Wood Lot Property Maintenance, NDR

Troy Fields

Troy Fields

Well-known member
I'm not sure how many members here have property that needs ground maintenance on occasion, but I am one of those people. I have been looking at DR. Mowers and bush hogs of sort for years. The DR Mower attracted me because of it's multi-purpose features of a snow blower head and brush hog head as well as it's ability to be used in tighter areas around rocks and trees. My land does not currently lend itself to tractor equipment and probably never will, simply because of the terrain. The property was selectively timbered 6 years ago and what I was planning was to re-establish the skidder roads and the take back the old log landing. The landing was primarily tall weeds and green growth, the skidder roads however were over run with sweet fern, which is wood base stem/stock and can grow 3-4' tall...and had.

I called a local tool rental company to give a DR Mower/brush hog a whirl. After speaking with them, they suggested I google "Orec Flail Mower" and watch some video as they thought this would better meet my needs. I did just that, liked what I saw, so I rented one for last weekend.

That piece of equipment was nothing short of amazing! It's the first and only time I have ever heard of a flail mower but that design and the fact that it's on tracks worked perfectly on my uneven and rocky terrain. Here are a few pictures of before and after.

This is at the bottom of a slope which 6 years ago was a dirt skidder trail.


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The "Landing" before


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Terrie running the Orec.



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midway through clearing the landing.



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It handled some small oak, maple and beech of that diameter. The softer white pine and such could go up to 1-1/2" or so. I didn't have any vines to deal with, so can't answer that first hand. The design of the flail mower is unlike a traditional bush hog which is a single blade operating in a circular motion. The flail is a line of 3" hinged, "T" shaped, cutting blades if you will that operated in a forward motion like a rototiller design but much faster RPM's than a tiller. Here's a link which shows the cutting design. The design is at about the 30 sec mark, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izpEqdD7EwE

I also have a 2 minute long video on my FB page if you are on FB.
 
Cool, thanks. I just bought a new house with a few acres. There is a pond and about 1 1/2 acres that's been overgrown for years. I hired a company to come in July and use a skid steer with drum mulcher to clear it out then I can maintain it.


Troy Fields said:
It handled some small oak, maple and beech of that diameter. The softer white pine and such could go up to 1-1/2" or so. I didn't have any vines to deal with, so can't answer that first hand. The design of the flail mower is unlike a traditional bush hog which is a single blade operating in a circular motion. The flail is a line of 3" hinged, "T" shaped, cutting blades if you will that operated in a forward motion like a rototiller design but much faster RPM's than a tiller. Here's a link which shows the cutting design. The design is at about the 30 sec mark, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izpEqdD7EwE

I also have a 2 minute long video on my FB page if you are on FB.
Click to expand...
 
That worked well for you Troy. Looks good.

I ran tractors with large flails when I was a kid, they do well in the right conditions such as yours. Also lots of experience with bush/brush hogs. The flail works better in small brushy areas with grass or ferns like you have, and can get right down to the soil if you desire. The brush hog is more of a massacre the bushes and leave six inch stumps kind of thing, crude but powerful. Brush hogs tend to leave a landscape that reminds one of a WW 1 photo of no-mans land. From your pictures it looks like you made the right choice.

Forgot to mention, a flail can hit a golf ball farther than I can with a driver. Watch out for small rocks.
 
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