Is anyone using the Flail Cutter Attachment

[jmfox]

I'm wondering if the Bobcat 79" Flail would be the way to go for high grass and brush. I'm thinking it might do a better job on grass than rotary cutters.

jmf

 

[mouse]

I've not used one, my understanding is the danger factor outweighs any performance gain.

put another way they wont sell them here ofr toolcats even though they have them, they will only consider them for skidsteers with decent plastics fitted.

they also say much much better suited to a 20t excavator where everything happens a long long way away...

 

[SpringHollow]

Most posts about flail mowers refer to how much safer they are versus rotary cutters. Am I missing something here?

Ken

 

[mouse]

ken, can you point me at some such references?

i guess part of it does depend on what type of flail you are running.

our local occupational health & safety literature indicates a fair risk of injury with a flail especially if proper guarding on machines is not used. one example is a guy using a flail on a tractor, the flail was arm mounted and offset and he had the tractor door open for whatever reason. the mower flicked a piece of wire at him which pierced his heart.

the rotary type mower may throw things just as hard but the direction of throw is horizontal.

don't get me wrong, i'm very curious bout flails but my research leads me to concur with what i originally posted in this thread.

further thoughts?

 

[SpringHollow]

This is one thread i was talking about:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/118882-lets-talk-flail-mowers.html

Now these are mounted in front of or behind the tractor. I do not remember them talking about boom mounted.

Ken

 

[trlbrkr]

I am using the 6' Rockhound http://www.rockhound.com/72F ToolCat Mower.pdf and very happy with it. Yesterday I was in golden rod and grass higher than my D, the motor was working hard and I had to slow down to 1.5~2 mph but it did an excellent job. I also have a Bobcat 90" finish mower that works great on lawns but in the pastures it takes more than one pass to get everything

 

[mouse]

ok, the only bobcat flail i've seen here i guess you'd classify as a mulcher - it had big cast hammers fitted not those y flails.

i've used a slasher heaps and for all sorts of terrain and material without drama.

i figure if a flail is so good them why does every major mower manucturer out there persist with rotary with perhaps the sole exception of the reel mowers. their r&d depts are far better paid than me...

 

[IslandTractor]

ken, can you point me at some such references?

i guess part of it does depend on what type of flail you are running.

our local occupational health & safety literature indicates a fair risk of injury with a flail especially if proper guarding on machines is not used. one example is a guy using a flail on a tractor, the flail was arm mounted and offset and he had the tractor door open for whatever reason. the mower flicked a piece of wire at him which pierced his heart.

the rotary type mower may throw things just as hard but the direction of throw is horizontal.

don't get me wrong, i'm very curious bout flails but my research leads me to concur with what i originally posted in this thread.

further thoughts?

You are describing a flexible boom mounted flail which is a very different mower than a front or rear fix mounted flail. Flails are generally safer than rotary mowers which is why they are commonly used in public areas.

 

[mouse]

You are describing a flexible boom mounted flail which is a very different mower than a front or rear fix mounted flail. Flails are generally safer than rotary mowers which is why they are commonly used in public areas.

again perhaps.

flail mowers are not common here at all in any app

 

[IslandTractor]

There is a recent (last month) detailed and long thread on flail mowers in the attachment forum. Flails are not nearly as common as rotary cutters but they have some significant advantages which are useful to some applications. My point is that flails are generally considered much safer than rotary cutters especially to pedestrians and other vehicles.

 

[Rara Avis]

ken, can you point me at some such references?

i guess part of it does depend on what type of flail you are running.

our local occupational health & safety literature indicates a fair risk of injury with a flail especially if proper guarding on machines is not used. one example is a guy using a flail on a tractor, the flail was arm mounted and offset and he had the tractor door open for whatever reason. the mower flicked a piece of wire at him which pierced his heart.

the rotary type mower may throw things just as hard but the direction of throw is horizontal.

don't get me wrong, i'm very curious bout flails but my research leads me to concur with what i originally posted in this thread.


further thoughts?

Could you cite a reference...because the only NIOSH death that was related to a flail mower was a crushing injury... NIOSH FACE Program: Michigan Case Report 03MI098 | CDC/NIOSH

 

[odleefs]

Flail mowers are safer than rotary mowers, no doubt.
The vertical rotary axis of cutting over the length of the cutter (Up into the mower deck, back into the deck, down into the ground or out into the expected plane of ejection) of a flail yields much less distance thown than the concentrated ejection of a brush cutter (out the right side with conter-clockwise rotation or out the left side of the deck with clockwise rotation) due to the horizantal cutting plane of a rotary cutter.
I have inadvertantly thrown rocks a considerable distance with my rotary cutter and may trade up to a flail cutter in the future due to this. Friends with flail cutters rarely see debris being thrown more than a few feet from their units...

 

[ruffdog]

Toolcat with flail video....it looks like the debris is pretty well controlled.