Flailing is powerfully cutting vegetation with a rotating drum that has heavy duty knives/blades or chains attached. Flailing is often used to cut long grass, shrubs, brambles, hedgerows or other vegetation. The advantages of flailing are that it is fast, effective and usually the regrowth is slower.
The flail can be attached to the rear or side arm of our fleet of tractors so we can cut vegetation along steep banks.
Remote control flailing
Sometimes we work on steep or difficult environments and it is safer to use a remote-controlled machine. The machine can work on steep banks.
Flailing Hedgerows
CGM Group are are regularly engaged to flail hedgerows. We ensure that the hedgerows are flailed between October to March so the birds will not be nesting and we will not cut the hedgerow shorter than 2 meters. Generally, hedgerows do not need to be flailed every year, but every two or three years.
We take care not to flail the hedgerow at the same point otherwise this can lead to health of the hedgerow declining. Flailing can actually help hedgerows to regenerate, improve visibility and keep towpaths or pathways clear.
If there are trees in the hedgerows, we are careful to check for any existing Tree Preservation Orders (TPO).