Sun Valley’s Broadway Face has a circumference of 60 to 70 acres. Its overgrowth of 10-foot trees, with base diameters of three to five inches, was so thick that slope grooming had to be abandoned there during the winter of 1972-73. So, clearing the face was one of the priorities set for 1973 summer maintenance.
Using conventional methods of brush clearing, it would have taken more than two months to clear the Broadway Face, but using a Bombardier Muskeg Brush Cutter, Sun Valley’s crew was able to accomplish the job in two weeks. In addition, the Cutter left a uniform finish on the Face.
The Brush Cutter is a new tracked vehicle especially designed for just such jobs. Working in areas where other vehicles bog down, it is able to manuever around rocks and stumps. The toboggan-type watertight chassis can slide over obstacles, and its flexible suspension keeps the vehicle’s tracks in contact with the ground.
The Muskeg Brush Cutter has a maximum climb of 75 per cent, it has a maximum descent of 75 per cent and a sidehill slope performance of 50 per cent. Maximum speed is 10.99 mph with turning radius of 12 feet. Ground pressure for the vehicle at 0-inches penetration is 1.81 psi. Ground clearance is 14 inches.
The vehicle has 4-53 Detroit Diesel engine in combination with four forward speeds and a full reverse. The mower has twin rotary blades which are fully reversible and will cut an eight-foot swath. The vehicle is 198½ inches long, 94 inches wide, 89 inches high. Distance between tracks is 26 inches. The tread consists of 28-inch wide rubber-belted tracks reinforced with steel cable.
Deliveries of the Brush Cutters takes six to nine months.
