The Heavy Weights of Pasture Management Go Head-To-Head

To slash or to mulch? That is the question.

We take these machines to the test, head-to-head, to see which comes out on top.

Performance

When you are weighing up these kings of pasture management, the first thing is to consider what you are working with.
- If you are just dealing with grass, then the slasher will do the trick. But as soon as you’re dealing with rushes, scrub and gorse, the mulcher is your best bet. A mulcher can be also be used for extreme conditions.
A slasher tends to get blocked in thicker grass. A mulcher has a larger discharge chamber which prevents blocking.
If you’re going through thicker grass, you’ll find that the you’ll go slower with a slasher. You can go faster in thicker grass with a mulcher.
Ultimately, a mulcher will result in increased farm production by giving increased pasture quality resulting in higher returns.

Versatility

Mulchers easily tackle gorse up to 4″ thick, thick rushes, scrubs and the rapidly growing weedy kikuya. It’s this versatility that makes the multi-purpose mulcher the champion of pasture management.
Slashing leaves windrows, which are an irritant. The unevenly clumped material smothers and kills the patches of grass below. Not only does this reduce your viable pastoral space, it looks terrible. Whereas a mulcher doesn’t windrow. It dischargers the material evenly into finer particles which means the grass grows back faster and you don’t get rotting.
With a mulcher, you’re cutting the grass into a fine mulch. It doesn’t leave clumps or the grass lying over in long stalks.
When mulching low, it cuts through the base of thistles which means they take longer to grow back.
The corrugated finish of the Y flail on a mulcher leaves more surface area on the grass which means it grows quicker from more sunlight.

Environmental

Ultimately slashing and mulching seeks to serve the same purpose which is to cut the grass or pasture leaving organic fertiliser to rejuvenate the pasture.
Mulching and slashing is better for the environment than using sprays or other chemicals.

Economy

A mulcher will use less fuel and horsepower in thicker material as opposed to using a slasher. It also saves time and costs using a mulcher because you are working at a higher speed.
A mulcher can be a bigger financial investment over a slasher so the budget can be a deciding factor. Also, the functional advantages of a mulcher can be more useful on a larger property. People with smaller properties and gardens still widely use a slasher, however, the mulcher entry level model is now at a competitive price point. Deciding which option to go for obviously does come down to a variety of factors.

The verdict of the knock out match of the year is clear. The Mulcher is New Zealand’s champion of pasture management.