CLEARING UNDERGROWTH: FLAIL MOWER OR BRUSH MOWER?

Depending on its characteristics, a mower has different uses and therefore more specific names. A flail mower is used to cut tall, tough grass (but not only, as we will see later), whereas a brush mower is not so much used for grass as for coarser vegetation such as shrubs, brambles, brushwood and pruning waste.

1. Clearing undergrowth: requirements and problems

Maintenance is essential for undergrowth in order to prevent forest fires and allow plants to grow without the obstruction of brushwood. Using simple management and recovery techniques and a few efficient tools, you can remove shrubs and weeds. Thereby reducing environmental risks and increasing the productivity of meadows, pastures, flowers and crops.

Several techniques can be used to control weeds: depending on the system used, they can be classified into physical and chemical. Whereas depending on the time of intervention, they can be divided into pre-emergence (i.e. weed prevention) and post-emergence techniques.

With prevention techniques you can create unfavourable conditions for weed growth by using pure seeds (without extraneous seeds). You can choose varieties that compete well with weeds and all the strategies that affect the competitiveness of your crop against weeds (e.g. choosing transplanting rather than sowing). Prevention systems also include tilling, stubble cultivation, crop rotation, cover cropping and mulching.

By contrast, control techniques, i.e. the removal of weeds, include using weeding machines, heat treatments (such as flame weeding), applying chemical herbicides or bio-herbicides based on natural substances and, of course, cutting grass.

2. Differences between a flail mower and a brush mower

A flail mower is a ‘hybrid’ machine, a cross between a lawn mower and a grass trimmer. With a single tool you can do the job you could do with more efficient lawn mower models (especially for extensive clearing) and grass trimmer models (especially for clearing slopes). With a flail mower you can tackle large areas more quickly, with less effort and without any hesitation if you need to go uphill.

A flail mower not only mows grass and weeds, however tall and tough they may be, but also cuts and shreds vegetation. Everything is reduced to fragments that remain on the ground, enriching it with organic matter. With a flail mower (and a brush mower) there is no collection system, unlike lawn mowers (and, often, lawn tractors). However, once green vegetation is shredded into small pieces, it decomposes faster than if grass is cut using systems that leave it in one piece (non-mulching mower, grass trimmer or cutter bar mower).

As for the brush mower, its name is already a guarantee. A brush mower tackles even the toughest vegetation and the most complicated terrain, i.e. areas where grass, weeds, saplings and brambles grow freely and reproduce quickly. Where lack of regular maintenance leaves brushwood, branches and dense layers of leaves on the ground.

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