Betstco Flail Height Adjustments

[wirlybird]

Got a nice little brush hog job Saturday taht is a good test for the FH-EFGC155 flail.
Trying to adjust the cut height. Their manual is mostly useless.

So, I have the roller at the "top" hole, or the roller set so it hangs down the lowest which should give the highest cut height.
IF I place a level on the body of the flail and adjust the top link for "level" I get a cut height of 3 1/4 inches.
If I place the level on the top of the gear box and level I get a cut height of 3 1/3 inches.
Using the level is the process for my other flails.

Is this really the max cut height? They say 6 inches but in order to get that the front of the flail is facing the sky!

What do you guys think? Anyone else have experience with this?
Thanks!!

 

[DGZRT]

Following ! Please let me know what you think of the Flail mower and how the job goes . This will be my next purchase ...

 

[Tinhack]

A flail mower is a poor tool for "brush hogging". Most won't handle any more than a lawn mower will. Mine will throw flails if I try cutting brush.

Your picture is at a bad angle. It looks to me like you have it set to the lowest setting--Not the highest setting. The lower the roller and side rails, the higher the cut. Yours look like they're all the way up (lowest setting). There's typically multiple holes in the roller bracket and in most cases the roller rides on the ground. Once you get the height set to your liking, leave it.

 

[wirlybird]

A flail mower is a poor tool for "brush hogging". Most won't handle any more than a lawn mower will. Mine will throw flails if I try cutting brush.

Your picture is at a bad angle. It looks to me like you have it set to the lowest setting--Not the highest setting. The lower the roller and side rails, the higher the cut. Yours look like they're all the way up (lowest setting). There's typically multiple holes in the roller bracket and in most cases the roller rides on the ground. Once you get the height set to your liking, leave it.

The side skids are all the way up as they are not needed for the terrain I will be cutting. The roller is all the way down. I am familiar with setting the roller as I have two other flails.
On this one they give no indication as to approximate cut height per adjustment hole. My JD, for instance, tells you the minimum and max heights and that each hole is a 3/4 inch change when the top link is set properly.
One this one they claim 0 to 6 inch cut height but if you place the roller all the way down and adjust the top link like you would on most flails you're lucky to get 3 1/2 inch cut height.

I didn't mention it and should have but the picture was for how I was placing the level to adjust the top link.

 

[kenmbz]

I have my rollers a few holes down and keep the skids down a bit less.
Slight uptilt to front and it works fine.
I can get from scalp up to about 5" by adjustment of roller all the way down and same for skids.
I have it set to about 3" now. I set on flat cement so I can clearly see height to bottom of flail hammer and measure to surface.

Looks like your roller is pretty far up into the flail.

 

[wirlybird]

I have my rollers a few holes down and keep the skids down a bit less.
Slight uptilt to front and it works fine.
I can get from scalp up to about 5" by adjustment of roller all the way down and same for skids.
I have it set to about 3" now. I set on flat cement so I can clearly see height to bottom of flail hammer and measure to surface.

Looks like your roller is pretty far up into the flail.

My roller is all the way down in the picture, which I said. Picture was more to show where I was putting the level so it's not good for seeing the roller.
Right now I moved the roller back up 1 hole and got the hammer set at a distance of 3 inches like you did which does tilt it up in the front.
We'll see how it does tomorrow. I am thinking that 3 1/2 to 4 inches is about the max but I don't know if you'd really need more than that.

Does your toplink sit off center on the flail?

Here is a better picture of the current setup.

 

[kenmbz]

Yes the toplink sits a bit off, but not much.

 

[wirlybird]

Yes the toplink sits a bit off, but not much.

Ok, so mine isn't the only one! I don't think this implement will create any real side loads on the top link mount on the tractor so it is probably ok.
I don't like that they couldn't even get that correct.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

Got a nice little brush hog job Saturday taht is a good test for the FH-EFGC155 flail.
Trying to adjust the cut height. Their manual is mostly useless.

So, I have the roller at the "top" hole, or the roller set so it hangs down the lowest which should give the highest cut height.
IF I place a level on the body of the flail and adjust the top link for "level" I get a cut height of 3 1/4 inches.
If I place the level on the top of the gear box and level I get a cut height of 3 1/3 inches.
Using the level is the process for my other flails.

Is this really the max cut height? They say 6 inches but in order to get that the front of the flail is facing the sky!

What do you guys think? Anyone else have experience with this?
Thanks!!

View attachment 731212

The manufacturers instructions are crap for sure, but the one bit of info that makes a difference is keeping the top pin center just behind the bottom pins. The further back you adjust the top pin the cutting elevation will increase.

 

[MoMower]

Following ! Please let me know what you think of the Flail mower and how the job goes . This will be my next purchase ...

One of my jobs for a customer this year, did good, customer was warned about the lay down, but only wanted one pass.

This was 4’-6’ high stuff.

The factory belts are junk, the spares they sell are a bit better, there is a NAPA belt that is much better.

 

[wirlybird]

So the first real outing with the EFGC 155 was a bit disappointing. Running at a cut height of 3 inches.
Pretty flat 2 acre lot with a variety of weeds, grasses and small saplings.
I didn't get good before and after shots. Should have but here is one shot that gives a general idea of the vegetation. Most of it was 6-8 inches but there were shorter and taller areas.

Some of the thick grassier areas it did ok but areas with saplings, 1/4 to 1 inch, it did bad. Most of the saplings and other hard stalk plants just laid over, then they just stood back up, and were barely touched.
Took 2-3 passes over them at a snail's pace to get them cut.

My rotary cutter would have done a far superior job on this area.

Low, thick grasses, low vines and brush it may do ok on but you have to go slow and I mean SLOW!
Any hard stalk plants and saplings forget it unless you make multiple passes. The flail just pushes them over and the blades just ride right over them scuffing the top surfaces.

I ran the original belts, properly adjusted, and they held up.
Oil did work its way out the oil fill/breather. I think their instructions for filling gear case oil my over fill it some. I'll keep an eye on the oil level and see if it eventually stops coming out the breather.

After some time the whole unit really set up a loud vibration. A quick check underneath shows some blades are pretty beaten up. I need to get a better look for broken blades which I suspect I will find.

One issue with this cutter is that the hammers could be poorly designed and of poor quality.
I am going to try and see what is out there for quality hammers that may fit and see what the cost is.

They bill this unit as a "heavy duty" fail. For what people will likely use it for I would say it is medium duty at best.
I normally would have used the rotary cutter here but wanted to see what the flail would do and this area had a variety of vegetation.
My feeling at this time is I am underwhelmed with its performance. We'll see how it progresses.

 

[kenmbz]

Something seems wrong here, most of what I cut is small saplings and stiltgrass and I get most of it in one pass.
I do go slow, and the hammers do not like rocks, chipped 2 so far.
I have run it through hundreds of yards of fresh cut trails and it leaves them really clean.
Maybe the front is too nose down or the 3pt is lifting on uneven ground?

My stiltgrass looks like your pic (until it lays down in the winter) and I was able to churn it into nothing in one slow pass. At the field edges I even lift the flail, back in, drop the flail and the sg is mulched fine.

I also use it sometimes on the larger lawns and it does a pretty good job, but I like the lawn tractor cut better (and it is faster).

 

[DGZRT]

So the first real outing with the EFGC 155 was a bit disappointing. Running at a cut height of 3 inches.
Pretty flat 2 acre lot with a variety of weeds, grasses and small saplings.
I didn't get good before and after shots. Should have but here is one shot that gives a general idea of the vegetation. Most of it was 6-8 inches but there were shorter and taller areas.

Some of the thick grassier areas it did ok but areas with saplings, 1/4 to 1 inch, it did bad. Most of the saplings and other hard stalk plants just laid over, then they just stood back up, and were barely touched.
Took 2-3 passes over them at a snail's pace to get them cut.

My rotary cutter would have done a far superior job on this area.

Low, thick grasses, low vines and brush it may do ok on but you have to go slow and I mean SLOW!
Any hard stalk plants and saplings forget it unless you make multiple passes. The flail just pushes them over and the blades just ride right over them scuffing the top surfaces.

I ran the original belts, properly adjusted, and they held up.
Oil did work its way out the oil fill/breather. I think their instructions for filling gear case oil my over fill it some. I'll keep an eye on the oil level and see if it eventually stops coming out the breather.

After some time the whole unit really set up a loud vibration. A quick check underneath shows some blades are pretty beaten up. I need to get a better look for broken blades which I suspect I will find.

One issue with this cutter is that the hammers could be poorly designed and of poor quality.
I am going to try and see what is out there for quality hammers that may fit and see what the cost is.

They bill this unit as a "heavy duty" fail. For what people will likely use it for I would say it is medium duty at best.
I normally would have used the rotary cutter here but wanted to see what the flail would do and this area had a variety of vegetation.
My feeling at this time is I am underwhelmed with its performance. We'll see how it progresses.

View attachment 732325

This is the info I'm after. Please keep updating your progress. I've sat and watched the County Maintenance crews with a Flail mower and it seemed to do a great job along the roads . With the prices sky rocketing I might just have to look for a Smaller brush hog .

 

[DGZRT]

Something seems wrong here, most of what I cut is small saplings and stiltgrass and I get most of it in one pass.
I do go slow, and the hammers do not like rocks, chipped 2 so far.
I have run it through hundreds of yards of fresh cut trails and it leaves them really clean.
Maybe the front is too nose down or the 3pt is lifting on uneven ground?

My stiltgrass looks like your pic (until it lays down in the winter) and I was able to churn it into nothing in one slow pass. At the field edges I even lift the flail, back in, drop the flail and the sg is mulched fine.

I also use it sometimes on the larger lawns and it does a pretty good job, but I like the lawn tractor cut better (and it is faster).

What brand of flail are you running ?

 

[kenmbz]

Betstco , the HD but 48"
EFGC125

 

[wirlybird]

Something seems wrong here, most of what I cut is small saplings and stiltgrass and I get most of it in one pass.
I do go slow, and the hammers do not like rocks, chipped 2 so far.
I have run it through hundreds of yards of fresh cut trails and it leaves them really clean.
Maybe the front is too nose down or the 3pt is lifting on uneven ground?

My stiltgrass looks like your pic (until it lays down in the winter) and I was able to churn it into nothing in one slow pass. At the field edges I even lift the flail, back in, drop the flail and the sg is mulched fine.

I also use it sometimes on the larger lawns and it does a pretty good job, but I like the lawn tractor cut better (and it is faster).

Which flail do you have? Never mind! I see it now!

Ground was relatively flat in most areas. In areas where there were saplings it would cut the grasses but just roll over the saplings and they'd pop back up!
The flail is set in a "nose" high attitude if you look from the side. Toplink pin just aft of the lower pins as they say. Measured distance from concrete to a hammer is ~3 inches.
Some areas it did good on but mostly it was the hard stuff, taller stuff and saplings that gave it trouble.

I can see this being better for trails and stuff like that.
Low laying vegetation etc.
It's going to take some time to see how it does as the grasses start to grow this spring!

 

[kenmbz]

The stiltgrass is 2-3' high. Saplings up to 1.5". All gone.
your setup looks and sounds fine though. Maybe have someone spot from the side (far away) to see if it's riding up?
I have a scut, so I have to keep applying down pressure to keep the flail on the roller.
I also have the skids down a bit to keep the front up, but higher than the roller.

 

[Rebeldad1]

sounds like maybe you need to run the mower at a higher speed?
mine does just fine but im running the cutters closer to the ground.