Drainage Consortium relies on Herder rather than cut corners

King’s Lynn Consortium of Internal Drainage Boards have relied on Herder flails and weed mowing buckets since the late 1980s. And they are certainly not looking back. Works Supervisor Gary Howe explains that they expect to get a minimum of ten years hard work out of each Herder unit and points out that they have used most of the company’s products over this period. In fact Gary himself was a flail operator earlier in his time with the Consortium so he talks from experience.

“Between the beginning of June and the end of August, the flails are used twelve hours a day, at least five days a week, clocking up 1000 to 1200 hours a year. The drivers run them as fast as they can according to the grass or undergrowth being tackled. They take pride in their work and a job well done takes priority over speed, but we would expect a work rate of around 3 kilometres an hour with a 1.8 metre cut” says Gary. “All machines are serviced in house in the Spring and then we don’t expect any problems greater than a pipe replacement or similar wear and tear through the busy Summer season.”

The Consortium specifies ‘Multi-Pro’ centrally mounted flails with a reach of 9.3 metres from the side of the tractor, with 11 metres available as a factory option. Their 4 part booms offer exceptional flexibility in accessing awkward banks and verges plus a uniquely compact folding arrangement of just 4 metres high. Pump capacity at 1000 rpm PTO maintains 135 litres/min for attachments with 55 litres/min for controls. Flail operating pressure is 350 bar, which provides 105 hp at the flail head motor to ensure effective operation on riverbanks and verges.

The Consortium also operate 4 metre wide Herder mowing buckets with reciprocating weed cutting knife. Gary comments that “taking less than 10 minutes to exchange flail and bucket attachments, it`s a great combination tool”

“Another thing I like about the Herder is the direct hydraulic drive so there are no belts to worry about. This also puts the maximum power into the flail and most importantly I know when we receive a new Herder unit we can take it straight out of the box and put it to work” concluded Gary.

The two flails in the photo are employed in dyke bank maintenance on the Halvergate Marshes, Norfolk where close cropping of the vegetation is being used to deter water vole in an extensive scheme to reintroduce higher water levels in a nationally and internationally important wildlife site, recreating traditional wetland habitats.