Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[ericm979]

Betstco and Value Leader are US sellers of Chinese implements (I think they're owned by the same people). Victory is another US seller. Farmer Helper is a Chinese brand of implements. I think they are actually trading companies, not the factories. They buy from factories. If you look on Alibaba there's a number of factories making EF, EFG, EFGC etc flails. All the same basic design but with different quality and minor features. (look back to posts from Jack Yuan to get an idea; he's with one of the factories).

The trading companies and US sellers often have relationships with one or more factories and can, depending on their volume, ask for different levels of quality or minor features. It's hard to say if they're getting their stuff from the same factories.

 

[lennyzx11]

I'm getting ready to replace the blades on my 6 ft Mott Interstator (maybe a 72). Though I have the 5 inch fine cut blades, it also has a few of the shorter 2 3/4" blades on it. All Stations do not have the D rings and are hung by a pin and cotter pin.

I ran across an old post from Leonz about using hardened knives for a Ford flail mower as a better substitute. (referenced below)


My question is (Finally !) Which of the three ways is best setup. I have rocks and "good enough" mowing expectations on my yard.

1. original 5 inch side slicer blades hanging from a pin.
2. 2 3/4 inch blades hanging from Dring and bolt and nut.
3. The ford FM7 hardened blades that Leonz mentions back in a 2012 thread below.

Thank you, Lenny


Cut and pasted excerpt below.
>>
Replacing all the D ring hangers, nuts, bolts and 192 knives with original equipment spec'd replacements would cost:

192-fine cut side slicers @0.45 cents OEM #101993 $94.08
96- D rings @0.94 cents OEM #101991 $90.24
96- ring clips @0.55 cents OEM #101992 $52.80
96- bolts @0.22 cents OEM #000032 $21.12
_________________________________________________ _____
Total not including tax and shipping $258.24
8% sales tax 20.66 _______

Subtotal $278.90
plus freight- free shipping over $100.00 in sales ______
$278.90



Replacing the original knives with heavy duty knives using the Ford replacement FM7 heavy duty blades 192 @ 0.79 cents each = 151.68 +12.13 sales tax =163.81 with free shipping

 

[whirly]

I'm getting ready to replace the blades on my 6 ft Mott Interstator (maybe a 72). Though I have the 5 inch fine cut blades, it also has a few of the shorter 2 3/4" blades on it. All Stations do not have the D rings and are hung by a pin and cotter pin.

I ran across an old post from Leonz about using hardened knives for a Ford flail mower as a better substitute. (referenced below)


My question is (Finally !) Which of the three ways is best setup. I have rocks and "good enough" mowing expectations on my yard.

1. original 5 inch side slicer blades hanging from a pin.
2. 2 3/4 inch blades hanging from Dring and bolt and nut.
3. The ford FM7 hardened blades that Leonz mentions back in a 2012 thread below.

Thank you, Lenny


Cut and pasted excerpt below.
>>
Replacing all the D ring hangers, nuts, bolts and 192 knives with original equipment spec'd replacements would cost:

192-fine cut side slicers @0.45 cents OEM #101993 $94.08
96- D rings @0.94 cents OEM #101991 $90.24
96- ring clips @0.55 cents OEM #101992 $52.80
96- bolts @0.22 cents OEM #000032 $21.12
_________________________________________________ _____
Total not including tax and shipping $258.24
8% sales tax 20.66 _______

Subtotal $278.90
plus freight- free shipping over $100.00 in sales ______
$278.90



Replacing the original knives with heavy duty knives using the Ford replacement FM7 heavy duty blades 192 @ 0.79 cents each = 151.68 +12.13 sales tax =163.81 with free shipping

My Mott 72 has the 5" blades held on by a clevis pin and cotter pin. I can change all 184 blades in about 3 hours. I have never lost a blade but several have been bent by large rocks. However, even bent they give a pretty good cut.

The clevis, bolt and blade arrangement might keep the blades from bending but wouldn't change them out just for a marginally better cut.

 

[houser52]

Well, I just finished reading through this huge flail mower thread. It is loaded with lots of really good info if you've ever considered a flail mower.

My old Hardee 5' Tiger Cub rotary cutter and Bush Hog TM5 finish mower are both rusted out enough that I'm thinking of replacing them both with one Caroni TM1900. My wife and I stopped at Agri Supply, when passing through Florence, SC on the way to the beach, and looked at a 5' TM1900. I was impressed with how heavy duty it looked and the quality of manufacture. With all the positive posts from Caroni owners I think it would give me the most value for my money.

My tractor is a Kubota L3600 GST 4x4 with 38.5 hp and 31 pto hp. Most of what I mow is 2' or shorter grass, weeds, some smaller bushes and briars however, some of the grass is pretty thick in places. No rocks to speak of and a good many trees to negotiate around.

For you flail guys that use a tractor with HP similar to mine, will my L3600 handle a 6' Caroni okay or should I go with a 5' ?

Thanks

 

[RoyJackson]

For you flail guys that use a tractor with HP similar to mine, will my L3600 handle a 6' Caroni okay or should I go with a 5' ?

Thanks

Although my tractor has more PTO HP than your L3600...I say go for the 6 footer.
These flail mowers aren't as HP hungry as a rotary cutter...31 PTO HP will easily work with the TM190 73" unit.

 

[houser52]

Although my tractor has more PTO HP than your L3600...I say go for the 6 footer.
These flail mowers aren't as HP hungry as a rotary cutter...31 PTO HP will easily work with the TM190 73" unit.

Thanks Roy.
I've read where you've not had your Caroni all that long. Has a flail performed as good a you thought it would?

I mow about 5 acres about twice a month around my wife's mother's old home place along with mowing the perimeter around 18 acres of planted pine trees. Nothing terribly rough but scattered pine, gum saplings and small fallen dead pine limbs.

 

[MainiacMule]

Greetings all,

Final decision time on a Caroni flail! Leonz, you suggested a little while back I not go with anything larger than a 4' for my Mahindra Max26XL, but I can get a TL1500 (59" cut) + shipping for the same MSRP price of the $100 more TL1200 (47" cut) not including shipping. My tractor weighs ~1800lbs, not including FEL and loaded rears and I have 55" outside to outside rear tire measurement, 20HP @ PTO. I'm not sure what the fixed offset is on the TL1200, hard spec to find, but the TL1500 will have plenty of offset, if not too much based on weight? The TL1500 weighs in at 486lbs. For any of you that have a TL1200, can you post the dimensions from PTO shaft to both ends of the mower so I can gauge how much cutting I'll get outside my tire, and maybe also what you're running for a mule, weight and outside tire dimensions. Thanks. I want to save the $$ and get the offset, but not at the price of having a mower that is underpowered or not safe to use on my sloped terrain. Appreciate your comments!

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[leonz]

Shawn,


The TL1200 has no manual adjusted side shift adjustment by moving the three point hitch mount. The flail mower is center mounted.
This can be changed slightly with the right lower link if it is adjustable.

Why don't you invest in the hydraulic side shift kit for the TL1200 and be done with it so you do not have too heavy a mower to contend with that will still perform beautifully for your mule.

You will have plenty of overlap from the center line of the TL1200 mower withe the hydraulic side shift and have a stable mowing platform with the mule as its set up.

 

[RoyJackson]

Thanks Roy.
I've read where you've not had your Caroni all that long. Has a flail performed as good a you thought it would?

I mow about 5 acres about twice a month around my wife's mother's old home place along with mowing the perimeter around 18 acres of planted pine trees. Nothing terribly rough but scattered pine, gum saplings and small fallen dead pine limbs.

Yes, definitley meets my expectations. In fact, it did better mowing the bamboo then I expected.
I'm to the point I'm thinking about replacing the Y blades with hammer blades to get a better "finish" cut. However, realistically, I doubt I do this until next year, mowing season being close to the end

 

[houser52]

Yes, definitley meets my expectations. In fact, it did better mowing the bamboo then I expected.
I'm to the point I'm thinking about replacing the Y blades with hammer blades to get a better "finish" cut. However, realistically, I doubt I do this until next year, mowing season being close to the end

Better than expectations? That's good to hear.
The way I understand it the Y blades are good multipurpose blades so they should be fine for what I do. Not looking for a manicured cut but a pretty good one would look nice around the old home place. Everywhere else doesn't matter that much.

I'm also glad to hear the 6' would be a good match for my L3600. The extra width should help with my mowing time.