Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Boxman]

Less heat and a little slower at taking material off. Easier to control and avoid overheating the knives.

Aaron Z

Exactly!

 

[Kiotidriver]

So lets get back to the way these things are adjusted to mow. I have the Caroni also so I have a hole or a slot to hook the top link to. I've tried both and not sure how much difference it makes.. AND apparently having the skids at the same height/level as the roller is not correct either and I have the grooves all over the place to prove it.
So how bout a tutorial/discussion on how AND why everyone adjusts and hooks up their flail..

thanks...

Below I describe my way to set the height of my Caroni flail mower. I do not pretend that is the only way or the right way, but it works for me:
Assuming the skids and the bottom of the roller of the mower are on the same plane.
Firstly, I ensure that the tractor and the flail mower are on a level and hard ground. After attaching the Flail mower to the tractor, I set the top link length so the pin will center into the slot of the mower hitch frame (so the mower can tilt back and forth slightly when going over bumps).
Then I raise the mower to top position and slowly lower it down with the control lever until the skids barely touch the ground. Next I move the stop against the control lever and tighten it.
This will be the lowest position the mower could go, and it will (most of the time) prevent the skids to dig their way in the ground and making grooves in soft terrain.
See attached picture of control lever and the stop.

 

[Kiotidriver]

Nothing personal but I was thinking more of shame on California... again!

Hunt4570 you are right. After reading ericm979 posting with links related to Prop 65, I had a better understanding why company like ASC would refuse to ship to CA. So, I officially rescind my "shame on ASC!" comment.
However, me and other customers from California have bought equipment from them and it should be a duty for them to continue supporting us with spare parts. Many other companies have become Prop 65 compliant and I am sure ASC could do it.
Below is a quote from their web site:

Due to the changes in labeling requirements under California Proposition 65, Agri Supply Company (ASC) consumer products are currently not available for sale in the State of California. ASC and affiliates are working hard to obtain the data required to meet these new labeling requirements.
For more information on California Proposition 65, please visit www.p65warnings.ca.gov. We apologize for any inconvenience.

My only say to them: Please just work harder and faster and get it done.

 

[leonz]

Mr leonz

I visited a Woodcraft store. I presented them with photos of flail mower knives. They said there was no way that a micromark utility sharpener would hold up to sharpening these knives. They indicated that these sharpeners were to be used on fine wood working tools such as a plane iron, knife edge, chisel, or lathe tools. Because the wheel turns so slow and is uses a fine grit, it would take for ever to sharpen any quantity of cutters. They said it would be a complete waist of money to purchase this if this is what I was going to use it on.

Why couldn't you use a side arm grinder with a flapper wheel like I uses on my lawn mower and bush hog?

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Thank you

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You could but; the people you talked to are mistaken, and just plain wrong. The water is a both a lubricant and a coolant and the larger diameter thick stone will survive grinding the side slicers or the hammer knives without issue as long as it is done slowly to allow the water to cool and pull away what little metal shavings there are.

Soaking the side slicer knives in hot water with some dawn dish soap helps to break up the fine dust that becomes glued to the side slicers and if you have some of the 3M sanding sponges will help you a lot to get even more dirt off them. by doing this you help to prevent clogging of the fine grit wheel on the low speed wet well grinder as well.

Once you have the angle of the tool rest set at 37 degrees you can just leave it unless you want to sharpen other tools.

A wet rainy day is good for chores like this so I guess its up to you whether you buy one or not. Owning a wet well grinder for the last 30 years has let me keep every side slicer knife cutting edge on my flail mower sharp.

I use my Wen wet well grinder for sharpening my flail mower knives and its perfect as you have a very low rpm sanding drum with a fine grit and as it rotates at a low speed and pulls the water up with it towards the tool rest the entire drum is saturated with water and stays cool.

I have the tool rest set at 37 degrees for the proper grinding angle on the side slicer knife and it takes a minute or so to do both sides and you have a fine edge and a cool piece of metal with the proper edge that has not lost its temper.

It takes a few minute practice but once you get used to the low noise made by the grinding of a fine edge you will know when its sharp enough.

I want to help you not get in your way and I want you to succeed.

 

[hunt4570]

Well the rain they were calling for did not develop so I got started late this afternoon on flipping the slicer pairs, seems they had been flipped before but many (not done yet) had significantly less wear on the trailing side. Also several were bent, so I used a rosebud to heat and straighten them out then retempered. I setup the belt sander next to the mower and started taking one set off at a time, sharpen the best side and put them back.

Looks like I need to invest in a new set of slicers but before doing that I want to see if the cut improves with the sharpened slicers at least a little. Also it does not appear there are vary many sources for them, at least not like the 917 models. And I did figure out the 918H 72" is a rebadged Maletti, model FM180.

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Hello and good morning John0829,


The cutting edges are pretty dull john, I would flip the side slicer pairs and see how
well they look. you may just luck out and have a good set of edges on the opposite side.

So I've been debating flipping mine.. how many bolts did you ruin doing this? I would think being so rusty and being dinged up from hitting stuff would take a toll on those bolts!

 

[hunt4570]

Below I describe my way to set the height of my Caroni flail mower. I do not pretend that is the only way or the right way, but it works for me:
Assuming the skids and the bottom of the roller of the mower are on the same plane.
Firstly, I ensure that the tractor and the flail mower are on a level and hard ground. After attaching the Flail mower to the tractor, I set the top link length so the pin will center into the slot of the mower hitch frame (so the mower can tilt back and forth slightly when going over bumps).
Then I raise the mower to top position and slowly lower it down with the control lever until the skids barely touch the ground. Next I move the stop against the control lever and tighten it.
This will be the lowest position the mower could go, and it will (most of the time) prevent the skids to dig their way in the ground and making grooves in soft terrain.
See attached picture of control lever and the stop.

So... that sound almost EXACTLY the way I do mine, but I end up with grooves from the skids all over the place! Trying to figure out how to avoid that. Now granted, my place is almost like beach sand so it is very soft so maybe I'm just stuck with the grooves!:confused3:

 

[troverman]

How often do you guys sharpen your flail knives? Does sharpening make that much of a difference?

 

[John0829]

Have not lost a single bolt, but I still have about a 1/3 of them left to do and hope to finish today if there is no rain. There is really more dirt than rust on the bolts and nothing a quick swipe with a wire hand brush does not knock off. Having an air ratchet has been a saving grace as there is a LOT of turning to remove and install fine thread bolts. Break them loose and then hit em' with the air drive speeds things up somewhat but removing and installing 48 bolts plus the time to sharpen the slicers is to say the least time consuming.

 

[leonz]

Well the rain they were calling for did not develop so I got started late this afternoon on flipping the slicer pairs, seems they had been flipped before but many (not done yet) had significantly less wear on the trailing side. Also several were bent, so I used a rosebud to heat and straighten them out then retempered. I setup the belt sander next to the mower and started taking one set off at a time, sharpen the best side and put them back.

Looks like I need to invest in a new set of slicers but before doing that I want to see if the cut improves with the sharpened slicers at least a little. Also it does not appear there are vary many sources for them, at least not like the 917 models. And I did figure out the 918H 72" is a rebadged Maletti, model FM180.



So I've been debating flipping mine.. how many bolts did you ruin doing this? I would think being so rusty and being dinged up from hitting stuff would take a toll on those bolts!

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My Mathews lawn genie uses a spring type knife hanger system that is does not require tools.


It does take a toll on the bolt heads and nuts depending on the type of mowing of course.

I always mention to the folks here that if they can, they should invest in fine thread allen head bolts, allen spring washers
and either 12 point box wrenches or a three eighths 12 point impact socket using a breaker bar to hold the nuts as you spin
the allen head bolt with a long handle allen wrench so they have a better time removing the hanger bolts and reduce filling
the swear jar.

you can use an O ring pick to clean out the allen head bolt before you push the wrench head in the hole and you know it will not slip out.

 

[geblackwell]

So now I have some questions:

With these sales people being "just plain wrong"
1. Could you provide a photo or video of your sharpening set-up?
2. How many flail owners use your method for sharpening cutters.
3. What make and model flail mower do you use?
4. What cutter and how many does your flail have?
5. How many acres do you maintain with your flail?

I realize these are a lot of questions, but I am searching for answers