Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[DieselSJ]

About your mowing needs,

You could purchase a flailmower with a
hydraulic shift kit to allow you to mow
close to fences and trees.


But- you have to be more worried about your tractors-

1. three point hitch and its maximum weight lifting ability.
a. The available horsepower at the Power Take Off at the 540 R.P.M.
engine setting on the tachometer of your tractor for various mounted integral implements.
2. whether it has a hydrostatic transmission which is a very large power drain on the
power train of a small tractor.
b. this will also affect the tractors ability to mow under full load.


You cannot get better finish on good turf or old pasture to good turf you
are attempting to improve with mowing, seeding and herbicide use for
broad leaf weeds and invasives.

You could purchase several brands of 48 inch flailmowers that are three point
hitch mounted if desired and not be limited with overloading your three point
hitch weight.

There are brands of these mowers I will not recommend due to a number
of reasons.


I would like you to contact Ken Sweet through the forum here about a rear
mounted flail mower for your tractor as he is a forum sponsor in good standing
and he can help you with this if you decide to pursue this type of finish mower.

1)The 3point lifting capacity on my 850 is well above the advertised weight of the 72" flail mowers that I have looked at.
A) PTO HP is 22.
2) Not a hydrostatic

I'm not sure I know what you meant with the rest of what you said...mowing, seeding, herbicide...I will be mowing well established lawn, mostly bermuda grass.

 

[DieselSJ]

With 22hp at PTO speed mowing a lawn weekly, I would think a minimum of 60" finish flail but would entertain the idea of a light/medium duty 72 or 75" flail seriously. A six foot flail is far too big for serious bush hogging with 22hp at PTO but you are talking about a weekly lawn mowing. While 3PT lift might be a consideration in theory I'd be surprised if that was a practical concern especially as the flail weight would partially rest on its own rear roller.

What you really need to do is try out the 60" and 72/75" flails on your own lawn. Unless you are very lucky to have a dealer with demo models available that is a difficult comparison to do. Alternative is to bite the bullet and just buy one and use it. If it doesn't work out then sell and buy the other size. I would personally be very confident about the 60" with your needs and if I were able to gamble a bit of money I might lose on resale of a barely used flail, then I'd be tempted to get the 75" Caroni with finish rotor.

The key point from my perspective is that you are doing planning only regular weekly lawn mowing. For that duty, I don't think the oft quoted 5hp per foot is as relevant. 5hp per foot of cutter width is appropriate for true bush hogging. You have 22hp so with 4hp per foot could easily lawn mow with a 5.5ft mower.

Thank you! If I could get away with a 60" I would be happy.

 

[IslandTractor]

Thank you! If I could get away with a 60" I would be happy.

Then check out the Caroni 1500 finish flail stocked by AgriSupply. It is a 59" cut light/medium duty flail which is all you'd ever need strength-wise and AgriSupply is a well established importer with good prices and supplies.

 

[Rusty]

Thank you! If I could get away with a 60" I would be happy.

DieselSJ - I am running a 59" Caroni TL1500FSC behind a Kubota B7500 HSD (hydrostatic) with no problems! My B7500 has 16 hp@pto. My details are in the following post: www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/210938-caroni-tl1500fsc-flail-observations.html.

 

[ironpen]

I am looking for a "perfect" cut on some soccer fields. Needs to be really smooth. Will a flail with the correct knives cut better than a rotary finishing mower? Can you cut at 7 or 8 mph or do you have to go real slow?? TIA

 

[IslandTractor]

I am looking for a "perfect" cut on some soccer fields. Needs to be really smooth. Will a flail with the correct knives cut better than a rotary finishing mower? Can you cut at 7 or 8 mph or do you have to go real slow?? TIA

Finish flail mowers are capable of as fine a cut as anything other than a golf course greens mower. Flails are commonly used on athletic fields. I'm not sure about the speed but running at full PTO speed would certainly cut very efficiently.

 

[No1umfan]

did u ever find a free downloadable manual for the 918H?

 

[fred239]

You can get knife sharpeners that'll sharpen them right on the cuttershaft and undoubtedly be much faster/safer than the vicegrips/minigrinder approach. That being said, we usually use them until they're too dull/worn to be of much use and then replace them.

Hello guys, newbie here needing a little advice. Have owned my 2004 Kubota L3000DT for several years, always bush hogging. Just recently bought a used flail mower with double "L" knives. What is the easiest way to sharpen these? Where can I price out that specialty sharpener mentioned? Sounds like some guys replace the knives rather than spending labor sharpening, but I have more time than money so far, so I think I will be sharpening for a while. Thanks for any help and advice you can offer. Fred.

 

[Agent Blue]

If your running a 59" flail with 16 pto hp don't let the grass get to high. Sixteen hp will never handle three to four feet weeds and grass which most use a flail for. Can the hydraulics even pick the mower up ? My six footer is 970 # ( JD 370 ).

 

[leonz]

I want to welcome you as the
Newest Member of The Flail Mower Nation.

Which brand of flail mower do you own?


I believe you can still buy a wet well knive grinder
from Ebay,Sears or Northern Tool or a restaurant
supply store.

The L shaped knive is referred to a side slicer knive.
The next question is whether you have hardened side
slicer knives which will require you to use a wet well grinder
in order to protect the cuting edge from becoming brittle when grinding.

As long as you have new knives to compare the old knives to
after sharpening you can judge when to scrap them as they
will become to short to mow with. this leaves ridges of
grass that are easy to spot in good thick turf.

At most a wet well grinder will only take 1/128 of an i
nch of steel off the cutting edge but it will leave your
cutting angle intact becuase the wet well grinder
operates at very low revolutions per minute preventing
the grinding drum from burning the edge as the drum
is pulling water up and over the drum as it grinds
reducing and or eliminating the chance of heat build
up due to the slow rotation speed of the grinding drum.


The cutting angle of my side slicer knives is 35 degrees if
I remember correctly but it is easy enough to determine
when you have a new knive or have removed a used
knive in good condition from the flail mower rotor.


If you have a broken or chipped knive there is no hope
for grinding it but the hardened knive will reduce that
possibility too.


You should plan on having a small handfull of spare knives
and hanger parts a matter of priority as you cannot run the
the flailmower without a complete set of knives or matching
empty mounting hangers to assure the flail mower rotor is
balanced when mowing with fewer knives as it will cost you
a set it of bearings quickly due to the imbalance.


The wet well grinding is not tedious as the knives are cool and
easy to handle also.


Only 17,884 mowers to go!!


______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:
Pronovost or not at all!!!:thumbsup::licking::drool:

 

[fred239]

The mower is a Mott five footer, not heavy at all. 3pt handles 1800#, PTO about 28hp.

 

[fred239]

It's a Mott, but I think I goofed, the cutters make an upside down "y", and maybe they were never that sharp, can't really tell if they had an edge to start. There are 72 pairs. Maybe I shouldn't worry about sharpness, just run it until they're no longer cutting real clean? I'm not really a finish mower guy; but the flail does a smoother cut than the old hog ever did.

 

[leonz]

It's a Mott, but I think I goofed, the cutters make an upside down "y", and
maybe they were never that sharp, can't really tell if they had an edge to start.

There are 72 pairs. Maybe I shouldn't worry about sharpness, just run it until
they're no longer cutting real clean?

I'm not really a finish mower guy; but the flail does a smoother cut than the
old hog ever did.[/QUOTE





Hello Fred,

you have a finish type Mott flail mower.

About your flail mower knives, They are referred to as "Side Slicers",
they were very sharp when new.

If you purchase a wet well knive grinder form Sears, ebay, nothern tool or
a restaurant supply store you will always be able to maintain sharp knives
at all times as the grinding is easy and the side slicers never lose thier temper
from grinding due to the low speed and water cooled grinding media/drum.

Happy mowing

 

[Artisan]

Does anyone have a BX25 w/ a flail / mulcher?
I am trying to find out who has what for there BX25 and
are they happy or?

I want to mulch up bushes and brush and small trees like
maybe 1.25" and smaller, and I am looking for input from
those who have and are doing it...

TIA!

 

[J_J]

The red machine with the gray hyd flail is what I have. It has the Y type blades and will cut up to 1/2 in. The blades are thin and does a good job on grass., otherwise a finish cut


Here are some flail mowers blades. You can not interchange the heavy duty blades with small Y type as the larger blade rotor has fewer hangers. The heavy duty blades will probably do up to 2 in.

 

[leonz]

Does anyone have a BX25 w/ a flail / mulcher?
I am trying to find out who has what for there BX25 and
are they happy or?

I want to mulch up bushes and brush and small trees like
maybe 1.25" and smaller, and I am looking for input from
those who have and are doing it...

TIA!

I know you have been looking at this for while-

As you have a BX25 and want to knock down and
destroy weed trees you need a flail mower with
hardened side slicers or hammer knive in order to do this.

What you are looking for is a three point hitch forestry mower.
Saying that you will be money ahead renting a small tracked
land clearer with a forestry flail mower/hammer knive type
for a few days which would tear all the weed trees and wild
heavy growth down to the ground level or below it
ground level for you.

 

[Artisan]

I know you have been looking at this for while-

As you have a BX25 and want to knock down and
destroy weed trees you need a flail mower with
hardened side slicers or hammer knive in order to do this.

What you are looking for is a three point hitch forestry mower.
Saying that you will be money ahead renting a small tracked
land clearer with a forestry flail mower/hammer knive type
for a few days which would tear all the weed trees and wild
heavy growth down to the ground level or below it
ground level for you.

Leonz if it were a one use deal, and if the property were
even somewhat close to a larger city that rented such, and
if it all could be done in a few days, and none of the above
are even close to my situation, yep, a rental would be prudent.
But, I see multiples uses all over multiple stung out days
and none near anywhere that rents w/o huge deliver fees.
Plus my lil BX25 runs all day on liek 3.5 gallons of fuel, it
will wiggle into places a large machine will not and for me,
it is the wiser way i do believe.

I am pretty much set on buying something eventually.
I have a thread going HERE w/ pics of a Seppi M 41" w/
Hammers I am chewin' on. I have not so muched as priced
it yet, all's I know it is available to buy close to me.
The manual says a BX25 maxs at 42" for a flail. THIS
thread shows big pics of it.
I do MUCH appreciate all input...

 

[Scooby074]

Artisan, Ill be interested to see your experiences with a flail in heavier materials.

Personally I think the BX wont have the HP to do much heavy cutting, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised by your findings because I need to find a brush cutting "solution" for my BX next year. Currently Im leaning towards a bush hog but am keeping all options on the table.

 

[MarkV]

Artisan, I have followed your posts and you get an amazing amount of stuff done with a BX size tractor. I do wonder though if it is worth investing so much into smaller implements if you see a larger tractor in your future. It seems your situation could benefit from a larger frame tractor and implements.

MarkV

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Artisan, I have a flail and a rough mower and I would do that with the rough mower. Maybe afterwards I would make it pretty with the flail. My flail doesn't do too well with tall stuff. Plants that are taller than the mower is wide (about 18") have a tendency to get caught on the front edge and pushed flat and run over rather than mowed. Heavy foliage is much more likely to clog the flail than the rough mower. Also, a wild patch like that is likely to have rocks or logs hiding in the weeds and my flail mower will break on things my rough mower just spits out.