hedge cutting

[Jez]

Ok,

I have been hedge cutting for nearly 10 years.

I always begin by cutting the top of the hedge. This may take 2 or three cuts bit make sure you cut as much as possible of the width when doing it, then make the next cut a bit lower.

Then once the top is donw I will cut the side, staring with the highest cut and working down to the verge. This will stop you getting a step in the hedge side.

If you lift your roller up then make sure you either leaves the verge or cut it longer so you don't blunten your flails.

Another tip is when you are sharpening make sure you dont get the metal of the flail too hot or they will be weaker and so blunten easier and quicker. Little and often is my best advice for sharpening.

As for cutting and trimmers, try and go for an electric box, the mcconnel switch box is affordable, proven and you would not believe how much fatigue it saves you than pulling levers all day.

All in all, [glow=red,2,300]best of luck[/glow], you will find your own way but be cautious as it is not an easy skill to pick up.

I was lucky and got to spend weekends when I was 16 on a local dairy farm learning.

You will need to be aware of Stewardship Guidelines also.

This is very important as some farmers will be aware and some won't.

Hope it all gioes well.

Jez 

[SIMON.]

Poor Matty he's not gonna know where the hell to start when he gets in a field  :D :D

each to their own i guess and which ever works best for you i guess  :o :o ;) :)

[rich.new holland]

we used to charge by the hour  \ but now we have changed to the km now works out a lot better than by the hour 

[sparrow legs]

we used to charge by the hour  \ but now we have changed to the km now works out a lot better than by the hour 

ok for council verge cutting but if on heges you can be way out of pocket if it has 3 years growth also how do you know how many km you are doing as standard tractors dont have km meters? if it works for you good for you, you should now as you run a few cutters

[rich.new holland]

we only do that for the council ,as you said it could be expensive otherwise 

we got a program on the computer its like a map and we can see every little twist and turn on the road and once you know where you are you turn it to satalite to make sure its the right place and we mark it out and it works it out, its a bit like the google maps but it cost a load from what i remember  \ but my uncle is thinking of putting a clock on the tractors to make it even more acurate  as we will have the two readings to work from 

[Big A]

we used to be on an hourly contract with the council with their mowers, now we supply everything and its on a price for the whole job, with an hourly rate for any extra work.

Average price round this way would be about ?20/hour

another tip, beware if you see a new fence because quite often the old one is hiding somewhere >

[Gav836]

we used to be on an hourly contract with the council with their mowers, now we supply everything and its on a price for the whole job, with an hourly rate for any extra work.

Average price round this way would be about ?20/hour

another tip, beware if you see a new fence because quite often the old one is hiding somewhere >

On a similar note, when doing paddocks that have previously had livestock on them watch out for electric fencing wire and net in undergrowth, if you see the ground move 30m in front of you its not a good sign >

My old work mate "found" a coil of electric sheep netting in undergrowth with a spearhead topper, took him over an hour to pull it out, at least when I put telegraph pole straining wire in the flail i could gas axe it out, he couldn't

[SIMON.]

On a similar note, when doing paddocks that have previously had livestock on them watch out for electric fencing wire and net in undergrowth, if you see the ground move 30m in front of you its not a good sign >

My old work mate "found" a coil of electric sheep netting in undergrowth with a spearhead topper, took him over an hour to pull it out, at least when I put telegraph pole straining wire in the flail i could gas axe it out, he couldn't

Yep i wonder why they hide those big staywire's where you can't see them  :D :D :

[Gav836]

Yep i wonder why they hide those big staywire's where you can't see them  :D :D :

You can't see the old ones they've removed and left laying in ditches and hedge bottoms full of brambles, twice i've had them wrapped round rotors in the past

[SIMON.]

You can't see the old ones they've removed and left laying in ditches and hedge bottoms full of brambles, twice i've had them wrapped round rotors in the past

My mate hit 3 last year that were attached to the poles and his hedger chew's them up  :D

[new holland driver]

i do a lot of hedge cuting in all 300miles last year in all its ok but road users hate you its hard work not easy wire is my big hate found an old matress once in a heap of brables took all day to get it oof

just take your time the slower the better at frist

dont worry about the tractor it wont matter on the job

they all look the same by the end a nh has a very good gear box for the job in my expres dont buy the worlds best cutter to start whit the latest spearhead is 22 grand as much as a tractorwe have just brought an aritec good cutter as good as an spear haed or bomford but half the price

all in all just take your time to think it though

[new holland driver]

o and one last thing when cuting i all was start at ththe buttom as i find it easyer to do this way as said before you will find your on way but a tip cutt all the bank as it looks beeter on road verges and makes your hedge look bettre

[Tractorman810]

You can't see the old ones they've removed and left laying in ditches and hedge bottoms full of brambles, twice i've had them wrapped round rotors in the past

complain gav, know of one farmer whos done that arround here, they keep good records of when poles were changed ect due to saftey regs so they wil have a rough idea when it was done,

[batcher]

Around these parts we have a lot of pikeys they always leave tyres (they have been cut off the rim) in the hedges .But i always carry a chain and pull them out and as for wire of any sort it gets nicked so no worry there 

[sparrow legs]

i had the straining wire anchor get into my old bomford, it had to be cut out but it bent the axle mountings as it got in and pulled hedger round before i could stop! 2 seconds can do alot of damage! ate rota bearings every few months after that!

[jakescot]

I did it once with a very old heavy awkward bomford machine with a short reach on the back of a Same something or other a 5cyl job old old S reg one.I remember thinking I wouldnt be fussed if I ever did it again or not......Slow slow even when you get used to it .I did a lot of damage , Nobody told me to take it down  gently so my work was rough , ....... well I was 16 !!!! took me 4 days with loppers and shears to tidy it up a bit ! I also had lots of long crap on the road......yes a wee side road C class.The guy who does it for us uses an 8630 nice and stable he says.I think it`s a bomford falcon or something like that.I asked him about it and he said start on driving on tarmac til you`ve done  some and feel more confident with the machine.

All advice I`ve  read above  from the experts sounds good to me........We pay ?16.50 an hour nowadays plus the guy fills up with diesel before he leaves .He`s 2 days with us and another 2 1/2 on the next door farm we have grass let on.There is a guy uses a County and an old bomford.he`s rougher  but works out cheaper as he`s faster and doesn`t take diesel but some years forgets to come round , why we moved off using him.

PS a couple of stories to make you think too............my dad`s cousin cut his face open right across his chin........he was using a saw blade type back years and years ago......he caught a wire which  sliced thru the canvas cab and hit him.he`s lucky to be alive.his bro in law lost an eye when  his machine hit something. it  broke  his  cab window and  hit him in the face.Guy who is sadly no longer with us once had bits fly off an ash tree shrub thing in a hedge near us, the bits flew into a car coming behind ,broke the windscreen and the lady driver drove right into the back of him.She suffered neck injuries and is now in a wheelchair. That has to be balanced with the thousands of miles of hedge cut every year with no hassle however.

[nashmach]

I'll always remember the guy we used to getwith a MF 590 he had an air conditioned cab (no glass) and did the best work anyone ever did in our area - he used to never fix anything and take things apart and then realise he couldn't put them back together again :D (I remember him doing this with an injector pump in the wettest corner of one our fields).

He cut a stay for a pole one day and had to come up and borrow our angle grinder Dad had to refuse to give it to him unless he used goggles :D

Sadly from his quality of work point of view he gave up contracting