How to Choose an Excavator Mulcher

For ditch banks, fence lines and selective clearing, we recommend choosing an excavator mulcher around the reach you need and the hydraulic power your machine can deliver. Head weight and clearance matter as much as cutting width when you are working across a ditch or between standing trees.

Fecon, Baumalight, FAE and Loftness offer heads ranging from compact attachments to heavier forestry mulchers for larger excavators. Start with the carrier and vegetation, then compare the complete attachment, including the motor, cutting tools, mount and hydraulic installation.

Excavator sizes and useful model examples

For a compact excavator, start with a head that is easy to position at the reach your work requires. These models show how the choices progress from smaller mini excavators into the 5–10-ton class:

• The FAE BL0/EX-75 is built for 3–4 metric-ton excavators and has a 31-inch working width. It is a compact option for property lines, ditch banks and brush maintenance.
• The FAE BL1/EX/VT-75 is built for 4–7.5-ton excavators, with a 31.5-inch working width and a variable-torque piston motor.
• The Fecon FMX36 is built for 5–10 metric-ton excavators, with a 36-inch working width and a published head weight of 850 pounds.

For fence lines, work between standing trees and reaching across ditches, we recommend giving head weight and overall width as much attention as cutting width. A compact head is easier to place precisely, while a wider head is useful where you have room to work across a larger area.

Working width is the strip the rotor cuts; overall width includes the housing and drive. A tilt hitch is worth considering for regular bank work because it helps align the head with the slope. Include its weight with the head and mount when selecting the complete attachment for your boom and stick.

Knife, planer or carbide teeth?

For clean brush and wood where a fine finish matters, we recommend sharp knife or planer-style teeth. Their cutting edges slice and shave the wood, generally leaving a finer, more uniform mulched product than conventional carbide teeth. They are a good choice for maintained fence lines, trails and property cleanup where stone and soil contact are limited.

Conventional carbide teeth break material down through more tearing and grinding action. We recommend them for rocky, sandy or dirty conditions, where resistance to impact and abrasion is more valuable than the fastest cut or finest finish. They generally hold up better in those conditions, while sharp knife edges dull more quickly in grit.

Fecon offers Cubit Knife and Cubit Carbide tools for the FMX rotor, giving buyers both choices within that head family.

For mixed work, choose the teeth around the ground conditions you encounter most often. Keeping knife edges sharp helps preserve their cutting advantage. Allow time for a finishing pass when the job calls for a tidy surface; the rotor and cutting chamber also influence mulch size.

Hydraulic power and cutting performance

Hydraulic flow and pressure determine the power available to the mulcher. Flow, measured in gallons per minute, supplies the motor with oil; pressure provides the force that produces cutting torque. The motor converts that supply into rotor speed and pulling power in the wood.

As a rule of thumb, favor a narrower head when hydraulic power is limited or the work is mostly dense brush. It concentrates the available power across less cutting width. Choose a wider head when the excavator has ample hydraulic power and the job gives you room to use the extra width.

The FMX36 and FMX50 make a useful comparison. Both are listed for 5–10 metric-ton excavators with a 12–40 GPM hydraulic range. We recommend the 36-inch head for selective clearing and tighter work. The 50-inch head is worth comparing for more open areas and lighter growth where covering a wider strip is useful.

Good hydraulic setup and cooling help the head stay productive during long periods of cutting. We use your excavator model and auxiliary-flow rating to select the motor and arrange the hydraulic connections. For a machine doing regular mulching, include a cooling review as part of that setup.

Fecon's optional Two Hose System simplifies installation on compatible FMX and standard-flow packages by eliminating the separate case-drain hose. It is a useful option to discuss when equipping an excavator for its first mulcher.

Fecon FMX28, FMX36 and FMX50

Fecon's FMX heads use a split-ring rotor and are offered with Cubit Knife or Cubit Carbide cutting tools. The variable-displacement motor is configured for the carrier. The three models provide different combinations of cutting width, overall size and weight:

Fecon lists a 12–40 GPM hydraulic range and 4,000 PSI maximum pressure for these FMX models. The figures above follow Fecon's model specification table and excavator attachment brochure.

The FMX28 is the most compact of the three, with a 40-inch overall width. It is worth considering where access and precise placement matter more than covering a wide strip. The FMX36 adds cutting width while keeping the head narrower and lighter than the FMX50.

Moving from the FMX36 to the FMX50 adds 14 inches of working width and 200 pounds of published head weight. That makes the FMX50 a useful step up in coverage, while the FMX36 keeps the attachment more compact for reaching and positioning.

Size the head for the vegetation you expect to cut most days. For a demonstration, use similar brush and compare the completed area at the finish your jobs require.

Fecon heads for larger excavators

The FMX range is only part of Fecon's excavator mulcher catalog. The CEM36 serves the 8–15 metric-ton class with a 36-inch working width and a published 17–40 GPM range. Above it, the Heavy Duty and Severe Duty lines offer different head construction and hydraulic configurations for larger carriers.

The BH47EXC-1V brings a heavier forestry head to 12–20-ton excavators. It has a 37-inch working width, a published 2,400-pound head weight and a 27–50 GPM hydraulic range. It keeps the cutting width close to the FMX36 while stepping up to a substantially heavier attachment for a larger carrier.

The BH62EXC has a 50-inch working width, with two motor configurations listed for 15–20-ton excavators. The BH62EXC-1V uses a 107cc variable motor and a 27–50 GPM range. The BH62EXC-2V uses a 160cc variable motor and a 40–75 GPM range. Choose between these motor packages according to the hydraulic supply on the excavator.

For larger forestry excavators, Fecon's Severe Duty range includes the BH40EXC, BH80EXC and BH200EXCXD. Fecon places this family in the 15–45 metric-ton category and designs it for the down pressure available from larger carriers. These are the heads to compare when moving into heavier forestry work with a larger carrier.

Comparing Baumalight, FAE and Loftness

Baumalight MX series

The Baumalight MX330 and MX530 both have 30-inch rotors, but they are different attachments. Baumalight lists the MX330 at 750 pounds with H3000 high-speed cutting teeth. The MX530 is listed at 1,036 pounds with P5000 carbide-tipped, bolt-in teeth.

Baumalight's comparison chart places the MX330 on 3–8-ton tracked excavators and the MX530 on 4–12-ton tracked excavators, with separate ranges for wheeled carriers. Use the tracked or wheeled carrier range that applies to your excavator. The catalog also includes 48- and 60-inch rotor models for larger excavators. When comparing them with other brands, use rotor width consistently; Baumalight's listed path width is a separate measurement.

FAE flail heads and forestry mulchers

FAE's manufacturer catalog includes several excavator attachment families. The PML/EX and PMM/EX flail heads cover grass and lighter vegetation work. The BL forestry mulchers use Bite Limiter rotor technology to control the amount of material entering the cutting tools.

The BL0/EX-75 and BL1/EX/VT-75 introduced above give smaller excavators a blade-style Bite Limiter head for brush and selective clearing. The BL2/EX, BL3/EX, BL4/EX and BL5/EX extend the Bite Limiter range to larger carriers, while the DML/HY, UML and UMM families provide other rotor and drive choices. For mostly grass and light vegetation, start with the flail range. For woody brush and a finer mulched finish, compare the BL heads. The VT designation on the BL1/EX/VT identifies its variable-torque motor.

Loftness Battle Ax

The Loftness Battle Ax 20 Series includes 31-, 41- and 51-inch cutting widths. Published weights are 879, 1,084 and 1,218 pounds respectively, without the mount. Loftness places the 31BX20 in the 10,000–15,000-pound excavator range and the wider two models in the 15,000–20,000-pound range.

The 20 Series uses a fixed-displacement gear motor with a published 15–35.9 GPM range. Rotor depth gauges, two shear bars and an adjustable primary shear bar help control how material is processed. Compare the planer, beaver and carbide tools for your vegetation and desired finish. Loftness also offers 10, 30, 40 and 50 Series heads in its excavator mulcher range, extending the choices beyond the 20 Series.

Quoting an Excavator Mulcher

A useful quote includes the head, motor, cutting tools, mount and hydraulic connections as one package. We also review the excavator's capacity at working reach, guarding and any cooling provisions. This is the final setup work after narrowing the head to your machine and jobs.

For regular mulching, compare tooth replacement cost and service access alongside purchase price. Easy access for changing tools, inspecting the drive and cleaning the head makes routine maintenance more straightforward.

Send Keast Enterprises your excavator make and model, a photo of its coupler or pin attachment, and a few photos of the vegetation. Tell us whether you want rough clearing or a finer finished surface and whether the ground is rocky. We can recommend a head and tooth combination, then handle the mounting and hydraulic details with you. Call 712-566-1033 or email sales@keastenterprises.com.