The Ultimate Contractor Tool: How Koala Services Turned Unworkable Land into Profit with the Green Climber
If you're a serious contractor or land manager, you know that tackling overgrown, wet, and thick vegetation can be a brutal job. It's often too dense for a standard zero-turn and too boggy for a heavy tractor.
We recently spoke with Stu, from Koala Services—a business focused on koala leaf and plantation services in South East Queensland—about how he manages large plantation projects and why the Green Climber is the one machine he can’t do without.
Stu's experience perfectly highlights the return on investment you get from a machine engineered for the impossible.
Green Climber in Action | Clearing 50 Acres for Koala Leaf Plantation (Queensland)
The Problem: Too Thick for Zero-Turns, Too Wet for Tractors
Stu’s current work involves a 50-acre eucalyptus plantation. The ground is often boggy, which immediately rules out large, heavy tractors.
But the real challenge is the vegetation: thick, dense "bladey” grass and all the debris from eucalyptus trees.
“People ask: put a normal zero turn mower through here? We've got big Hustler zero turns. They're great when the grass is all nice and low, but stuff like this bladey grass just binds it up.”
Trying to force a standard machine through this stuff means belt damage, spindle damage, and a lot of wasted time. To get the land to a "nice park-like situation" for irrigation and planting, Stu needed something that could knock the huge growth down first.
Green Climber: A machine engineered for the impossible
Remote-Controlled Safety and Power
The Green Climber's signature feature is its ability to handle extremely dense material and slopes while keeping the operator completely safe and distanced.
Unrivalled Safety: Stu operates the machine via remote control, sitting back safely while the machine does its heavy work. This eliminates the need for personnel to be in hazardous areas and is a massive win for Workplace Health and Safety.
The Perfect Partnership: Stu uses the Green Climber first to chew through the dense grass and growth, getting it down to a reasonable level. Once it’s been tamed, they follow up with an Altoz to achieve that final, clean cut.
The Multi-Purpose Advantage
Stu’s machine uses a specialised attachment, the gruffalo head, which is a total game-changer for land clearing.
The Green Climber isn't just a slasher; it's a multi-purpose machine that covers all the bases for a contractor. Stu’s machine uses a specialised attachment, the gruffalo head, which is a total game-changer for land clearing.
"I've also got the gruffalo head, which does mulching piles and saplings up to, or trees up to 200mm."
This means that instead of having to manually feed debris into a chipper—a time-consuming and labour-intensive task—the Green Climber mulches the material directly onto the ground.
ROI and Reliable Backup from SME Mowers
The Green Climber is a premium, specialised piece of equipment, and naturally, there can be initial worries about the cost. But the simple business truth is that capability equals profit.
“If you roll up to a site and you can't do the job, off you go. But if you've got a machine that can do the job, well, you're making money, aren’t you?”
Because the Green Climber can get in, even when the ground is too wet for his tractors and zero-turns, Stu is able to make money and keep his schedule running.
And as a complex, technical machine, occasional issues can arise, but Stu relies on SME Mowers for support:
"The guys at SME Mowers sorted it out straight away... equipment breaks down, but it's how you deal with it. And that's what I believe in as well. And [SME] have been great dealing with stuff with this machine."
The machine has been invaluable for four years , and it even has the pulling power to recover a six-and-a-half-tonne truck that got bogged—Stu simply used the remote control to winch his own vehicle out of the mud!
Ready to Work Safely and Smart?
If you're a professional who needs to clear the thickest, steepest, and wettest terrain, the Green Climber is the investment that pays for itself in efficiency, safety, and capability. It’s the ultimate tool for contractors who want to stop turning down difficult jobs.
Ready to experience the remote-controlled power and versatility? Contact the Green Climber team today to see the machine in action and find the right model for your business.