Flail Mower Flail mower Poll

[leonz]

Good afternoon to my fellow board members and
the residents of the Flail Mower Nations.


I am conducting a poll of the flail mower owners
with flail mowers that use side slicer knives today:

The points to ponder and the answers to the questions
are either yes or no answers as I know you would rather
be out there using seat time to mow or do other chores.

1.would you as a flail mower owner be interested in a
flail mower rotor that required no tools to change side
slicer knives?


2. If a wet well knife grinder was provided with the flail mower rotor
at no extra charge would that help in your decision to replace
your current flail mower rotor Yes or No?


3. would you be willing to ship the flail mower to have the flail mower
rotor exchanged with a complete set of new shorter side slicer knives
mounted on the flail mower rotor(plus 2 dozen spare knives) at no extra cost
if the price included round trip shipping to your door Yes or No?

4. would you ship your existing rotor to exchange it with a much improved four row flail mower rotor
that requires no tools to change knife sets and have the new knife sets mounted and
three dozen spare knives included in the price with prepaid shipping to your door?


5. how much would the improved mounting system and improved quality of cut affect your decision?

1. not at all:
"I wish to keep my current flail mower rotor"

2. somewhat:
"I have plenty to time to change side slicers if they are dull or broken"

3. completely:
"I have little time to change knives or flip them to the opposing sharp knife edge
in season and would use the flail mower more to mow"


I look forward to your responses to my polling.

 

[TBN Support]

A rotor that requires no tools? I might have to become a flail mower owner.

 

[allen in texas]

#1 My flail already does not require tools to change the blades.
#2 Knife grinder??
#3 Why would I want shorter blades.
#$ Like I said, I already have tooless blade changing and I have 4 rows of knives.
#5 see above 4 statements.


I don't understand the direction or point of this thread.

 

[Fallon]

I don't understand the direction or point of this thread.

I suspect the president of the flail mower nation is doing some research about starting a flail mower related business of some sort.

I'd be interested in a new rotor for my old Ford 917, but its still in decent shape, even after running it into my well head (flail & well lost the fight equally). I'm a bit on the cheap side though (into the flail about $500 total for the flail & parts to get it resurrected). Quick change knives would be cool, but I have no need to change from my side slicers other than replacement due to breakage.

 

[allen in texas]

When was the election? I didn't get to vote.

That makes sense.
I do change from grass blades to side slicers and back pretty often. Depends on what I am doing.

 

[Jack3489]

Just a couple of thoughts for your consideration.

1. Quick change mowers exist today. We have a Vrisimo which only requires you to remove a skid shoe via two bolts and you can change the blades without additional tools. We typically change a complete set of blades in less than 30 minutes.

2. To me the prime focus should be on flexibility of the rotor to utilize different types of blades for different applications. Some current mowers allow the use of thatching knives, side cutters, scoop knives and hammers without any additional changes to the mower.

3. Regarding sharpening -- If you're going to attempt to sharpen the blades I think the focus should be on developing a jig that would allow sharpening at the correct angle and gauge the amount of material you remove from each blade to assure proper balance. If you've ever broken a blade you certainly know what it feels like if the rotor gets out of balance.

4. The other driving factor is the cost of the blades. Many blades are so cheap, especially from after market providers, that I would not even consider trying to sharpening them.

Regards,
Jack

 

[Thomabear]

I guess I'll add my .02 to this poll.

1. I too have a quick change system on my mower. As Jack3489 stated they are available.
2. Wet well grinders are painfully slow and very messy. Personally, I use a 2"x48" belt grinder with a 36 grit ceramic knife makers belt to sharpen my rotary and flail knives. The metal is removed so fast the blades wont heat up enough to cause hot spots. I then use a small digital food scale to get the knife weight equal. The process is really quick... Here's an example of sharpening with a belt grinder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvgvEpAHT3M
3. I personally prefer longer knives as this allows more clearance should they need to fold back out of the way of an unexpected object.
4. My rotor and I'm sure many others have 4 rows.

 

[leonz]

Just a couple of thoughts for your consideration.

1. Quick change mowers exist today. We have a Vrisimo which only requires you to remove a skid shoe via two bolts and you can change the blades without additional tools. We typically change a complete set of blades in less than 30 minutes.




What I mean by quick change is each knife station can be changed indepenently of each other knife station with no tools
allowing the user to change out two knives, if one or two knives is damaged or broken without tools.



2. To me the prime focus should be on flexibility of the rotor to utilize different types of blades for different applications. Some current mowers allow the use of thatching knives, side cutters, scoop knives and hammers without any additional changes to the mower.



These mounting stations would allow the end user to mount dethatching blades singly on each mounting station or by mounting the dethatching blade between the side slicer knife pairs.




3. Regarding sharpening -- If you're going to attempt to sharpen the blades I think the focus should be on developing a jig that would allow sharpening at the correct angle and gauge the amount of material you remove from each blade to assure proper balance. If you've ever broken a blade you certainly know what it feels like if the rotor gets out of balance.


the wet grinding method allows you to set the angle of the jig on a knife rest and the angle stays there.
mine is 37 degrees if I remember right.



4. The other driving factor is the cost of the blades. Many blades are so cheap, especially from after market providers, that I would not even consider trying to sharpening them.



True, very true but a hardened three inch side slicer is reasonable in cost per unit or per 100. an improved knife would add fifty percent more cutting edge as well.





Regards,
Jack

Thanks for your comments Jack

 

[whirly]

1. Not really .... I'm retired and I can change out all 92 stations in a little over 3 hours.

2. No ... I bought a wet well before changing the blades. I found that in my use I'd need a forge & anvil to reshape the blades first. I did sort out some (but not many) candidates to use as spares down the road.



3. N/A

4. N/A

5. not at all: "I wish to keep my current flail mower rotor"

 

[allen in texas]

I see what this is about now. My shredder/mower is already set up like what you are proposing. It's a good system and works well for what I do. If I were to be constantly in heavier material than I shred now, I would have a shredder with hammers instead of knives/blades.
These are the blades and hangers that mine has. Is this something like you are talking about?

 

[leonz]

Hello Allan,

I dont want to muddy the issue any,
as soon as i am able I will show the
design of the BETTER flail mower rotor.

No, the knive hangers are spring tensioned
and slide to the open position.


Having the spring tensioned knife hanger station allows:

1. install knife pairs and remove a knife or knife pairs with no tools
2. install dethatching blades by themselves or with the
knife pairs by placing the dethatching blade
between the knife pairs.
3. the single knife at the last outer knife station requires a 9/16 wrench to remove
and install the side slicer or dethatching blade
The rotor design allows for a single knife at the very edge of
the flail mower rotor on the opposing ends of two rows of knife hangers.



4.The rotor is designed to use the side slicer and the dethatching blade in its use either together-
a. with a single side slicer
b. a side slicer pair
c. a mounting set; where in there is a side slicer on one edge, the dethcatching knive in the center
and a side slicer on the opposing side.
d. or with only the dethatching blade alone.

a. The improved knife has double the cutting edge length and with the aerodynamic design
and with its wide knife hanger allows the mower to cut more efficiently where the knife
becomes an airplace wing.

b. the tapered knife edge being longer increases the total cutting edge length
and as it is shaped like an airplane wing is more aerodynamic at the higher rotor speed.

1. the slotted hanger hole also allows the knife to become more aerodynamic by allowing the tapered knifes edge to beome an airplane wing becoming horizontal with the longer tapered knife edge creating less air resistance

c. the tapered side slicer knife also weighs less and requires less energy to spin it at speed.


Now, the reason this flail mower rotor is better IN MY opinion is the design.
Where the flail mower has two air paddles to carry the clippings up and over
the flail mower rotor more efficiently aiding in slicing the grass and brush more
effectively without clogging the flail mower.

 

[allen in texas]

I'm looking forward to seeing what this all looks like and performs.

 

[Code54]

1.would you as a flail mower owner be interested in a
flail mower rotor that required no tools to change side
slicer knives? - Only if it is as strong or stronger than then a standard commercial duty rotor mounting system


2. If a wet well knife grinder was provided with the flail mower rotor
at no extra charge would that help in your decision to replace
your current flail mower rotor Yes or No? No


3. would you be willing to ship the flail mower to have the flail mower
rotor exchanged with a complete set of new shorter side slicer knives
mounted on the flail mower rotor(plus 2 dozen spare knives) at no extra cost
if the price included round trip shipping to your door Yes or No? - No, not really, one way or another I would be paying for the shipping, it is a cost no matter if you call it free or not, somewhere you have to recoup your shipping costs.

4. would you ship your existing rotor to exchange it with a much improved four row flail mower rotor
that requires no tools to change knife sets and have the new knife sets mounted and
three dozen spare knives included in the price with prepaid shipping to your door? Personally would just want to keep the rotor and add a different hanger system/knives to it if I was going to so anything. I personally want a commercial duty unit for the durability and parts availability.


5. how much would the improved mounting system and improved quality of cut affect your decision? - if it could cut larger brush I would be interested, if it is just a "better" cut in grass and some weeds I personally would not be interested. On the units I am interested in there is less than 50 hangers so I can switch the knives out in an evening so it is not a big deal to me.

Good luck on your poll

 

[ovrszd]

I'm totally new to the flail mower craze. Ford 917 with finish cut blades. I haven't gotten bit by the bug yet and don't quite see all the hype with flail. But I am open minded and will continue to "test" this attachment into next Summer before I get vocal about my opinions.

None of the things listed in this poll appeal to me.