Buying used flail mower (JD or Ford)

[pripyat]

Both Agrisupply and Tractor Supply have round baler belts and it will work for shielding.

Thanks for the tip! I'm guessing those belts would last forever considering they are internally lined with likely fiberglass or similar and made to not stretch. I may even post on FB to see if I can find a farmer with some worn material. New belts online look fairly pricey..

Sorry for the topic detour..

I couldn't get the plate off the bottom of the rotary cutter gearbox due to it being recessed with very little clearance on the sides of the plate. At first glance, I thought that the protruding threads were beat up under the cutter but I saw, after I ground one completely off, that it was actually welded. :laughing:



It took finding a second set of hands but I got three of the four bolts off. One of them obliterated the threads. It took a lot of penetrating oil, and about 1500 ft*lbs to get the nuts off due to all the rust/corrosion. I'm not sure if you can call a piece of all-thread with a nut welded to the end a bolt but I will. I probably need to replace those bolts as I don't have taps/dies to clean them up, I didn't measure diameter but they have 1-1/4" hex heads. Going to pull the gearbox as soon as I get a helper back out there..

 

[TxDigger]

Hate to start a new Thread and you guys seem to be pretty wise on Flail Mowers. I want to get one and I have a Kabota B7510 (21 HP). I want to get the widest one I can because I have about 15 acres to trim occasionally. I have a chance to get a JD 25A (78") and even if it is too big for heavy cutting can I run a partial swath on heavy stuff and get by so I can run full width on the light cutting areas.

 

[leonz]

Hello TxDigger,

If you really want that JD 25A flail mower I want to give you some friendly advice;

Don't do it!!!

You do not have enough horsepower or weight and the work involved in doing it will require welding and more welding and 2 complete tailwheel assemblies for rotary cutters with flat proof wheels to keep the 25A level while mowing and also maintain stability.

Purchasing a 4 foot cut peruzzo flail mower or a 4 foot caroni flail mower with a b rotor(2 rows of side slicer knives or scoop knives) will be less taxing on the tractor and believe it or not you can mow very well with a 4 foot flail mower. I have been doing that for years with a towed motorized 48 inch Mathews lawn genie pick up mower.

 

[arto98607]

Hate to start a new Thread and you guys seem to be pretty wise on Flail Mowers. I want to get one and I have a Kabota B7510 (21 HP). I want to get the widest one I can because I have about 15 acres to trim occasionally. I have a chance to get a JD 25A (78") and even if it is too big for heavy cutting can I run a partial swath on heavy stuff and get by so I can run full width on the light cutting areas.

Ford 917L (60 inch cut) flail mower is a nice fit with my Ford 1310 (19 HP engine, manual transmission) and in 2 - 2.5 foot tall grass it uses clearly less power than my 48 inch John Deere brush hog rotary mower.

917L is a light duty mower and was intended for side slicer flails as shown in my photo below.
Alamo/Mott MH386 flails can be used for replacements.

Mowers with other type or style flails would most likely require more HP.









New Holland CNH 86509415 vs. Alamo/Mott MH386 replacement flails: