Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[lostcreekranch]

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Good Afternoon Mr. Gufstason,

Have you considered a used JD290 (84") or JD390 flail mower(96")?

The Caroni flail and John Deere mowers still have the adjustable rear roller to to control the mowing height.
The spare parts drawings for the caroni flail mowers make the height adjustment holes hard to see.
The Vrisimo flail mowers have large adjustable skids and an adjustable rear roller as well.

The skids on flail mowers should always be raised above the ground to help protect the flail mower rotor from possible impact damage. With flail crop shredders the hydraulic lift cylinders hold the mower at the cutting height.


Any time you raise the flail mower up above the ground on blocks when its not in use saves you time and aggravation when reattaching it to the three point hitch. You just have to be sure its level from side to side to avoid having it slide off the blocks.

Leonz;

Thanks for your comments.

Flail mowers are rare in this part of Texas, new or used. Most tractor dealers have little clue on what a flail mower even is, when I ask most about FM’s I get blank stares.

My use will be 100% cutting grass as, I have an 8’ dual spindle Bush Hog 3008 for brush and heavy stuff.

I had a 6’ Wood’s rotary cutter but, sold it in anticipation of getting a flail Mower.

Do you find anything lacking with the WoodMaxx FM88H?

Both of my tractors have Cat 2 hitches.

I believe that they are shipped on a HD steel skid. I would probably modify it, install some HD 10” casters that I already have, and park the FM on the skid, on concrete. That should make hookup much easier.

If I park Tractor with the FM still mounted, I’d set it down with big wood blocks under the skids instead of having the roller sitting on the ground / concrete.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

 

[Ricn]

My 62H came bolted to a steel angle iron frame bolted to a wood pallet. Took about an hour getting it all unhooked and on the ground whereby I could connect to the 3 point. The roller is adjustable for height so lowered mine all the way down. I broke one side grease fitting doing this so be careful, easy fix though if having spares around. So once mounted to the three point, and setting it down on the shops level floor using a piece of 1/2 inch plywood underneath the roller, then laying a 3 ft level across the housing (not a lot of room) I then picked it up using the three point maybe 4 inches whereby the level showed it was tilted down on the right. Having top and tilt cylinders I then made the mower level followed by dropping it down onto the plywood and tilted the front up so the skids are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch off the ground at the front with rear of the mower setting only on the roller and that on the plywood. In this configuration, and when mowing, the mower does not scalp grass but very slightly and then only on tight turns around a few trees. Also leaves the grass a little long which I like as it helps hold moisture in the summer, accept in August. If not having a level floor I might bury a log or old wood beam in fine gravel making it level then back the rear tractor wheels onto that then level my mower side to side. After use, my tractor and mower are parked inside the shop/shed on concrete and plywood with other implements under a metal roofed pole building. I never leave stuff outside in the rain because we get so much of it things rust easily. BTW- I use this same process when attaching the Box Blade or Land Plane. Have recently installed a Fast Hitch that has made life so much easier it's A joy backing up and connecting to things now. I had to fabricate the top hook some but now that is done I only back up once to pick things up.

Ricn

 

[leonz]

PM sent.

 

[Ricn]

Leonz - sorry to say I don't know where PM's are stored, never had one until now. Please direct me.

Ricn

 

[leonz]

The private messages are stored in your ALERTS section at the top of the page and if you receive one it will tell you that a PM is waiting for you.

 

[Ricn]

Looked there before and just now too, nothing shows up, weird.

Ricn

 

[lostcreekranch]

Looked there before and just now too, nothing shows up, weird.

Ricn

PM was to me.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Just discovered that Alamo made a dual rotor flail mower called "Grass Gator". It must not have been very popular because it is no longer produced.

 

[DavesTractor]

View attachment 570459

Man, that would cost a fortune to swap out the knives!

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Man, that would cost a fortune to swap out the knives!

No kidding! not only is it two rotors, but it's fine cut on top of it. That's 4x the knives of a regular rough cut mower.

 

[DavesTractor]

No kidding! not only is it two rotors, but it's fine cut on top of it. That's 4x the knives of a regular rough cut mower.

I'd like to sell those mowers, in fact I'd give them away as long as the customer promised to buy the knives from me. Sort of like an inkjet printer....the purchase price is the cheap part.

 

[leonz]

Just discovered that Alamo made a dual rotor flail mower called "Grass Gator". It must not have been very popular because it is no longer produced.

View attachment 570459View attachment 570460

Man, that would cost a fortune to swap out the knives!

No kidding! not only is it two rotors, but it's fine cut on top of it. That's 4x the knives of a regular rough cut mower.

I'd like to sell those mowers, in fact I'd give them away as long as the customer promised to buy the knives from me. Sort of like an inkjet printer....the purchase price is the cheap part.

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It did not help matters that the previous owner used it as a brush mower and ruined the the thing grass side slicer knives.

You could install the 4 inch heavy heat treated side slicers and have a good flail mower for both good sod and brush mowing.

 

[Ford850]

I've been researching flail mowers some more, and was looking at the Maschio Girafetta and some other Maschio series including offset varieties. I was trying to justify the high cost of these, but figured they are better quality Italian made flails. Then I found they are made in China per the Iowa Farm Equipment sites. Very disappointing. I'm still considering them, but might shift to the Land Pride version of Mascio (pre 2018) or even the new Land Pride flails since they are mainly built or assembled in the USA.

Thanks to all those on here offering feedback on flail mowers - this thread has been a great resource. After verifying these are mostly made in Italy, or USA for the LP, I found a nice Alamo for sale at a dealer. I seriously considered it but after talking to the dealer in detail about what I planned to mow he said I would be disappointed. So a flail is not in the works for me, but I'll be updating my old rotary to a new one sometime soon.

 

[metalbender]

Bought a 60 inch Mateng Chinese verge mower a couple weeks ago. Totally loving it. Have a 1/2 mile drive to the house with a steep 4 to 5 ft ditch on either side. The verge mower is the best solution for cutting. Neighbor did it in the spring with a large bat wing, dropped one wing down, blew dust with the rest of it. I can cut the bottom with the old bush hog, actual brand name, but the sides are too steep to navigate. Also used it vertical to trim some bushes, sweeeet attachment, even came with a slip clutch shaft, worth every penny. Did have to put a splitter valve on the tractor, needed it anyway to run the blower chute and front angle blade without getting out to change hoses around for each operation.

 

[RoyJackson]

Bought a 60 inch Mateng Chinese verge mower a couple weeks ago. Totally loving it. Have a 1/2 mile drive to the house with a steep 4 to 5 ft ditch on either side. The verge mower is the best solution for cutting. Neighbor did it in the spring with a large bat wing, dropped one wing down, blew dust with the rest of it. I can cut the bottom with the old bush hog, actual brand name, but the sides are too steep to navigate. Also used it vertical to trim some bushes, sweeeet attachment, even came with a slip clutch shaft, worth every penny. Did have to put a splitter valve on the tractor, needed it anyway to run the blower chute and front angle blade without getting out to change hoses around for each operation.

I'd like to see pictures of that verge mower...

 

[ericm979]

Also where did you purchase it from?

 

[leonz]

Thanks to all those on here offering feedback on flail mowers - this thread has been a great resource. After verifying these are mostly made in Italy, or USA for the LP, I found a nice Alamo for sale at a dealer. I seriously considered it but after talking to the dealer in detail about what I planned to mow he said I would be disappointed. So a flail is not in the works for me, but I'll be updating my old rotary to a new one sometime soon.

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I would like to know what this dealer told you.


leonz

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Thanks to all those on here offering feedback on flail mowers - this thread has been a great resource. After verifying these are mostly made in Italy, or USA for the LP, I found a nice Alamo for sale at a dealer. I seriously considered it but after talking to the dealer in detail about what I planned to mow he said I would be disappointed. So a flail is not in the works for me, but I'll be updating my old rotary to a new one sometime soon.

I've had a dealer tell me that, too. I was looking at a Ford 917 and he said that flails are for finish cutting only. He obviously didn't know flails and especially the 917. The 917 you can change over from finish to rough with new hangers, links, blades, and weights (rough cut and fine cut use the same rotor).

If you want rough, get one with heavy side slicers (typically about 6 stations per foot of mower). If you want a good finish get one with about double the the number of lighter side slicers. If you want to do both, get one with duck foot blades or hammers (or airplane wings on the 917). The Ford 917 and JD 25A both use a stamped flat tipped blade that can cut thick stuff, but also leave a flat finish if you go slower (to avoid "waffle" look). The cast/forged hammer blades are best for cutting brush along with leaving a flat (but not golf course fine) finish. If you aren't looking for golf course cut, the rough cut flail is a very good choice. If you want golf course look, the fine cut flail is a very good choice.

 

[JimCan]

"he said I would be disappointed"... This past July, my wife wanted a Bosch dishwasher; partialy because all her firends, who had one, liked it. The dealer sold her on a $1k Kitchen Aid because it, the Bosch, is "a foreign made machine is limited by European rules and does not dry dishes as well". Result: my wife is happy with how it looks and basicaly works, but very unhappy at how the basket holds dishes. Her friends never had a problem with loading dishes.

I mowed 5ac of raw pasture for 20yrs with a couple of different rotary mowers. Perhaps if I had spent some serious money, I would not have gotten large wadds/clumps of cuttings belched all over the place - where the grass did not grow. Maybe if I bought a hay rake and bailer to pick up the mess things would be as good as they are now with a <$2k flail. In my second year, my pasture finally looks like the grass is growing instead of Gum, Beech sapplings and about five types of thick stalk weeds.

Had this mower been sold locally, I think I would have asked to take it home for a test ...('probably would have returned with my checkbook) Around me, other than all the contractors who mow for the county and state, I am the only civilian I have seen with one.

Jim

 

[bruceha2000]

Slight aside:
We have a Bosch dishwasher. SUPER quiet, it has a light that shines on the floor so you know it is running. There is no heating element to dry the dishes but they dry just fine. However OUR machine likes to leave bits of stuff on the glasses, even the insides. Doesn't matter which wash cycle is used. The best way to get rid of those before they harden on as they dry is to take them out as soon as the cycle finishes and wipe them with a towel.

Back to your regularly scheduled flail mower discussion.