Aggregate Production and Recycling Section Fecon Bull Hog Helps Unearth SidewalkAfter 10 Years

You may have heard about a bridge to nowhere, but what about a sidewalk to nowhere?

Thiswasthepredicamentonecommunity north ofTampa, Fla., was facing.After makinga1,500-ft.sidewalkonthebacksideofa pond, the community couldn’t build the accompanying bridges to connect the sidewalk to the rest of the complex.

Battling Brazilian Peppertree

The housing community of Connerton, Fla.,northofTampahadgrandplansforputtinginasidewalkaroundthebacksideofthe community’s pond and then connecting it to the community through boardwalks at each end.Unfortunately,aftercuttingthepathand puttingthesidewalkin,therestoftheproject was put on hold. Over the next 10 years, the sidewalk was overtaken on both sides by the Brazilian Peppertree, vines, crepe myrtles, and other undergrowth.

When the project got enough interest to start the second phase of work, Clear Cut Forestry Mulching owner Tim Hileman got the call.

“We had a drone out looking for the sidewalk and you couldn’t see it,” Hileman said, explainingthedegreeofovergrowthpresent. Collectively working off blueprints and with the engineers, the team believed they knew where the sidewalk was hiding. Now they just needed to find a way to get to it.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So Hileman started at one of the community’s access points and cut himself a half mile long trail through the woods to the suspected sidewalk location.

“We never would’ve been able to get in there any other way…Then we saw the beginning of the slab and started following it.”

Around 1,500-ft. later Hileman found the other end.

After freeing the sidewalk, Hileman cleared 10 ft. of room on either side. This allowed the engineers to finally access the sidewalk to assess it before working on the connecting bridges. Two and a half days of workgaveacommunitytheirsidewalkback.

The Brazilian Peppertree is so invasive and common in Florida that Hileman encounters it at nearly every job site. Thankfully for Clear Cut and its clients, this undergrowth is easily tamed by Hileman’s Fecon Bull Hog mulcher.

How It Works

Fecon’sBullHogmulcherisanextremely durable mulcher with the ability to mulch up to6in.materialwitheaseduetoitsbite-limiting rotor design and a variable speed motor which automatically adjusts to maximize rotor-speed and torque to changing material loads.

Thirty double-sided, Samurai knife edge cuttingtoolsaremountedontotheFGTstyle rotor, creating a 61 in. cutting width. The attachment requires 30 to 45 gpm flow at up to 6,000 psi, which is delivered by a Caterpillar high flow skid steer.

The FGT rotor system features a smooth rotor surface, spiral tool pattern and innovative tool shape for efficient cutting. Hileman sharpens his blades twice a week and flips them after every 15 running days.

When it comes to mulcher attachment maintenance, Hileman greases the head every morning with four pumps and then anotherfourpumpsatlunchonthebearings.

Hileman had such a good experience building his business with his Fecon mulchingattachmentthathedecidedtostick withthebrandwhenitcametimetogrowhis equipment arsenal. Pairing another used Fecon Bull Hog mulcher with a brand-new see FECON page 36