Grass Cutting Machine For Fish Farms

[FishFinger]

Does anybody know of a suitable machine for cutting grass in fish farms? I guess a small tractor with hydraulic rotor for cutting the slopes whilst pulling a grass cutter trailer would be ideal. I have looked into the ones the government uses to cut gass and bushes alongside roads. Just the hydraulic arm is getting on a million baht (the one I looked into was imported from the UK). They are also a bit on the large size and big tractors are not ideal for 4 m wide pond bunds.

A few years I looked at a second hand tractor with hyrdraulics. The price was only 70,000 baht with a grass cutting trailer. That would have been useful for the flat top of the bunds, but the majority composes the pond bund slopes. A specialised piece of equipment would be needed.

I have looked at quite a few animals such as rabbits (difficult to undomesticate, the dogs kill them and they are fussy eaters), goats (fussy), cattle (eat all the ornamental plants). The best we found were geese, but bird flu came along and we are best to wait for a good while before we dramatically expand that project. In water we use grass carp and they are excellent.

I keep hoping that a company will come along and make a suitable machine. I have been asking around for many years and have only had reports of machines on the market. We now have a total of 400 rai of ponds and cutting grass is a huge job, particularly in the rainy season. Being a hatchery, the ponds are mostly small, between 0.75 to 5 rai.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards

Fish Finger

[Tilapia]

Hi Fish Finger

There are many options with such a big farm, depending on your location and water quality and if water i availible all year around. I'm not so sure that grass carp would be your best choice, but tell us a little more about your idea how to use all that land.

Regards

Tilapia.

[FishFinger]

Hi Tilapia,

It is me Warren at Nam Sai Farms. Not sure why we use these nicknames.

The ponds are split between broodstock, sex reversal and nursery. Grass cutting on nursery ponds is getting more problematic, as we have started using bird netting. Sex reversal, broodstock and reservoir ponds are still bird net free, as are all the canals. We've used grass carp for years. One other species that could be useful is Tilapia rendalli or redbreasted tilapia. They are primarilly herbivores feeding on macrophytes, but they have not yet been imported and I haven't got round to doing it. They will most likely spawn naturally in Thailand and would be much less bony than grass carp. They are found living naturally in Africa.

Since the grass carp are doing a good job, it is really only on land that we need a solution.

Best regards

Fish Finger

[slapout]

Fish Finger: I have seen grass cutting machines for use on steep side hills etc. in the US. What I saw were front mounted mowers with about 15 hp driven, 4 wheel drive units. they had extended the hubs for the tires out so the wheel to wheel width was the same as the mower (4 to 5 ft.) this modification was done locally. This is too small for 400 rai, but you may be able to use the concept on a larger machine. All of the units I saw had the same size tires all the way around . Good luck

[mixedbreed]

I have been using a similar cut and carry set up as Teletiger shows on the below post, twice daily for the last 3 years.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=100081&hl=

post #9 submited by teletiger.

Available from Muek Lek Ph: 036 341792

This will only do the top of the bund walls,

For the slopes, then you will be requiring a boom mower.

A distributer in Bangkok is:

Phong LA-OR Pattana Ltd

Ph: 02 314 6432

02 318 7182

02 719 0789

I suspect the payback time for a new model would be un-realistic, but at least it may give you somewhere else to look.

[FishFinger]

Thanks for the company contact numbers and the link to past information on the subject. Hopefully it won't be long before I can dispense with all the strimmers and labour needed to use and repair them.

If only grass carp had legs ...........

[FishFinger]

I followed up the link from Mixedbreed and think I have found the most suitable machine. It is a side and backshredder (see photo). It costs 200,000 to 300,000 baht new, depending on the cut width, and can be used by a 30-45 hp tractor. This costs another 300,000 baht plus new.

If it works well, then it will be cost-effective. We have 10 strimmers costing 8,000 baht each with an estimated lifespan of 3 years. On top of that you have all the labour and repair work associated with them.

Best regards

Warren

[slapout]

Fishfinger: you pictures look like what I call a frail mower, cutters are upside down wedge shaped attached to chain which is attached to a rotating mandrel. They work good for cutting if RPM is kept up and we used them in rocky fields as you dont break the cutter readily. Be sure you get spare cutters and chain as you loose them sometimes. You can re-sharpen the cutter if it is what is used on John Deere, and other manufactors. I have seen them here in Chiang Mai being used on road side. I used a 6 foot behind a 35 hp tractor no problem. I do remember the belt drive would slip if you tried to cut 1 meter high grass etc so you had to make 2 passes to get short the first time. Thereafter cut before it gets real tall. A chain driven machine would be great in my thinking.

[mixedbreed]

It was actually 1 of these that I saw in his storage yard down in Chon Buri. Berti have it in there Hydraulic hedge mower product list.

He distributes the complete line of Berti products.

http://www.bertima.it/en/prod_frame.html

4 years ago I purchase a hay baler, silage cutter and drum mower from him and had very good service since. It was while down looking at this equipment that I noticed the other lines of equipment he carries.