Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[thoner7]

Anything over 40 PTO HP should be enough to run that 88".

In what kind of grass tho? Thick 16" grass?? Tall weeds??

I believe my current tractor is 38 horse at the PTO. I don't believe that 10% more would be enough.

 

[thoner7]

Do Y blade use less power than the airplane wings??

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

In what kind of grass tho? Thick 16" grass?? Tall weeds??

I believe my current tractor is 38 horse at the PTO. I don't believe that 10% more would be enough.

I was running a 40HP tractor on 62" Ford 917 through 3 foot tall grass and it ran fine without bogging down. I run my 88" on 52 PTO HP and I don't bog down at all in 3 foot tall grass. I also have fresh blades on it. I run slower in the tall stuff anyway so I don't run over any surprises and so everything gets well cut.

The only TO-20 tractor I know of is the old Ferguson ( TractorData.com Ferguson TO-2 tractor information ). That shows 20-25 HP.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Do Y blade use less power than the airplane wings??

Y blades I think use less power. Lighter weight blades will use less power than heavier blades. So if you replace all your airplane wings with Y blades go with the standard or heavy duty blades instead of the extreme duty blades from Flailmaster. I use their FM-7 blades.

 

[thoner7]

I was running a 40HP tractor on 62" Ford 917 through 3 foot tall grass and it ran fine without bogging down. I run my 88" on 52 PTO HP and I don't bog down at all in 3 foot tall grass. I also have fresh blades on it. I run slower in the tall stuff anyway so I don't run over any surprises and so everything gets well cut.

The only TO-20 tractor I know of is the old Ferguson ( TractorData.com Ferguson TO-2 tractor information ). That shows 20-25 HP.

How slow do you run in tall grass?

 

[Fallon]

Y blades I think use less power. Lighter weight blades will use less power than heavier blades. So if you replace all your airplane wings with Y blades go with the standard or heavy duty blades instead of the extreme duty blades from Flailmaster. I use their FM-7 blades.

All things being equal heavier blades shouldn't take much if any more power to get keep spinning, but would take more power to spin up. The larger frontal surface area of duckfoots & hammers compared to Ys would tap a bit more HP to combat the aerodynamic drag though. Personally I didnt notice any huge difference between my old 917 with Ys & the new Peruzzo with hammers. Well at least in any big HP related ways on a quick back to back comparison on minimal dead grass in the middle of winter a few years back when I upgraded.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

How slow do you run in tall grass?

I have hydrostatic so I don't know an exact speed, but I'd guess it to be around 3 mph. I'll have to get a GPS speedometer app to check next time. In short grass I run probably 5 mph, only limited by the rough terrain.

All things being equal heavier blades shouldn't take much if any more power to get keep spinning, but would take more power to spin up. The larger frontal surface area of duckfoots & hammers compared to Ys would tap a bit more HP to combat the aerodynamic drag though. Personally I didnt notice any huge difference between my old 917 with Ys & the new Peruzzo with hammers. Well at least in any big HP related ways on a quick back to back comparison on minimal dead grass in the middle of winter a few years back when I upgraded.

When the heavier blades make contact with something and slow down a little it takes more to ramp the speed back up again. There's where the extra draw comes from.

 

[jthibodeau89]

The right way is to have the mower in front of the tractor.

Please ID this tractor. Love it....

 

[CADplans]

The right way is to have the mower in front of the tractor.

That is the right way,,, if you like the taste of bugs and dust,,, IMHO,,,

 

[AGTtactical]

The right way is to have the mower in front of the tractor.

BS...not a big enough difference to matter. 99% of the mowers out there are on the rear, and they all do a more than adequate job. Its also much easier to damage a mower from a lowing lying stump or rock with a mower mounted in front...its just simply too hard to see what's lying in the brush. A tractor with a rear mounted mower will pass over an obstruction harmlessly, pushing aside the brush so you can see the obstruction before impacting the mower. You often feel such obstructions as the wheels roll over them too. And a good brush guard will protect the front of the tractor from harm...while its nearly impossible to do so with a mower lying on the ground in front. And, how much damage does a tractor with a front mounted mower take from things getting shot out the rear? It happens...