Shearex HM-60SR / HM-60DR front-mount mulcher

The first Shearex that travels instead of sweeping

The HM-60 is the entry point to the Shearex HM front-mount mulcher range and the cheapest way into forward-travel mulching. An excavator head cuts an arc and then the machine repositions. A front-mount head cuts continuously while the loader drives, which is why a 149 cm swath on a skid steer or compact track loader outproduces the same swath on an excavator boom by a wide margin on ground the loader can cover. That 149 cm happens to match the much larger VM-60SR excavator head, which is the clearest illustration of what the architecture buys.

It is offered in an SR build at 1,043 kg and a heavier DR build at 1,113 kg, both rated from 68 hp, with a published optimal target material diameter of 15 cm. Above it, the HM-70 widens the cut to 190 cm on a bigger flow window. On the excavator side, the VM-35SK works the same 15 cm material but trades swath for reach.

High flow on a loader: what the circuit actually has to do

This is the full treatment of loader hydraulics for the HM range, and the later HM pages refer back to it. Continuous flow of 87 to 159 L/min puts this head in high-flow territory from the first minute: standard-flow auxiliary circuits, typically well under 90 L/min, are not a starting point to work up from, they are a different specification.

Four things decide compatibility, and horsepower is not one of them on its own.

• High-flow circuit rating in L/min and bar. The 68 hp published minimum is a floor. Loader circuits are commonly rated at pressures well below excavator auxiliary pressures, and a circuit that delivers the litres but not the bar will turn a productive head into a slow one.
• Case drain. The rotor motor needs a dedicated drain returning to tank at low pressure. A loader that offers only pressure and return will damage motor shaft seals, and the fitting at the front of the machine is usually the giveaway: three couplers rather than two.
• Return path. Loader return lines are often small and run through a filter that was sized for a cold-flow auger, not a continuous rotor. Return back-pressure at working flow is a number to ask for.
• Cooling. A loader’s cooler pack sits behind screens that fill with the fines this head throws forward and back. Capacity matters, but access for cleaning matters as much, because a pack that cannot be cleaned in the field will be cleaned once a day at best.

As a sense of scale rather than a specification, a circuit holding 159 L/min at an assumed 240 bar is around 64 kW of hydraulic power, which is most of what a 68 hp machine has before travel, cooling and driveline losses are counted. That is the arithmetic reason a minimum-specification loader will live at the bottom of the flow window. The full worked method is on the VM-50SR page, and the hydraulic power calculator will run it on your carrier’s measured figures. See also hydraulic matching and hydraulic cooling and heat.

Weight at the front of the machine

On an excavator, attachment mass is a lift chart question. On a loader it is a stability and traction question, because the head hangs ahead of the front axle or the idlers and acts on the tipping line every metre the machine travels. At 1,043 kg for the SR and 1,113 kg for the DR, this head sits at the top of what many compact loaders carry comfortably, and on soft ground a compact track loader will handle it far better than a wheeled machine. Check the mass against rated operating capacity and against the loader manufacturer’s own attachment guidance, which is often more restrictive than the raw capacity figure; the skid steer and track loader class page covers the class in general.

Shearex publishes the SR and DR difference as weight alone, so which build suits a given loader is a conversation with Machinery Specialist rather than something to settle from a data sheet. Confirm the quoted mass matches the build ordered, and settle tooling, the case drain and the door’s electrical control on the loader harness at the same time.

Firebreaks, verges and reserve work

The natural contracts are bushfire fuel reduction along firebreaks and asset protection zones, farm clearing, shelterbelts and orchards and council parks and urban vegetation. The 15 cm published target diameter suits regrowth, woody weeds, wattle thickets and shelterbelt understorey; where stems are consistently heavier the HM-70 is the right answer rather than a slower pass with this head, for reasons maximum diameter versus production diameter sets out.

Tooling follows the surface being driven over. Verges, old farm tracks and rocky paddocks put teeth into stone regularly and favour carbide; blades keep their advantage in clean green regrowth where finish is part of the deliverable. Blades versus carbide teeth compares them properly.

Where a loader simply cannot go

Everything the architecture gains in production it gives back in reach. This head works only the ground the loader stands on: not over a table drain, not down a batter, not past a guardrail, and not on wet or steep country where a tracked loader carrying a tonne on its nose becomes a recovery job. Excavator mulcher versus skid steer mulcher sets out where the excavator head takes over. There is nothing smaller in the HM range, so a buyer whose loader cannot meet the flow or carry the weight should be looking at an excavator head rather than a lighter front-mount one. Step up to the HM-70 when the loader has flow to spare and material regularly exceeds 15 cm.

Fines, screens and the daily clean

A loader-mounted head throws fines at its own carrier in a way a boom-mounted head does not, so screen cleaning, engine bay blow-down and a leak check are daily work rather than weekly. Price teeth or blades, holders, drive belts, rotor bearings, wear liners and skid shoes with Machinery Specialist and confirm Australian stock; wear parts to price before buying lists what should appear on the quote.

Wheeled loader or tracked: the decision beneath the head

Skid steers and compact track loaders are quoted together and behave nothing alike under a mulching head, and on this size of machine the difference decides how many days a year the head can work.

A wheeled skid steer carries the mass higher and concentrates it on four contact patches, so on dry, firm ground it is quick, cheap to run and easy to float. It also loses traction the moment the surface turns soft, and a mulching head pushing into material needs traction to feed at all. A compact track loader spreads the same mass over a much larger contact area, holds a line on side slopes, and will keep working through the shoulder season when the wheeled machine is parked. It costs more to buy and considerably more to keep in undercarriage.

The honest comparison is days of work per year rather than purchase price. On firebreak and verge contracts in dry country the wheeled machine often wins outright. On property clearing and reserve work where the season is wet at both ends, the tracked machine usually pays for its undercarriage in weeks it does not lose. The skid steer and track loader class page covers the class characteristics in more detail.

Buying a loader for high flow, or checking the one you have

Most contractors arrive at this head with a loader already in the yard, and the common disappointment is discovering that high flow was an option their machine did not take. Three checks answer it quickly.

Look at the front coupler block: a genuine high-flow machine usually carries larger couplers, often with a third smaller connection for the case drain. Look for the flow selector in the cab, and ask what it actually switches, since some machines simply raise engine speed. Then ask for the published high-flow rating in both litres per minute and bar, because the pressure figure is where loader circuits differ most from excavator ones and where a head loses its bite.

If the machine is being bought, the same three checks belong on the purchase order rather than the inspection. The circuit fundamentals are set out earlier on this page, and hydraulic matching covers how to put the questions in writing.

Travel speed, rotor recovery and how operators lose the day

A front-mount head produces by travelling, which is precisely what tempts an operator to travel too fast. The rotor carries its cutting energy in its mass, and every bite takes speed out of it. If the machine keeps advancing while rotor speed is falling, the head stops cutting and starts pushing, the circuit heads for relief, and the operator ends up reversing out of a stall that cost more time than a slower pass would have.

The technique that works is to set a travel speed at which the rotor sounds constant, then hold it, and to raise the head slightly and let speed recover before re-entering heavy material rather than forcing through it. On a machine at the lower end of the flow window this discipline is worth more than any tooling choice, because the head simply does not have the power to recover from mistakes.

Finish class, dust and the neighbours

On council and roadside work this head is often operating close to houses, footpaths and parked cars, which adds constraints that have nothing to do with the vegetation. Mulch thrown forward carries a long way, dust from a dry verge carries further, and a fine finish achieved by pressing the rotor into the ground produces both. Agree the finish standard in writing, keep ground contact to what the standard requires, and plan the direction of travel so the discharge is away from traffic and property. It is also the cheapest way to protect tooling, since most tooth and holder damage on urban work comes from ground contact rather than from timber.

Confirm before ordering

• Loader high-flow rating in both L/min and bar, and where it sits in the 87 to 159 L/min window
• A dedicated case drain to tank, confirmed at the coupler block rather than on the brochure
• Return line size and measured back-pressure at working flow
• Cooler pack capacity and how it is cleaned in the field
• SR or DR build chosen with the distributor, with the quoted mass matching it
• Head mass against rated operating capacity and the loader maker's attachment guidance
• Tooling choice for the surfaces the machine will drive over
• Delivered price including mounting plate, hoses and electrical harness

Frequently asked questions