anyone used ebay's flail mower

[meb9796]

they are selling a 48" flail mower they say will cut brush for 750. I'm trying to find a compact one to fit on my JD2305 and am hoping this will trully cut brush. I'm clearing some woods and putting tree trimmings into a chipper is not fun. Got a 3" log yanked out of my hands last night while trying to jam some small brush into the shredder. Would be much easier to just drive over them!!!!!

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

just my opinion, but i'd much rather have a commercial duty used flail than a chicom new one......

however, i know some here have had success with the chinese ones........

go to craigshelper.com and search for "flail".....you'll be suprised what well built used flails go for .....in my opinion, CHEAP!

also, there are some government acution sites and used equipment sites out there if you search google....

parts for the alamo,mott, etc. are easy to get......flailmaster.com and there are several others out there...

 

[meb9796]

I'm with you on not wanting to buy a chicom piece of equipment. Unfortunately I'm having a hard time finding a flail mower to fit my JD2305. Thanks for the idea on the auctions though, I'll check them out.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

good point...

it seems tractors can pull a tab bit larger flail than bush hog.....so you might pull off a 5'

yeah, most used municipality flails are of a larger size but i do see some old ford, JD, etc. ones of the smaller size.......

keep checking every day!

I'm Unfortunately I'm having a hard time finding a flail mower to fit my JD2305.

 

[Ductape]

Someone here has one...... wider though. I think its Nuru. Check the flail mower thread.

 

[Sackett2]

I can't say if this is the mower you need, but I know the guy running the site on e-bay, just bought a 3 point blade from him 2 days ago. Good equipment, fair prices, but he is on the west coast- I'd bet there has to be a dealer closer to you and save the shipping.

 

[IslandTractor]

I recall there are a couple of guys who reported on their use of this "chicom" west coast ebay flail in the "let's talk flail mowers" thread a couple of months ago. As I recall they were quite happy but only had their flails for a few weeks. Price was right. More importantly, they are light/medium duty which is appropriate for a JD2305. That tractor would not be able to handle a used municipal sized flail.

Caroni also makes a light/medium duty flail in 48 and 59 inch size. Caroni flails are available from AgriSupply.

 

[davitk]

I bought the 60" from BETST company in April, have racked up about 40 hours on it and have been happy with it. Recently I burned the belts cutting 6' Canary grass, pushing it too hard with the belt tension too loose but what a deal! for 800.00 + 120.00 shipping, a solid "B" build quality, good performance, and Keith from BETST returns calls and ships promptly.... FWIW the used flails on Craig's List may be cheap, but have likely been used hard and replacing worn out parts is not cheap.

 

[Squeak n Itch]

Got a 3" log yanked out of my hands last night while trying to jam some small brush into the shredder. Would be much easier to just drive over them!!!!!

Can these things actually chew up the 3" log mentioned here?

 

[davitk]

Can these things actually chew up the 3" log mentioned here?

no. It handles light bush fine, 1" diameter +/-.

 

[AlanB]

Mine would not, it would just tattoo the top of it.

3" log around my place would go through the chipper

I would say I mow over 1/2" or so stuff with the flail and mulch it down.

 

[meb9796]

The 3" log was actually an accident; it got ripped out of my hands by the shredder. I was going to post this later, but I can say that the Mackissics chipper/shredder didn't even flinch at this, even though it says it will only take up to 1" in the shredder. I ran up and turned off the PTO in less than 3 seconds after it went into the shredder, and when I opened up the chipper to see what damage there was, it was already chopped to bits. I cleaned out the shredder and ran it for another few minutes and it worked fine.

Anyway.....my problem is that I'm clearing some land, and I use my chipper/shredder to get rid of everything I don't use for fire wood, and I'm always left with piles of 'brush' type material that is 1" or less in diameter. So far I've been fighting with it and cutting it up and trying to shove it into the shredder. Would much rather trim the bigger branches, shred them, and then run over the trimmings. This would save me hours of work!!!

Thanks for all the feedback, I plan on calling betst today and also looking online some more!!!

 

[meb9796]

Well, stopped by my local JD dealer today on my way home from TSC (which was a HUGE waste of time btw) and low and behold he had a used LX-4 on the lot. Two of them actually, but one had the slip clutch and after an entire 20 seconds of thinking about it I purchased it and brought it home with me. I had to go back and pick up the pins since there weren't any on the mower and as I was leaving the store, guess who finally returned my two phone calls from this morning????? Betst.com. Anyway, I'm happy with my purchase, and I'd still be out mowing with it if I didn't get chased inside by a thunderstorm.

thanks for all the responses!!

 

[davitk]

ummmmmmm................... pictures??

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

yeah, who do you think you are not giving us a report AND adding pictures!

what's an lx-4? since you didn't tell us, i guess i'll have to take time to google it!

Well, stopped by my local JD dealer today on my way home from TSC (which was a HUGE waste of time btw) and low and behold he had a used LX-4 on the lot. Two of them actually, but one had the slip clutch and after an entire 20 seconds of thinking about it I purchased it and brought it home with me. I had to go back and pick up the pins since there weren't any on the mower and as I was leaving the store, guess who finally returned my two phone calls from this morning????? Betst.com. Anyway, I'm happy with my purchase, and I'd still be out mowing with it if I didn't get chased inside by a thunderstorm.

thanks for all the responses!!

 

[meb9796]

God I love this forum....sorry about no pics. Wife got caught in the rain on her bike on the way home from work , so I took her out to dinner, blah blah blah...anyway....the LX4 is John Deere's 4' rotary mower. I was looking for a flail mower, but this kinda fell into my lap, and after my extensive 7 minute test I gave it before it started raining, I love it!! It chopped up a pile of trimmings that would've taken me 30 minutes to cut up and shove into the shredder, in less than a minute!!!!!

Here are a couple pics I took of it sitting in my garage. I would post pics of what it does cutting brush, but don't we have enough of those on here already???? I did notice a few post where people were asking if the 2305 could handle a rotary mower, and in the 7 minutes I had it out, I was able to cut, lift, etc with it, with no problem.

 

[Lefty_Kubota]

just got my Betstco 56" "ebay" flail mower 2 days ago

for $800 bucks shipped to my door..

Already mowed 5 acres with it.. nice unit for the price and works great

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

How do you adjust the belt tension on the Betsco. I keeep looking at these mowers but havent found enough info on them . In Davitk's pics I dont see a tensioner.
Bill

 

[Lefty_Kubota]

here is where you adjust the belts

 

[Lefty_Kubota]

here is a pic of mine after mowing 5 acres this evening