Farm Clearing, Shelterbelt and Orchard Equipment

Farm vegetation work is the most varied application on this site and the one with the widest range of buyers. A grazing or cropping business wants scattered paddock trees, dead timber and regrowth dealt with so that pivots, boom sprays and headers can run; a mixed farm wants an aged shelterbelt taken out and replanted; an orchardist wants a block of unproductive trees pulled, stumped and back in the ground for the next planting; and every one of them has fencing to do. The work is priced per hectare for regrowth and mulching, per tree or per row for shelterbelts and orchards, per hole for fencing, and per hour when a contractor is brought in for a few days with a machine and a set of heads.

The commercial logic for a farm buyer differs from a contractor’s. The farm already owns or hires an excavator or skid steer for dams, drains and yards, and the question is whether an attachment turns that machine into enough paid or saved work to justify the capital, while the contractor’s question is whether the same heads win enough farm jobs across a district. Both answers depend on regrowth density, hardwood, stump counts and how far the site is from the nearest dealer.

The work sequence

An orchard or shelterbelt removal runs through the full chain; a regrowth program is usually a mulching job with stump treatment only where cultivation follows; fencing is the auger stage on its own. Sequencing matters because the felling head should leave stems where the grapple or loader can windrow them, and stump treatment should follow before the ground is worked.

1. Confirm the clearing boundary and any retained trees
2. Trim hedgerows and orchard edgesTG, BF or CS100
3. Fell shelterbelt and orchard stemsWL shear with accumulator
4. Windrow stems for burning, chipping or firewoodTerragrip or grapple
5. Mulch regrowth and light scrubVM-35SK or HM-60
6. Treat stumps before cultivation or replantingSC400, SC600 or WE10
7. Drill fence posts and planting holesTRV auger

How attachment changeover fits around a program like this is covered in the clearing workflow guide.

Which attachments do the heavy lifting

Tree shears for shelterbelts, orchards and paddock timber

Shelterbelts and orchard rows are high stem counts of modest diameter in a straight line, and an accumulating shear is built for them. The Trevi Benne WL Series spans 2.5 to 21 tonne carriers across three models with an optional upper accumulator, which lets the operator gather several trees before slewing them into a windrow, and optional rotation for placing stems in line. Orchard trees, cypress, pine and radiata shelterbelts and most farm regrowth sit well inside the family’s 50 to 450 mm published maximum trunk diameter, and a shear leaves a clean stump for a grinder rather than the torn root system left by pushing trees over with a bucket. A shear also keeps the stem intact for firewood or chipping, which is often the difference between a cost and a small income on a farm; mulcher versus tree shear sets out when to recover and when to mulch.

Mulchers for regrowth and scrub

Regrowth control across paddocks is a hectare job, and on flat farm ground a front-mount head on a skid steer or compact track loader usually outproduces an excavator head. The Shearex HM-60 SR and DR (149 cm width, 15 cm target diameter, from 68 hp) is the entry point for a farm loader, the HM-70 (190 cm, 20 cm target, from 74 hp) steps up to heavier scrub, and the HM-88LV (220 cm, 25 cm target, 140 hp minimum) is the hectare-rate head for broadacre reclamation. Where regrowth sits along creek lines, dam banks and drains, an excavator head reaches where a loader cannot: the VM-35SK (8 to 12 tonne, 95 cm, 15 cm target, 87 to 144 L/min) is the crossover choice for a farm excavator. Excavator mulcher versus skid steer mulcher covers the split, and blades versus carbide teeth matters on stony country.

Stump tools before the ground is worked

A stump in a paddock is a machinery hazard; a stump in an orchard block or a new fence line is an obstacle to replanting. The Dipperfox SC400 (1.5 to 5 tonne, 190 kg, 400 mm stump, 590 mm depth) puts stump removal on a mini excavator that fits between orchard rows, and the SC600 (6 to 12 tonne, about 320 kg, 600 mm stump, 700 mm depth) is the all-round farm model for shelterbelt and paddock stumps, both processing the stump in place with a contained footprint and no root ball to cart away. Where deep cultivation or a new irrigation main will cross the root zone, the Trevi Benne WE10 (11.5 to 18 tonne, 980 mm jaw) cuts the roots, extracts and splits the stump. Stump grinder versus stump cutter explains which outcome each delivers, and Dipperfox versus conventional stump grinder covers the case against hiring a wheel grinder.

Pruning heads for hedges, orchard edges and access tracks

Fine hedge growth, orchard edges and overhanging limbs on farm tracks are linear jobs where a light head on a mini excavator beats a shear. The OMEF TG hedge trimmers (800 or 1,200 mm cutting width, fine growth to about 20 mm, 1.8 to 5 tonne carriers) and BF cutter bars (1.2 to 1.7 m width, 30 mm material, 40 to 46 kg, 1 to 5 tonne carriers) are extremely light and cover metres quickly. Individual limbs go to the CS100 (1.6 to 3.5 tonne, 100 mm cut) or CS200 (3.5 to 6 tonne, 200 mm cut), both with 360-degree rotation and no holding grapple, so the fall zone has to be clear.

Augers for fencing and replanting

Fencing is where an excavator auger earns its keep on a farm, because the carrier is already there and the reach and stability beat a tractor-mounted post-hole digger on sloping or rocky ground. The OMEF TRV auger drive is sized on torque, carrier flow and pressure rather than bit diameter, and the same drive drills replanting holes for a new shelterbelt or orchard block. Request the current data sheet for the carrier being quoted, and price rock augering separately from loam.

Carrier size and fleet composition

Farm work is dominated by the small classes, and row spacing rather than timber size usually sets the limit. A 1 to 5 tonne mini excavator is the orchard machine because it fits between rows and through gateways. The 5 to 10 tonne class is the most useful single farm excavator: it is the smallest carrier on which the stump grinder, a light shear, a small mulcher and an auger all have published models, and it floats behind a farm truck. A 10 to 16 tonne contractor machine is what heavier shelterbelts and extraction-grade stumps need, and is usually hired in for the week rather than owned. Regrowth mulching across paddocks belongs on a skid steer or compact track loader, not on the excavator. Before buying anything, read the hire versus buy guide: a head that works two weeks a year is almost always better hired or contracted.

Site and commercial factors that change the equipment choice

The first question on farmland is not which head but whether the vegetation may be touched at all. Clearing native vegetation, including regrowth and scattered paddock trees, can require approvals, and what counts as regrowth differs between states. Planted shelterbelts and orchards are usually treated differently from native regrowth, but that boundary is the landholder’s to establish with the relevant state agency, not the contractor’s to assume; native vegetation approvals sets out what to ask and who to ask. Eucalypt and acacia regrowth also wears blades and slows a mulcher well beyond what pine or orchard timber suggests, so read the Australian hardwood guide before agreeing a per-hectare rate.

Stony ground decides mulcher tooling and stump grinder wear, and old fence lines hide wire that will wrap a rotor. Mulching and burning stop on the days the relevant state fire authority says they stop, on exactly the dry paddocks this work happens on; see fire risk in clearing operations. Distance from a dealer decides the parts strategy; a farm two days from South Windsor should hold blades, teeth and a centre screw before the season starts. Finally, decide what the timber is worth: firewood, chip and biomass outlets change whether the shear or the mulcher is the first head on the machine.

Measuring and pricing production

For a contractor, run a trial paddock or row and record, per productive hour: stems felled with a diameter distribution and accumulator bundles, hectares of regrowth mulched by pass, stumps processed by size and species, and holes drilled by soil type. For a farm buyer the same numbers answer a different question: how many hours of contractor time or lost paddock productivity the attachment saves each year against its finance cost.

As an illustration only, assume a farm 8 tonne excavator costs $120 per hour to run with an operator, and a trial with an SC600 averages 12 minutes per shelterbelt stump including repositioning. That is five stumps per hour, or $24 per stump. A 200-stump shelterbelt is then 40 machine hours and about $4,800 of in-house excavator time, which is the figure to set against a hypothetical contractor rate of $200 per hour plus mobilisation for the same 40 hours. The cost per unit calculator and the total cost of ownership guide take the numbers through finance, wear and utilisation.

Before you tender or buy for this work

• Confirm whether the vegetation is planted or native, and whether native vegetation approvals apply before booking a machine.
• Walk the shelterbelt, orchard or paddock and record a stem diameter distribution and a stump count by size.
• Decide the fate of the timber (firewood, chip, burn, mulch in place) because it sets the first head on the machine.
• Check for old fence wire, stone and buried debris before pricing mulching or stump grinding.
• Confirm the carrier lift chart at working radius for the shear plus rotator plus hitch, and the auxiliary flow for each head.
• Confirm whether cultivation, irrigation or replanting will cross the root zone, which decides grinding against extraction.
• Check the fire-danger stop conditions for mulching and burning in the intended season.
• Price blade, tooth, chain and centre-screw consumables and hold spares on farm before the season.
• Establish exclusion zones and WHS procedures for felling and mulching near stock, staff and public roads.

Frequently asked questions