10' (twin 5' blades) brush hog question

[dieselcrawler]

The ability to 'add' weight/traction to the rear wheels when climbing hills by lifting the mower a little is why I want 3ph, not tow-behind style.

Flail mowers seem just as costly if not more so than a 10' brush hog. How does the cut ability and quality compare?

 

[4570Man]

Flail mowers seem just as costly if not more so than a 10' brush hog. How does the cut ability and quality compare?

Cut quality is much better. The cut ability greatly depends on the quality of the mower. A cheap one can only take out small saplings. A high dollar forestry flail can eat 10" trees for breakfast, but I don't think they can even cut grass. On a fairer comparison a heavy duty grass mowing flail with the guts to run hammers is pretty tough. There is a video in the " lets talk flail mowers" thread of a heavy duty flail mowing a heavily wooded area with 3-5 inch trees at a pretty fast ground speed.

 

[Soundguy]

and you will be doing flail maintenance constantly...

 

[BHD]

BHD: can you describe the function of your mower, as in layout of drive shafts, gear boxes and blades, and their relative rotation directions?

Pto shaft goes in to the center TEE box and then two out put shafts to the two side boxes, each 70 ph rating and two sets of blades and the blades are off set 90 degrees so the blades can lap and not hit,

the out put on the Tee box is clear through so the shaft turn the same clear through or clock wise on one side and counter on the other side, thus one is side is right handed and one is left handed blades,

they make the 10 foot mowers and all parts are buyable (I suggest to copy a known brand) add up your cost on the parts and make a decision if the building is worth the savings or work involved

I have one of the 35 hp replacement boxes for a specially mower I made and have no problems with it,

 

[BHD]

when it come to couplers, the u joints on a shaft that does not flex much wears faster than the one that move as the grease gets redistributed, and thus last longer, the cross connecting shafts are a pain, rubber or U joints, the double chain may be the best in the long run, I do not know you needs some flex but one does not need a U joint, ( I have not had much problem with the rubber flexers but the u join end on mine has gone out on one side.

 

[LD1]

My thinking about the u-joints is I could go to a napa or an autzone or where ever and get a part any day of the week if needed. Probably not with the rubbers. And the rubbers would likely cost as much as a $15-$20 u-joint.

Can buy a whole PTO shaft and cut to length for ~$125. Not sure how much a shaft with rubbers would cost?

 

[LD1]

My thinking about the u-joints is I could go to a napa or an autzone or where ever and get a part any day of the week if needed. Probably not with the rubbers. And the rubbers would likely cost as much as a $15-$20 u-joint.

Can buy a whole PTO shaft and cut to length for ~$125. Not sure how much a shaft with rubbers would cost?

 

[Jim Timber]

You could get a flex joint from a couple BMW's out of a junk yard and likely never replace them.

Edited to add: Screw the junk yard - you can buy them new for $22.

http://www.carparts.com/details/BMW...1&CP_SRC=PPC&gclid=CJrsjbGS-scCFZEBaQodL1AOoQ

 

[wrangler6831]

Dieselcrawler, if you get ready to buy a 10 footer I have an International brand 10 foot lift rotary cutter that id let go for $1700.00 with an extra set of blades. It cuts good and is heavy but just a little on the BIG side for what I need. Id like to go back to an 8 foot. Im in Buckhannon WV, just a couple hours south of you.

Rich

 

[leonz]

The ability to 'add' weight/traction to the rear wheels when climbing hills by lifting the mower a little is why I want 3ph, not tow-behind style.

Flail mowers seem just as costly if not more so than a 10' brush hog. How does the cut ability and quality compare?

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The recommended side hill slope when mowing a side hill is no greater than 15 degrees.

The flailmower provides you with a better mowing result/finish.
With some brands you can mow down to 1/2 inch if desired.

Flail mowers use for field mowing will not require much
in the way of maintanance- I have the same 64 knives
that I installed in my flail mower in 1992 that still cut very well
so do not let anyone tell you they are high maintanance.

If you have an area that is prone to collecting garbage and junk from
illegal dumping any mower will have problems if the brush is overgrown.

What you have to know and understand is that every side slicer knife pair
has three or more inches of cutting edge for each inch of a rotary cutters
cutting width AND only half of a rotary cutters total knife edge is exposed
to the work BECAUSE one cutting edge is always trailing the other one.

SO when you look at a five foot flail mower with a finish rotor you will have
3-4 rows of knive hangers and 20+ knife mounting stations on each row(depending on the manufacturer)
and each knife mounting station has 2 side slicers and each side slicer will have up to 1 3/4 inches of
cutting edge on one side of the side slicer knife giving you 3 1/2 inches of cutting edge in total per
mounting station in most models.

A flail mower will recut all the clippings from a mowing job,
the rotary cutter cannot do that.

Flail mowers require maintenance like anything else and that is because the
flail mower has a total cutting edge length that is exposed to the work.

Once you get your land mowed with a flail mower you will spend much less
time mowing as you can quickly mow in a spiral pattern and save fuel, brakes
and time.

You need to decide how much money you want to spend before anything as
all the information you need is on the flail mower thread that is 235 plus pages long.

Do not let any one BUT YOU make your decisions. Please read the flail mower thread!

Once you have the grass and brush mowed down it takes very little time to mow
with a flail mower of any size and continue to keep it mowed low at 2 inches or less in height.

You will find that you do not need a 10 foot mower at all because the smaller flail mower
will handle it easily. If you buy a land pride flail mower which is made by Maschio in Italy you will
have a flail mower that has a trash door that can be opened and locked in place and mow all your heavy
brush without clogging and easily clear any junk wrapped around the flail mower rotor and change
a knife without crawling under the flail mower.

Your BX will work well with the smallest Land Pride flail mower
please read the flail mower thread and make your decision.
You may simply decide to hire it done if you feel you really do not
have the time.