Where to hire a hedge saw for a jcb?

[Doing it for the kids]

A saw would definitely be faster I would say but I really love my shear. Most of my hedges have a ditch under them so I don’t have to go fishing for branches after. I can normally do a couple of hundred metres of 4” 15 foot tall stuff in an afternoon

Yes as detailed above, its quite easy to crowd the shear back to vertical (or actually not quite vertical) and gather up branches sticking out sideways and shear them off.

A saw will definitely be quicker if all the work you have to do is the sides of hedges where there is no ditch and fence, or bank next to the hedge, and you can just let the material fall to the floor then come along with a telehandler and push it all up. But if you want to reduce the height of the hedge, clear old wire fences, clear patches of brambles, pull out the odd plant where its self set in a ditch, sort the material into brushwood for burning and larger timber for firewood, clear ditches, then the shear grab is the tool. Like @Wombat I wouldn't be without mine.

For example last winter I cleared my side of a boundary hedge which had a large deep ditch on my side, I was able reach over the ditch, vertically shape up the hedge, keep hold of all the material cut off and pile in a neat line for pushing up, also to clear the ditch out too with the jaws, clearing brambles, pulling the odd self set elderberry bush out of the ditch, dragging the jaws down the line of the ditch to clear the bottom of accumulated debris etc. All you could have done with a saw was fill the ditch with branches.

The other thing to remember is the more work you can do with the excavator, the less work you have to do with a wheeled loader. And given we are often working on hedges at the wettest time of year thats a great help. I can get on hedge work with the excavator and grab when its far too wet to even consider a wheeled machine, sort everything into neat lines, all ready for a quick shift with the telehandler when the ground conditions allow.

Edit: and you can also do roadside hedges (within reason) as the material is held by the grab, so isn't going to fall out into the road.

ok you are starting covert me....

will a 7.5t machine be big enough though? we don't have to clear trees its more hedges that missed out on a hedge cut a few years back?

what kit do you have and how much...!?

TYIA

 

[Goweresque]

ok you are starting covert me....

will a 7.5t machine be big enough though? we don't have to clear trees its more hedges that missed out on a hedge cut a few years back?

what kit do you have and how much...!?

TYIA

I would say a 13 tonne machine is probably better, more in the amount of reach you have, but you can get shears to fit 7.5 tonners too, there's a whole range. Mine came from Finland, the maker is called Karhukoura, and there are sold in the UK via Exac1 under the BearClaw name. Prices are undoubtedly a lot more than I paid, as I bought mine direct from the manufacturer before they had a UK rep (it was me who spoke to the Exac1 rep at the Confor show a few years ago and recommended him to look at Karhukoura as they didn't have a grab shear like it in their range). I paid about 4.5k for mine delivered, I bet they are 6 or 7k now, due to the lower pound vs euro rate. A smaller one might be closer to what I paid though.

https://www.exac-one.co.uk/products/bear_claw.html

 

[Derrick Hughes]

do any of the Scissors cutters cut clean, 10 inches and over

 

[Goweresque]

do any of the Scissors cutters cut clean, 10 inches and over

Yes, you can get a Karhukoura shear that cuts up to 35cm (14"):

http://karhukoura.com/bear/Grapples.php

Cleanness of cut depends on the amount of oil flow and pressure available - I'd say a grab of that size would need to be on at least 13 tonner, maybe 20 to have enough oil supply to bite through 12-14" stem. My grab has a 25cm blade and will do that in soft wood such as willow, but in harder wood 8" would be its max. But then again my excavator is pretty ancient, a more modern machine might have better oil flow and pressure.

 

[Wombat]

I have a bucket warehouse one on my 8t cat. Will shear about 5-6inches but with a couple of goes will shear bigger. Cost under 3k delivered

 

[Lapwing]

We have a TMK one on an 8 tonne machine with no problems

 

[v8willy]

Saw blade on a smaller digger I seen lately

 

[40 series]

Saw blade on a smaller digger I seen lately
View attachment 823192

A mills special

 

[pettsy]

If you’re on Instagram, this guy has used various shears etc on his kit, and I believe he supplies them too.

https://instagram.com/lgpeddie?igshid=13y8tr4h4qa4j

http://www.ecworx.co.uk/

 

[Derrick Hughes]

mine is for a JS 130 , i dont trust contractors wont butcher the hedge, i love trees and will treat them as such

 

[Robert K]

This looks capable of sorting it out

 

[steveR]

They are brilliant, very safe can have a loading shovel close by ready and just pop it In front of them to push up. No worry about the blades jamming etc.

You can also grab stuff and pull it out of a hedge or hold a tree and cut off with the chain saw then move it where u want

I would never be without one now

Had a lot of massive hedges cut back over the past two years with a shear. Great tool in the right hands with all the brash deposited well away from the hedge for easy removal.

 

[james ds]

Any digger that goes sawing hedges has toughened glass fitted.

Mine hasn't

 

[Goweresque]

This hedge was sheared about 4 winters ago. You can see from the height of the trees that have been left how tall it would have been. It was sheared at about head height, allowed to regrow and then trimmed at about 7-8 feet high. Wasn't trimmed last winter, will be done this time.