CMI 125 Mulcher

[kkottemann]

i am demoing a CMI 125 mulcher monday and tuesday. anybody got one? PTO drive head...looks to be a real simple machine, not alot of fuss....

 

[floyd]

I'm jealous.

 

[kkottemann]

jealous....hmm....ha! well, i'm not sold on it yet...i have leased a few different ones, bought a little cat with the gyrotrac head on it and with the exception of the gyrotrac head nothing has really impressed me...also looking at excavator with cimaf head on it....

 

[got mulch]

how did your demo go? did you buy it or get any pics?

 

[kkottemann]

demo went well....its a real tough machine....real simple with no fuss....comfortable, plenty of room in the cab...lots of torque...pushes through thick brush real well only slows down when you get to stuff around 6". loaded on my gooseneck and hauled with no problem with my F-250...ran it for 6 straight hours and it never got hot...simple design, seems easy to maintain...my complaints are the carbide cutter....we can beat this to death but planer tooth cutters just cut better period...i've had them both. I like the cut that the planer tooth give me. you can handle bigger material faster. second complaint is the head come up about 4 feet and thats it. not a big deal, but i've had sites where i cut all the brush and the tops are still hanging from bigger trees by the vines and brambles....need to go up to get all that stuff. only concern is the PTO driven mulcher...like i said it had all the torque you need, but how long will that clutch last???? bottom line....if i can mount a cutter with planer tooth, i'll buy it, but right now thats not an option. no pics sorry...

 

[got mulch]

I think CMI makes both the pto or the hydro option for the cutter head. Maybe not on the 125? Did you get a price for it?

 

[kkottemann]

PTO/hydo option is only on the 175.....not on the 125, PTO only. price is in the 175+ range depending on the tax situation in your area...

 

[QwikDraw]

How much more money was the 175?? I heard really good things about CMI from another guy who demoed one.

 

[kkottemann]

don't have a price on the 175, probabbly 205k +.. a bit more than the 125 and is really not that much bigger in size......i can not say enough about the machines...really well built and simple....I'm not sure on the PTO drive though....they swear by it and it has plenty of torque..I have a research paper from one of my professors from forestry school who did a cost analysis and biomass study on southern forests....some of the contractors involved in the study were running early pto dirven fecons.....they had issues with that system...however the pto is the reason it is so simple...I'm gonna wait a while and see what happens for my biz before I upgrade. if i do, i wil probably match that 175 with a large planer tooth mulching head....goanna be a bad mother for sure!