What sort of mower/cutter is this?

[SimonFisher]

This bit of kit, a tractor with some sort of mower/cutter on the back was busy on some areas of heathland in the local woods where I was out walking my dogs earlier today.

It appears to have a collection drum which the driver was periodically taking away to be emptied.

I'm wondering if it might be suitable for some annual cutting of bracken and grass in our own woods, but I don't know what type of cutter it is.

Can anyone tell me the name of the mower/cutter attachment?

[oldclaypaws]

I'd hazard a wild guess its a Ryetec flail / mower collector. Deduced by looking at the wording on the device in question in the picture, which reads 'Ryetec'.

http://www.ryetec.net/category.php?id_category=14

[Dave and Verity]

I don't know what kind of area you have to mow, but I use a 9hp two wheel tractor with a front mounted flail mower.

This is the tractor;

http://www.lampacrescia.com/eng/catalog ... ?id=2&k=36

To see the mower, scroll through the implement section.

The handlebars and controls are rotated 180 deg and the mower goes on the PTO.

This will tackle 2 foot high bracken easily, but it is hard work, a bit like steering a 9hp determined pig. Half an acre of bracken would take about 2 hours. It tackles anything I've put in front of it including: nettles, thistles, grass and reeds. You just have to use the correct speed, everything is reduced to a fine mulch. I've had it for around five yers and all I've had to replace are the flail bearings, my fault, I got too close to a pond and must have washed the grease out of them.

I also have a ride on meadow type topper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr4aJ1zI9_I

This is amazing, it will smash its way through chest height nettles and thistles with ease, but mine is rubbish on grass, could be the blades need sharpening as I bought it secondhand. Takes me about 6 hours to do 2 acres and it isn't hard work, just a bit boring. Haven't tried it on bracken yet.

Not sure about the claims about bracken spores, but to be safe, I've only ever done it before the spores appear.

I transport them around using a ten foot box trailer with a ramp.

Dave

[SimonFisher]

I don't know what kind of area you have to mow...

I was curious to know what the kit in the photos I posted was as I want the clippings picked up. The area is roughly an isosceles triangle with the shorter side maybe 15 to 20 metres and the longer ones something around 100m. It's previously been cut using a flail with the cuttings left in place to rot down. We're concerned that over many years that's resulted in a raising of the nutrition in the soil which is benefiting the grass and bracken to the detriment of the wildflowers.

We did it in October 2013 and again a few weeks ago using a hired power sycthe (https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=power+scythe&tbm=isch), then raking up by hand and using a trailer to take it away to elsewhere in the wood - maybe twenty loads in my 6x4 trailer with mesh sides. I reckon with one person on the scythe and three others raking, loading, driving and dumping, we can get it done in a day. If we can find someone locally with the right bit of kit they might be able to sort it out in a couple of hours instead.

[Meadowcopse]

Looks like a flail mower / collector.
usualy self unloading, but you need at least one hydraulic outlet spare for the tipping mechanism and a compact tractor powerful enough (and front weights).

http://www.danelanderonline.co.uk/prodtype.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=104&numRecordPosition=1

[Dave and Verity]

Sorry, have been away for a few days, neither of my machines collects, the flail reduces anything in its way to a very fine mulch. A power scythe can be fitted, but does not solve your problem. The ride on would be the same, but it's dedicated use makes it a bit of an overkill. The kind of area you describe would take me roughly two to three hours to cut.

The ground I work has very high nutrient content anyway and so this makes little impact.

Dave