Shearex

Who Shearex is

Shearex is a Canadian manufacturer of hydraulic forestry mulchers. The catalogue is built around two mounting architectures rather than one general-purpose head stretched across every carrier, and that split is the first thing an Australian buyer needs to understand, because it determines how the work is priced and tendered.

The published data is specified per model down to continuous flow window, operating pressure, rotor speed and an optimal target material diameter, which makes a like-for-like comparison against a particular carrier possible without inferring anything.

Two ranges, two different businesses

The VM range mounts on an excavator boom. It spans the VM-25SK at 499 kg and 70 cm of cutting width for 5 to 8 tonne carriers, through the VM-40SL at 757 kg and 107 cm for 12 to 15 tonne machines, the VM-50SR at 975 kg and 123 cm, up to the VM-65SV at 1,681 kg, 165 cm of width, a 50 cm optimal target diameter and a 193 to 344 L/min continuous flow demand on 25 to 40 tonne carriers.

The HM range is front-mounted on a skid steer, compact track loader or dedicated mulching carrier. It runs from the HM-60 at 149 cm from 68 horsepower, through the HM-70SV at 190 cm from 125 horsepower and the HM-90SV at 230 cm and a 40 cm target diameter from 170 horsepower, to the HM-100SV2 at 2,311 kg, 254 cm and a 60 cm target diameter on carriers of 250 horsepower and above.

The two ranges are not competing sizes of the same tool. An excavator-mounted VM reaches over drains, batters, fence lines and creek banks, works from a stable platform and can treat vegetation the carrier never drives onto. A front-mount HM drives through the block and converts ground it can traverse into treated hectares much faster. Terrain and contract structure decide which range you are actually buying, and the excavator mulcher versus skid steer mulcher comparison works through that decision with the cost logic attached.

The design philosophy in the published features

Five published details tell you what Shearex prioritises, and each of them maps directly to a cost line.

The rotor is described as bite-limiting. Rather than letting the tooling take whatever depth the operator’s hand demands, the rotor geometry caps how much material each tool can engage per pass. That keeps hydraulic demand within the pump’s window instead of spiking and stalling, protects the tooling from the shock loads that shatter carbide, and produces a steadier, more predictable cut. The trade is a lower theoretical peak for a steadier sustained rate.

The hydraulic door is standard across the VM range. A door lets the operator hold material in the rotor chamber for a finer finish, or open it to feed and discharge quickly. On a site with a mulch specification in the contract, that control is what allows one head to meet both a coarse knockdown standard and a fine finish standard without changing tooling.

Hardox 500 bolt-on liners and skid shoes, together with the CONVEX DX protection system, handle the rebuild question. Liners take the abrasive damage that would otherwise destroy the housing, and because they are bolt-on they can be replaced without cutting into the structure. That keeps a mid-life refurbishment to a parts exchange rather than structural repair in Australian conditions, where grit, rock and soil contamination are routine.

G2.0 rotor balancing addresses the failure mode that ends mulcher bearings. A rotor turning at working speed with residual imbalance puts a cyclic load into the bearings, the housing and eventually the carrier’s boom every revolution of every hour. Balancing to a defined grade is a durability specification, not a comfort one.

The Poly-Chain carbon belt drive, with oil cooling through a flushing line, completes the picture. A belt is an intentional soft link between the motor and the rotor: it absorbs shock when the rotor meets something it should not, and it is a serviceable item rather than a gearbox rebuild. The flushing line matters more in Australia than in Canada, because hydraulic oil temperature is the constraint that most often limits mulching production here. The hydraulic cooling and heat guide covers what to check on the carrier before ordering, and the fire risk guide covers the housekeeping side of hot work in dry vegetation.

Both ranges are offered with carbide teeth or blades, and the VM range adds grapple, tilt and heel options. The tooling choice is a genuine fork in the road rather than a preference, and the blades versus carbide teeth comparison sets out what each does to finish quality, wear cost and contaminated ground. The forestry mulchers buying guide covers the category in full.

Buying Shearex in Australia

Shearex is distributed in Australia by Machinery Specialist from South Windsor in New South Wales. For mulchers, that local channel does more work than it does for simpler attachments, because mulching is the most hydraulically demanding thing an excavator can be asked to do.

The published continuous flow windows are the reason. A VM-50SR wants 159 to 238 L/min continuously and a VM-65SV up to 344 L/min, at pressures running to approximately 410 bar across the VM range, and a standard excavator auxiliary circuit is not necessarily configured for that duty. Have your carrier’s real continuous flow, cooling capacity, return line and case drain arrangement assessed before the order is written. The hydraulic matching guide lists the figures to collect, and the lift chart guide covers the mass side for the heavier VM heads.

Demonstrations matter here too. Production in dense eucalypt regrowth is not predictable from a specification sheet, and an hour watching a head work in representative vegetation gives you a measured figure to build a tender rate from.

Getting a current data sheet

Ask for the factory data sheet for the exact model and configuration quoted, including tooling and any grapple, tilt or heel option, because weight, flow and clearance all change with those. Where a figure on this site differs from the sheet issued against your quotation, the sheet is correct.

Ask the distributor for

• The current factory data sheet for the exact model, tooling and option configuration quoted
• Minimum, recommended and maximum continuous hydraulic flow, and the operating pressure window
• A written assessment of your carrier's continuous flow, return pressure, case drain and cooling capacity
• Complete attachment mass as configured, including bracket, hitch and any grapple, tilt or heel option
• Whether carbide teeth or blades are recommended for your vegetation and ground contamination
• Liner, skid shoe, tooling and belt pricing, with expected wear life in abrasive Australian conditions
• The rotor balancing specification and the service interval for bearings and the belt drive
• A demonstration in representative vegetation, with mulch finish quality assessed against your contract specification

Frequently asked questions