Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[GinNB]

I've used Maschios with their large heavy knives. Nice mower but keep it away from rocks. The heavy T knives mow bushes quite nicely but curl up and get shorter on rocky ground. I junked a set of knives on 6 or 7 acres when other blades would have shrugged it off.

 

[diggerd]

Thanks for the reply. Any input on other brands? I think it's worth getting one that can be offset. Not sure if they all do that or not.

 

[GinNB]

Despite what I said about their knives' reaction to rocks, I like Maschio mowers. Depends on the job. Mott/Alamo mowers are tough and common. Good mower but the cut isn't as good for my uses as something like a Kverneland (used to be Maletti). More overlap on the knives for tough cutting. The others I like aren't really common for non-commercial use and aren't available in 3pt models with offset. I assume you mean hydraulic offset or just a fixed offset? My Kvernelands are a good mower with mechanical offset standard and hydraulic sideshift optional IIRC.

I'm not sure if Maschio makes a flail with with small light knives close to the rock knives (dangle on a clevis or d-ring) on Caroni/Mott/Kverneland-type mowers though. I suppose a recommendation would depend on whether you need a mower with the Maschio knives like I'm thinking about. I remember their Y-knives as being about 8-10 inches long and probably a pound each.

 

[leonz]

Thanks for the reply. Any input on other brands? I think it's worth getting one that can be offset. Not sure if they all do that or not.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

About your mowing needs;


The ruling items are

1. your net power at the Power Take Off
2. whether you have a mechanical gear train and final drive.
3. what you think you can afford
4. what you can actually afford
5. how much time you have to mow
6. how much actual time you will be
able to invest in the work each and
every time you mow



Adding to this that hydrostatic power trains are
energy robbers with many four wheel and two
wheel drive tractors.

The issue is how much you can afford primarily as
far as a PTO powered integral implement purchase.

Most all of the European flailmowers offer a side shift option
and are sold here in the united states.


The heavy cast type hammer knives, and I mean "heavy" type knive
flail mowers are typically forestry mowers that are offered for sale
on tracked carriers OR heavy boom mowers.

The issue is the one turf type and what you want to maintain with the mower
AND the height of cut.

1. A true Hammer Knive is ment for brush clearing and reclamation and
has a flat hammer face mounted with a swivel hinge or fixed on a flail
mower rotor drum.

2. Hardened knives are preferred for longevity and they can be wet ground to
maintain them which is the preferred method of grinding.

3. Hardened Scoop Knives are sometime confused with hammer knives.

4. EVERY American brand of flail mower and European flail mower is made to very
high standards. The European brands are built with more safety features than the
american brands due to the EU's higher mower safety standards with regard to
guarding and a front mounted debris apron that follws the ground contour and
provides greater protection.


AS Ken Sweet is a forum sponsor I always suggest to anyone shopping
that you check with him first as he is an advertiser on the forum here
as he sells excellent flail mowers and shipping from his warehouse in
Kentucky is economical.

 

[diggerd]

Thanks for the reply. I'l check out Ken Sweets' site. This would be just for personal use for the property I own and some old unmaintained hay fields and some brush for my neigbor.

 

[GinNB]

Most of my 3pt flail experience is with Mott/Alamo and Maletti/Kerneland with some Maschio experience and a hammer-knife Berti thrown in. I don't remember if the Berti was offsettable or not. The Berti cast hammer knives were excellent on small bushes and low scrub but were expensive to maintain around rocks. The rest of my experience is with either Bragg or Tardif flails but they definitely aren't equipment for the typical homeowner.

 

[thuffam]

Hi
I have 12 acres of 2-4foot grass that I would like to top. I have tried my new flail mower (using my 32hp Iseki tractor) but it really struggles. With the 3point link right down (so the mower is riding on the ground) I can only go at a very very slow crawling pace. With the 3pt link up a bit I can go quite a bit faster. Is this ok? (I have read that it is not good to do so).
I have noticed that the roller is jammed with long grass - does it matter if it is jammed/not rolling free?
Also, how should he skids and roller be set (high vs low) and/or the angle adjustment using the top link for long grass?

As an aside, this thread is very long.. It would be good if someone who knows about flail mowers did a one page, cheat-sheet on how to use flails. This would be hugely beneficial to most posters in this thread.
Much appreciated.
Tim

 

[IslandTractor]

Hi
I have 12 acres of 2-4foot grass that I would like to top. I have tried my new flail mower (using my 32hp Iseki tractor) but it really struggles. With the 3point link right down (so the mower is riding on the ground) I can only go at a very very slow crawling pace. With the 3pt link up a bit I can go quite a bit faster. Is this ok? (I have read that it is not good to do so).
I have noticed that the roller is jammed with long grass - does it matter if it is jammed/not rolling free?
Also, how should he skids and roller be set (high vs low) and/or the angle adjustment using the top link for long grass?

As an aside, this thread is very long.. It would be good if someone who knows about flail mowers did a one page, cheat-sheet on how to use flails. This would be hugely beneficial to most posters in this thread.
Much appreciated.
Tim

You won't get the nicest cut but no reason not to raise the 3pt so the tractor can handle the tall grass. And, just go slow.

Leonz is our resident flail fanatic so maybe he can help with a primer.

 

[thuffam]

Thanks for that. As I suspected.. (Have to go very slow). I might just have to buy a slasher as well (don't have the time to spend a week crawling over the paddocks). very annoying (I bought the flail after reading this thread, suggesting it was suitable for this).
It would be useful if someone could clarify the actual requirements of flail mowers for various uses, ie for short grass, long grass, scrub etc. height settings, tractor speed, and minimum required hp for such. I guess there are practical limits, and a definite curve/range for each.
Thanks again.
Tim

 

[whirly]

I have a similar issue with grass height. I raise the flail up to about 10-18" and do one pass then do the finish pass all the way down.

 

[thuffam]

Yeah, have tried that, but you have to wait about 2 or 3 weeks between each pass otherwise it just gets clogged.. And you have to slow right down again. Problem is, in summer the grass has reached full height again in that time.
It looks like flail mowers can do this.. But you need more like 100+hp to make it practical.
Might have to buy some goats.

 

[Thomabear]

Who ever said a flail mower can't hang with a rotary cutter.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2BG74dzP5S8

 

[GinNB]

10 hp per foot per mph (50 hp for a 5ft mower going 1mph) isn't enough power for some jobs while 2hp per footmph is more than enough for others. Most mowers will burn their belts off if you try to rush them with a bigger tractor. Tall grass is very hard to mow down low in one pass. I find life easier when using two passes with most mowers. Even sometimes hitting it with a bush hog first is time well spent.

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks for that. As I suspected.. (Have to go very slow). I might just have to buy a slasher as well (don't have the time to spend a week crawling over the paddocks). very annoying (I bought the flail after reading this thread, suggesting it was suitable for this).
It would be useful if someone could clarify the actual requirements of flail mowers for various uses, ie for short grass, long grass, scrub etc. height settings, tractor speed, and minimum required hp for such. I guess there are practical limits, and a definite curve/range for each.
Thanks again.
Tim

The flail is suitable. There is a mismatch in grass height and thickness and PTO power however. I don't believe a flail is any less efficient than a rotary cutter. It is not hard to bog down a five or six foot bush hog in thick long grass or brush with a 35-45 HP tractor either. I think the old rule of five HP for every foot of cutter width is predicated on typical cutting of moderate length and density of grass as in a regularly mown pasture or field or lawn. Otherwise, up the HP or lower the travel speed or make partial cuts, width wise or height wise.

 

[leonz]

Hi
I have 12 acres of 2-4 foot grass that I would like to top. I have tried my new flail mower (using my 32hp Iseki tractor) but it really struggles. With the 3point link right down (so the mower is riding on the ground) I can only go at a very very slow crawling pace. With the 3pt link up a bit I can go quite a bit faster. Is this ok? (I have read that it is not good to do so).
I have noticed that the roller is jammed with long grass - does it matter if it is jammed/not rolling free?
Also, how should he skids and roller be set (high vs low) and/or the angle adjustment using the top link for long grass?

As an aside, this thread is very long.. It would be good if someone who knows about flail mowers did a one page, cheat-sheet on how to use flails. This would be hugely beneficial to most posters in this thread.
Much appreciated.
Tim

You won't get the nicest cut but no reason not to raise the 3pt so the tractor can handle the tall grass. And, just go slow.

Leonz is our resident flail fanatic so maybe he can help with a primer.

Thanks for that. As I suspected.. (Have to go very slow). I might just have to buy a slasher as well (don't have the time to spend a week crawling over the paddocks). very annoying (I bought the flail after reading this thread, suggesting it was suitable for this).
It would be useful if someone could clarify the actual requirements of flail mowers for various uses, ie for short grass, long grass, scrub etc. height settings, tractor speed, and minimum required hp for such. I guess there are practical limits, and a definite curve/range for each.
Thanks again.
Tim

I have a similar issue with grass height. I raise the flail up to about 10-18" and do one pass then do the finish pass all the way down.

Hello Thuffarm,


Hope the folks on the island are not too sour about the cup loss.

Save your money for a bigger mule; the slasher will only use half of its cutting width to actually fo the cutting (tearing of the grass fibers actually)

I much prefer the monohulls as the new designs ruin the sport in my opinion.


I will make a cheat sheet for flail mower use.


With your high grass you can handle it in this way
with your mule.

First, raise mower height by lowering the rear roller to
the highest cut position.

Then you can mow in reverse and then drive forward over
the grass that you have essentially rolled over like using a
lawn roller with a lot of water in it.

Reversing prevents the brush from flooding the mower housing
with your low horse power mule.

It also allows the flail mower rotor to operate at the maximum
PTO speed and shreds the grass as it begins to pop back up.

It will still create a huge amount of suction providing you keep the rpms up.


Granted it will be very boring mowing in reverse but you wil be
able to manage it much better.

 

[leonz]

Hi
I have 12 acres of 2-4foot grass that I would like to top. I have tried my new flail mower (using my 32hp Iseki tractor) but it really struggles. With the 3point link right down (so the mower is riding on the ground) I can only go at a very very slow crawling pace. With the 3pt link up a bit I can go quite a bit faster. Is this ok? (I have read that it is not good to do so).
I have noticed that the roller is jammed with long grass - does it matter if it is jammed/not rolling free?
Also, how should he skids and roller be set (high vs low) and/or the angle adjustment using the top link for long grass?

As an aside, this thread is very long.. It would be good if someone who knows about flail mowers did a one page, cheat-sheet on how to use flails. This would be hugely beneficial to most posters in this thread.
Much appreciated.
Tim

You won't get the nicest cut but no reason not to raise the 3pt so the tractor can handle the tall grass. And, just go slow.

Leonz is our resident flail fanatic so maybe he can help with a primer.

Thanks for that. As I suspected.. (Have to go very slow). I might just have to buy a slasher as well (don't have the time to spend a week crawling over the paddocks). very annoying (I bought the flail after reading this thread, suggesting it was suitable for this).
It would be useful if someone could clarify the actual requirements of flail mowers for various uses, ie for short grass, long grass, scrub etc. height settings, tractor speed, and minimum required hp for such. I guess there are practical limits, and a definite curve/range for each.
Thanks again.
Tim

I have a similar issue with grass height. I raise the flail up to about 10-18" and do one pass then do the finish pass all the way down.

Hello Thuffarm,

Which brand of flail mower do you own?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????


Do not hesitate to use half the cutting width of the mower to mow the grass down as it will bog down less.



With the flail mower properly adjusted the side skids do one job.

They prevent the mower from nose diving and potentially damaging
the mower knives and knive hangers

The rear roller supports the mower and prevents side to side scalping and should roll freely.

 

[Jack Yuan]

Who ever said a flail mower can't hang with a rotary cutter.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2BG74dzP5S8

I used to watch this video, even in North Europe, people use flail mower to cut bush and small trees, those flail mower are heavier duty, with much bigger blade, bigger gear box and thicker cover, the weight for the blade can be 1 KG per pcs, even more.

 

[Jack Yuan]

Who ever said a flail mower can't hang with a rotary cutter.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2BG74dzP5S8

I used to watch this video, even in North Europe, people use flail mower to cut bush and small trees, those flail mower are heavier duty, with much bigger blade, bigger gear box and thicker cover, the weight for the blade can be 1 KG per pcs, even more.

 

[Jack Yuan]

Hi Leonz, here is a question.

After reading many threads in TBN, I found many customers use different blade for his flail mower, when cut grass, they use grass blade which is Y shape. When cut bush or small trees, they use hammer blade.

From my side, this is un-accpetable, because the rotor shaft balance is fixed once it was produced. This is the vodeo which I took about testing rotor shaft balance: rotor axle electric balance test - YouTube a balance block will be welded on after test it.

So what is the real situation when customer use different blade for flail mower? I would like to hear what customers think about this, TBN is a good place to collect these information to help me to improve.

Thank you.

 

[Jack Yuan]

Hi Leonz, here is a question.

After reading many threads in TBN, I found many customers use different blade for his flail mower, when cut grass, they use grass blade which is Y shape. When cut bush or small trees, they use hammer blade.

From my side, this is un-accpetable, because the rotor shaft balance is fixed once it was produced. This is the vodeo which I took about testing rotor shaft balance: rotor axle electric balance test - YouTube a balance block will be welded on after test it.

So what is the real situation when customer use different blade for flail mower? I would like to hear what customers think about this, TBN is a good place to collect these information to help me to improve.

Thank you.