Weed control without the chemical — on the machine you already own
Your residents have started asking why there is a spray truck outside the playground. Your council has an answer it does not much like: the alternatives cost several times more.
They do — when you buy a dedicated machine and a dedicated crew to run it.
They do not when the vehicle is already in your fleet.
Book a demonstration on your own street · 09 418 3761
The cost problem, stated honestly
When Auckland Council examined this, the figures put in front of the Environment Committee were roughly $575 a kilometre for glyphosate and around $3,200 a kilometre for thermal methods. That gap is why most councils that want to stop spraying have not.
We are not going to pretend that gap does not exist. What we will point out is what is inside it.
That $3,200 buys a vehicle that does one job, an operator rostered to one job, and an asset that sits idle for the months when nothing is growing. It is the cost of a dedicated thermal unit — not the cost of thermal weed control.
If the vehicle is already sweeping your streets, already funded, already crewed and already serviced, you are not buying any of that again. You are buying an attachment.
Two methods, because one method is never the cheapest answer
The mistake in most chemical-free programmes is choosing a single technique and applying it everywhere. Hot water on a kilometre of open kerb line is expensive; a brush around a playground bench is useless.
Match the method to the surface and the cost comes down a long way.
Mechanical weed brushing — for the linear metres
Our three-arm sweep attachment takes dedicated weed removal brushes. It lifts weeds mechanically out of kerb lines, channels, seams and hard edges — no water to heat, no fuel burned heating it, and it works at sweeping pace.
On most council networks the great majority of weed growth is exactly this: linear, in the kerb and channel, on hard surface. Handling that mechanically is what makes the whole programme affordable.
Hot water — for everywhere a brush cannot go
The weco M900 City delivers water at 99 °C to kill weeds where brushing is not an option: around street furniture and bollards, in playgrounds, on soft edges, through paved areas and planted beds, and anywhere close to the public.
No herbicide. No spray drift. Nothing left on the surface after the water cools. Safe to walk on immediately, which matters in a town centre at 7am.
It runs a full working day on weed control duty.
The same attachment does three other jobs
This is the part that changes the business case, because the unit is not sitting idle between weed seasons.
High-pressure cleaning — 50 to 100 bar, 50 to 100 °C, infinitely variable. Footpaths, paved squares, street furniture, graffiti preparation and general grime.
Chewing gum removal — the job every town centre has and nobody has budget for.
Disinfection — at the push of a button. Public toilet surrounds, bus shelters, playground equipment, after an event.
Watering — street trees and plantings through summer, using the same tank and the same vehicle, on the same round.
Four line items in your maintenance budget. One attachment. One vehicle. One operator.
Then, in a few minutes, the Citymaster converts back to sweeping.
Built for the Citymaster, not adapted to it
The weco M900 City is engineered specifically for the Citymaster 1650 — Hako designs and supplies both. It is powered by the vehicle's own hydraulics or by its own battery, and the combined weight stays under 3.5 tonnes, so it can work on footpaths as well as roads and squares. Under 65 dB, which is what lets you run it early in a residential street.
If you already run a Citymaster 1650, this fits it.
See the Citymaster range →(/citymasters)
Most of New Zealand's main centres are already swept by a Citymaster
Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Taupō, Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin — city centres cleaned by Hako Citymasters, run by councils or by their contractors.
Which means, for most of the country, the vehicle is already there. The weed control capability is an attachment away.
See who we work with →(/customers)
For contractors
If you hold a council streets contract, this is a tender position, not just a machine.
A council under public pressure over spraying wants a contractor who can offer a chemical-free option at a price the contract can carry. On a Citymaster you already own, with an operator you already employ, you can. Most of your competitors cannot without pricing in a dedicated unit.
It is also work you are currently subcontracting or declining: high-pressure cleaning, gum removal, watering.
Talk to us about contractor pricing →(/contact)
What we will tell you that others might not
Thermal needs repeat passes. Hot water kills top growth. It does not translocate to the root the way glyphosate does, so a thermal programme means more visits per season. Any cost comparison that ignores this is not an honest one, and we will build it into yours.
The hot water unit burns diesel to heat the water. The environmental gain is no herbicide in the environment and no spray drift near children — not zero emissions. If your council has an emissions target, ask us for the figures and put them alongside the alternative honestly.
Thermal uses potable water. It was raised in the Auckland debate and it is a fair question. We will give you the litres per kilometre for your network.
Mechanical brushing is not gentle. It is the right tool for kerb, channel and hard seams, not for delicate surfaces or planted beds. That is precisely why we recommend both methods rather than one.
We would rather you went into a council meeting with the real numbers than with our marketing.
See it on your own street
The only way to settle this is a demonstration on a section of your own network, on your own surfaces, with your own weeds — and a cost per kilometre worked out from what actually happened rather than from a brochure.
That is what we offer, and there is no charge for it.
Book a demonstration · Ask for the council information pack · 09 418 3761
Frequently asked questions
Does hot water weed control actually work? Yes, with the right expectations. Water at 99 °C destroys the plant's cell structure and kills top growth on contact. It does not translocate to the root, so an established weed will regrow and need a repeat visit — typically more visits per season than a herbicide programme. Planned properly on a cycle, it keeps a network clear. Sold as a one-pass equivalent to glyphosate, it disappoints.
How does the cost really compare to spraying? Honestly: chemical-free costs more per kilometre. The published Auckland Council figures put glyphosate around $575/km and thermal around $3,200/km. The gap narrows substantially when the vehicle and operator are already funded by an existing sweeping contract, and narrows again when mechanical brushing does the linear work and hot water is reserved for the areas that need it. We will work out the number for your network rather than quote a generic one.
Can it go on the Citymaster we already have? If it is a Citymaster 1650, yes — the weco M900 City is designed for that machine. For other models in your fleet, ask us and we will tell you straight.
Is it safe to use around the public? That is the reason it exists. No herbicide, no spray drift, nothing residual on the surface, and the treated area is safe to walk on as soon as the water cools. Under 65 dB, so it can be used early in residential streets.
What about weeds in gravel, mulch or planted beds? Hot water works in planted areas where you cannot spray and cannot brush. Loose surfaces are harder for both methods — tell us what you have and we will be realistic about it.
Do you sell it, or do you do the work? We supply, install, train and service the equipment. If you want the work done, several of our contractor customers run these machines and we can point you toward them.
Internal links
/citymasters · /product-cm1650 · /customers · /sustainability · /contact
Schema
Add Service and FAQPage JSON-LD — pattern in 01-technical/structured-data.html.
Images needed
Weed brushing in a kerb line · hot water lance in a town centre · the attachment on a Citymaster · before-and-after on a real NZ footpath. Real photos, not stock.
Talk to us about chemical-free weed control
Council or contractor — tell us what you already run and we'll show you what it can do without a drop of glyphosate.