Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[IslandTractor]

Hi Leonz, here is a question.

After reading many threads in TBN, I found many customers use different blade for his flail mower, when cut grass, they use grass blade which is Y shape. When cut bush or small trees, they use hammer blade.

From my side, this is un-accpetable, because the rotor shaft balance is fixed once it was produced. This is the vodeo which I took about testing rotor shaft balance: rotor axle electric balance test - YouTube a balance block will be welded on after test it.

So what is the real situation when customer use different blade for flail mower? I would like to hear what customers think about this, TBN is a good place to collect these information to help me to improve.

Thank you.

While it is possible to change blades, it is a royal pain in the butt to do so most folks chose a single blade type and make do. There isn't a balance issue so long as the blades of any one type are of uniform weight. When I ordered new replacement blades I checked the weight and in general they are all within five or ten grams of each other as I recall. That won't upset the balance of the rotor.

 

[Jack Yuan]

.

Thank you, so for customer, the key is to use similar weight blade. Yes, this should be all right.

 

[Thomabear]

Figured I'd give this thread a bump and let subscribers know I have 3 Kelvar belts and 1 vent extension adapter to fit a Caroni flail mower FS in the want adds. All items are brand new. I'm switching to a different brand of flail mower and I no longer need these spares.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

The old saying goes "what goes around comes around". Kinda true in my case with respect to this thread.

I started this epic flail mower thread back in 2008. I had become intrigued with flail mowers and wanted to know more. Well, as the thread started to unfold, I started to talk myself out of the idea. I owned and had owned rotary cutters for years. I knew how to use them and the low maintenance was and is attractive. The more I read in the earlier parts of the thread, the less I wanted a flail mower. Hydraulic oil bubbling out, belts breaking, difficulty in getting them set up, etc, etc, scared me away from the idea. I dropped out of the thread and did not follow it for most of its life.

Fast forward to late 2013. I ran across an old 917 Ford flail for sale. I decided what the heck. I'm not getting any younger and I guess a flail was still on my bucket list. So I bought the 917. I then proceeded to go back and read "Let's talk flail mowers" from beginning to end. Yep all 145 pages.

The mower is at my hunting property which is two hours from my home. It runs because the seller had it hooked up to his tractor and let me have a short test drive. He had recently replaced all the cutting knives. I plan on replacing the belt, checking the bearings and hopefully get it operational without a lot of work. We'll see. I will use it to cut the yard at my hunting cabin, some trails in the woods, and some food plots. It won't get a lot of use, but hopefully it will turn out to be useful. If nothing else, I will be able to make a check mark on my bucket list. As questions arise and I need advice, I'll be back. I know all you flail gurus will be here to help.

Here are a few pics.

 

[IslandTractor]

The old saying goes "what goes around comes around". Kinda true in my case with respect to this thread.

I started this epic flail mower thread back in 2008. I had become intrigued with flail mowers and wanted to know more. Well, as the thread started to unfold, I started to talk myself out of the idea. I owned and had owned rotary cutters for years. I knew how to use them and the low maintenance was and is attractive. The more I read in the earlier parts of the thread, the less I wanted a flail mower. Hydraulic oil bubbling out, belts breaking, difficulty in getting them set up, etc, etc, scared me away from the idea. I dropped out of the thread and did not follow it for most of its life.

Fast forward to late 2013. I ran across an old 917 Ford flail for sale. I decided what the heck. I'm not getting any younger and I guess a flail was still on my bucket list. So I bought the 917. I then proceeded to go back and read "Let's talk flail mowers" from beginning to end. Yep all 145 pages.

The mower is at my hunting property which is two hours from my home. It runs because the seller had it hooked up to his tractor and let me have a short test drive. He had recently replaced all the cutting knives. I plan on replacing the belt, checking the bearings and hopefully get it operational without a lot of work. We'll see. I will use it to cut the yard at my hunting cabin, some trails in the woods, and some food plots. It won't get a lot of use, but hopefully it will turn out to be useful. If nothing else, I will be able to make a check mark on my bucket list. As questions arise and I need advice, I'll be back. I know all you flail gurus will be here to help.

Here are a few pics.

Keep the bearings greased and it will outlive you. Good luck.

 

[clayhardock]

H guys, I'm in the market for a new mower. Currently using a JD front deck F932, gas powered(22hp) with 6ft deck. The type of mowing I do is rural, praire grass. Sometimes think with weeds. About 8-20" in height depending on weather, thick in the spring. Fields are rough, lots of gopher mounds, not much for rocks, I've been mowing those fields for 8 years so I've found most of them already.
I'm looking at buying a used JD4400 which has about 30hp at the PTO. I'm trying to decide what type of mower t get. A RC won't give me the finish I want so its out.

I'm not looking for lawn quality but something decent. I have been considering fail but am worried it won't track very well over the uneven terrain.
Also I want to run atleast a 7" cut. It sounds like flails use more power than a finish mower, but less than an RC?
What about speed, given the same HP/tractor, same grass and same width mower, which will cut faster, finish or fail?
What about blade life? Typically with my current mower(which I know isn't meant for rough fields) I get about 8hours of cutting out of a set of blades and I can usually only resharpen them once before they are worn out. Given the extra work involved in changing the knives on a flail I'm hoping that I would get close to a season out of them. How well do they stand up to hitting mole hills and the occasional scalping?
Mowers in my area(Canada Alberta) that I have seen are JD 25a and 390, an older Mott 6ft, Landpride(via the Kubota dealer). Not a lot used, just the Mott and its about an 8hr drive round trip to get it. Thinking of picking it up just to try and then if I like it spend the big $$$$ on a bigger unit.

 

[clayhardock]

H guys, I'm in the market for a new mower. Currently using a JD front deck F932, gas powered(22hp) with 6ft deck. The type of mowing I do is rural, praire grass. Sometimes think with weeds. About 8-20" in height depending on weather, thick in the spring. Fields are rough, lots of gopher mounds, not much for rocks, I've been mowing those fields for 8 years so I've found most of them already.
I'm looking at buying a used JD4400 which has about 30hp at the PTO. I'm trying to decide what type of mower t get. A RC won't give me the finish I want so its out.

I'm not looking for lawn quality but something decent. I have been considering fail but am worried it won't track very well over the uneven terrain.
Also I want to run atleast a 7" cut. It sounds like flails use more power than a finish mower, but less than an RC?
What about speed, given the same HP/tractor, same grass and same width mower, which will cut faster, finish or fail?
What about blade life? Typically with my current mower(which I know isn't meant for rough fields) I get about 8hours of cutting out of a set of blades and I can usually only resharpen them once before they are worn out. Given the extra work involved in changing the knives on a flail I'm hoping that I would get close to a season out of them. How well do they stand up to hitting mole hills and the occasional scalping?
Mowers in my area(Canada Alberta) that I have seen are JD 25a and 390, an older Mott 6ft, Landpride(via the Kubota dealer). Not a lot used, just the Mott and its about an 8hr drive round trip to get it. Thinking of picking it up just to try and then if I like it spend the big $$$$ on a bigger unit.

 

[Xfaxman]

H guys, I'm in the market for a new mower. Currently using a JD front deck F932, gas powered(22hp) with 6ft deck. The type of mowing I do is rural, praire grass. Sometimes think with weeds. About 8-20" in height depending on weather, thick in the spring. Fields are rough, lots of gopher mounds, not much for rocks, I've been mowing those fields for 8 years so I've found most of them already.
--------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------.

If you like your JD front deck, try to find a flail for it.

Here is my front deck 4WD TORO.


And the front flail deck that fits it.


If you don't want to keep the JD, this would do the job. :laughing:

Pictures from an eBay listing.

 

[leonz]

H guys, I'm in the market for a new mower. Currently using a JD front deck F932, gas powered(22hp) with 6ft deck. The type of mowing I do is rural, praire grass. Sometimes think with weeds. About 8-20" in height depending on weather, thick in the spring. Fields are rough, lots of gopher mounds, not much for rocks, I've been mowing those fields for 8 years so I've found most of them already.
I'm looking at buying a used JD4400 which has about 30hp at the PTO. I'm trying to decide what type of mower t get. A RC won't give me the finish I want so its out.

I'm not looking for lawn quality but something decent. I have been considering fail but am worried it won't track very well over the uneven terrain.
Also I want to run atleast a 7" cut. It sounds like flails use more power than a finish mower, but less than an RC?
What about speed, given the same HP/tractor, same grass and same width mower, which will cut faster, finish or fail?
What about blade life? Typically with my current mower(which I know isn't meant for rough fields) I get about 8hours of cutting out of a set of blades and I can usually only resharpen them once before they are worn out. Given the extra work involved in changing the knives on a flail I'm hoping that I would get close to a season out of them. How well do they stand up to hitting mole hills and the occasional scalping?
Mowers in my area(Canada Alberta) that I have seen are JD 25a and 390, an older Mott 6ft, Landpride(via the Kubota dealer). Not a lot used, just the Mott and its about an 8hr drive round trip to get it. Thinking of picking it up just to try and then if I like it spend the big $$$$ on a bigger unit.

IF you purchase the 25A or 390 flailmower you will
have a mower that you can use for your conditions
and the hardened knives will work well and they are
not costly to replace.

My father ran a John Deere 25A behind a Ford Jubilee with no issues
knocking down 12 foot golden rod recliaming pasture

There are a lot of good new and used flail mowers on www.tractorhouse.com



Mowing speed is strictly dependent on the PTO horsepower and ground speed.

The quality of cut at 2 inches will be perfect as long as the mower is properly
leveled using a bubble level on top of the gear box LEVEL after you have adjusted
the rear roller to a 2 inch cut per the manuals instructions.
You will get more than a season out of the knives on 25A or 390.

My second set of knives is 14 years old by the way

The higher the knive count the better the cut, the finer the clippings


DO not order a unit with the scoop knives!!!
You will be dissapointed with the cut as it will have
a waffle pattern unless you mow at right angles to overlap


Be sure to have a unit with side slicers Y blades.

You can mow in a spiral and save time and money and brakes and have an excellent cut.

A flailmower slices the grass, a rotary cutter or rotary mower tears it!!!

 

[clayhardock]

Thanks for the tip about the knives, its confirmed what I've been reading about knife selection. I already do mow in spiral pattern to save time. I understand that speed is dependent on a lot of factors but given all things equal, how fast can a flail cut compared to a finish mower? I goal is to speed up my mowing time.

My current mower works well for me but its getting tired, was designed for a golf course not getting beat up in a field. Also now I have an acreage so a tractor with loader and 3pt hitch is appealing. When I do buy a replacement unit I hoping to get something more versatile that will speed up my mowing time over what I have now. Honestly if I didn't buy the acreage I would probably just buy a newer diesel front deck mower like what I have but with more power and 4wd.

I see a wide difference in the number of knives, I'm guessing more is better, finer cut. How does that affect the power requirement? A little or a lot? Is a JD440(28pto) upto powering a 7ft flail in thick grass?