It is time to get the flail mower ready(if you have not already begun mowing)

leonz · May 15, 2015

Good morning fellow board members,

As the weather is about to become crap again shortly I
thought I would spend some time chatting about your flail mowers.

SO anyway as we begin another wet mowing season here in New York I thought
I would go over a few things for the new flail mower owners and a refresher for those
of us that have owned them for a long time.

Anyway;

1. the first thing you need to do is check the oil level in the gearbox and top it off.

2. remove the V belt guard and scrape away the rubber dust or better yet wash it
off with hot water to clean it off and scrape off the dirt that does not want to fall off willingly.

3 make sure the snubber pulley rotates freely and grease it if it has a grease fitting.
(if the snugger pulley does not have a grease fitting it has a lifetime bearing)

4. examine your V belt or V belts for damage if you did not remove them and put them in
black garbage bag to store them for the off season.
If the belt edges are frayed the belt is on its last legs and the belt casing is cracked and
rubber dust will crumble off in your palm as you examine the belt.
If you do not know the belt size you can take it to an auto parts store and they can measure it and sell you a new one.

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The next items concern the mower drive system itself.

With my motorized towed flail mower it is different in the
respect that it has a Universal Joint connected to the engine
crankshaft which is connected to the cross shaft which passes
through the open flange bearing to the Hilliard Centrifugal
Slip Clutch which as seen over 30 mowing seasons.

I am still looking for a three point hitch mounted Mott Flail Mower that
has the Wisconsin air cooled 4 cylinder engine with V belt drive. Yes they did make them.

Please check the right angle gearbox seals to see if there is any oil leaking through the seals.
if there is no oil is leaking no worries.

If you develop an oil leak on either the yoke side or the output shaft side you should have the seals replaced, the ones in the pool or bathtub will complain and start barking, saying you do not feed us enough fish and no we do not have to be replaced with new ones

OK enough with the barking seals :^)

While the V belt guard is off you should pump a few shots of grease in the open bearing.

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The next issue is the mower hood and the flail mower rotor knife hangers and the knives.

If you can roll the mower over on its back it allows you to sit while examining
the the underside of the mower all the better or if you have heavy hardwood blocking
you can lower the mower on the blocking, set the parking brake on you mule, shut the engine off make sure the PTO lever or switch is in the off position and then remove the
key from the switch. Be sure you did not leave the lights on.

Remove the guard and then the PTO shaft to allow you to rotate the flail mower rotor without difficulty if you have not done so already.

When you examine the rotor start at the left or right bearing first and look for wire wrapped around the bearing and rotor as the wire will conduct and hold heat and cause premature bearing failure.

Be sure to check for a garden hose snake or snakes if you have a lot of brush around the rotor as they are vicious biters and do not unroll themselves willingly:laughing:

Check you knife hangers for any damage or cracks and replace them and replace any missing knife hangers or remove the opposing knife hanger and knives if you have no spares to replace them with. You will have to overlap your mowing to cut the missing strip until you
have replacements.

If the opposing edge is still good you can flip the knives for the coming mowing season.

The nuts and bolts should be replaced if you have to replace a cracked or broken knife hanger.

If you have a knife hanging system that is a small diameter metal shaft you need to check to make sure the weights used to balance it are still attached. If the weight is gone you need to have it replaced by having a new weight welded to the shaft by a good repair shop. If you can weld it on great. you just have to be careful when welding it, BUT saying that brazing the weight on will prevent damaging the bearings from the arc welding process.

On my finish flail mower which has a large roller which has a spring tension knife mounting system that does not require tools to remove and add knives and thatching blades.

With all that done you need to change the belts if you have not done that already and
re-install the the V belt guard, reattach the PTO shaft and grease the yoke before you replace the yoke cover on the mower.

If you have time hose the inside of the flail mower hood with hot water and scrape the grass dust off and use some Fluid Film or Mow Deck to reduce any rust build up and the grass or grass dust will not stick There are other brands of spray that do the job but I do not know the product names.

I offer a sincere apology to you if I missed something on this visit with you.