Flail Mower Just bought a Nova-tractor Ditch Mower

[Unwiredone]

Hello, all!

I hope I can contribute something positive here as many of you have given me good advice previously and I need to return the favor.

Like many, I too, have been searching for a ditch/bank flail mower or similar to address areas around the farm and a lake that I have. I looked at the Bestco, Verge, and Titan (Palletforks) units the most closely until I stumbled upon this company (NOVATRACTOR, the best value tractor implement in the US market, we supply flail mower, wood chipper, ditch mower, etc) late last week.

Although the unit is pricier compared with the other models, let me share with you why I chose this particular brand and model.

First the model. It's a Novatractor BCRM175 and I will be using it behind a Kioti NX5010. After speaking with the manufacturer - which Nova claims to the manufacturer and ISO9XXX certified although the units are built in China (Just like iPhones), the 50HP of my tractor should be sufficient for this particular mower.

What I particularly found of interest that differ from the other, competing models are the following key features that I feel justified the added cost (Total cost of the unit, shipped is $2850 for this particular mower):
* Guards around the front, rear, and belt housing.
* Hose holders for the ends crafted to the hitch mount. (I know, small detail, but its better than leaving them to possibly hang in the dirt.)
* Mechanical "Crash Protection System" (Their words, not mine). This hitch function along with the front guard is the big one for me as I know I will likely hit a hidden stump or something similar and this will provide me extra safety margin of not tearing up the equipment.
* Vertical lock pins for transporting (The other manufacturers didn't imply that this was a standard feature.).
* Belt Tension window for a quick check before use.
* Heavier hammers - 28 ounces versus 14 ounces of the others.
* 4 belts versus 3 for similar models

All said, to me, the above differences were enough to justify the extra $500-$700 price difference.

I expect I will take delivery of this unit in about a week as its coming from Houston, TX. I will provide updates and pictures once I have a chance to use it.

Thanks to everyone for supplying their experiences with other brands as well as helpful hints and suggestions.

 

[Avenger]

Now you got me looking at them. I've made up my mind about getting a Woodmaxx, until now. Dang it!


That is a unique color of green and orange. :confused2:

Got some reading to do.

 

[Unwiredone]

I totally understand where you're coming from...I was on the list to buy one from Bestco until I found the Novatractor. To make my decision, I put together a spreadsheet and compared features to features. Note, the manufacturers suggested HP on their website is for pulling power and not PTO HP.

Good luck in making a decision. I know its difficult...oh how I know.

 

[coobie]

Good thread,keep us updated..

 

[Unwiredone]

By the way, Avenger, I have ironically watched your videos before. Very informative! Thanks!

 

[Avenger]

By the way, Avenger, I have ironically watched your videos before. Very informative! Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks for watching!!

 

[3Lfarms]

That looks like a pretty good value for a ditch mower. I like the two piece drive shaft setup.
I am curious if the gearbox is an overrunning unit. In the video, it stopped pretty fast. My flail will spin for almost 30 seconds after turning off the PTO and shutting off the tractor. A couple of times, I have shut off the tractor and gotten out to pick up some trash or something, and after what seems like quite a while, been startled by the hammers making a racket as they finally come to a stop and hit the rotor.
Just be aware, the crash protection system will not prevent damage if you hit an immovable object while mowing at the 3.5 acres per hour their spec sheet says you can cover. You will simply be moving much to fast to get the tractor stopped before the thing is twisted into a pretzel. It will only allow the hydraulics to bypass from one side of the cylinder to the other and will let the mower swing back a foot or so in its normal arc. If you don’t get the tractor stopped in that time, you better have a plasma cutter and a welder.

 

[audsp98]

I have a Novatractor MFZ175 and it's amazing. This is my first full year being able to use it, bought it late last summer, and I'm still learning more of what it can do than what it can't as far as what it can safely cut. I have a lot of wooded area that I keep the under brush cleared with it along with clearing saplings up to 3". The hammer blades are 3.3 lbs each and pretty much destroys anything they touch.

 

[audsp98]

That looks like a pretty good value for a ditch mower. I like the two piece drive shaft setup.
I am curious if the gearbox is an overrunning unit. In the video, it stopped pretty fast. My flail will spin for almost 30 seconds after turning off the PTO and shutting off the tractor. A couple of times, I have shut off the tractor and gotten out to pick up some trash or something, and after what seems like quite a while, been startled by the hammers making a racket as they finally come to a stop and hit the rotor.
Just be aware, the crash protection system will not prevent damage if you hit an immovable object while mowing at the 3.5 acres per hour their spec sheet says you can cover. You will simply be moving much to fast to get the tractor stopped before the thing is twisted into a pretzel. It will only allow the hydraulics to bypass from one side of the cylinder to the other and will let the mower swing back a foot or so in its normal arc. If you don’t get the tractor stopped in that time, you better have a plasma cutter and a welder.

I'm not sure which Novatractor flail you're referring to but mine will spin for a good 20-30 seconds if I disengage the PTO at full 540 RPM.

 

[Unwiredone]

Hello, all! Received my unit this week. What a beast this unit is and so far am pretty impressed with the quality of the machine from how it put together. Haven't been able to really put it to a test yet as I will explain momentarily.

What I do want to share is that I had a couple of small challenges with the item. One part that was supposed to come with it didn't make it in transit. The response from the manufacturer has been very fast and very accommodative to make things right. Time will tell if this is all true once the missing part comes in. Another challenge had to do with one of the hose assemblies and the zerks. Like anything traveling great distances, things simply need to be tightened. As for the zerks, and after using a zerk cleaning tool, I was able to get the zerks to accept grease.

Originally, I planned to use my FEL and add longer hoses to control the unit. After mounting the flail, and taking it on a test run in one fixed, horizontal position, I have since determined that I will forgo this plan and instead have a second rear remote valve installed on my tractor and keep the FEL mounted to act as a counterweight. Using the FEL controls may seem like a great idea, but in truth, most of the mowing that I intend to use with this unit is really going to be trim work and light brush removal so simple level controls will be sufficient.

I will be posting video and pictures once the remotes are installed.

Today, without using the machine for any length, would I recommend buying one from Novatractor? Yes. Customer service is pretty great so far and the company is very interested in learning about what I like and don't like. Fact is, I just received an email while writing this post from the company asking for some additional feedback on the unit. The unit takes at least two people to put it together as it's heavy (what you want) and takes a couple of hours.

Yes, the implement is more expensive than lesser quality units, yet I believe I have a quality machine. This is not what I use to mow my fields as I have a Wood's Batwing Mower for bush-hogging that I use behind the large Kubota. This flail I'm operating using the Kioti NX5010 and the tractor handles it very well. We use two 100HP Valtra's with the Krone disc mowers for the hay cutting as well as the Kioti for the small M&W disc mower. This is a nice compliment unit for trim work and field / lake edge work. (We have quite a bit to mow as you might guess.)

More to come...