MACHINERY
>> ideally placed for creating fire breaks
in forests to help prevent and contain forest fires. In the unfortunate event of a forest fire a mulcher is an effective way of dealing with the aftermath and preparing the ground for replanting. Overgrown verges on roads, motorways, railways and riverbanks can be cleared without causing too much disruption. The mulchers are able to clear scrub and woody weeds quickly for establishing new forests and for building work to take place. I visited a site near Motherwell recently which had been cleared and mulched for a new housing estate to be built. The mulch from the site was collected, loaded into containers and delivered by truck to bio mass purchasers. Over 200 tonne was collected and sold, offsetting part of the mulching costs. Smaller or excavator-mounted mulchers can be used in young forests to deal with invasive species which can soak up a lot of ground water, which in turn reduces the water table. Proactive mulching can cut down the stress on trees caused by “crowding”. This is when other unwanted species take over the forest and can either inhibit the growth and development of the desired crop or kill them altogether. Mulching is not as effective on rocky or very stony ground as the stones and rocks will wear the teeth on the rotor. This can cause considerable damage to the mulcher or carrier and in some cases be a fire hazard as the mulching teeth can create sparks when it comes in to contact with hard rock. There are an abundance of makes, models and sizes so it is worth finding out about what kind of after sales service is on offer from manufacturers and the availability of spare parts.
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Fecon
Fecon are a US manufacturer from Lebanon in Ohio. The company have been making mulching and land clearing equipment for over 20 years. They are well known for the famous registered trade marked Bull Hog mulcher. Fecon operate out of an impressive 150,000sq ft facility and have made over 7500 mulching heads to date. The company has won many awards and been recognised as one of the leaders in forestry mulching attachments. Their efforts for diligence to quality and innovation, their business acumen and their recognition of organisations who exhibit a strong commitment to local workforce development have all been rewarded.
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They offer an extensive range of mulching equipment which will attach to many different types of carriers. There are Bull Hog mulchers for attaching to most makes and models of skid steers, PTOmounted Bull Hog’s for agricultural and forestry tractors and smaller Bull Hog units for attaching to excavator booms. Fecon manufacture four purpose-built tracked mulchers from the 140hp FTX150 through to the large 600hp FTX600. They also manufacture a wheeled version, the RTF 230 which is a four wheel drive/ steered compact 230hp tractor with a 24mph road speed. www.fecon.com www.khlplant.com
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Plaisance
This is a family run business from Montigny in France specialising in high quality forestry mulchers and crushing equipment. Since the company was founded in 1976 they have subsequently grown to be a market leader in heavy duty self powered, hydraulic and PTO driven mulchers. Plaisance offer four applications of forestry mulchers: Galotrax is a tracked based purpose built mulcher with seven different sized models ranging from the GX 200 which is a 165hp 7,700 kg compact unit to the large GX 800, a 765hp 32,000kg mulcher. Vario Track is a four equal wheeled base machine with six models available. The smallest is the VT 180, a 173hp 6,100kg mulcher to the VT 500B, a 440hp 13,800kg machine. This range has mechanical transmission which allows 100% of the engine power to the mulcher head. The BF range is for general forestry mulching and is PTO driven, 3pt linkage mounted, there are 14 different model
46 FORESTRY & TIMBER NEWS • April 2020
sizes available. The BS range is also PTO-driven and 3pt linkage mounted. There are five models available and this range is for deep mulching and grinding stumps and has a slower rotor speed. Finally, there are five sizes of the BFH range which are for mounting onto booms of excavators. www.plaisance-equipments.com www.fuelwood.co.uk
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Prinoth
Prinoth was established by the German racing driver Ernst Prinoth in Gröden, Germany in 1951. It started out as a garage, but Ernst was fascinated by tracked vehicles and soon developed a steep slope snow groomer. As time progressed, so did his range of tracked vehicles. In 2011, Prinoth acquired the AHWI Company who has a long history in building mulching equipment. The Raptor crawlers are available in three sizes; RT 200, 176hp PTO driven mulcher weighing 8300kg. The RT 300, a 275hp engine with either direct mechanical drive with a special 4pt linkage or 3pt linkage weighing 15,250kg and the RT800 with 630hp. This model has direct mechanical drive with a 4pt linkage weighing 20,750kg. There are four 3pt linkage PTO driven mulchers starting with the M450 which needs a minimum of 80hp (at the PTO) to operate efficiently up to the M750 with the turbo clutch which can be used with tractors in the 250-400hp (at the PTO). They offer four models of excavator boom mounted units available from 6 to 30 tonne excavators. www.prinoth.com >> www.paulvidgenforestmachines.co.uk CONFOR.ORG.UK
