Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

leonz · Mar 8, 2016

coolnick73 said:
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Well I bit the bullet and picked me up a Maschio Brava 180. Next thing I need is a set is pallet forks! The build quality seems good, nice looking welds. It looks like the Italian gearboxes like to spit up oil, "I no like-a your oil!"

Thanks all for the knowledge in this thread.

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Welcome to the Flail Mower Nations Nick.

you have invested in an implement that will outlast your current mule and do lots fo work with barely a whimper and you will know its working well when you hear it acting like a vacuum cleaner.

As Island tractor has said he has written extensively on how to fix the oil burping issue and the fix is easy but you need to be vigilent in checking the oil and greasing the unit and be sure to take off the V belt guard to clean the rubber dust off the side weldment and expose the grease fittings.

OH-be sure to send the Maschio folks an e-mail asking for a manual for your flail mower ASAP as you need to know about the wear parts and you need the parts list for it too.

Happy mowing.

PRCWI · Mar 9, 2016

Cataclysm said:
From flail mowing this morning I did discover a fast new way to roll barbed wire!

Been there, done that!

IslandTractor · Mar 9, 2016

PRCWI said:
Been there, done that!

Works well with irrigation hose too.

shaeff · Mar 23, 2016

I joined the party a while back, only now just getting around to posting a picture. I've got a '64 MF35 Utility with a MF99 loader. I'm in the process of refurbishing the hydraulic pump and lift cylinder (which snapped off the cover plate!), then I'll start work on the flail. I picked up an 8' John Deere 25A flail mower along with a new belt and a box of new scoop knives and extra hangers for $200. It needs a bit of TLC, but it's all intact, the bearings seem fine, the drum isn't bent, and it came with the PTO shaft.

I'll do a touch of welding on it to bring the outer chassis up to snuff, other than that I'll likely run it as-is. I'm not a restore-it kind of guy, I like the greasy, well used machines. Reminds me of my childhood watching my dad on his International. That thing was a beast.

Anyway, on to a pic of when I first purchased the tractor for $1000 and had it flat bedded to my parent's where my tools all still reside, and then of the $200 JD 25A flail.

PS- anyone have pictures of how the 25A cuts? I can't seem to find ANY pics that show the cut of this implement. Thanks!

IslandTractor · Mar 23, 2016

Great deal you got there Shaeff.

I doubt there is much difference between flails regarding the cut. Knives make a difference but I would be surprised to find much difference between brands.

Industrial Toys · Mar 23, 2016

I once sucked a length of newly installed Siamese type cable (used on a C-Band Dish) right out of the ground with my Ford 917.

DocDryden · Mar 23, 2016

shaeff said:
PS- anyone have pictures of how the 25A cuts? I can't seem to find ANY pics that show the cut of this implement. Thanks!

I'm very happy with cut I get from my 25A

shaeff · Mar 24, 2016

IslandTractor said:
Great deal you got there Shaeff.

I doubt there is much difference between flails regarding the cut. Knives make a difference but I would be surprised to find much difference between brands.

Thanks! Good to know!

DocDryden said:
I'm very happy with cut I get from my 25A

Fantastic, that's exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! That gives a much nicer cut than my father's rotary brush cutter for sure. How wide is yours and what PTO HP is your machine if you don't mind my asking?

DocDryden · Mar 24, 2016

shaeff said:
Fantastic, that's exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! That gives a much nicer cut than my father's rotary brush cutter for sure. How wide is yours and what PTO HP is your machine if you don't mind my asking?

The pto hp is 33. Its about 7 ft wide. As you can see from the photos its off-set.
Last fall was the first time I used the mower. I had it set at about 2'' off the ground (there is a lot of rocks in the field I cut).

shaeff · Mar 24, 2016

DocDryden said:
The pto hp is 33. Its about 7 ft wide. As you can see from the photos its off-set.
Last fall was the first time I used the mower. I had it set at about 2'' off the ground (there is a lot of rocks in the field I cut).

Nice, that means my 37pto HP should handle the 8'. It looks like yours has many more knives than mine does, though. I'll have to look at mine again.

IslandTractor · Mar 24, 2016

shaeff said:
Nice, that means my 37pto HP should handle the 8'. It looks like yours has many more knives than mine does, though. I'll have to look at mine again.

Yours may be rough cut model. Better for brush but without a finish cut look on lawns. In high grass the cut is about the same though the rough cut can go faster.

shaeff · Mar 24, 2016

IslandTractor said:
Yours may be rough cut model. Better for brush but without a finish cut look on lawns. In high grass the cut is about the same though the rough cut can go faster.

Ah nuts. I was hoping to use it to maintain my whole lawn, except near the house. I'll have to check again, but I don't recall having that many knives. I've only bought and brought it home, it's still sitting on the trailer as I have many other things on my plate at the moment. Main reason I got it was to maintain my field, which it will work well for I'm sure. An added bonus would be to use it on the whole lawn. I'd think a rough cut model wouldn't have scoop knives on it, but all that can be changed pretty easily so perhaps someone did before I bought it.

IslandTractor · Mar 24, 2016

shaeff said:
Ah nuts. I was hoping to use it to maintain my whole lawn, except near the house. I'll have to check again, but I don't recall having that many knives. I've only bought and brought it home, it's still sitting on the trailer as I have many other things on my plate at the moment. Main reason I got it was to maintain my field, which it will work well for I'm sure. An added bonus would be to use it on the whole lawn. I'd think a rough cut model wouldn't have scoop knives on it, but all that can be changed pretty easily so perhaps someone did before I bought it.

I use a rough cut on lawn. Works fine just go a tad slower.

DocDryden · Mar 24, 2016

shaeff said:
Ah nuts. I was hoping to use it to maintain my whole lawn, except near the house. I'll have to check again, but I don't recall having that many knives. I've only bought and brought it home, it's still sitting on the trailer as I have many other things on my plate at the moment. Main reason I got it was to maintain my field, which it will work well for I'm sure. An added bonus would be to use it on the whole lawn. I'd think a rough cut model wouldn't have scoop knives on it, but all that can be changed pretty easily so perhaps someone did before I bought it.

That is exactly what I had in mind. The problem for me was my tractor is to heavy!!!!!!! about 5000 lbs. Left ruts in the lawn. My 25A has 36 Scoop Type Blades

shaeff · Mar 24, 2016

IslandTractor said:
I use a rough cut on lawn. Works fine just go a tad slower.

Fine by me! Thanks!

CobaltSky · Mar 27, 2016

Just when I decide I need a 73" Caroni TM.... Agrisupply shows completely out of stock.

I'll call them tomorrow and see what is up, but assuming the worst, can anyone suggest a great alternative for me?

IslandTractor · Mar 27, 2016

CobaltSky said:
Just when I decide I need a 73" Caroni TM.... Agrisupply shows completely out of stock.
I'll call them tomorrow and see what is up, but assuming the worst, can anyone suggest a great alternative for me?

AgriSupply gets shipments from Caroni quite regularly. They generally stock the flail mowers so I would assume they have a shipment coming in for the summer pretty soon. To my knowledge, no other dealer stocks the Caroni mowers anymore. Agrisupply may have some sort of deal with Caroni.

smilinjak · Mar 28, 2016

Cobalt sky take a look at Tractor tools direct. I have seen Caroni's listed as in stock. They may have what you are looking for.

Smilinjak

Alien · Mar 28, 2016

Interesting to note that one of our large Councils near here is apparently converting over to Flail mowers. No more Rotarys. I haven't heard why, but maybe it is because they are safer and quieter to use in a city?
Ha ha, I beat them to the punch....
Did I tell you I love mine?

One of the locals came to have a look at mine the other day. He liked it. :thumbsup:

CobaltSky · Mar 28, 2016

Agrisupply will not have the TM1900 in stock until late May. Shipping to CO will be another $501, so I am officially looking for good alternatives.

I haven't seen anyone actually buy and review the WoodMaxx. I am wondering how any of these compare to the Betstco ones on ebay? What do people think about the different levels of Value Leader models I see there?

EF vs EFC, vs EFCG, etc? And which one would be closest to TM1900?