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How To Trim A 300-Ft. Hedge In 15 Minutes
Hedges look great but when it comes to trimming them, the bigger they get, the bigger the hassle. John Ivers figured out a way to take the hassle out of the job by building a hydraulic-powered trimmer that can shape up a hedge fast.
"I have one hedge that's 10 ft. high and 350 ft. long, and I can do both sides an
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How To Trim A 300-Ft. Hedge In 15 Minutes MOWERS Mowers (31H) 32-5-44 Hedges look great but when it comes to trimming them, the bigger they get, the bigger the hassle. John Ivers figured out a way to take the hassle out of the job by building a hydraulic-powered trimmer that can shape up a hedge fast.
"I have one hedge that's 10 ft. high and 350 ft. long, and I can do both sides and the top in 15 minutes," says Ivers. "That includes doing the top both ways to get any twigs that were pushed over in the first pass."
Ivers says his tractor loader-mounted trimming bar trims about any type of hedge. It can handle twigs up to about 5/8-in. diameter. Replacing the mower guards with combine guards makes it easier for the twigs to pass to the knife.
The trimmer uses a mower bar driven by a hydraulic motor via a shortened pitman drive. The pitman drive is from a no. 55 Deere combine, selected for its oscillating knuckle drive. Ivers took the shaft off the combine and mounted it in pillow block bearings with the knuckle at the end. At the base of the knuckle is a 32 tooth no. 50 sprocket. The entire unit mounts on a steel framework that bolts to the loader. To remove the trimmer, he simply removes four bolts and disconnects the hydraulic couplings.
"Originally I just mounted the sicklebar straight up and down," says Ivers. "Later I added a hydraulic cylinder so I could adjust it from vertical to a little above horizontal, from the tractor seat."
Ivers admits it would have been nice and certainly simpler to go with a complete hydraulic knife drive. However, this way he has about $300 invested in the motor and the two pillow block bearings. Everything else was basically scrap.
"I do have to slow down a little when cutting on the vertical as the knife will get out of balance a bit," he says. "If you start when the hedges are small and don't try to cut an 8-ft. hedge back to 5 ft., it works great."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Ivers, P.O. Box 131, Milo, Alberta, Canada T0L 1L0 (ph 403 599-3874).
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