JD 25A Flail mower

disney · May 14, 2014

DocDryden said:
Not to hijack this thread but since we're on the subject (25A flail mower) I have notice that in RedHawkRidges photos that he has weldments that cover his roller bearing, on my 25a the weldments appear to be missing. Is that something I should be concerned about?

His is a newer version, and also uses only two bolts, instead of three to bolt the bearing to the housing/end plate piece. I would say that you could add some mini skid plates/weld mounts, but that would only reduce the already minimal clearance between the assembly and the ground, increasing the likelihood of drag marks.

tbutman · May 14, 2014

Why are you getting drag marks at all? I'd say your roller drum isn't low enough.

troverman · Aug 4, 2017

Old thread, but in the photo it appears the duck foot flail knives were installed backwards.

leonz · Aug 4, 2017

Yup they need to be flipped if he has not done it already.

Jack Yuan · Aug 5, 2017

This old flail mower is impressive, there are many old designs which disappear now, but it is really strong. How many years old is this mower?

leonz · Aug 5, 2017

The basic design for the JD25A is 30 plus years old Mr. Yuan

JD40MO77 · Aug 25, 2017

leonz said:
The basic design for the JD25A is 30 plus years old Mr. Yuan

Going to look at a couple more to possibly add to the 2 John Deere 25A flails I already have......I use mine behind a 1973 Ford 4000 diesel......I'd like to try a newer 4wd hydrostatic drive tractor 40+ horsepower to see if I could vary my ground speed better to get a better cut and cover more ground.

I have one with the duck foot cutters and the other I installed the 2 piece Y cutters on.
So far I've had to replace one belt, several cutters, rotor bearings, and roller bearings.
But i've went over some very rough terrain.

Anyways anyone else out there using these post up a comment when its convenient.

leonz · Aug 26, 2017

Do not hesitate to bring it home, the flail mower rotor alone is worth a small fortune and easily sold if need be.
The ground speed, brush thickness and maintaining 540 RPM at the gearbox are the ruling factors for any flail mower. The great thing about the 25A is the welding and how well they were constructed.
My dad used his 25A to knock down 12-15 foot tall goldenrod and other weeds to reclaim the pasture property on the home place with his Ford Jubilee mowing at 2 inch height and he originally used his 36 inch motorized towed lawn genie to make a jogging path for my mother so she would not have to jog on the road.
All the american made and European made flail mowers are first rate units and the EU flail mowers have a much greater degree of pedestrian protection with the debris catching doors in the flail mower inlet to stop any material that may potentially ejected out the front with the flail mower,