The Background
With plans to build a peaceful cabin, Jason Horning purchased an undeveloped plot of land in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. No stranger to hard work and heavy equipment, he set out to handle the land clearing himself.
Customer
Jason Horning | Pennsylvania
Equipment
The Basics
By equipping his Kubota excavator with a Loftness® Battle Ax, Horning is mulching through unwanted vegetation at a rapid rate on his 12-acre mountain property.
The Problem
Jason Horning purchased a heavily wooded 12-acre property in need of clearing. In addition to an abundance of hemlock trees interspersed with hardwoods, downed trees litter the ground, making removal a priority. “There are a lot of felled, half-rotten logs all over the place,” said Horning.
Equipped with a tractor and excavator, he decided to take on the work himself, but didn’t have any attachments that could mulch the unwanted vegetation.
The Solution
While doing some research, Horning came across an advertisement for a Loftness excavator mulching head. “I hadn’t heard of the Battle Ax before, so I asked my salesman at Messick’s about it. He told me they’ve had really good luck with the Loftness brand.”
After a more detailed conversation with his dealer, Horning was sold. He purchased a 31-inch-wide 20 Series Battle Ax (31BX20) designed for compact excavators like his Kubota KX040.
The Battle Ax features a unique rotor design with depth gauges that optimize the amount of material being fed into the drum. It also has a two-stage cutting chamber with two separate shear bars, helping the attachment process material thoroughly in one pass.
The Results
Horning put the attachment right to work. “I’ve been having a blast with the Loftness mulcher,” he said. “I’m driving around chipping up whatever catches my eye.”
With about 40 hours put into the Battle Ax, he continues to get the hang of the equipment and how it works in different types of material. “Harder wood like ash takes more time to work through, but it will eat through hemlock like nothing,” he said. “If there’s a dead hemlock tree that’s still standing, I can reach the excavator arm up as high as it will go, and I can just grind down the whole trunk of the tree.”
Armed with the Battle Ax, Horning’s vision of a peaceful mountain retreat is quickly becoming a reality. Thanks to the machine’s reliability and performance, he’s making short work of the land clearing and preparing for the next phase of his project. “It really does a great job.”
