Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[katoomed00]

Has anyone used cup flails on a Mott/Alamo mower, if so where would I find them? I'm trying to get a finer cut using a coarse cutttershaft. I went through all the trouble of reversing the cuttershaft and seen no real difference, except now it won't mow grass that is taller than 6", even then it struggles at a crawl. So I'm going to reverse the shaft back.
My wife is about to make me get rid of the Mott, claiming the Woods finishing mower does a nicer job, and it doesn't leave the cut grass 2 different shades from going different directions.
I really like the Mott, it cuts wider and it's easier on the tractor.

And yes the blades are new and I'm not going to spend the money on a new fine cuttershaft.

 

[IslandTractor]

Has anyone used cup flails on a Mott/Alamo mower, if so where would I find them? I'm trying to get a finer cut using a coarse cutttershaft. I went through all the trouble of reversing the cuttershaft and seen no real difference, except now it won't mow grass that is taller than 6", even then it struggles at a crawl. So I'm going to reverse the shaft back.
My wife is about to make me get rid of the Mott, claiming the Woods finishing mower does a nicer job, and it doesn't leave the cut grass 2 different shades from going different directions.
I really like the Mott, it cuts wider and it's easier on the tractor.

And yes the blades are new and I'm not going to spend the money on a new fine cuttershaft.

How about taking your wife to a pro baseball game and showing her that the MBL groundskeepers go out of their way to create just the striped look she doesn't appreciate? Maybe a nice dinner and a few drinks beforehand to loosen her up.

 

[katoomed00]

I tried everything in my arsenal and can't change her mind, she probably would think the groundskeeper was drinking heavily when he mowed the grass. Apparently you must not be married or don't know much about women, LOLOL

 

[leonz]

WEEEEELLLLLLL,


Being married to a woman that does not understand flailmowers
is a typical military (no matter the branch) SNAFU. been there, done that,
still dealing with it 36 years later.

There is hope......

1. You need to reverse the rotor back to its original position.

2. order new cup/scoop knives from either Flailmaster or Cleancutter.

Operate the flailmower at 540 RPM and MOW SLOWLY and your problems will go away..

Any other operating methodology is a recipe for disaster and distressed spouse syndrome
due to sh(*&^tty lawn disease from poor flail mower operation.

If you have access to a wet well knive grinder with an angle gauge to bring the proper bevel
back to the scoop knive will work wonders.

 

[katoomed00]

Leon, You read my mind, LOL

I previously checked out FM and CC website for cup flails and nothing listed for a Mott, I even tried giving FM a call but I guess it's a holiday, I will contact them after the weekend. I assumed that they would have something that will work.

As for as going slow, I already do that, and I'm hardcore about getting something to work like I want before I give up and concede to the wife, LOL

 

[mjstef]

LOL!!!! I have high end million dollar home customers that get pissed when i DON'T leave nice stripes with my regular mower!!

http://www.flatheadpropertymaintenance.com/images/c1d0ca8ead7c9cc21acc350aa569b37c.jpg

http://www.flatheadpropertymaintenance.com/images/52d338db72516f0b1c031b0d1d750834.jpg

 

[katoomed00]

My wife would be pissed off terribly and definitely make me get rid of the mower if it looked like that. LOLOLOL

 

[1026mrg]

Flail mower vs ditch or bank mower...

Ok folks. Seems like flail mowers are for the most part strictly rear, center or center-offset mowers with no articulation other than the offset
and that work from rear PTO. Pretty much same X-Y orientation as the tractor. Enter the ditch mower. Looks to me like a flail outfitted with hydraulics
that will offset in a large & variable way and that can also handle inclines, banks, etc.

So if one was looking for a flail, what is the downside, if any, of
getting a ditch or bank mower instead that will handle angled sides of drives, roadways, pond banks etc?

There seem to be a fair number of European companies that offer the bank/ditch flail mowers... how about US or Canadian based?

Thanks,

 

[leonz]

Only the Alamo flails,

They require Alamo supplied hydraulic power packs to run off the power take off.

 

[leonz]

The other issue is the alamos only have side slicers on the boom mowers
versus the Girafa's hammer knives.

 

[dukeyjoe]

Awesome thread! Haven't read every page, but did search thread for Del Morino brand flail cutters with no results found. I am currently in the process of buying a Mahindra 5035 HST that comes with an unused Del Morino 186 cm Flipper flail cutter. Does anyone have any experiences with this product. Haven't, ever, used a flail cutter, but almost bought one for my Takeuchi CTL. Below is a thumbnail stock photo of this cutter, just click on it to enlarge.
Thanks in advance!

 

[leonz]

Awesome thread! Haven't read every page, but did search thread for Del Morino brand flail cutters with no results found. I am currently in the process of buying a Mahindra 5035 HST that comes with an unused Del Morino 186 cm Flipper flail cutter. Does anyone have any experiences with this product. Haven't, ever, used a flail cutter, but almost bought one for my Takeuchi CTL. Below is a thumbnail stock photo of this cutter, just click on it to enlarge.
Thanks in advance!
View attachment 382686

They-Del Morino have been building farm machinery for 120 years.
The European safety standards for all mowers and flailmowers
are much higer than ours here in the united states.


Home page with english translations for all models, YAY!!


Home - Farm lawn and Garden Equipment, home garden tractor equipment, new idea small farm machinery equipment - DEL MORINO s.r.l

You will not make mistake with it as it is a high quality product.

The Del Morinos have added a pair of V belt cooling vents in the V Belt shroud
which is a plus(you still have to clean behind the belt guard and dig out the grease fittings.


When you brong it home let us know so I can officially welcome you as the newest member
of the flail mower nation.

Happy mowing


When you get it home ask more questions as a flailmower is
much easier to use and leaves little to no clippings to worry about.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once you go flail you never go back :thumbsup:


The only thing that falls from the sky is Angels and Rangers Sir!!!!

 

[dukeyjoe]

Thank you leonz! You are the man, lol. I went to that site earlier and had no idea that they had an English translation available. My Italian..... well, it's non-existant. I'm, pretty pumped about this deal. I, really, wanted a 5035 PST, but the only one that my dealer could obtain has been baking in the Florida sun and salt air for 17 months. Then I ran across this 5035 HST with 9 hrs which has this unused Del Morino FC attached to it for a lot less money. I think this cutter will work great, just wish it was a bit wider with the side shift kit. Btw, I'm no angel, but have done plenty of falling from the sky and have the bad knees to show for it, Maybe the HST is what these old knees need.

 

[1026mrg]

Rotational direction of drums & cutting knives/hammers.....

In looking at the Maschio flails, it appears as if the rotation of the drum & knives is counter to the direction of travel.
Is this typical for all flails or do some rotate in the direction of travel?

Is there any downside to the counter rotation in terms of potentially flinging stuff forward toward the tractor?

Thanks for any response.

 

[katoomed00]

I reversed the rotation (opposite of tire rotation) on my Mott88 by swapping the cutter shaft end for end. I ran into a problem with taller grass (10"-12"), it would just throw grass back in the path and eventually prevent the blades from cutting, and that was going at a snail's pace. Short grass was fine, but I didn't see any advantage of reversing. When I get a chance I'm going to put it back and install scoop or cup flails. According to Leon that should solve the issue with my wife, lol

 

[BlacknTan]

Awesome thread! Haven't read every page, but did search thread for Del Morino brand flail cutters with no results found. I am currently in the process of buying a Mahindra 5035 HST that comes with an unused Del Morino 186 cm Flipper flail cutter. Does anyone have any experiences with this product. Haven't, ever, used a flail cutter, but almost bought one for my Takeuchi CTL. Below is a thumbnail stock photo of this cutter, just click on it to enlarge.
Thanks in advance!
View attachment 382686

Interested in a flail myself, and was pretty surprised to read that they're good in rocky areas. I may have to start looking .. If it wasn't for rocks, the Adirondacks would be a very deep valley!

BTW, dukeyjoe ... That's a good lookin' Setter! I've still got one out of Ultimate Reissue x Clark's Sandy Beach. She's gettin on in years now (like me!) but she still looks good on the ground! Bet yours does too!!

 

[Thomabear]

Rotational direction of drums & cutting knives/hammers.....

In looking at the Maschio flails, it appears as if the rotation of the drum & knives is counter to the direction of travel.
Is this typical for all flails or do some rotate in the direction of travel?

Is there any downside to the counter rotation in terms of potentially flinging stuff forward toward the tractor?

Thanks for any response.

I'm running a Vrisimo flail and the drum turns opposite to the tractor wheels. It can easily be rotated by flipping the gearbox but I never saw a reason to as the cut is pristine. The only aggravation is that the scoop knives are high vac and will pull up more dust in bare areas.

On edit: One thing I would make certain of before purchasing a non US product is parts availability. Make sure the brand you are purchasing has a good parts supply and network. You don't want to be down for weeks in the middle of summer waiting on parts.

 

[dukeyjoe]

BTW, dukeyjoe ... That's a good lookin' Setter! I've still got one out of Ultimate Reissue x Clark's Sandy Beach. She's gettin on in years now (like me!) but she still looks good on the ground! Bet yours does too!!

Thanks BlacknTan! That's Sam, he's a dandy. Ranges like a gun dog should, natural retriever (2 birds at a time, occasionally) and a great pet to boot. He's Tomoka and Grouse Ridge Roy. His momma threw 24 pups and 23 of them are trained hunters. The 24th never had a chance, cause they turned her into a pet and never had her trained. We had a lot of word of mouth interest form NY, but didn't want to ship the pups. His brother, a ticked up tri-color is 90 mph and wide ranging. The owner does field trials with him, sometimes on horseback, lol.

 

[leonz]

Yes it is in about ninety nine percent of the flailmowers as you want to lift the
clippings over the flail mower rotor and let them fall to the ground.

The one percent exception is the occasional highway flailmower/Verge mower,
NOT ALL OF THEM SADLY.


Unless you have a mesh guard/thick plexiglass on the rops or an all weather cab you could be impaled by something it potentially picked up- THIS IS why you see the boom/long reach flail mowers working off to the right or left side of the highway mowers.
You do not have the reaction time necessary to stop the mower with a forward discharging flail mower mounted integrally/rear mount.

The othe rissue is tractor damage if you do not have a belly pan.




They are set up to throw anything they contact forward rather
than back as they are traveling in the direction of traffic.

 

[1026mrg]

Yes it is in about ninety nine percent of the flailmowers as you want to lift the
clippings over the flail mower rotor and let them fall to the ground.

The one percent exception is the occasional highway flailmower/Verge mower,
NOT ALL OF THEM SADLY.


Unless you have a mesh guard/thick plexiglass on the rops or an all weather cab you could be impaled by something it potentially picked up- THIS IS why you see the boom/long reach flail mowers working off to the right or left side of the highway mowers.
You do not have the reaction time necessary to stop the mower with a forward discharging flail mower mounted integrally/rear mount.

The othe rissue is tractor damage if you do not have a belly pan.




They are set up to throw anything they contact forward rather
than back as they are traveling in the direction of traffic.

OK, now I am really confused.

Are you saying that 99% of flail mowers rotate in the direction of travel or that 99% of the flail mowers have
a drum that rotates counter to direction of travel?

In a similar vein, which are most likely to throw something toward the operator, those that rotate in the direction of travel,
(i.e., the same direction as the tractor wheels) or those that have a drum that rotates counter to direction of travel?

Finally, you have mentioned in several of your posts that you believe that the safety standards on the European flails are at least the equal, if not a bit better, than the US flails. How does this square with the counter rotating drums.

Thanks again....