Expectations of a Flail Mower

[Creightone]

Purchased my first flail mower this year. Does a great job cutting but it does not do a very good job of dispersing the cuttings, they tend to be in clumps. Have I not set up the mower properly or does one expect clumps with a flail mower?

 

[Mtsoxfan]

What brand did you buy? They may have a tutorial out, as the one I bought (soon to be delivered) did.

 

[Creightone]

Beco, 78 inch with hammers

 

[scootr]

I have a 78" Bestco HD with 3" hammers. Put the rpms up, tilt the front of the mower up, and slow down. Clumps do happen in very heavy brush that slows the hammers down (belts slipping) but it is not the normal result.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I'm expecting my Betsco 68" with Y blades on Monday. the field I'm cutting is an old hay field, no brush. I do have a brush hog for the very few areas with small saplings. I Expect a cleaner look. They have videos online as tutorials.

 

[1 Old Man]

........ Put the rpms up, tilt the front of the mower up, and slow down. Clumps do happen in very heavy brush that slows the hammers down (belts slipping) but it is not the norm.

This ^^^^^

 

[scootr]

I'm expecting my Betsco 68" with Y blades on Monday. the field I'm cutting is an old hay field, no brush. I do have a brush hog for the very few areas with small saplings. I Expect a cleaner look. They have videos online as tutorials.

That depends upon the size of the saplings and what the max cutting of the Y blades is, usually a finish mower is not going to cut small trees. But it might strip them of any branches and foliage lrding to their death.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

That depends upon the size of the saplings and what the max cutting of the Y blades is, usually a finish mower is not going to cut small trees. But it might strip them of any branches and foliage lrding to their death.

The Y blades are good up to 1". I plan on using the brush hog for anything bigger.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

This is from the Betsco website Q&A

Using a Flail Mower | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service:

If you have never used a Flail Mower, you need to re-think how you mow. By definition, a flail mower uses banks of flails (or “knives”) instead of blades. A flail is a short piece of metal that operates by beating the grass (flailing it) and breaking it off. At high speeds, the job is

betstco.com

 

[Doug Vee]

My old Seppi has hammers and an adjustable rear hatch. I have the rear hatch wide open. I have the roller on the lowest setting, whereby the rotor is at its highest position. I also have the top link set pretty long, also raising the rotor. It seems to distribute the cuttings pretty evenly set up like that.

This is only the second season I have used it. I will try the hatch closed this fall and see how it works. In this position it mulches more and I assume will add additional load to the tractor, so I may have to go slower. And, it might clump some?

I really like the flail mower compared to my rotary cutter.

 

[LouNY]

My ditch bank flail also has an openable rear cover with three adjustments. The further opened the less recutting and the more material spread out behind the mower. Also the less hp required in heavy material.

 

[RayIN]

I don't want to side-track this thread, however I'm on the fence about buying a flail mower. How high can they cut? I normally mow grass at 8" high.

 

[leonz]

My old Seppi has hammers and an adjustable rear hatch. I have the rear hatch wide open. I have the roller on the lowest setting, whereby the rotor is at its highest position. I also have the top link set pretty long, also raising the rotor. It seems to distribute the cuttings pretty evenly set up like that.

This is only the second season I have used it. I will try the hatch closed this fall and see how it works. In this position it mulches more and I assume will add additional load to the tractor, so I may have to go slower. And, it might clump some?

I really like the flail mower compared to my rotary cutter.

The trash door on your Seppi Flail shredder serves 2 purposes; (1) it allows the user to mow/shred tall grasses and crops in one pass.
(2) you can inspect the flail shredder knives without lifting it and crawling under it.

 

[leonz]

I don't want to side-track this thread, however I'm on the fence about buying a flail mower. How high can they cut? I normally mow pasture pasture at 8" high.

If that is your desired height of cut do not invest in one UNLESS YOU BUY A HINICKER 72 inch crop shredder.

 

[RayIN]

If that is your desired height of cut do not invest in one UNLESS YOU BUY A HINICKER 72 inch crop shredder.

Thank you! I'll be upgrading my 6' rotary mower. I'll rent a tractor with a mid-mount side mower when I need to mow off creek banks, around the lake, etc., which is normally 1X/yr.

 

[Doug Vee]

I don't want to side-track this thread, however I'm on the fence about buying a flail mower. How high can they cut? I normally mow grass at 8" high.

I just walked out in the field I cut last week. It was every bit of 8" tall. I have the rear roller set to mow the highest, and I have the top link pretty long, which rolls the mower back onto the roller more, thereby raising it higher. I did not measure the hammer clearance to the concrete slab in the shop, but can do that.

I will get back to you about that dimension.

Doug

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I will get back to you about that dimension

Curious what it looks like after mowing?

How high was it before you cut it?

 

[Saucymynx]

I am on my second season with A Del Marino 6 foot flail with hammer blades. My experience thus far is they are not great at cutting at a high cutting height. I would say 4 to 5 inches tops. I will try the trick of tilting it backwards with the top link to see if I can get a higher cutting height, but one problem I’ve noticed with trying to cut higher stuff will shoot out the front of the mower and coat the back of the tractor with grass. On the other hand, that darn thing will chew through 4 foot high grass like it wasn’t even there. I noticed that the befco article reference said that they can cut 4 inch material. That sounds like a surefire way to tear up your machine anything over an inch and I’m taking out the brush hog.

 

[Doug Vee]

Curious what it looks like after mowing?

How high was it before you cut it?

I don't have a before picture, but the grass was at least chest high. I will get an "after" picture uploaded tomorrow, if not tonight.

I checked the dimension of hammer tip to the shop floor, and it was lower than I thought it would be. It is 4" off the slab. The grass does not appear to be 4" tall though.

Doug

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Well ... In a weeks time, it probably grew ... I find the more often I mow, the quicker grows right after, seems to be some kind of jump start!