Hedgecutting with tractor mounted flail

[woody paul]

We've been asked to price a 400 mtrs hedge reduction from its current 10mtrs height to 1.8mtrs. Its mostly hawthorn but a mixed hedge. Thing is...every few metres the stems are a foot in dia & it so we thought a tractor/flail might handle most of it between those stems. How would others approach this? Sorry to derail but I've no experience of flails. Local tractor/flail hire with operator is around £250-£350 per day but I thought flails could only deal with say 3" dia?

 

Depends on what type of flail on machine and how sharp they are.

[Brushcutter]

A 180hp is a big tractor for a side arm for hedges. I've used a 100hp for a 5m 1.2m head with boot flails. Currently have a 5m on a 125hp with a pro trip on comp flails and its brilliant.

 

If you go for big reach flails or big heads then higher horse power and bigger tractor come into into its own. We have a contractor who runs M series John Deeres with come forward Mcconnel flails only around about 135hp though. and they do massive amounts of roadsides, ditches and hedges.

 

I think rates are around about £35 an hour but i'd want more for the tractor wear as well. Considering that a set of new boot flail,shackle and mounting bolt come to about 40 quid each.

[Brushcutter]

We've been asked to price a 400 mtrs hedge reduction from its current 10mtrs height to 1.8mtrs. Its mostly hawthorn but a mixed hedge. Thing is...every few metres the stems are a foot in dia & it so we thought a tractor/flail might handle most of it between those stems. How would others approach this? Sorry to derail but I've no experience of flails. Local tractor/flail hire with operator is around £250-£350 per day but I thought flails could only deal with say 3" dia?

 

Bigger flails would do 3-4" but once you get to big stems they tend to shatter with the force of the flailing. Maybe a circular saw on a side arm would be a better option.

[IVECOKID]

 

 

 

Ste

[benedmonds]

We've been asked to price a 400 mtrs hedge reduction from its current 10mtrs height to 1.8mtrs. Its mostly hawthorn but a mixed hedge. Thing is...every few metres the stems are a foot in dia & it so we thought a tractor/flail might handle most of it between those stems. How would others approach this? Sorry to derail but I've no experience of flails. Local tractor/flail hire with operator is around £250-£350 per day but I thought flails could only deal with say 3" dia?

 

Find someone with a quadsaw or similar.. All cuts to BS3998..

 

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[cornish wood burner]

Depends on your definition of small but it should drive a 15inch chipper and that will do 15-20cube an hour.

 

Hedgecutting is around £35 an hour I think but it depends on competition.

As gdh says it depends on competition. If a couple of farmers sons are cutting hedges for beer money at say £28 then it would be a difficult market to break into.

Chipping at the rate above would only just keep up with our boilers at sub zero temperatures. Competition chip for us at about £1.5 to a max of £2/cube at rates of 80 or 120cube/ hr. One fills our shed in 3 days, the other 2. Add in a telehandler to push in chip or carry wood to the chipper and you would need to work for £0 to be competitive. Find some smaller users with small wood then your chipper becomes viable.

The point I'm making is you need to research your market and competition before spending your money.

[Aaron]

Used to work in your area for a while and we were getting £32 hour for hedge cutting. As you say there's lots around there doing it already for the horsey folks. 180 horse is going to be awkward on a lot of those jobs as well, I was on a 100 horse and that was too big at times for a lot of the paddocks and lanes we cut. What size trimmer are you thinking of? The bigger cutters do need a decant tractor up front for stability.

[Andyd1606]

We've been asked to price a 400 mtrs hedge reduction from its current 10mtrs height to 1.8mtrs. Its mostly hawthorn but a mixed hedge. Thing is...every few metres the stems are a foot in dia & it so we thought a tractor/flail might handle most of it between those stems. How would others approach this? Sorry to derail but I've no experience of flails. Local tractor/flail hire with operator is around £250-£350 per day but I thought flails could only deal with say 3" dia?

 

 

I quite often do jobs like this. A good friend has a flail so he does as much as he can do then the bigger stuff I follow him and tidy up with a saw and hedge cutter if you need a tidier finish works well for me.

[Al Cormack]

We use subbies with sidearm flails on occasions and the rates seem quite consistent, depending on machine size and reach they vary from £250- £325 a day , they fuel themselves for that.

 

Bob

 

 

Cam you let me know the contact details please Bob?

 

Got a roadside hedge to flail in East Clandon, about half a says work.

 

Cheers...Al

 

 

http://www.cormacktreecare.co.uk