Mini Excavator Brushcutter Reviews [2023]

Choosing a brush cutter for your mini excavator is more difficult than other machines. This blog is intended to provide information on some of the more popular options and guide your decision making.

We’ll start with some considerations to keep in mind when comparing brush cutters and finish with a review of some of the best mini excavator brush cutters on the market.

Blue Diamond HD Mini Excavator Cutter Review

Blue Diamond’s Heavy Duty Mini Excavator Brushcutter is widely used across the country. This is mainly due to its excellent value and because it is offered in 7 models to suit almost any brand of mini excavator.

From the smallest model to the largest, these brushcutters range in weight from 550 pounds to just over 900 pounds. This makes them a good fit for mini excavators between 6,000 and 19,000 pounds. Likewise, hydraulic flow rates range from 13 to 33 gallons per minute.

Blue Diamond’s heavy-duty models have a direct drive system that feeds a hydraulic geroler motor. This is a greaseable system that provides easy maintenance. Geroler motors are known for their long life when used properly and are less prone to sudden failures seen in other designs.

One of the nice features that the Geroler motor in the Blue Diamond Heavy Duty Brushcutter offers is bi-directional operation. Smart homeowners will operate the brushcutter in one direction when cutting woody material and in the opposite direction for grass. This keeps the grass side of your blades sharp for a clean finish.

The heavy-duty model’s deck thickness is 1/4″, which keeps the brushcutter rigid and protects it from most bumps and bruises.

Blue Diamond Severe Duty Series 2 Mini Excavator Brushcutter Review

If you want to take your brush cutting to the next level, it’s time to look at the Severe Duty Series 2 brush cutter. This model offers improvements in almost every dimension, from the hydraulic motor to the thickness and design of the deck and the capacity cutting

The minimum recommended operating weight for this mower is 10,000 pounds because it is more robust than the heavy-duty model and weighs more than 700 pounds. That said, the heavy duty model is often a better choice if you have a larger mini excavator. This is because the cutter has a thicker 3/4″ cover that is more resistant to bumps and bruises caused while cutting.

An additional upgrade is the brush cutter’s front cut, which allows for a more aggressive cut. This trim allows the material to enter the cutter more easily and be hacked and ejected quickly. This deck design allows you to easily cut brush and trees up to 6″ in diameter.

The heavy duty model’s hydraulic motor is upgraded to a piston motor instead of a roller motor and changes from a grease-filled direct drive system to an oil-filled direct drive system. The oil-filled system keeps the bearings cooler and cleaner and allows for less maintenance.

Upgrading to a piston engine provides more torque and greater efficiency. Mini excavators have a high hydraulic demand, to begin with, due to the amount of flow required to move the tracks, rotate the cab and extend the boom at the same time. Being able to use leftovers efficiently is an important aspect.

What to look for in a mini excavator brush cutter

You can quickly narrow down your mini excavator brush cutter search by discarding models that won’t work with your host machine. Here are some ways to do it.

Start by considering weight and hydraulic flow

The weight of the brush cutter you use should be appropriate for the size of the mini excavator you are using it with. This is to prevent tipping over when the brushcutter is extended from the center of gravity of the mini excavator. This becomes more important when working on uneven terrain.

Many backhoe brush cutters weigh between 500 and 1200 pounds. As a general rule of thumb, the minimum operating weight recommendation would be 17,000 to 25,000 pounds for a 1,200 pound brush cutter and 7,000 pounds for a 500 pound brush cutter.

Next would be to consider the auxiliary hydraulic flow of your mini excavator. Mini excavator brushcutters will have a minimum auxiliary flow recommendation and your excavator will need to be able to produce at least that.

In addition, the maximum auxiliary flow recommendation must be respected. This will protect your hydraulic pump and ensure that your warranty is valid.

example

Consider the owner of a Bobcat E42 looking for a brush cutter attachment. The excavator weighs approximately 10,600 pounds and produces 20 GPM of auxiliary hydraulic flow.

This would mean that a 400 to 800 pound brush cutter would be a good starting point for your search. This can be further reduced by ensuring that selected models have a minimum hydraulic flow range of less than 20 gpm and a maximum of more than 20 gpm.

So a good brush cutter to consider would be the Blue Diamonds 42″ heavy duty brush cutter with an 80cc hydraulic motor. This model will weigh 660 pounds (plus coupler) and hydraulic flow is 13-24 GPM.

Consider the thickness and design of the cover

Open front vs. Closed front

As with mini excavator brushcutters, mini excavator models will come in either open front or closed front designs. While both designs are useful in most circumstances, open front designs are more aggressive and allow thick, heavy brush to enter the trimmer more easily. Closed front cutters will keep the material in the cutter longer, allowing for a nicer finish.

Cover thickness

Since the attachment of a mini digger brush cutter is on top of the cutter, deck thickness is an important consideration. This is because it is not unlikely that at some point the operator of the mini excavator will lean over the brush cutter or push the weight on the deck. A heavy excavator can damage a brush cutter with a weak cover. A deck thickness of 1/4″ is usually a good starting point.

Hydraulic motor and blade holder

The hydraulic motors of any brush cutter are the heart of the entire system. The brush cutter will have a direct drive system that takes the hydraulic oil from the auxiliary circuit of the mini excavator and transforms it into cutting power at the blade support. The type of hydraulic motor used directly affects performance.

As with most brushcutters, some will be manufactured with rotary engines and others with piston type engines. Both types have unique features such as:

Roller motor:

• Lowest purchase price
• More tolerant of poor maintenance
• Widely used in attachments

Piston engines:

• Higher pair
• Greater hydraulic efficiency
• It operates smoothly across a wide range of hydraulic flow rates

Typically, piston engines are used in “severe duty” models, while smaller mini digger brushcutters will use a rotary engine.

Leaf bearers

The typical mini excavator brush cutter will have a triangular design blade holder with three blades.

Triangular design helps reduce weight in a three blade cutting system. The reduced weight keeps rotation speeds high and helps allow the blade holder to accelerate again after pushing the brush.

An integrated system that allows for easy blade change and maintenance will save you time.

conclusion

There are many things to consider when looking for a mini excavator brush cutter, and understanding your options is the first step.

Call us today and let our team help you find the right cutter and coupler.