Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Catman8]

The manual tells you how thick, and has a pretty good picture to estimate size, so I'd still start there. You won't be an exact match, but presumably much closer than no weights at all..

Yep, cut a piece of steel 1-15/32" thick and start from that point. From the photo the width and height should be obvious. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Dan in MN]

Just make sure you put some good threadlocker on the bolts or you'll probably be making another set in short order... :thumbsup:

 

[IslandTractor]

Update: Bush Hog FH188, I called Bush Hog and they no longer have parts available for this flail, they can't even tell me how much the adjustment weights weighed so I can make my own, talk about not being able to support what you build, I know it's old but most companies have documentation and blueprints on hard drives.

Flail-master is sending me sample knives and hardware so I can compare the hanger brackets. Looks like I will be troubleshooting the vibration problem one step at a time.

I wonder if you can just figure out the size of the weights based on where they attach and any evidence from paint lines. Obviously the weights would have been mild steel so if you can figure the approximate dimensions you can come pretty close using scrap steel. Not sure the drawings you posted from the manual are actually to scale but even that would give you a decent idea of weight dimension. As I noted earlier, I don't notice when two blades are missing from my rotor and while I cannot recall how much each of the HD Flailmaster coarse cut blades weighs, it must be in the range of a couple ounces at least. If 4 ounces of imbalance doesn't affect the rotor much then if you can come under that with an estimated ballast weight you have a good starting point.

 

[IslandTractor]

Yep, cut a piece of steel 1-15/32" thick and start from that point. From the photo the width and height should be obvious. Thanks for the idea.
View attachment 501288

I'd think it would be easier to fabricate a weight that attaches via a bolt to the empty hanger hole than to attempt to attach it to the original ?threaded bolt holes. Easier to fabricate a number of different weights and swap them out to see what works best too.

 

[Catman8]

This was in my email this morning, Bush Hog came through, Awsome.
So did Ford make this flail mower and Bush Hog put their name on it, or is Bush Hog just using Fords rotor.

This is what I came up with weight per side, let me know if you see any discrepancies.
What weight are they using, ounces, grams? .88 ?

Quantity Part number Thick. Wt. total Wt.
each side. each side.
5 F7501925 .250 .15 x 5 = .75
1 F7501926 .125 .07 x 1 = .07
3 F7501927 .031 .02 x 3 = .06 .88

 

[Xfaxman]

Good deal.

And the drawing gives the part numbers of the three different thickness weights.

 

[IslandTractor]

This was in my email this morning, Bush Hog came through, Awsome.
So did Ford make this flail mower and Bush Hog put their name on it, or is Bush Hog just using Fords rotor.

This is what I came up with weight per side, let me know if you see any discrepancies.
What weight are they using, ounces, grams? .88 ?

Quantity Part number Thick. Wt. total Wt.
each side. each side.
5 F7501925 .250 .15 x 5 = .75
1 F7501926 1/8" .07 x 1 = .07
3 F7501927 .031 .02 x 3 = .06 .88


View attachment 501325View attachment 501329

The plan specifies dimensions in inches so I would assume the weights are in pounds. The numbers in parentheses are millimeters (0.25 inches equals 6.35mm)

 

[Fallon]

This was in my email this morning, Bush Hog came through, Awsome.
So did Ford make this flail mower and Bush Hog put their name on it, or is Bush Hog just using Fords rotor.

The whole mower is pretty much identical to my Ford 917 down to the bolts & 1 stud configuration for the belt guard side panel. I'm 99% sure the whole unit was OEM by Ford.

 

[Catman8]

The whole mower is pretty much identical to my Ford 917 down to the bolts & 1 stud configuration for the belt guard side panel. I'm 99% sure the whole unit was OEM by Ford.

Fallon, thanks for posting those pics. A few photos of your flail I can see the adjustable weights and the ends of the two bolts sticking through the end plate of the rotor.

 

[Catman8]

I just received samples form Flail-master for my Bush Hog FM188, and all the existing parts are wrong.

The bottom hanger bracket is the correct bracket and has the hole closer to the top and corrects the misaligning issue I had with having to pound the bolt through the holes.


The two blades on the right are the correct ones for my flail, the incorrect blade on the left with the short link when mounted is even with the skids and the correct longer link has the blade extending past the skid, does your knives extend past your skids.


Which blades do you prefer for field mowing, standard cut blade on right or coarse cut blade in the middle.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't see that it would make much difference which of those brackets and blade combinations you used so long as all were the same. The skids can be adjusted up or down to make sure that the blades are not resting on the ground and that is just to prevent rust. I'd set cut height with the 3PT not with the skids. Skids really shouldn't touch ground when mowing or any other time that the rotor is turning.

 

[Catman8]

I don't see that it would make much difference which of those brackets and blade combinations you used so long as all were the same. The skids can be adjusted up or down to make sure that the blades are not resting on the ground and that is just to prevent rust. I'd set cut height with the 3PT not with the skids. Skids really shouldn't touch ground when mowing or any other time that the rotor is turning.

There are three adjustments to the roller 1/2" , 2-3/4" and 5" and the skids are fixed, I do have the roller set to the highest position and I adjusted my three point to have the roller sitting on the ground and adjusted my top link so that the drive shaft was close to parallel with the PTO and that keeps the skids off the ground about one or two inches and the cut was one or two inches above the ground. Im guessing, correct me if I'm wrong, a bigger tractor would have the PTO higher off the ground and would allow you to raise the front of the flail mower more and give you more height adjustment. I was just following the manual when they said to keep the drive shaft as parallel to your PTO as possible, so if I go with the longer link, I don't see how you could get an adjustment for a 5" cut if the blade is now 3/4" bellow the skid. So the height of your tractor or PTO must have some bearing on the adjustment you can achieve.

 

[Fallon]

I just received samples form Flail-master for my Bush Hog FM188, and all the existing parts are wrong.

The bottom hanger bracket is the correct bracket and has the hole closer to the top and corrects the misaligning issue I had with having to pound the bolt through the holes.
View attachment 501941

The two blades on the right are the correct ones for my flail, the incorrect blade on the left with the short link when mounted is even with the skids and the correct longer link has the blade extending past the skid, does your knives extend past your skids.
View attachment 501942View attachment 501943

Which blades do you prefer for field mowing, standard cut blade on right or coarse cut blade in the middle.

I have the side slicers in the center. They do a fine job pasture & field mowing. They do an ok job in moderate brush & finger sized woody stuff. The rotor bearings did blow after some moderate brush, but I think that was mostly age related, although I'm sure the brush didn't help.

My next flail will be the duck foot hammers, but I'm expecting it to tackle moderate brush. My rotary cutter ran off with my old tractor, so I'm just left with the old beatup 917 & side slicers for now. Need to get a new flail that can tackle some brush, maybe a heavier beater rotary.

 

[Lnk]

My next flail will be the duck foot hammers, but I'm expecting it to tackle moderate brush. My rotary cutter ran off with my old tractor, so I'm just left with the old beatup 917 & side slicers for now. Need to get a new flail that can tackle some brush, maybe a heavier beater rotary.

Sorry to hear about your old flail leaving you....

As far as "duck foot hammers", are there two kinds of duck foot blades? My Dandl has duck foot blades but I wouldn't call them hammers, might be 1/8" material thickness. Just wondering....

LNK

 

[Fallon]

Sorry to hear about your old flail leaving you....

As far as "duck foot hammers", are there two kinds of duck foot blades? My Dandl has duck foot blades but I wouldn't call them hammers, might be 1/8" material thickness. Just wondering....

LNK

Old 917 is still here, it would have cost the buyer a lot more than my 5' rotary cutter "Brush hog" despite the rotary being 3 years old vs the 30ish on the flail. New tractor is 72" wide so a 60" mower wouldn't have fit well. Not to mention flails kick ***.

There are some cast duck foot style out there. Not sure who sells heavier cast ones vs. folded bar stock ones. When you start getting into forestry flails they really turn into hammers.

 

[Lnk]

Old 917 is still here, it would have cost the buyer a lot more than my 5' rotary cutter "Brush hog" despite the rotary being 3 years old vs the 30ish on the flail. New tractor is 72" wide so a 60" mower wouldn't have fit well. Not to mention flails kick ***.

There are some cast duck foot style out there. Not sure who sells heavier cast ones vs. folded bar stock ones. When you start getting into forestry flails they really turn into hammers.

I misunderstood. I thought you let a flail go with the other tractor. Thanks for the info on the blades. I thought I might have missed something else. I was thinking about Y blades for my flail as the duckfoot blades seem to grab larger than finger size stuff and try to throw it forward. Now I am not so sure if I should. I may wait until the grass starts growing and give them a chance on the green stuff.I do like the way they cut smaller than 3/4" material...

 

[IslandTractor]

There are three adjustments to the roller 1/2" , 2-3/4" and 5" and the skids are fixed, I do have the roller set to the highest position and I adjusted my three point to have the roller sitting on the ground and adjusted my top link so that the drive shaft was close to parallel with the PTO and that keeps the skids off the ground about one or two inches and the cut was one or two inches above the ground. Im guessing, correct me if I'm wrong, a bigger tractor would have the PTO higher off the ground and would allow you to raise the front of the flail mower more and give you more height adjustment. I was just following the manual when they said to keep the drive shaft as parallel to your PTO as possible, so if I go with the longer link, I don't see how you could get an adjustment for a 5" cut if the blade is now 3/4" bellow the skid. So the height of your tractor or PTO must have some bearing on the adjustment you can achieve.

View attachment 501988

I use my 3PT and topping lift to adjust cutting height. 90% of the time the rear roller is holding much of the weight but occasionally even that comes off the ground in very lush grass or brush. I never ever have the skids on the ground while mowing. So long as you can lower the 3PT to ground with the blades spinning and not dig dirt I wouldn't worry about skid position. Only reason to have even that consideration is that you will certainly forget someday to shut off the PTO before dropping the mower to the ground.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

I have been looking for a flail mower for my 25 HP hydro tractor. It seems they are unknown around here (NW Arkansas). I stopped by the largest tractor and implement dealer in the area today, and a salesman told me he had never seen one come through that dealership in the 13 years he has worked there. The only way to get one, it seems, is to order it online, and then no service after the sale. Cannot even find a used one. Nothing suitable on CL within 250 miles of here. I am guessing my tractor would handle a 48" to 60 inch flail (19 HP at PTO).

 

[IslandTractor]

I have been looking for a flail mower for my 25 HP hydro tractor. It seems they are unknown around here (NW Arkansas). I stopped by the largest tractor and implement dealer in the area today, and a salesman told me he had never seen one come through that dealership in the 13 years he has worked there. The only way to get one, it seems, is to order it online, and then no service after the sale. Cannot even find a used one. Nothing suitable on CL within 250 miles of here. I am guessing my tractor would handle a 48" to 60 inch flail (19 HP at PTO).

I'd imagine a Caroni 1500 would work well for you. Are you interested in rough cut or finish cut? I haven't checked recently but I believe AgriSupply only imports the 1500 finish cut version routinely. If I recall correctly you can talk to them and see if they will order a rough cut version for their next shipment from Caroni. There is a significant difference in how the rotors are built so you cannot just switch out the blades.

I wouldn't worry about no dealer support locally. None of us with Caroni mowers have any dealer support but AgriSupply and Flailmaster have all the necessary maintenance and wear items easily available. If you can operate a grease gun and a couple of wrenches you can maintain a flail mower yourself with no trouble.

 

[Catoosa]

I have been looking for a flail mower for my 25 HP hydro tractor. It seems they are unknown around here (NW Arkansas). I stopped by the largest tractor and implement dealer in the area today, and a salesman told me he had never seen one come through that dealership in the 13 years he has worked there. The only way to get one, it seems, is to order it online, and then no service after the sale. Cannot even find a used one. Nothing suitable on CL within 250 miles of here. I am guessing my tractor would handle a 48" to 60 inch flail (19 HP at PTO).

I check the Tulsa listings quite often looking for various implements and pretty sure I have seen a couple Flail mowers listed fairly recently. MY John Deere came from an auction held in Inola OK first Saturday of every month. Tulsa isn't that far from NW AR.