BEFCO flail mowers

[SI2305]

Hello all,

I am thinking of equiping my JD 2305 with a flail mower for some rough cutting along fences and in some woody areas. I know that my tractor is undersized for most flail mowers (judging by pto HP), but the BEFCO H 40 series claims to operable as far down as 16 PTO HP. even for a 6' model. I would likely be leaning towards a 4-5' model for use on both grass and some woody areas.

Does anyone out there have a BEFCO flail mower? I would really like to hear some first hand experiences to see if these machines live up to their claims.

Thanks in advance,

SI2305

JD2305, 200cx loader, LX4, Grader blade, box blade, homemade grass rake, subsoiler

 

[chirojoe]

I have been using a 4' befco on a 2710 kubota for the past 6 years. No problems as of yet. I keep this mower outside all year in upstate Ny and it is still holding up well. It should be called"beef"-co because it is built extremely solid. I cut old farm fields, sometimes 4' high and also do some trail cutting. I do not have any experience with any other machine but so far I have no complaints with the Befco4' flail mower.

 

[rtgt]

I have a 60" Befco rear finish mower. I bought it used and had to put seals in the gearbox. Other than sharpening the blades and greasing it I haven't had to anything else to it. I have mowed some pretty heavy "grass" as well as light brush with it. In my opinion, Befco makes some pretty good stuff.

I would say if Befco has rated it down to 16hp your 2305 should be fine. If you are going to mow along fence rows the 5' might be better to keep your tractor a bid farther way. A 4' would maximize your power. I guess it depends on how heavy of stuff you are cutting.

I noticed that you have a LX4 cutter. How does your 2305 handle it? Any startup issues, i.e. stalling at idle when engaging the PTO? I just picked up and am rebuilding a 4' rotary cutter and when I posted a thread on another forum I got some cautions about using a rotary cutter on the 2305 due to a weak PTO transmission. Some are recommending that I use a slip clutch set loose to allow it to slip a bit on engagement, lessening the shock to the PTO drive.

Not to hijack your thread, but what are your thoughts / experiences with your cutter?

Back to your topic....If your tractor handles the rotary cutter it should do fine with the fail and while I have never used a Befco fail, I would say they are good to go if they are the same quality as the mower I have.

 

[SI2305]

rtgt,

I have had the LX 4 since I bought the tractor 7 years ago. I was told to set the rpm's at 1500-2000 and then engage the PTO. As far as cutting it is an absolute beast. I have mowed 7' tall grass, bushes, small trees, and I have even taken it into the deep woods to clear some debris from deadfall. My interest in the flail mower is that it would be more maneuverable, be better at cleaning close to the ground in certain circumstances, and would help clean up fencelines

SI2305

 

[rtgt]

SI2305 - Thanks for the reply. I was told that the 2305 had a "weak" PTO and that if I was going to use a rotary cutter to be careful that I didn't cut more than grass as I would implode the PTO to the tune of a $6K repair.

Do you use a shear bolt or a slip clutch?

If the Befco flail is built as well as the rear finish mower, you'll find that it is also a beast. Keep us posted.

 

[SI2305]

rtgt,

I have also heard about the weak PTO. From what I have heard, this only shows up during tilling or other intensive PTO application, though I honestly can't think of a PTO activity that would put more strain on the transmission than tilling. Personally, I have a slip clutch, though I don't think it has ever actually engaged. My main concern with the BEFCO flail mower is that it is one of the few 4' models that will run on my 18 PTO HP. This is especially unique in that 5' and 6' models also run on the same PTO. I plan to use it in my field and in my woods. I will definitely keep you posted on how this pans out, though I am not really in a position to buy right now. Good luck with your machine and welcome to the board. My 2305 has really been put through the paces so I think you have a very good machine there.

SI2305

 

[coobie]

Can,t tell ya about the befco flail mower but I do own befco york rake,post hole digger,land plane,and spreader.IMHO they have VERY stout equipment.coobie

 

[SI2305]

coobie, rtgt,

Thanks for the personal info on BEFCO equipment. I was hoping that they were not dumbing down their numbers just to make the product appealing to more owners with smaller tractors. I personally spoke with a BEFCO representative yesterday and he explained points where I was skeptical. He said that the 4' model on a JD2305 would likely work for most any reasonable mowing tasks I set out to accomplish. Drier material will cut easier that wet, and the Y blades will take longer to bog down than straight or scoop blades. This is fine for me as I don't really want the mower to mow my lawn, but more to go after woody material in my woods and mow in my field area.

As for the 5' mower, he stated that it too would likely work under all of the same conditions with the stipulation that the power settings would have to be set high all the time and it might bog down under challenging circumstances (tall, wet grass). In these conditions one would need to slow the travel speed over ground. The 5' would be good for when you want to cut out more than your tires and/or want to do fencerow mowing, possibly its forte'. He did not really reccomend the 6' model for the our tractors.

I think the pertinent point here is being reasonable about the material being mowed and the speed of the tractor. Who knows, maybe if one were REALLY careful and slow our tractor could mow my 7' tall grass when wet with the 6' model on our tractor if we traveled REALLY slow--probably slower than reasonable.

Personally, I want it for mowing along the fenceline and mowing in the woods where it will be far more maneuverably than the LX4.

RTGT, If you do get a brushmower, I strongly reccomend getting one with a slip clutch. Further, when you get it, there is a "stuck slip clutch" proceedure where you loosen the bolts that pinch the clutch, start the PTO and make the clutch slip--this is just to ensure that it does exactly what it is supposed to do. I once was mowing and realized I wasn't cutting grass and the tractor sounded different. I raised the LX4, got off the tractor (turned off) and sure enough, the blades were still spinning fairly rapidly and took quite some time to slow down. As it turns out, my slip clutch was frozen (actually rusted) and an emergency shear pin broke loose, saving the tractor. GET A SLIP CLUTCH and maintain it religiously. Good luck to you.

SI2305

LX4, grader blade, box blade, subsoiler, 5' RFM, home made grass rake

 

[rtgt]

SI -

Thanks for the feedback and the Info. After reading the horror stories I was more than concerned. It is good to hear from someone that has not had problems and what they have done to prevent them.

Like you said, with a little operator common sense, you can do alot without hurting your equipment.

I am definately going with a slip clutch, and your recommendations match that of others. One of the recommendations was to set it loose enough to slip just a bit at start-up, reducing the shock load when I pull the magic yellow button.

As far as maintaining the slip clutch, it will probably be a check it at every operation thing.

It sounds like you found the answers to your questions on the flail mower. I presume you are going with the 5 footer?

Let us know how it works when you get it. Good luck and happy mowing!

 

[JUBILEE1953]

I've been looking into purchasing a 4ft or 5ft BEFCO Flail Mower in the near future. I'm also still a bit leery on the horsepower issue with respect to the size of the mower. i have a BX25 with is close to the horsepower that you're dealing with. I'm very interested in seeing your opinion after the purchase.