Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[ovrszd]

Well then, don't use it to mow your ponds!:laughing:

Since I always try to end on a positive, I'll address your comment last. Not sure the ole Ford can swim long enough to mow the ponds.

 

[ovrszd]

Just to prevent a wasted post. No,,,,, my blades are not on backwards.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'll address your comment second simply because it still indicates I don't know "squat" about equipment. My belts are not slipping, they don't get hot. If you can demonstrate to me a belt slipping situation where they don't get hot, I'll oblige you by listening.

I can see you cannot recognize a sarcastic joke. I mentioned the belts a couple of posts ago. You confirmed they were not the issue. You then made a comment about walking on water. I picked up the riff as a joke but apparently it got past you.

As best I can tell you are having a unique experience. Your own supposition that it has to do with travel speed is perhaps the best explanation I have heard but it still seems unlikely to be the whole answer. I do typically mow in low range HST but I don't crawl even in heavy stuff.

Have you checked to see how far above the ground your blades are? If the grass is very long and being pushed over as it enters the mower I suppose it is possible that it is simply being flattened and not cut. Seems unlikely but if the blades are somehow set high then perhaps it could happen. Have you set the mower for a very low cut, almost scalping, to see what happens?

 

[dieselscout80]

I'll start with you leonz, simply because you totally lost me.

I'm using the "rough cut" blades from Flailmaster. They look like a Whale Tail to me.

No need to watch the belt. It's not getting hot. If it's slipping, it would get extremely hot.

My tractor's air filter system is fine.

No friction clutch in the PTO system. The rear roller is in it's highest position. I also extend the top link until the cutter rides in a horizontal position.

My "mule" (Ford tractor 3910) has one PTO speed. Which by the way works great when powering a 6' brush cutter and a 5' KK rototiller.

I'm not going to mow in reverse over a mile of roadside banks so I can then mow them in forward.

I tried really hard to control my sarcasm here leonz. But I'm getting close to the end.

Richard, I have a Ford 917 too with the rough cut knives/blades and a gear driven tractor a IH 424 similar to your 3910 in size maybe a bit less HP. I like my 917 it is not the greatest thing ever invented.

I have found that if the grass is tall I have issue with not being able to go slow enough too, but I think a hydro-static drive tractor would help in those cases.

I am also beginning to think that flail mowers take slightly more HP than a bush hog of the same size.

 

[Thomabear]

Are you guys using Y knives or scoop knives? I have found from experience that scoop knives use much less HP, discharges the grass more efficiently and leaves a smother cut. I think the reason is that Y knives make progressing cuts to the same blade of grass while the scoop knives are cutting larger pieces and discharging most of the grass in one revolution instead or recycling. Can't think of another way to explain it but seeing in believing.

 

[leonz]

I was not trying to be sarcastic Richard, I want to help you.

Does your M9540 have the 2 speed 540-1,000 RPM Power Take off or the 540 RPM Power Take Off???

You have the live independent PTO with the PTO brake and wet clutch
apparently in this tractor.

Perhaps the PTO control valve needs to be adjusted or replaced????

You have an 95 horsepower turbocharged 4 cylinder engine in your tractor with 84 HP at the PTO. The PTO valve may just be out of adjustment.


What you have are "side slicer knives". Part of me says those new side slicers were not sharp when they sent them to you. A grind of 37 degrees gives you a bevel knife edge almost sharp enough to cut paper.

When you refer to the highest position are you saying the rear roller is at the lowest mount hole point on the flail mower?The lowest mounting hole position makes the flail mowers cut higher.

Having the rear roller at the top mounting position closest to the rear of the flail mower shroud gives the end user the shortest cut.

We only want to help you Richard not ridicule you. We all want you to succeed. There are members on the board that have this Ford 917 mower on smaller mules.

 

[hunt4570]

I was not trying to be sarcastic Richard, I want to help you.

Does your M9540 have the 2 speed 540-1,000 RPM Power Take off or the 540 RPM Power Take Off???

You have the live independent PTO with the PTO brake and wet clutch
apparently in this tractor.

Perhaps the PTO control valve needs to be adjusted or replaced????

You have an 95 horsepower turbocharged 4 cylinder engine in your tractor with 84 HP at the PTO. The PTO valve may just be out of adjustment.


What you have are "side slicer knives". Part of me says those new side slicers were not sharp when they sent them to you. A grind of 37 degrees gives you a bevel knife edge almost sharp enough to cut paper.

When you refer to the highest position are you saying the rear roller is at the lowest mount hole point on the flail mower?The lowest mounting hole position makes the flail mowers cut higher.

Having the rear roller at the top mounting position closest to the rear of the flail mower shroud gives the end user the shortest cut.

We only want to help you Richard not ridicule you. We all want you to succeed. There are members on the board that have this Ford 917 mower on smaller mules.

Looks to me from post #2359 he uses his ford tractor with this, not the big Kubota.. just an observation.

 

[leonz]

Hello Hunt4570, I guess I missed that part.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello ovrzd,

I strongly suggest that you put your Ford 917 flail mower on your M9540 before you
make a final judgement about it.

 

[KenB2920]

This is the before

 

[KenB2920]

This is the after with my Ford 907 (and some raking. Chewed up a lot of Nasty stuff. I went extremely slow as there were some stumps. I had brand new blades at the beginning of this.

This job broke/ dulled almost every single blade and I lost 13 link/hangers (the hold the blades on). New parts have arrived today as I will replacing all he blades.

This was a bit of a rough job for the flail but the brush hog would of A) never fit the way the stumps were and B) I most likely would if spent half the day replacing shear pins.

 

[KenB2920]

For clarification, I would do this job the exact same way in the future ..... Turned out fantastic in a short amount of time.

 

[hunt4570]

For clarification, I would do this job the exact same way in the future ..... Turned out fantastic in a short amount of time.

What flail mower are you using?

 

[ovrszd]

I can see you cannot recognize a sarcastic joke. I mentioned the belts a couple of posts ago. You confirmed they were not the issue. You then made a comment about walking on water. I picked up the riff as a joke but apparently it got past you.

As best I can tell you are having a unique experience. Your own supposition that it has to do with travel speed is perhaps the best explanation I have heard but it still seems unlikely to be the whole answer. I do typically mow in low range HST but I don't crawl even in heavy stuff.

Have you checked to see how far above the ground your blades are? If the grass is very long and being pushed over as it enters the mower I suppose it is possible that it is simply being flattened and not cut. Seems unlikely but if the blades are somehow set high then perhaps it could happen. Have you set the mower for a very low cut, almost scalping, to see what happens?

I never said I was "sharp".

I've not specifically checked the height of my cut. Although, I'm now cutting at the highest setting possible.

I'll try the low cut method. Although I see no way possible that will make the machine cut better. But I'm game.

 

[Thomabear]

I'm curious ovrszd, Does your mower rotate forward or reverse?

 

[IslandTractor]

I never said I was "sharp".

I've not specifically checked the height of my cut. Although, I'm now cutting at the highest setting possible.

I'll try the low cut method. Although I see no way possible that will make the machine cut better. But I'm game.

So long as your blades are sharp....

Actually, if you have the blades set high (understandable if making a first pass in high grass based on typical settings for bush hog etc) then it is just possible that as the mower moves forward it pushes the long grass over and the rear roller then keeps it down while the blades whirl harmlessly above. Conceivable if the mower front is set low and the rear roller is high that such a setting would pin long grass on the ground and prevent cutting.

If I were in your shoes I'd do just as you mentioned: lower it until almost scalping the ground and then see how it does. Besides adjusting the 3PT, a flail cutting height can be adjusted by changing the toplink to tilt the mower front up or down or by lowering the rear roller. The rear roller adjustment is I believe the best way to adjust for a consistent cut height but I do sometimes adjust the other methods when in the field. I personally don't fiddle with the rear roller much (I have it set fairly low) and I don't usually adjust the toplink while mowing but I simply raise or lower the 3PT over obstacles or to limit cutting if in really thick grass.

Good luck

 

[Fallon]

The roller on my 917 is fixed. I just put my hydraulic toplink in float & use the 3pt to set height. Works well.

My 917 "pushes" with the tractor going forward, if it had any traction to help push. It boggles my mind how useless it is trying to cut when backing up. It doesn't cut for diddily in reverse. Even when I go forward again over the backed over stuff it cuts poorly because the roller pushed things down. It cuts well in 4' grass though, which is way taller than the hood of the flail, so its bending the grass a bit before cutting.

 

[whirly]

Richard - Let's bury the hatchet and let me identify at least one of the differences between your 917 and my Mott.

The the "throat" of the flail is the space between the lift arm attachment points and the ground. My Mott has an open throat - there is nothing in front of the blades below the lift arms. As I move forward anything in front of the flail is hit by the blades coming off the top of their arc rotating from top forward to bottom.



The 917 has a semi closed throat. There is sheet metal approximately 6" below the lift arms and in front of the blades. This basically causes the flail to only cut what is almost directly under the blades. The blades cannot engage the grass until they are well past the first 90 degrees of that forward arc.


I am assuming this Ford 917A is similar to your 917 if not I apologize.

What Island is saying is this could be bending over the tall grass and for some reason the grass is not springing back up to get cut at your high setting. By lowering the blades to as near the ground as possible you would engage more of the stalk closer to the ground and get a better cut.

That is not necessarily what I would do but it's worth a try.

 

[KenB2920]

What flail mower are you using?

This time I used the ford 907.

 

[ovrszd]

I'm curious ovrszd, Does your mower rotate forward or reverse?

It rotates the same direction as the tractor tires when cutting.

 

[ovrszd]

So long as your blades are sharp....

Actually, if you have the blades set high (understandable if making a first pass in high grass based on typical settings for bush hog etc) then it is just possible that as the mower moves forward it pushes the long grass over and the rear roller then keeps it down while the blades whirl harmlessly above. Conceivable if the mower front is set low and the rear roller is high that such a setting would pin long grass on the ground and prevent cutting.

If I were in your shoes I'd do just as you mentioned: lower it until almost scalping the ground and then see how it does. Besides adjusting the 3PT, a flail cutting height can be adjusted by changing the toplink to tilt the mower front up or down or by lowering the rear roller. The rear roller adjustment is I believe the best way to adjust for a consistent cut height but I do sometimes adjust the other methods when in the field. I personally don't fiddle with the rear roller much (I have it set fairly low) and I don't usually adjust the toplink while mowing but I simply raise or lower the 3PT over obstacles or to limit cutting if in really thick grass.

Good luck

It only took a few minutes for me to figure out how to adjust cutting height. As I stated earlier, roller is at it's highest setting, top link extended until the cutter rests flat when 3pt is dropped.

I'll try dropping the cutting height.