Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[leonz]

I went and talked to the seller. He may have talked me out of buying the flail mower.

He said that he did not think it would work well in tall grass. I was planning to use it to mow the CRP and 3/8 mile of road ditch once or twice a year/ The grass will be tall.

I have another 10 acres that I will need to mow sometime

What is everybody's opinions on this?

Would that Flail mower work for me or would I be looking to sell it in short order?

I don't think I would get hurt at the price. I've already got 2 hours into going to look at it.

Do they make a 7 to 10' mower that would be kind of like a bat wing for mowing ditches?

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For your mowing you will have to have a higher horsepower mule and a flail crop shredder if you do not intend to mow very often.

A small flail mower would work but the time invested mowing would be huge as you will need to to take half cuts after the first pass at crawling speed.

In order to have a folding flail mower you would need to purchase an INO brand crop shredder and have the power to run it as well.

Adding to what I already mentioned you may end up with a sickle mower or a disc mower mounted on the three point hitch that will follow the contour to mow the ditch banks.

 

[leonz]

Another less expensive option is a Peruzzo Fox or Giraffa side shifting boom mounted flail mower that will allow you to mow the ditch and your CRP land using hammer flail knives.

What type of tractor do you have that can use a three point hitch side shifting flail mower??

So your options would be;

INO crop shredder
Peruzzo Fox or Giraffa boom mounted flail mower
sickle bar mower
disc mower
hiring for a contract mowing per acre

 

[jrsavoie]

Another less expensive option is a Peruzzo Fox or Giraffa side shifting boom mounted flail mower that will allow you to mow the ditch and your CRP land using hammer flail knives.

What type of tractor do you have that can use a three point hitch side shifting flail mower??

So your options would be;

INO crop shredder
Peruzzo Fox or Giraffa boom mounted flail mower
sickle bar mower
disc mower
hiring for a contract mowing per acre

I have an old 1963 John Deere 4010 diesel

 

[D2Cat]

I've got a mower that will suit your needs. Be excellent for ditches, a bit short for much of a field. But you can't bog them down. listed on CL right now. EnoRossi 5' sickle mower with hydraulic lift. Can mow in straight up 90 deg and down to 75 deg. Model 150 CM. $1800 in excellent condition.

 

[leonz]

Can he purchase spare tiger teeth or a complete bar locally from a Hesston dealer?

Is it a hydraulic drive sickle mower with a #60 or #80 roller chain drive?


I have to go but I will check back later.

 

[aczlan]

Can he purchase spare tiger teeth or a complete bar locally from a Hesston dealer?
Is it a hydraulic drive sickle mower with a #60 or #80 roller chain drive?
I have to go but I will check back later.

It appears to be a belt drive, it is probably actually a model BF150H. You can see the implement end PTO stub shaft on the second picture and that there is only 1 hydraulic line (to lift the cutter bar).
Messick's has an ad for a new one for almost $4k and they list it as being belt drive: Enorossi BF15

Aaron Z

 

[lagreex1]

You need to put the top link ball and pin into the SLOTTED hole on the headstock . You then need to shorten your top link by winding it in . This will pull the top of the mower forward and aim the gearbox spline down . This will give you clearance between the PTO shaft and slide bar .
When you then put the mower down, the ball and pin will slide back in the SLOTTED hole and make the mower level again .
As I said in the start of this thread , people should be using the slotted hole so the mower can ride over undulating terrain . If you use the single hole in undulating ground, damage will result as the mower will try and lift the back wheels of the tractor off the ground . Bent slide bars are common because of this . The end of the shift ram can also break off due to the strain .

I do use the slotted hole.

 

[Weedaway]

As I said in the start of this thread , people should be using the slotted hole so the mower can ride over undulating terrain . If you use the single hole in undulating ground, damage will result as the mower will try and lift the back wheels of the tractor off the ground . Bent slide bars are common because of this . The end of the shift ram can also break off due to the strain .

I dont get this. My 3PH is single- acting. You can lift the empty links with your hand. Any implement on wheels or rollers just rides over bumps.

Good to see you back BTW.

 

[davemhughes]

I picked up my Woodmaxx 78 today. I ordered it on 18 May. So a little less than 30 days. Some assembly and I did have to cut the PTO shaft a little but not anything that was a big deal. I lubed it up and set the height to max, I pulled the grease zerks prior and then re-installed after height adjustment. It is much easier to adjust the height once you have it mounted to the tractor and then just lift it up. You need to remove the gear box shield to mount the clutch pin. Comes in a very solid aluminum shipping frame.

I used t for an hour and all I can really say is I should have purchased one year ago......huge difference from bushhog cutter. I was cutting 5ft high prairie grass.

 

[Fallon]

I went and talked to the seller. He may have talked me out of buying the flail mower.

He said that he did not think it would work well in tall grass. I was planning to use it to mow the CRP and 3/8 mile of road ditch once or twice a year/ The grass will be tall.

I have another 10 acres that I will need to mow sometime

What is everybody's opinions on this?

Would that Flail mower work for me or would I be looking to sell it in short order?

I don't think I would get hurt at the price. I've already got 2 hours into going to look at it.

Do they make a 7 to 10' mower that would be kind of like batwing for mowing ditches?

It will take bit more power than a rotary due to the extra mulching action. But I can vouch for the old beat to **** 917 doing good in over knee high green grass (which is about the worst possible conditions up to thicker than fingers woody brush material).

As somebody else mention Peruzzo makes ditch mowers that can be offset with the inside past the outside of your tires. My Peruzzo only side shifts 18", maybe 2' to the right from being centered. You are looking at double to triple what a Woodmaxx or Caronni flail will run though.

 

[Eagleview]

I dont get this. My 3PH is single- acting. You can lift the empty links with your hand. Any implement on wheels or rollers just rides over bumps.

Good to see you back BTW.

Thank you.

Sometimes, when the tractor is going through a depression and the back wheels are going into the depression, the mower rear wheel or roller induces a twisting force because of it's leverage advantage . The 3pl gets bound up and the result, if you dont have chains on the headstock, or a slotted top link hole, is bent components .
That is why chains are usually fitted to the headstock of most Bush Hog's etc. so the mower can pivot on the lower hinge of the headstock . If the mower is fitted with solid steel straps, instead of chains, the top link on the Tractor must be flexible enough to absorb the change in angle .
It is hard to explain in text . I will add a photo from TBN to try and visualize it . This Bush Hog is fitted with chains on the headstock and you can imagine what would happen if it didn't have them .

 

[Fallon]

Thank you.

Sometimes, when the tractor is going through a depression and the back wheels are going into the depression, the mower rear wheel or roller induces a twisting force because of it's leverage advantage . The 3pl gets bound up and the result, if you dont have chains on the headstock, or a slotted top link hole, is bent components .
That is why chains are usually fitted to the headstock of most Bush Hog's etc. so the mower can pivot on the lower hinge of the headstock . If the mower is fitted with solid steel straps, instead of chains, the top link on the Tractor must be flexible enough to absorb the change in angle .
It is hard to explain in text . I will add a photo from TBN to try and visualize it . This Bush Hog is fitted with chains on the headstock and you can imagine what would happen if it didn't have them . View attachment 558494

The length on a rotary cutter make it much more likely & problematic than on a flail. It can still happen on a flail.

 

[leonz]

I picked up my Woodmaxx 78 today. I ordered it on 18 May. So a little less than 30 days. Some assembly and I did have to cut the PTO shaft a little but not anything that was a big deal. I lubed it up and set the height to max, I pulled the grease zerks prior and then re-installed after height adjustment. It is much easier to adjust the height once you have it mounted to the tractor and then just lift it up. You need to remove the gear box shield to mount the clutch pin. Comes in a very solid aluminum shipping frame.

I used t for an hour and all I can really say is I should have purchased one year ago......huge difference from bushhog cutter. I was cutting 5ft high prairie grass.

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Hello davemhughes,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the Flail Mower Nations from the Great State of Kansas and Fort Riley.


Happy Mowing.

 

[Weedaway]

View attachment 558494

OK, I'm understanding it more, thanks. But my Caroni seems to ride undulations ok, using the hole. Hmm.
I need to think about the geometry some more.

 

[jthibodeau89]

Just picked up muy second flail mower in 3 weeks. This one is for our 55hp 4wd AGCO ALLIS for the bulk of the hill fields. JD 390 8' wide. 2016 model with about 10 hrs on it. Still shiny and has all the stickers. This one also does not have lube fittings on the rotor.

 

[ddbackhoe]

So, 518 pages later I now feel that I know everything about flail mowers. I thought I needed a flail for quite some time, but couldn't find a decent used one. Then one day, I got a phone call about an ad for a 36" rototiller. Turns out it was a Caroni TL0900 flail mower that the seller said didn't work for crap as a rototiller . I took it home, cleaned it a little and regreased and I became a believer in flail mowers. After reading all these pages, I decided to upgrade and ordered an EFME dual mount from Nova Tractor EFME middle duty flail mower series. Sometime after it gets here, I'm going to play with using it behind the tractor and adapt it to my skidsteer.

If anyone is interested in purchasing a 36" flail, I remember where I left it.

 

[leonz]

Greetings ddbackhoe,

Don't let it get out that the rototiller is actually a flail mower:laughing:

I remember reading a while back that a mott flail mower was mistakenly used as a tiller and it was sold to a new owner.


I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations" from the Great State Of Maryland.

About a potential skid steer mounting; Do you have a high flow hydraulic system on your skid steer that can run at least 25GPM through the hydraulic gear or vane motor on the gearbox with number 12 hose when it comes time to build the mounting plate?


You should have no trouble selling it here on the articles for sale page.

 

[Fallon]

Anybody have any opinions on the value of a scraper on the roller? The one on my new Peruzzo has been a bit problematic.

At the start material was getting wedged between the angle iron scraper & the roller. The photo I took was after digging plant matter out from under the scraper. Then a few days later i found the scraper an inch or so from the roller instead of almost touching. Thought an adjustment something had loosened, but as I started looking, some stops on either end of the scraper had cracked. Recently I'm getting a ton of material packing pretty hard in on top of the roller under the rubber flap. I'm assuming the scraper is stopping material from flowing over the roller. Need to get a photo of that, but it was late & dark out tonight.

My old Ford 917 flail never had a scraper, at least as long as I owned it. The only issues I ever had was was when it was really muddy & I had no business mowing (think I was testing something).

Any reason I shouldn't just remove the scraper?

 

[houser52]

Anybody have any opinions on the value of a scraper on the roller? The one on my new Peruzzo has been a bit problematic.

At the start material was getting wedged between the angle iron scraper & the roller. The photo I took was after digging plant matter out from under the scraper. Then a few days later i found the scraper an inch or so from the roller instead of almost touching. Thought an adjustment something had loosened, but as I started looking, some stops on either end of the scraper had cracked. Recently I'm getting a ton of material packing pretty hard in on top of the roller under the rubber flap. I'm assuming the scraper is stopping material from flowing over the roller. Need to get a photo of that, but it was late & dark out tonight.

My old Ford 917 flail never had a scraper, at least as long as I owned it. The only issues I ever had was was when it was really muddy & I had no business mowing (think I was testing something).

Any reason I shouldn't just remove the scraper?

View attachment 559185

The scraper on my Caroni rode on top of the roller. It beat and banged with every bump it crossed making a racket which was driving me insane. I took it off and have had no problems at all although cow manure does stick to the roller but quickly wears off.

 

[leonz]

Hello Fallon,


We never had scrapers on out mathews mowers and any build up fell off. The scraper is there primarily to clear fine clippings which can be as bad as super glue, no worries just set it aside and when you dedicate it to only fine sod mowing you will have it to use.