The Caroni flail can give a very nice cut. It isn't like what you'd get with a set of freshly sharpened blades on a good RFM but it is WAY better than what a bush hog can do. I would compare it to what a golf course fairway looks like. Not the rough and not the green. I use my flail to mow around the house and am perfectly happy with the cut but I have absolutely zero pretense of maintaining a ChemLawn perfect yard. Indeed, I cannot tell where the flail section ends and where the Craftsman riding mower section starts as I use the smaller mower right up close to the house and bushes etc. The trick to getting a finish cut with the Caroni is simply to go slow. The mower will cut thigh high field grass quickly but will look a little uneven if you cut fast. If you want the end result to look better than a pasture, you just need to slow down.
Photos below are all from cutting in a field, not a lawn. And, some of it is really low brush or very lush tall grass. I was not going slow.
