Keeping roadsides clean on the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara

Clearing invasive vegetation away from some roadsides with an FAE PMM/HY-125

ETKİN ORMANCILIK is a forestry management company headquartered in Istanbul. Along with 12 employees, a FAE PMM/HY-125 is part of their fleet. Alptekin Aybar, FAE’s dealer in Turkey, sold them this forestry mulcher a few months ago and has stayed in touch with the customer.

“They just completed an interesting project in Kinaliada, an island in the Princes’ Islands archipelago, located in the Sea of Marmara, south of Istanbul,” Alptekin tells us.

Kinaliada is the smallest island in the archipelago, extending for about 1.3 km², and is also the closest to Istanbul. Its name in Turkish means “Henna Island” because its soil is rich in copper, giving it a unique reddish color.

"Invasive vegetation, mainly Mediterranean scrub, needed to be cleared away from some of the island’s roadsides”, Alptekin continues. “Mediterranean scrub could have made the paved roads, used by residents and tourists to get around the island and reach its many beaches, inaccessible.”
The PMM/HY is a compact forestry mulcher for excavators, very popular for its versatility. In fact, it can shred various types of vegetation — from grass to shrubs — thanks to a rotor that can be equipped with hammers or blades. For this reason, it is also one of the most requested models in FAE’s line of compact mulchers.

ETKİN ORMANCILIK came to the rescue, working on 24,000m² of land. The PMM/HY-125 was paired with a Hitachi 48U excavator purchased in 2021, and the duo got down to work right away. “The before and after videos and images sent to us by the customer are really thorough,” Alptekin adds. “The forestry mulcher completed the task without any issues, using approximately 5 liters of fuel per hour and the job site was operational for a total of 26 days.” This is a job that will need to happen again next year to continue to keep the island's roads accessible.