
What is the fuel consumption of rt120?
I'm very good at running machinery, I'd like to borrow that whole setup for about 4 weeks. I need to make more pasture out of woods
damn it! stanely out here reading my mind on stuff i was looking into a few days ago
I wanna start my own landscaping business... in my 40's. Health wise,I Cosby think of anything better. Being out there and just cutting grass/ edging is relaxing anyway
It really is sometimes 👍
The disc mulchers are affordable but only good for small scrub. They jam constantly and the shaft bends very easily and wrecks the whole machine.
The drum mulcher are expensive to buy and maintain but do a good job.
I like the idea of bradco groundshark extreme mulchers with a big disc and short stout swinging knives in the perimeter. Seems less likely to jam and bend an axle.
Also why don't they use a different type of bearing that doesn't rely on shaft diameter, like a slew ring bearing. Excavators don't use a single fat shaft.
Joe Malovich because of the torque that is applied in the shaft in a cutting situation.
maybe a more expensive version lasts better
New disc mulchers are very stout and mine will easily eat a 14 inch thick tree quickly. Larger would take a bit more time. As far as cheap it was maybe 10 grand cheaper than a drum. It was 28 thousand for a vail disc mulcher.
@@wpog8453 because people hit things with the disc. Not that their life isn't a rough one. The mulching disc on my vail is 1100 pounds.
I am unable to find your follow up video?
Just put 30 hrs on a ss extreme mulcher. Love it and hate it .
I have this disc mulcher and have found it dose 4 " trees OK but not great and it dose get jammed pretty often. Took me an hour on the worst one. I wish now I would have gotten the drum mulcher, but the grass is always greener right?
So... what did you do to free it up? Chainsaw?
will this work where there is a lot of flat rocks
They all jam up eventually. Doesnt matter if it is a disk or drum. I run a Prentice 2670 with a Fecon head and a Rayco T275. Got to keep the cutter speed up and try not to "suck" up chunks of large wood.
So, was there some pre-load on that disc when you guys got it freed?
The forestry door is very important. A friend of mine had regular door on his asv and a steel fence post came in the cab with him luckly it missed him.
Yah u want these things to look like the army could use them as vehicles cause that stuff will tear the crap out of anything it hits but thick steel
Thank you for that insight, it is a good reminder of how things are fine, until you're dead. Been on life support, don't need to go back anytime soon.
chain on the side of the wheel not the front. instead of turning you go straight back to free it.
Fecon is a better attachment for mulching
Good morning sir, just became a new SUBCRIBER .I think the wheel disc is awsome and the 60 acres im cleaning up right now i sure could use one ,
Well T'S&P'S TO YOU AND YOUR CREW .Be careful and stay safe
T190 just ain't big enough huh? Any ideas for compact Bobcat like a smaller mulcher?
What happens if you grab old hidden fence wire
Because I like all your past videos . I didn't click OFF, when you played LOUD useless music ,. We appreciate your talking & love the equipment sounds. ( your A+ education vids.= to Good for music, you dont need it like some, if not most people, because music, districts the mind form their BAD VIDEO.
I need land cleared. Lots of scrubby thorn trees. Thinking I should hire out a drum mulcher because it gets below the grade of soil. No stumps left behind so I can come in with a bushhog type mower behind it. Any thoughts on this train of thought?
awy1977 a drum mulched will leave stumps flush with the ground, and if whoever you hire is any good, your property will definitely look better with the drum mulcher!
done that, is good, drum will get even with ground or 1" above max, ok for hogging later, will rot slowly, use Stump Out if you are impatient, in 4 months the hog will pulverize them, or the drum mulcher if they are 30"+ can come back and dust in a minute
We run diamond brand on a high flow new holland track skid. Where you actually get into trouble is in cutting around 3 to 4 inch trees. You will loose rpm and jam a tree in the cutter. Lots of fun backen er out. Find a really big tree
What if you reverse the hoses to reverse the direction of the disc ?
I just love the sound it makes eating trees.
this would be good for cleaning out the white house in DC ??
Thanks for showing the jam
👍
The backhoe loaders can use the forestry mulcher And the brush cutter?
I think it’s a neat machine but I feel like profits are extremely limited for this type of work. Where I live Everybody charges $150hr so potentially you can gross $1500 per day using a high wear $120k machine. That doesn’t impress me financially.
And using that same math, you would only have 1,000 hours on that “high wear machine”.
@@mikesamples2534 I'm estimating here, but $40/hr for fuel and maintenance, plus $25/hr depreciation, plus costs for downtime, insurance, transport time/cost, taxes, general business overhead, etc.
Figure it costs $75/hr if you're self-operating. With the $150/hr rate, that payoff time isn't 1000hrs, it's 2000-2500hrs.
Everyone here is charging 250/h+ min 4h charge
@@wbarn1072 if you don't mind me asking, where is "here"?
@Christopher Ryan I'm in SE NC and average cost for any type of mulching is 2-300/hr and some with 8 hours minimum.
Hey! I have a property to clear of small shrubby overgrowth, kudZu, blackberry, privet etc. it’s about an acre but is fairly sloped - about a 20% grade. The idea is to cut everything down to the ground (fully knowing that the kudZu will return). Do you think a track skid steer with a forestry mulching attachment would be able to handle that grade? Or is there another piece of equipment you would use? String trimmers with brush cutting blades won’t handle this job... Any advice would be much appreciated.
VENTRAC
I dunno if the jam can even be blamed on the unit... that's just a HUGE log to be chipped that way, if it was the bottom you were shredding it with, it'd probly be fine... but not sideways when its that much wider then the teeth....
If you're looking for the weath of knowledge he mentioned, look no further. I have been in the forestry industry for over 18 years. Myself and my fellow crew of orcs didn't have enough fuel to feed the fires... We cut down countless trees in Fangorn forest to meet the demands of the forge. This video shows a lot of good information, but fails to warn you of the trees coming alive and destroying Isengard. 0/10 No Treebeard
😂😂😂😂👍
How can I bid out land clearing job and what would appropriate be. I would like to get in to this industry. I'm in Charlotte NC
Has anyone ever heard the saying "Slow is faster"?
Yup! From the folks over at CAT...
If u cut it out with a chainsaw, wouldnt it still have pressure in the hoses and start ro spin again when the jam is removed?
These high flow machines have a third (smaller dia) hydraulic line that removes any back pressure caused by jams into the CTL specifically to avoid damage to the hydraulic motor and/or hoses
Will that chop up a Bigfoot?
Love it, demo till fail!! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching !
This is an insider’s channel. Good stuff!
if you could relieve pressure on hydraulic lines it would help in moving disk-disk may not move under pressure on lines
Relieve pressure or for future designs, have a reverse rotation option for just such situations.
Just need a manual bypass valve that connect the feed and return. That's probably why he couldn't get it out with the chain and tree, nowhere for the fluid to go in reverse.
How did you finally clear that jam?
Can u change rotation on the cutter to help free the log?
I feel like the ending might be the perks of a drum style mulcher.
Are you Richard Rawlings little brother? Lol. Great vid!
No, lol but thanks !
Very good info, thanks.
Happy to help 😁
how about an attachment for the attachment itself that can help with a reverse flow of hydrohalic pressure. Maybe like a reserve bank attachments for the gallons x minute. Could adding one, be capable, to build without compromising the flexing of any metal and longevity of the all the machinery put together.. ?
Hi it is now fall in sweden and I want to open a lawncare business. What can i do Whit not so much equipment in the fall.
Get the new Echo 8010 backpack blower and clean up Maple leaves, and then Oak leaves. You will be surprised how much you can get done with that machine. I was looking at them today and will be getting one to use this winter to clear stairs and walks and so on... snow. We just had our first snow near Philadelphia, 20cm, so it's that time, here. good luck
How profitable is this. Seriously considering
If you hooked the hydraulic lines together it would probably spin freely backwards
Your getting those shooting lanes opened up nicely on the deer hunting property
This is a great video.... How can I find out more of this product ?
You can call Quick Attach - 866-428-8224 or check out their website - www.quickattach.com