Shredder for rushes; recommendations?

barnaman · 07-10-2015 9:34pm #1

Lads thinking of buying a shredder to tackle some rushes. Cannot spray them as close to a river and water catchment area. Any recommendations/experience? Not really seen them in action but the Youtube videos look good! Also what's the min HP you need for them. Heard has to be 125plus HP. Thanks

Jb1989 · 07-10-2015 10:21pm

Single or double chop with the spout off is a cheap but same alternative,
I done 45 acres at home wen I took over with a 52" taarup,
Between mulching most and spout on drawing some fields of rushes away, the farm was successfully cleared.

07-10-2015 11:08pm

barnaman wrote: »

Lads thinking of buying a shredder to tackle some rushes. Cannot spray them as close to a river and water catchment area. Any recommendations/experience? Not really seen them in action but the Youtube videos look good! Also what's the min HP you need for them. Heard has to be 125plus HP. Thanks

Did you think of a weed wiper/licker?

smiththeglen · 08-10-2015 5:20pm

Sorry not much help but im Trying to find out the same thing for myself. I've seen tractors around 100hp to 120hp driving them and see smaller versions suited to 80-90hp but can't get answers. Was at the ploughing to be told nothing under a 100hp and spoke to another fella saying that the 80hp tractor I have would manage fine. They do some serious work so would like to get 1 in around both farms.

Farmer · 08-10-2015 9:03pm

Heavy rushes will eat horsepower (and diesel). With a 7 foot flail behind 84hp and an 8 speed box, I can do general topping in low fourth, even higher if on good ground. Rushes slow it right down to low second, even first if really heavy. It's certainly not an efficient way to cut them but it does leave a nice finish. This is with "C" shaped flails. Y flails should be a bit more efficient but, as a general rule, I'd say you need a minimum of 12 engine horsepower (10 PTO) per 1ft of topper for any comfort

Allow for lots of slow driving.

My 2 cents anyway

barnaman · 08-10-2015 9:53pm

Thanks lads thats really helpful. Have a 390T so only 90HP; currently use a disc mower to top. What attracts me to shreder is that supposed to chop up really finely so can leave on the field. JB1989 thats some achivement clearing 45 acres similar to clear myself and its heavy rushes; also glad can be done just through topping. I am also trying to tackle other causes of rushes like drainage and lime at the same time. JB what you mean by mulch? Using a mulcher or living them on the field like a mulch? Mine never seem to rot and its too awkward for me to draw them away. Not use a licker as sure same ban on spraying applies and not have one anyway. Not sure how good they are as neighbour is always using one and never seems to get rid of the rushes always back again 2 years later on his land.
Farmer yeah I find slow going and wonder if 390T up to it as not sure how these flails operate on these things or many there are. Assume overlapping? Heard story lad threaded his PTO shaft using one of these shredders on underpowered tractor. Machinery not my strong area at all so definitely need a bit guidance on this one.
Amith I was told 390t not up to by my contractor what shredeers did you see for tractor under 100hp?

Jb1989 · 08-10-2015 10:00pm

By mulch I meant shredded,
Shredding rushes now would rot now over winter an grow great grass in spring, they are great manure wen left like this,
I drew two fields away at least coz I went to plough straight away,
The others were left to rot over the summer into winter,

And is your disc mower a 5 or 6 rotor mower, or a twin drum rotary mower,
If it's the rotary the narrow long stems will take extra time to rot,
Your shredding idea will rot quicker with an even shredded coating over the whole field.

barnaman · 08-10-2015 10:22pm

Its a 5 twin. Rushes seem to take a long time to rot alright. So they rot ok with a twin chop; that good to know. Also you found help grass growth? I said that they might to a neighbour and he thought I was mental! Also did plowing help in clearing the rushes less grow back? My plan is up the PH and reseed in about 4 or 5 years.

Jb1989 · 09-10-2015 7:28am

barnaman wrote: »

Its a 5 twin. Rushes seem to take a long time to rot alright. So they rot ok with a twin chop; that good to know. Also you found help grass growth? I said that they might to a neighbour and he thought I was mental! Also did plowing help in clearing the rushes less grow back? My plan is up the PH and reseed in about 4 or 5 years.

Sounds a good fancy mower,
But it still mustn't chop enough,
Rotary be worse,
The single chop or shredder etc is the only yolks to turn rushes to dust,
Yea the rushes are full of some vitamin, can't remember if it's nitrogen, potash etc
Well ploughing helped the drainage and turned over the whole rush bush,
So great succeess

smiththeglen · 09-10-2015 10:22am

Amith I was told 390t not up to by my contractor what shredeers did you see for tractor under 100hp?[/quote]

At the ploughing there was the seppi medium duty mulchers they are very strong looking but the power to drive them isn't as high as there heavy duty models. Spearhead also had some smaller machines and at that stand I got speaking to a man from tralee who sells bombford flail mowers said there the exact same machine only different colour. Anything under 2 metres is what I was told would be fit for a 80-90hp tractor but it will be slow going at the butt of the rush. Major told me that there flail was too big for my tractors but talking to a local dealer in glenbeigh he said it would manage alright but again slow going

Green farmer · 09-10-2015 6:29pm

I top rushes right down to ground and top again on regrowth. Even did it on occasion in frozen weather to try and expose them to frost. They unfortunately keep coming back though. How would the mulching differ ?

barnaman · 09-10-2015 7:09pm

Thanks lads and Smith some great info there. Not sure will help stop them coming back other than is you nail them they seem not to come back as strong but JB cleared his just trhrough cutting. Main attraction is seem a faster neater job with a shredder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NLIH3kJfCk
Seems impressive

Swinefluproof · 09-10-2015 10:39pm

Has anyone seen one of those Major Cyclone toppers working? They're supposed to mulch pretty well but not sure of the horsepower requirements. I find with the flail mower that the regrowth is pretty stunted, grass and rushes. Am limited with horsepower too (100hp give or take a few tired/dead horses) and Major are claiming that there's 30% less power and fuel consumption.
http://www.major-equipment.com/machinery/22/386/73/A_Major-Cyclone-Mower/

johndeere3350 · 10-10-2015 5:45pm

Swinefluproof wrote: »

Has anyone seen one of those Major Cyclone toppers working? They're supposed to mulch pretty well but not sure of the horsepower requirements. I find with the flail mower that the regrowth is pretty stunted, grass and rushes. Am limited with horsepower too (100hp give or take a few tired/dead horses) and Major are claiming that there's 30% less power and fuel consumption.
http://www.major-equipment.com/machinery/22/386/73/A_Major-Cyclone-Mower/

We bought one and it wouldn't cut clean it would leave the stuff where the tractor wheels travelled.
To clear up a few tings in this thread.
You will be doing well to cut them with 100 hp driving a flail machine you would want 130 and it's easy enough bend the rotor in one of them.

There is zero point in cutting them if your not going to spread lime on the field afterwards they grow because the soil is too acidic.

Spraying them is only a short therm solution

barnaman · 11-10-2015 12:10am

thanks John Deere was thinking of upgrading to a MF 5465 (120HP) but sounds like not enough. The Cylone was the very one I was thinking of getting, ( Major would have the name), but you sound a bit disappointed? Worked out that I need to spread alot of lime on some of my fields some are 5.5! but others that are lime rich over 7 yet have rushes! Those are dry fields too but have were been poached hence rushes I think. How do you find the rushes rot after being cut with these?

smiththeglen · 11-10-2015 10:40am

johndeere3350 wrote: »

We bought one and it wouldn't cut clean it would leave the stuff where the tractor wheels travelled.
To clear up a few tings in this thread.
You will be doing well to cut them with 100 hp driving a flail machine you would want 130 and it's easy enough bend the rotor in one of them.

There is zero point in cutting them if your not going to spread lime on the field afterwards they grow because the soil is too acidic.

Spraying them is only a short therm solution

That's the problem though every 2nd person seems to say smaller tractors can handle them but to take it slow. There are small flail mowers out there if you look on done deal so would they be upto the job?

I've seen those cyclone mowers alright they are a big yoke so you would need the power to drive that. Going by your user name what hp is the jd3350? Agree 100% with you regards the lime and drainage too but for me I've 10 acres that floods every winter so I'd like to clean that up in the summer months. And another 10 ac above that, that would benefit from drainage alright

johndeere3350 · 11-10-2015 11:59am

I don't know how to quote two posts so sorry lads but no not up to the job in rushes anyway.
It has 3 rotors so that means the blades aren't long enough to create enough vacum to suck up the crop you have driven over.
Short of putting it on a reverse drive tractor or a front pto there isn't much you can do but even at that it's mulching capabilities aren't great.

Regardless of size you will still have to crawl with the fail machine.
The heavier you go the longer it will last there's alot of cheaper ones out there now from manufacturers I've never heard of and I'm not sure how they would go.
The blade type machines like a topper have a lower power requirement but you still would want 100 minimum and you still have to crawl.
I would say they ate cheaper to run too

barnaman · 12-10-2015 8:13pm

Thanks JohnDeere some really sound advice there; could saved me from spending money I would regret and appreciate it. My uncle who would have big machinery, owns his own combine for his farm!, advised that you can operate these things (flails etc) with most tractors but that you would have to drive slowly alright and that for contractors they want to get the job done quickly so need strong tractor. He also said you need to get a demonstration of one of these before buying. He said seen a demo from a lad in Offaly that makes these but not rember his name; if he recalls it I will post.

johndeere3350 · 12-10-2015 8:32pm

barnaman wrote: »

Thanks JohnDeere some really sound advice there; could saved me from spending money I would regret and appreciate it. My uncle who would have big machinery, owns his own combine for his farm!, advised that you can operate these things (flails etc) with most tractors but that you would have to drive slowly alright and that for contractors they want to get the job done quickly so need strong tractor. He also said you need to get a demonstration of one of these before buying. He said seen a demo from a lad in Offaly that makes these but not rember his name; if he recalls it I will post.

Definitely get a demo of them.
What kind of budget have you I had a nice mconnel rhino for sale 6 weeks ago would have suited you

johndeere3350 · 12-10-2015 8:35pm

barnaman wrote: »

thanks John Deere was thinking of upgrading to a MF 5465 (120HP) but sounds like not enough. The Cylone was the very one I was thinking of getting, ( Major would have the name), but you sound a bit disappointed? Worked out that I need to spread alot of lime on some of my fields some are 5.5! but others that are lime rich over 7 yet have rushes! Those are dry fields too but have were been poached hence rushes I think. How do you find the rushes rot after being cut with these?

I missed some of the bottom of your post there yeah it rots quick enough once it gets wet you get a real fine chop so it doesn't take that long to rot away.
If there's a bumper crop of them cutting them every year only makes them stronger

barnaman · 13-10-2015 9:06pm

Thanks would spend around €5000 mark but can go higher. Getting more digger work done and another €1,600 literally down the drain today. Between that and FBD quote going up the humour is not good today! Sometimes farming seem to be about making money for others!

Thanks wondered about the rushes rotting.

annubis · 14-10-2015 11:18am

spearhead 300 looks a decent machine

Chemical Byrne · 15-10-2015 10:19am

I have one of these, bought for cutting thick, heavy rush in fields that were neglected with years (because of a granduncle that wouldn't work his way out of a wet paper bag). Its the type with large cast iron blades/hammers. I've them edged on top side to a good level of sharpness.
https://www.google.ie/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAUQjRxqFQoTCLaugoGRxMgCFYJUGgod9MACTA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.major-equipment.com%2Fuploads%2Feibhlin%2FPDFs%2FEnglish%2FEnglish_FLAILS_MT10_TO_MT26.pdf&bvm=bv.105039540,d.d2s&psig=AFQjCNFf3dVGgC13HlTLfC46W1ri_sAA4A&ust=1444986673793491

Driving it with an 80hp JD and the mower is the limiting factor, not the tractor's power. On the first pass it is slow going, very slow, and the finish is not great. Lowest gear and it still slips the (well tensioned) belts when getting into anything heavy. It has to be lifted up a bit to prevent slipping. Even on the second & third cuts it tends to struggle in 2nd gear (low box). Finish isn't great either.

I'd be taking this one off of your list anyway. I was a bit disappointed by its performance.

The one thing i will say in its favour though is that it is very tolerant of stones, bits of wood and small furze bushes. Which are guaranteed to be met in fields that have been neglected.

johndeere3350 · 22-10-2015 11:59pm

annubis wrote: »

spearhead 300 looks a decent machine

That's a serious machine but has the price tag to match

patsy_mccabe · 23-10-2015 8:33am

I think shredding rushes is madness. Shredding requires a huge amount of power and a big diesel bill. I saw a field near me shredded a few years back and the rushes were up again the following year as strong as ever.

Just lick them with roundup and spread lime to correct the PH. They will rot away over time.

johndeere3350 · 23-10-2015 8:35am

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I think shredding rushes is madness. Shredding requires a huge amount of power and a big diesel bill. I saw a field near me shredded a few years back and the rushes were up again the following year as strong as ever.

Just lick them with roundup and spread lime to correct the PH. They will rot away over time.

Its not really as you don't get half the kill power with locking them when there fully grown out and your just hitting the brown dead part.
Mulching them and letting them green up a small bit is about the best plan

Shredder for rushes; recommendations?

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