Ford 22-125 flail advice

[Mallard1]

 

[leonz]

No need to worry about the mower trash that sticks to the scoop knife.
I would check the belt tension again since it slipped off.

 

[Fallon]

I get piles of stuff caked all over everything under the hood on my flail. I should pressure wash off that black fibrous mat at some point, but it will just come back. Its normal.

 

[Mallard1]

Thanks for all of the help, I went ahead and ordered a spare belt just in case. I will double check the tension Friday before I mow with it.

 

[Mallard1]

I finally got the chance to use the flail mower last weekend and had mixed results. I am pulling it with a 65hp tractor and had the height set to the middle setting. When i mowed we had just gotten 1/2" rain the night before and i started right at sunrise. when mowing tall but thin grass it did great. however when i got in shorter but very thick grass it would bog the tractor or slip the belt and just roll down the grass. I was able to get about 3 of the 4 acres mowed.

This afternoon i went back down and put on a new belt, and raised it to the highest mowing height of about 5" and the grass was very dry. With this combination it did great, i had a waterfall of grass clippings flowing out of the back. I realize the first time I mowed was less than ideal conditions and a bush hog would have had similar results. I won't be getting rid of the bush hog but will be using the flail in the future.

I do have a leaking output seal on the gear box that I will have to take a look into fixing. I didn't see a parts breakdown so I might have to pull it off and see if I can figure out what it is unless someone knows where to look.

Thanks for all of your help getting this mower back cutting good and I believe this will be a useful attachment in the future.