Innovation key to easing workload

Triple blade is more productive, costs less to run and finish is better

It’s rare for radical thinking in hedge cutter design but British manufacturer Mzuri has come up with something different with its innovative Razorback machine.

For one thing, the usual horizontal flail head is replaced by three circular cutters; for another, the usual manual control of the reach arm is complemented by a self-levelling system designed to ease the operator’s workload.

The Razorback may be this company’s first hedge cutter – but it’s not the first hedge-cutting brainchild of Mzuri owner Martin Lole.

He started and built up the Spearhead vegetation control equipment company before selling it to go farming in Warwickshire.

Mr Lole says the triple blade design is more productive, leaves a superior finish and costs less to run than a traditional flail cutter.

Mulching blades within the 1.5m wide cutting head help shred and dispose of cut material, which is contained within the head by deflectors to minimise the mount of debris thrown towards the tractor cab or across the road.

A three-axis controller in the cab is used to handle the machine, with rotor on/off, auto levelling on/off and levelling pressure sensitivity also managed from the control box.

Proportional response means the twosection hydraulic arm moves in line with the extent of joystick movement, while the auto-level co-pilot feature keeps the mainframe on an even keel as the tractor rides over undulating ground.

As a result, the reach arm and cutting height also remain constant, so operators have to make fewer control movements to compensate.

With 5.5m reach and hydraulically adjusted front and rear rollers, the Razorback can top and side hedges and work on roadside grass verges with equal ability, says Mzuri.

Another UK manufacturer has started making its own front-mounted flail cutters to complement the rearmounted reach mowers it builds.

The 2.8m FBO 2800 from Shelbourne Reynolds is designed to work effectively on the back or front of the sort of highpower tractors often used with the company’s HD800 hedge cuttters and to cope with encounters with the “foreign objects” that are difficult for the operator to spot on an overgrown grass verge.

The newcomer features a doubleskinned shell comprising two layers of 4mm-thick steel and with an open throat design to accept large amounts of material.

The shell then narrows towards the rear to create suction that lifts laid material to make sure it is cut cleanly and thoroughly pulverised.

With 600mm of hydraulic sideshift available, the mower can also be positioned to suit the size of tractor and the situation in which it is working.

From the tractor pto shaft, drive is transferred through a gearbox that can be rated at up to 235hp, and then to the 220mm rotor via a series of five V-belts, rather than the more usual four.

Large diameter pulleys give lots of grip to minimise any possibility of belt slip in especially tough working conditions and by swapping pulleys, the mower can be run using either 540 or 1,000rpm from the tractor pto.

Buyers can either opt for two dozen T-flails, which are 110mm wide or 54 C-flails, each 60mm wide, where finer mulching is required.

Both types have 10mm overlap to ensure a clean cut.

Novel features on the Mazuri Razorback include rotary cutters on the 1.5m head and a self-levelling frame. Heavy-duty build and efficient cutting are claimed for the new flail cutter from Shelbourne Reynolds that can be used frontor rear-mounted.