Richard Woodroofe runs a specialist Hedge Cutting operation close to Wicklow town. Richard is currently on his fourth Bomford machine and his sixth tractor combo, over roughly twenty years. “We generally keep the Hedgecutter around five years” say Richard. “I also like to have a compact unit with tractor and machine matched – this enables me to work in narrow road situations and by using this model of Bomford a six metre telescopic machine, I get maximum reach without the penalty of huge weight.

Richard’s current machine is a Bomford Falcon 6.0T Evo. It has some unusual features specified by Richard when he purchased it from G Hegarty and Sons Tullow, Co. Carlow this year. First it’s a big machine, its non parallel, - reasons later, its bracket mounted and fitted on a relatively small FNH -T5060 Tractor.

The Falcon 6.0 T has a nominal reach of 6 Metres, however when supplied without the parallel arms, this gives Richard an automatic reach advantage—its now up to 23ft 11ins compared to 20ft 4ins max on the parallel version. Having a telescopic boom allows Richard to raise the primary arm and then drop the dipper arm, extend the telescopic section and get the head working right down parallel to the tractor tyre. “If you are working on grass verges” says Richard “it’s a gift as your overall width is just the tractor plus the 40 inch head, allowing a freer flow of traffic”.

“How about weight?”  I asked.  “We fill both rear wheels with water - up to half full. This keeps the centre of gravity low and safe to work. We always use the tractor with a front loader—this one has a “soft system” which in effect acts like a front suspension on the tractor” says Richard.  “We add weights to the bucket section of the loader –this gives us a nice balance between front and rear. We do not use normal front tractor weights as this simply puts weight on the front axle. In hilly conditions we can lower the loader to make the operation even safer -- the centre of gravity can be as low as we need it”.

I watched as Richard demonstrated the reach on this machine and even on very wide hedges, the extra long reach gets the job done. “It’s my fourth Bomford” says Richard. “The first two were cable controlled machines. This and the last one were fitted with electric joysticks. The electrics are a pleasure to work, and I don’t miss the parallel feature”.

“We do about 1200 hours with this unit every year—it suits our customers and we get good backup from the dealer, if we need it” was Richard’s final comment.

Richard has his own web site www.raheenmorestud.ie  all details of their operation can be seen there, along with contact telephone numbers.