From: Transforming Waste to Resource
Low-Impact Mobile Mulchers Work Quickly and Efficiently
Clearing land by removing trees and stumps and hauling them to a tub or horizontal grinder aren’t the only ways to recycle brush and timber. For instance, Basic Environmental Land Clearing of Calhoun, GA, can mobilize a fleet of wheel and track machines equipped with mulching heads to grind up trees, brush, and stumps. The resulting layer of mulch, several inches thick, is then left in place or pushed into berms to help control erosion until it degrades naturally.
“It’s a low-impact, environmentally sound, and cost-effective approach to clearing land,” says George Hutchinson, president of the company.
The company works throughout the Southeast on projects that don’t justify the costs of mobilizing horizontal or tub grinders. They include planned residential developments, utility rights of way, golf courses, environmental mitigation projects and commercial and municipal jobs.
“Our operation consists of a variety of low-ground-pressure mulching equipment,” Hutchinson says. We can selectively removes trees and undergrowth leaving desired trees healthy without disturbing their root systems, if necessary. Or, in the case of grading and excavation contractors, we can do mass clearing of trees that don’t have heavy root masses or non-merchantable trees with heavier root masses in areas that will be filled”
A Versatile Fleet
The land-clearing equipment includes various types of machines and mulching attachments:
Three 415-horsepower Tigercat M760 four-wheel drive mulchers, outfitted with flotation tires and a Fecon mulching head with a 9-foot-wide cutting width.
More information is available at www.tigercat.com.
A Tigercat 822 track/boom mulcher carrier powered by 300-horsepower diesel engine offers a 25-foot reach and a zero tail swing. It is designed specifically for the timber industry and works very effectively on steep slopes, Hutchinson notes. This machine is equipped with Shinn Systems cutter head.
More information is available at www.shinncutter.com.
A Caterpillar 320CL excavator is used for working on steep slopes and hard to reach areas. The 440-horsepower unit, with a 30-foot reach, features a ProGrind mulching head.
The above three types of machines are used for clearing material ranging from heavy brush to large-diameter trees. They mulch the trees from the top down, grinding stumps to at or just below ground level.
Other equipment includes two 140-horsepower Fecon FTX 140 track mulchers. Operating 6-foot-wide mulching heads, they are used on steep slopes and mulch everything from heavy brush to small-diameter trees.
A Gyro-Trac GT25 track mulcher is a 230-horsepower machine using an 8-foot mulching head for clearing heavy brush and small- and medium-diameter trees.
More information is available at www.gyrotrac.net.
A Bobcat S300 skid-steer loader is used with either of three attachments—a rotary brush cutter, a bunching shear for removing trees in sensitive areas and a grapple. A Kubota 100-horsepower four-wheel drive tractor is equipped with a PTO-driven Fecon rear mulching head and a 180-degree over-reaching grapple.
Tips for Contractors
The company’s experience highlights the value of top-quality equipment for this type of work, Hutchinson notes.
“As we have grown we’ve come to appreciate just how important it is to operate the best-quality equipment available from manufacturers with a lengthy history and good reputation in the mulching equipment business,” he says. “The mulching process is a very violent process requiring high horsepower, well-designed, and just plain tough equipment to minimize breakdowns, keep us on the job and our customers satisfied. We visited and met with each manufacturer to understand the design of the machines for the operating conditions and environment in which we would use them. It took some time, but we feel we have found and invested in the best for our operation.”
Among the specific features he looks for in the mulching equipment that he buys are rugged construction, good hydraulic flow and cooling, high horsepower, and efficient and durable cutting systems.
Hutchinson lists five key areas for grading and excavating contractors to consider in hiring a land-clearing service like his:
- Type of equipment the company uses
- Does it have enough horsepower to do the job?
- The company’s project history
- References from customer base
- Mechanical and service support
“This is what can eliminate many companies from consideration,” he says. “Each of our operators, for example, has a service truck. For more extensive repairs we have in-house mechanics that can come onsite to make repairs and get us back to work quickly. That’s much faster than sending equipment to the dealer for repair.
Are employees qualified to work on federal projects?
“We’ve seen numerous projects awarded to companies at significantly lower prices than us, but they don’t have the high-horsepower equipment needed to complete the job,” he says. Land-clearing companies that have the proper equipment and experience will generally be in the same ballpark pricewise. Sometimes it is a challenge to get people to understand that the biggest factor is not cost per hour but the horsepower of the machine.”
October 2009
From: Transforming Waste to Resource
Low-Impact Mobile Mulchers Work Quickly and Efficiently
Clearing land by removing trees and stumps and hauling them to a tub or horizontal grinder aren’t the only ways to recycle brush and timber. For instance, Basic Environmental Land Clearing of Calhoun, GA, can mobilize a fleet of wheel and track machines equipped with mulching heads to grind up trees, brush, and stumps. The resulting layer of mulch, several inches thick, is then left in place or pushed into berms to help control erosion until it degrades naturally.
“It’s a low-impact, environmentally sound, and cost-effective approach to clearing land,” says George Hutchinson, president of the company.
The company works throughout the Southeast on projects that don’t justify the costs of mobilizing horizontal or tub grinders. They include planned residential developments, utility rights of way, golf courses, environmental mitigation projects and commercial and municipal jobs.
“Our operation consists of a variety of low-ground-pressure mulching equipment,” Hutchinson says. We can selectively removes trees and undergrowth leaving desired trees healthy without disturbing their root systems, if necessary. Or, in the case of grading and excavation contractors, we can do mass clearing of trees that don’t have heavy root masses or non-merchantable trees with heavier root masses in areas that will be filled”
A Versatile Fleet
The land-clearing equipment includes various types of machines and mulching attachments:
Three 415-horsepower Tigercat M760 four-wheel drive mulchers, outfitted with flotation tires and a Fecon mulching head with a 9-foot-wide cutting width.
More information is available at www.tigercat.com.
A Tigercat 822 track/boom mulcher carrier powered by 300-horsepower diesel engine offers a 25-foot reach and a zero tail swing. It is designed specifically for the timber industry and works very effectively on steep slopes, Hutchinson notes. This machine is equipped with Shinn Systems cutter head.
More information is available at www.shinncutter.com.
A Caterpillar 320CL excavator is used for working on steep slopes and hard to reach areas. The 440-horsepower unit, with a 30-foot reach, features a ProGrind mulching head.
The above three types of machines are used for clearing material ranging from heavy brush to large-diameter trees. They mulch the trees from the top down, grinding stumps to at or just below ground level.
Other equipment includes two 140-horsepower Fecon FTX 140 track mulchers. Operating 6-foot-wide mulching heads, they are used on steep slopes and mulch everything from heavy brush to small-diameter trees.
A Gyro-Trac GT25 track mulcher is a 230-horsepower machine using an 8-foot mulching head for clearing heavy brush and small- and medium-diameter trees.
More information is available at www.gyrotrac.net.
A Bobcat S300 skid-steer loader is used with either of three attachments—a rotary brush cutter, a bunching shear for removing trees in sensitive areas and a grapple. A Kubota 100-horsepower four-wheel drive tractor is equipped with a PTO-driven Fecon rear mulching head and a 180-degree over-reaching grapple.
Tips for Contractors
The company’s experience highlights the value of top-quality equipment for this type of work, Hutchinson notes.
“As we have grown we’ve come to appreciate just how important it is to operate the best-quality equipment available from manufacturers with a lengthy history and good reputation in the mulching equipment business,” he says. “The mulching process is a very violent process requiring high horsepower, well-designed, and just plain tough equipment to minimize breakdowns, keep us on the job and our customers satisfied. We visited and met with each manufacturer to understand the design of the machines for the operating conditions and environment in which we would use them. It took some time, but we feel we have found and invested in the best for our operation.”
Among the specific features he looks for in the mulching equipment that he buys are rugged construction, good hydraulic flow and cooling, high horsepower, and efficient and durable cutting systems.
Hutchinson lists five key areas for grading and excavating contractors to consider in hiring a land-clearing service like his:
- Type of equipment the company uses
- Does it have enough horsepower to do the job?
- The company’s project history
- References from customer base
- Mechanical and service support
“This is what can eliminate many companies from consideration,” he says. “Each of our operators, for example, has a service truck. For more extensive repairs we have in-house mechanics that can come onsite to make repairs and get us back to work quickly. That’s much faster than sending equipment to the dealer for repair.
Are employees qualified to work on federal projects?
“We’ve seen numerous projects awarded to companies at significantly lower prices than us, but they don’t have the high-horsepower equipment needed to complete the job,” he says. Land-clearing companies that have the proper equipment and experience will generally be in the same ballpark pricewise. Sometimes it is a challenge to get people to understand that the biggest factor is not cost per hour but the horsepower of the machine.”