Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Greenland South]

What are all the rods with the clevis pin in them. Have not seen that before

I believe they are what Leonz referred to as shredding bars. I guess they hold branches and other debris in the cutting drum so they are chopped up? I have a lot to learn, I'm sure.

 

[powerscol]

I stay confused without thinking about forward & reverse rotation but that's the way my mower is running now. Thanks to all for the info. Until I get me a operators manual I'm somewhat lost at this flail mower stuff. So far I really like it but as I said maybe in another thread I'm keeping my finish mower and my rotary cutters. I'm not sure about the other mowers but the Mott 72 can run either forward or reverse and the knives have the cutting edges on both sides. If you just run it in one direction I guess you just turn the knives around once they are beyond sharpening.

On thing to think about is how reverse rotation tillers rotate and throw dirt at the tractor - from the side they rotate clockwise or to the right. The same goes for a reverse rotation Flail - rotation is that the knives rotate clockwise and run towards the tractor on the bottom of the arch. Normal tiller and flail is counter clockwise or the tines/knives rotate up over the top of the drum arch towards the tractor. In the case of the tiller they would push the tractor as they enter the ground. Hope this helps.

Bottom line, if it throws debris in the cutting/tilling action towards the tractor from the bottom, it is reverse rotation. That's how I remember it.

 

[Steave]

On thing to think about is how reverse rotation tillers rotate and throw dirt at the tractor - from the side they rotate clockwise or to the right. The same goes for a reverse rotation Flail - rotation is that the knives rotate clockwise and run towards the tractor on the bottom of the arch. Normal tiller and flail is counter clockwise or the tines/knives rotate up over the top of the drum arch towards the tractor. In the case of the tiller they would push the tractor as they enter the ground. Hope this helps.

Bottom line, if it throws debris in the cutting/tilling action towards the tractor from the bottom, it is reverse rotation. That's how I remember it.

Thanks. I read an old brochure Xfaxman posted it(not exactly an operators manual) and it called the rotation you're explaining Standard Rotation the other direction was called Reverse Rotation. It shows a picture showing the cutting edge when its close to the ground going toward the back of the mower, this is the one Mott called standard rotation but it never mentions why you would run it in standard instead of reverse. Lots of mowers run in reverse only and some run in standard only. Is there an advantage one over the other. Arc weld (post 3206) gave an explaination and Reg (post 3208 gave his explaination.

The Mott 72 will run in either direction so one day when curiosity gets the best of me I'll switch the gear box around and see. I've had everything loose while replacing bearings and giving the old thing a once over so I'm familiar with it and looks to be about a 2 hour job (using the overhead hoist). If I do I'll post back with the results.

 

[sidecarist]

I have looked over this MONSTER thread and didn't see where anyone has owned a Woodmaxx flail mower. I'm considering one for use in several roles.

1. As a light to medium duty brush cutter for material up to about 1.5in in diameter but mostly berry brambles.

2. To cut up to 10 acres of clover, alfalfa, buckwheat, wildflowers, and similar plantings a couple of times a year.

3. Cutting tall grass from under-attended areas several times a year.

I think I'll want a machine with hammer knives rather than Y grass blades. I'm not looking to cut super short or get a particularly groomed look, but a rotary cutter leaves windrows that I'd like to avoid. Where I mow there are occasional bowling ball sized rocks and old stumps. The rocks I'll remove as I find them, but I wouldn't want hitting such a rock to cripple the mower. The stumps will either be mostly rotten, or I'll dig them out as needed.

I'm looking at the 77in Woodmaxx with side shift, but would consider other machines... will such a flail do all that I'm asking of it? Does anyone here have a Woodmaxx, or can you recommend another unit for less than $4000.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[leonz]

I am afraid that your not going to be able to mow as little
as you want unless you invest in a flail crop shredder with
cup knives or side slicers and a higher horsepower mule.

Short of hiring it cut with a big high horsepower rotary
cutter/crop shredder you will have no ability to manage it
unless you move up into the 50+ HP class with a flail shredder
like a Vrismo orchard/vineyard shredder or a LandPride(Maschio brand)
orchard/vineyard shredder. The Land Pride/Maschio Orchard and Vineyard
flail shredder has the cast flail hammers and the rear trash door so you may
be able to manage doing it four times a year BUT NO flail shredder is going to handle
bowling ball sized rocks unless you have a landscape rake mounted under the tractor
or in front of it.

 

[sidecarist]

I'm not mowing for looks etc. The infrequent mowing is because we are maintaining the land for honey bees. As the crop goes out of flower and to seed we will mow to distribute the seed/encourage growth, or for re-seeding/overseeding. I'm new to the property and some of it hasn't been mowed for 2-5 years and is 6ft deep in berry bramble, as well as small bushes/trees. I can knock this back with the rotary cutter no problem I don't like the windrows and want a finer chop on what I cut to get it to decompose quicker.

The rocks are a fact of life but will be dealt with over time. I was encouraged to look at a flail because of their use in roadside maintenance where they cut just a few times a year as well as deal with the associated junk that accumulates. I am not looking to mow rocks on purpose, but some fields just seem to grow them... frost water etc. brings them to the surface.

40 pto hp is what I have to work with... cup knives is what I am considering. I have looked at quite a few videos of fails dealing with very tall/tough vegetation. I have no problem going over the same area several times to get it knocked down, cutting it tall and then coming back a few days later to work it again to a shorter level/finer chop.

The rear trash door was one of the reasons I was looking at the woodmaxx unit with the forged cup flails. The landpride/maschio may be out of reach price wise... I'll look into it.

Thanks for the response, hopefully its more clear what I'm trying to do now. Feedback is appreciated.

Still interested in any feedback on the woodmaxx mower too.

 

[CTWright]

I have a ditch mowing contract in northern NM. I have mowed with side slicers on one flail (6' Virismo) and with duck-foot shaped flails (7' JD25A) and prefer the DF. I'm always hitting small limbs and trash and my maintenance time for blades is 90% less.

 

[Arc weld]

Forward rotation (same direction as the tires) is safer as any rocks or debris will be thrown rearward. For the finest cut, reverse rotation and fine cut rotor is used. You almost never see a coarse cut flail with reverse rotation. Someone was questioning Mott's design and explanation. Mott invented the flail mower. There's so many more flails now because of how successful Mott's concept was. Their knives and many other aspects have been copied since original patents have expired. Many other types of flail knives/blades will plug up in heavy grass. Mott spent a lot of time figuring out the correct angle for the blades to be self cleaning and tested them in pig manure. There is a successful lawsuit initiated by Mott online of another company trying to copy Mott's knife design. When comparing flails I think you need compare apples to apples because there are flails for grass and weeds and there are flails for brush. Mott's design has stood the test of time.

 

[Greenland South]

Well guys, I put the Sicma TE200 through a bit of a workout. Got 15 of 20 acres of 2' high clover small poplars and willow done in 6 1/2 hours. To say I'm impressed would be something of an understatement. I did manage to lose a couple of the shredding bars though. I'm going to have to come up with something better than the Cleve's pins I guess

 

[Parkanzky]

I'm not mowing for looks etc. The infrequent mowing is because we are maintaining the land for honey bees. As the crop goes out of flower and to seed we will mow to distribute the seed/encourage growth, or for re-seeding/overseeding. I'm new to the property and some of it hasn't been mowed for 2-5 years and is 6ft deep in berry bramble, as well as small bushes/trees. I can knock this back with the rotary cutter no problem I don't like the windrows and want a finer chop on what I cut to get it to decompose quicker.

The rocks are a fact of life but will be dealt with over time. I was encouraged to look at a flail because of their use in roadside maintenance where they cut just a few times a year as well as deal with the associated junk that accumulates. I am not looking to mow rocks on purpose, but some fields just seem to grow them... frost water etc. brings them to the surface.

40 pto hp is what I have to work with... cup knives is what I am considering. I have looked at quite a few videos of fails dealing with very tall/tough vegetation. I have no problem going over the same area several times to get it knocked down, cutting it tall and then coming back a few days later to work it again to a shorter level/finer chop.

The rear trash door was one of the reasons I was looking at the woodmaxx unit with the forged cup flails. The landpride/maschio may be out of reach price wise... I'll look into it.

Thanks for the response, hopefully its more clear what I'm trying to do now. Feedback is appreciated.

Still interested in any feedback on the woodmaxx mower too.

I have one of the cheap Chinese 5' flail mowers and I would have no problem using it for what you're talking about but it would be very slow going. When I chop up a ~2" diameter tree I will raise the mower up, back over it until the top is in the mower, then pull forward and lower the mower to chop it up from the top down. That would take a long time with a big area of six foot deep brush.