Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[ovrszd]

Richard, I have a Ford 917 too with the rough cut knives/blades and a gear driven tractor a IH 424 similar to your 3910 in size maybe a bit less HP. I like my 917 it is not the greatest thing ever invented.

I have found that if the grass is tall I have issue with not being able to go slow enough too, but I think a hydro-static drive tractor would help in those cases.

I am also beginning to think that flail mowers take slightly more HP than a bush hog of the same size.

This post is as if I wrote it. It describes my feelings about a Flail exactly.

And yep, I'm familiar with the IH424 tractors. I'd say our gear speeds are very close.

 

[TSO]

It rotates the same direction as the tractor tires when cutting.

That's backwards...

 

[Thomabear]

That's backwards...

My mower can be set up for forward rotation or reverse. According to the manual rotation direction is dependent on the application. It came from the factory set up to run in reverse and I have no reason to change it since the cut quality is like that of a finish mower. I have put it through its paces cutting heavy brush and small to medium saplings but now it's used monthly as a finish mower taking 4-8" grass down to 1-1/2". This is part of a few acres that was planted this year so there are still bare spots filling in. No gouging at all and using factory scoop knives.

 

[leonz]

As TSO has mentioned you think its running backwards,its not doing that. The flail mower rotor
operates in a clockwise rotation when you are looking at the left hand side of the flail mower.

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The statement is true only when you have a "front mount set up flail mower" mounted on the front of a row crop
tractor that is operating a flail mower operated by flywheel mounted Power Take Off through the
flywheel driven drive train of "a" front mounted three point hitch system.
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Taking half cuts with a flail mower with a lower horsepower tractor is also a good practice.


I hope that you at least mount it on the Kubota just to satisfy my curiousity after you lower the rear roller.

As I mentioned a few post ago we used a three foot wide towed motorised flailmower with a narrow throat opening to knock down 12-15 foot golden rod and brush in old pasture so my mother could have a safe jogging path as the road we lived on was to dangerous to jog on with a narrow gravel shoulder. It took my dad a while to do but it was mowed down to the sod and made for a safe great jogging path for her.


We want you to succeed and only to succeed and have the use of a good mower for a long time.

 

[KenB2920]

Well, after replacing a bunch of blades and hangers, then reattaching the bearing with grade 5 bolts, back in business and cutting again. He grass is wet so I had to go slooooow but it still did the job.

 

[KenB2920]

This is the bearing of the Ford 907 before reattaching.

 

[ovrszd]

That's backwards...

Yeah. How would I know, I'm only the guy running it.

Sorry, couldn't help it. Love it when others know more than I about what I'm doing.

Trust me on this one. It definitely grabs cuttings and takes them into the cutter, rather than pushing them out the front.

 

[ovrszd]

As TSO has mentioned you think its running backwards,its not doing that. The flail mower rotor
operates in a clockwise rotation when you are looking at the left hand side of the flail mower.

============================================================
The statement is true only when you have a "front mount set up flail mower" mounted on the front of a row crop
tractor that is operating a flail mower operated by flywheel mounted Power Take Off through the
flywheel driven drive train of "a" front mounted three point hitch system.
============================================================
============================================================

Taking half cuts with a flail mower with a lower horsepower tractor is also a good practice.


I hope that you at least mount it on the Kubota just to satisfy my curiousity after you lower the rear roller.

As I mentioned a few post ago we used a three foot wide towed motorised flailmower with a narrow throat opening to knock down 12-15 foot golden rod and brush in old pasture so my mother could have a safe jogging path as the road we lived on was to dangerous to jog on with a narrow gravel shoulder. It took my dad a while to do but it was mowed down to the sod and made for a safe great jogging path for her.


We want you to succeed and only to succeed and have the use of a good mower for a long time.

I'm always open to suggestions.

I've replaced some bearings, adjusted the belt, added new blades. I'm pretty sure it turns the same direction as the tractor tires when cutting.

But I will check it tomorrow when I'm back at the farm. I checked this out really carefully when installing new blades....

But like I said above, what do I know???

I'm one of the few people in this thread that doesn't claim the Flail Mower to be a God Send.

 

[TSO]

Yeah. How would I know, I'm only the guy running it.

Sorry, couldn't help it. Love it when others know more than I about what I'm doing.

Trust me on this one. It definitely grabs cuttings and takes them into the cutter, rather than pushing them out the front.

If it's spinning the same direction as your tires, then I would suspect you would have to drive extremely slow to get a good cut. I don't think the flails spin fast enough to be effective that way.

Mine spin "forward-up" ... Which makes way more sense. To be honest, I didn't even know they made one that would spin "forward-down". Maybe yours has a reverse gearbox or something.

 

[IslandTractor]

But like I said above, what do I know??? I'm one of the few people in this thread that doesn't claim the Flail Mower to be a God Send.

You are also one of the few people who hasn't figured out how to set up his mower yet.

Remember, it's always the equipment's fault.