Some of the technology used in the clearing of landmines is being utilised to clear land of vegetation in New Zealand.FAE’s RCU series of remote controlled compact tracked carriers is capable of shredding branches and wood pieces, grass and small shrubs and felling small trees.
The RCU series was developed by the Italian company, which also manufactures remote-controlled demining carriers, equipped with a demining tiller or flail, and designed and certified to neutralise landmines.
The range consists of four models, powered by Kohler diesel engines, producing 45, 56, 74 and 120 horsepower that are available in New Zealand through Active VMA.
Ray Harrington, at High Country AG & Earthworks in Canterbury, recently took delivery of a RCU120.
“We’ve been mulching with ECan (Environment Canterbury) and DOC (Department of Conservation), and a few others, for a few years now,” he says.
“We’ve had two diggers on mulching since 2019 and we’ve just been mulching wildling trees, of different sizes, to the ground.”
He says over time, compared to spraying that requires return visits, using mulchers is an effective way of dealing with wildling pines.
“What we’ve found, and what we’ve shown, is it takes up to four years, and in some cases five years, before we get the trees coming back again to any great amount.
“You may get the odd one coming back in year three, but generally the mulch is actually stopping the trees – so even though the (initial) cost is quite high, the advantage is that you don’t have to go back over that area for three or four years, so it gives you a chance to forget about that area and move into somewhere else.”
In many parts of the Mackenzie Country, spraying to get rid of wildling pines is forbidden, adding to the need for a mechanical solution to the problem.
Accessing the inaccessible
Ray took delivery of the RCU120 last month.
“Due to health and safety, and a few other reasons, there’s a lot of trees that we can’t access with the diggers because it’s too steep, and the diggers are too heavy, so we’ve got this machine to hopefully solve that.
“We’ve got a bit of work for it, and we’ll see how it goes.”
He initially looked at the RCU55, but felt it “wouldn’t cut the mustard” for the job he needed it to do.
“But the 120 has definitely got a lot of horse power, and goes very well, and because it’s 5 tonnes, and the width of it, we can probably do walking and cycle tracks with it – we can do all sorts with it. It also has the advantage of stump mulching.”
For Ray, it’s still something new and, to some degree, a case of discovering what the machine can do.
“It is early days, but that’s why we purchased it – we like to be ahead of technology and give our customers the best bang for their dollar.
“We’ve always kept up with FAE, we’ve always run FAE gear, we find it very good – we’ve got a brand new mulcher due to arrive in...
