A Guide to Selecting the best mulcher for your excavator

Guide to Choosing the Right Mulcher for Your Excavator in New Zealand

Whether you need to clear gorse, manuka, blackberry, kikuyu, broom, or thick scrub, a mulcher helps you manage land more efficiently than chainsaws or manual brush clearing. For Kiwi contractors, farmers, and councils, choosing the right excavator mulching head is an investment in productivity and improving your land.

This guide will walk you through the key factors when selecting a mulching head, and explain why brands like Femac, available from us here at Taskpower and Delta Equipment, are such a great choice.

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1. Types of Excavator Mulchers Available in NZ

Flail Mulchers

Flail mulchers are a popular option for New Zealand’s mixed terrain. They use swinging hammers or blades on a rotating drum to shred light to medium vegetation. These are ideal if you have gorse, broom, blackberry, or rank grass or weeds to clear. They are also highly effective for hedge cutting in many instances.

For example, the Femac FS Series flail mulchers (stocked by Taskpower NZ) feature a helical rotor with 360° swinging hammers. This design allows smooth mulching of scrub and small trees up to 120 mm diameter.

Fixed-Tooth Mulchers

If your work involves heavier forestry or land clearing, consider a fixed-tooth mulching head. These have rigid teeth that chew through thicker timber and woody vegetation.

The Femac T9US Fixed Tooth Mulcher can tackle material up to 200 mm in diameter—perfect for forestry contractors in regions like Northland or the West Coast where dense native regrowth is common.

2. Matching Your Excavator Size to the Right Mulcher

Choosing the correct size is critical. A mulcher that’s too heavy or requires more hydraulic flow than your excavator can provide won’t perform effectively.

Here’s a quick guide for New Zealand operators:

• 1–3 Ton Mini Diggers: Compact machines can handle models like the Femac T1 REV, a small but capable excavator flail head option.
• 2-5 Ton Mini Diggers: The T3 Series are ideal for this size machine, with more power, but still nice and light and easy to handle.
• 3.0-8.0 Ton Ton Excavators: The Femac T9 MZ Series are high quality reversible mulchers with 80mm cutting capacity, leading in this class size.
• 5 -12 Ton Diggers: For heavier duty applications, the T9 FS series with super heavy duty flails and high intertia rotor, or the T9US Fixed Tooth Series, give contractors and more demanding users greater capability.

By aligning your machine size with the right mulching head, you’ll protect your excavator and maximise output.

3. Key Technical Factors to Consider Before Buying a Digger Mulcher in NZ

• Motor Size - Firstly, the motor on the mulcher should be matched to the flow on the excavator – not the other way around. You should phone Taskpower’s technicians to discuss your excavator’s output and we can advise the best motor to suit your requirements.
•  Case Drain - Does your excavator have a Case Drain? On Taskpower’s Femac Mulchers, a Case Drain is not always required, but if your excavator has one, performance and longevity will generally be better.’
• Cutting Width – on a smaller excavator, a narrow cutting width causes less load on the hydraulic system so is generally a better choice; if you have a larger or modern excavator, you can go for a wider cutting width.
• Weight – your excavator’s actual weight, and weight configuration, makes a difference. For example, a zero swing excavator is not as good on hills as a conventional tail machine.

Rotor and Hammer Options

Different rotors and hammer types give flexibility:

• MZ rotors with knives for lighter scrub.
• FS or FR rotors with 360 degree swinging hammers for versatile mulching.
• DFD fixed-tooth rotors for woody vegetation.

Durability and Protection

Look for features like:

• Reinforced steel housings.
• Double-row bearings and labyrinth seals.
• Hydraulic anti-cavitation and pressure relief valves.

These features are standard in premium European brands like Femac, available through NZ from Taskpower.

Talk to Experienced Experts

Here at Taskpower, we love talking to people. So much can be uncovered in a phone call. From technical details, to the result you require and the application at hand, please give us a call with your questions about excavator mulchers – our team is ready and happy to help.

Local Backup and Support

When considering an excavator mulcher – it’s important you have reliable backup and support. Look for trusted suppliers who don’t hide behind faceless online accounts – it’s always best to talk to someone before making a significant purchase such as a mulcher!

Conclusion

The right excavator mulcher can transform your digger into a land-clearing powerhouse. For Kiwi contractors, farmers, and councils, investing in a high-quality excavator flail head NZ or fixed-tooth mulching head is about more than just efficiency—it’s about durability, safety, and long-term return on investment.

By working with distributors like Taskpower (NZ), you’ll have access to premium Italian-made Femac attachments backed by local expertise.

Contact us today with your requirements, we look forward to talking with you!