Have a few places on the property where it could be very beneficial to rent one and do myself vs trying to hire a company but I can't seem to find anyone with the attachment for rent. Does anyone know of a place to rent a skid steer with the mulching attachment?
Location: Franklin TX.

If not available to rent, let me know of any recommendations on who to use.

Try Bobcat in Bryan or ASAP Equipment in College Station. Those are the only 2 I know of that have rented them in the past. Most rental companies don't rent them as customers tear them up quite frequently and if they don't keep the machines clean can burn the machines up they don't keep the debris away from the exhaust.

I bought the biggest Kubota track loader available and just can't make myself pull the trigger on a mulch head. It looks like a very high maintenance implement.

Yea I avoided the exterior roof cooling because I didn't feel comfortable with it up there while operating in thick brush.
I also realized that without that external system that I would be limited to operating it sparingly and in cooler weather, and not at all from May until October down in south Texas.
Lotsa reasons NOT to purchase one. LOL

You don't have to run external coolers on most units if you keep the cooling packages clean. The guys I know that have run these blow out the radiators twice a day and maybe more depending on conditions. They also pressure wash them weekly. If you aren't doing that, you're going to have cooling issues. I know CAT units from a few years ago wouldn't run them without the external coolers no matter what, but I believe they've redesigned them in the past couple years and I haven't seen as many with the externals lately.

If you do decide to run a mulching head, I would make sure the machine has a forestry package and high debris package. You'll need the poly door and the high debris package "helps" keep the debri from getting into places where it can get hot and catch on fire.

Sounds like asking for a headache then to do yourself. Thanks for the help.

Recommendations?

For smaller jobs I know a couple guys who bought tractor attachments. I've seen one in action and it works pretty good for clearing paths or roadsides or fence lines overgrown with brush on either side. You do have to drive backwards though.

Just had a company called " Back 40 Forestry" up here working on our place for three weeks.
They had a large CAT track skid steer with a 7' mulching drum. Their machine had the hydraulic roof cooling package. It was in the upper 90's and even though they stopped every few hours to blow the shavings and dirt out their machine still ran hot. Especially if they were dogging it in heavy stuff.
He would have to stop every now and then and let cool down.

I guess my biggest question before considering to purchase one is the "thick stuff" description. Thick south Texas brush for the most part with some Mesquite in the 4"-8" trunk range may be nothing when compared to bigger trees and timber country.
One issue I have with Kubota, while I like the slide up door, it prevents bring protected by expanded metal panel I think.

I had them cutting trails through our hardwood timber forest that is typical for the Ozarks. Making them wide enough I can get my tractor with bat wing down them to maintain them.
Was much more expensive per hour than dozing but ground not torn up and no piles to mess with.
Cost effective up to about 8-9" trees (hardwoods) imho.

But Gunny, by comparison would say the South Texas brush is far less taxing on a unit than mulching those trees? I know our dust and heat would be an issue but I don't think that actual work would be that strenuous on the machine.
I've only ever watched one that I had clear dome stuff, and two big Cat rubber tire loaders doing seismic lines thru ranch.

Yes sir. I'm sure it would really be good in stuff like that.
I had some areas that was thick, I mean really thick with 2-3" saplings. So thick you could hardly walk through it. He went through stuff like that like a knife through hot butter. Amazingly fast.
Also down beside our river banks….. saplings, briars, little trees, etc. Stuff that no way could be bushed hogged….went crazy fast through it.
I would think in your country it would be the goat.

I tried to attach a video of some of what we did but couldn't get it to load…so hear are some pics. This is a bottom land 30 Ac. pasture along the river I am reclaiming. You can see the type and size of trees and brush that covers it solid in the first pic. Then some after clearing pics.

The open land pictured is what he already cleared.
The tall weeds and grass I will bush hog once he is done. Then I'll disc it and plant.

Hope this gives you an idea.

I put about 16hrs on one earlier this year and it was the most amount of fun I have had in a while. It was incredibly effective in the hill country and other than running over an old sheep feeder with barbed wire hidden behind about 25 years of growth, it performed flawlessly. We rented from Mustang Cat but be prepared for about $1500/day for skid steer + mulching head + insurance. We had a hookup for much cheaper, thank god.

Golf1 said:

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Have a few places on the property where it could be very beneficial to rent one and do myself vs trying to hire a company but I can't seem to find anyone with the attachment for rent. Does anyone know of a place to rent a skid steer with the mulching attachment?
Location: Franklin TX.

If not available to rent, let me know of any recommendations on who to use.

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Caleb did a great job for us about a year ago.

As a former owner of a mulching head I'd advise you to pay someone to do it with their own equipment. Typical rates in Texas run around $1100-$1500 an acre. Some guys have dedicated mulching machines and they're much more efficient than the skid steer/head setup.

If you rent one and tear anything up, you're on the hook for damages.

I've hired out mulching on four different occasions and used four different companies.

An important question is -- How thick is the largest tree you need to mulch?

If any of your stuff is over 8" or so, you really need one of the higher horsepower dedicated forestry mulching machines in order to accomplish the job. Of course, higher horsepower costs more money.

For example:

• 1. 300 HP wheeled Blount Hydro Ax with carbide teeth-- cost me $400/hour (amazing amount of work);
• 2. 170 HP Lamtrac tracked mulcher with steel teeth - cost me $300/hour (mulched 15" cedar elms no problem);
• 3. 120 HP ASV tracked mulcher with steel teeth -- cost me $250/hour (mulched 12" stuff but more slowly);
• 4. 100 HP Bobcat with carbide teeth -- cost me $150/hour (8" max and it took forever).

As far as renting goes -- these machines take some practice to keep from wasting time. A guy who knows what he's doing will work circles around a beginner.

Good luck. You may want to look into 936 Mulchin -- I have NOT used them, but they cover your area.

I'm pretty sure Knucklehead's/Diamond E on 79 heading west out of Franklin has a mulcher available for rent. Otherwise, I think ASAP in BCS has one. Not many places rent them.

D4 Land Services is also in the area and is one of the more reputable and capable land services around if you decide you want to hire it out.

Do not do any business with 936 mulching. You will not find anyone in the mulching industry that i
Speaks highly of him. He sells machines that don't belong to him.

rwv2055 said:

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Do not do any business with 936 mulching. You will not find anyone in the mulching industry that i
Speaks highly of him. He sells machines that don't belong to him.

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Good to know. Thanks for that.

I'm slightly out of 936's coverage area, but I've been looking for another company for a future job since one of the companies I mentioned above went out of business and one of them rubbed me the wrong way by charging machine hours for maintenance, including a 45-minute run to go get some DEF fluid!

I almost went with Pierce once, but our schedules couldn't align.

I have an ASV machine forestry model with the head. I can validate much of what everyone is saying here. Not all mulchers are of the drum variety. In fact, I plan on getting a disc mulcher as well. It takes time to learn how to use it effectively and can be alot of fun. Its expensive to run one and maintenance is paramount. CAT is known for running hot and most people run those external oil coolers. My ASV doesnt run hot even in the summer but I dont push too hard. Im located in South Texas so the majority of what I do is childs play for the machine. I am due for some new teeth so I might go the hybrid route with carbides and knives for the mesquite. I would recommend hiring someone to do it. If it wasnt deer season I would volunteer to swing a deal with ya. Good luck!

D4 Land Services

Dale Dempsey 979-676-1985

Kurten, TX

Great guy, no bs'ing, drop the equipment and get to it.