Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

nicko · Jul 22, 2014

whirly said:
I have a Mott 72 with 92 pair of blades. I replaced all of them in 6 Hours and the pins are held on with carter pins instead of nuts. So 33 pair shouldn't take that long. I do have a heavy duty rolling bench I put the flail on to do the work so I could work standing up.

You wouldn't have a picture of that bench? I've wanted to build some sort of working platform for my Caroni 1900.
Thanks, Nick

whirly · Jul 22, 2014

Here you go. It is built to hold up to 1,200 lbs

nova3930 · Jul 22, 2014

That's nifty. Wish I had my shop built so I'd have a place to work. As it stands I'm lucky to just be in the new house. Got the thing blocked up with hunts of 6x6 at near max height on the 3 point. Hopefully I can get it done quick with the aid of a creeper. It's Carriage head bolts so just need the ratchet to take apart and the torque wrench to reassemble.

IslandTractor · Jul 23, 2014

A big very solid work bench would be nice but getting the mower up on the bench would presumably involve dismounting it and using the FEL to maneuver and lift it. Takes time.

I have a ramp into my barn. I back the tractor with mounted flail up the ramp and stop with the tractor front tilted down which raises the flail. I then use the hydraulic topping lift to pull the flail up to max height and block it. That gets the flail up high enough that I can comfortably sit on a short stool and access the rotor. Air ratchet plus one wrench makes pretty quick work of changing the flails and clevises.

Not everyone has a convenient ramp but it wouldn't be that hard to build either a temporary ramp for the rear wheels or a ditch for the front wheels to artificially raise the flail. Or, a third world car lift which is just to cut a trench under the mower to work in with the mower still mounted.

powerline · Jul 23, 2014

Ok so I am fabricating a floating top link adapter that utilises the slotted hole in the Caroni, to fit my quick hitch.. now could anyone provide feedback on the position of the side skids and the rear roller to provide say a 3 to 4 inch cut? Thanks!!

Thomabear · Jul 23, 2014

powerline said:
Ok so I am fabricating a floating top link adapter that utilises the slotted hole in the Caroni, to fit my quick hitch.. now could anyone provide feedback on the position of the side skids and the rear roller to provide say a 3 to 4 inch cut? Thanks!!

The rear roller should be adjusted so that it is in contact with the ground with the cutters the desired length from the ground (in your case 3-4") and the mower level. The skids are only there to prevent the knives from contacting the dirt. Set them about 1" below the knives and 2-1/2" or so from the ground and you should be good.

IslandTractor · Jul 23, 2014

Thomabear said:
The rear roller should be adjusted so that it is in contact with the ground with the cutters the desired length from the ground (in your case 3-4") and the mower level. The skids are only there to prevent the knives from contacting the dirt. Set them about 1" below the knives and 2-1/2" or so from the ground and you should be good.

I keep my skids pretty much out of the way by raising them as much as I can. Main reason is that it limits the gouging that occurs when turning sharply. Your advice is correct but I never noticed any real benefit from having the skids set lower. If the knives are going to hit a rock they will do so regardless of where the skids are. I rely on the rear roller plus my eyeballs to avoid having the knives hit objects. For the record, I cut mostly pasture and fields so am cutting very tall grass down to about 4 inches or so. I don't cut my smallish lawn with the flail simply because the tractor is too big and I inevitably create a mess maneuvering around and under trees etc.

Thomabear · Jul 24, 2014

Yep there definitely isn't any hard and fast rule concerning the skids, evident by the fact that some units don't even have skids. I think the key point is to keep the skids up high while keeping the flails out of the dirt. My skids at the highest setting should keep the flails 1" above the ground at least most of the time providing a reasonable amount of protection. But then there's always Murphy's Law.

sodamo · Jul 24, 2014

Just changed out the blades on my 68" Value Leader flail. 4 rows of 7 stations. As I may have mentioned a long time ago, I couldn't decide which cut I liked better, hammers or blades. My first set was hammers as I used the mower to attack some extensive pig rooting, basically, a ground engaging mower. Once those blades were worn out. And no more spares I replaced with a complete set of Y knives and been using those a couple of years. So when I bought replacements, I bought a complete set of each along with a couple spares of each., I decided to install the hammer blades first. As I was almost done, 4 stations on last row left I had an idea. What if I were to install a combination of hammers and Y? It would appear if I installed 2 opposing rows of each, for example 12 & 6 hammers, 3 & 9 Ys, that the rotor would be balanced and the spacing would allow a complete cut by each type per revolution.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Anyone tried anything similar? I'm thinking I might get a better cut overall, don't expect a worse cut. A bonus would be having a half set of each type as spares, meaning this arrangement could mean these two sets last longer than if installed normally.
Appreciate any feed back pro or con. I mow reclaimed pasture. Mowing is pretty much monthly year round and usually not allowed to get too tall except a couple of perimeter areas that may only get mowed 3 or 4 times a year.
David
Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

leonz · Jul 24, 2014

sodamo said:
Just changed out the blades on my 68" Value Leader flail. 4 rows of 7 stations. As I may have mentioned a long time ago, I couldn't decide which cut I liked better, hammers or blades. My first set was hammers as I used the mower to attack some extensive pig rooting, basically, a ground engaging mower. Once those blades were worn out. And no more spares I replaced with a complete set of Y knives and been using those a couple of years. So when I bought replacements, I bought a complete set of each along with a couple spares of each., I decided to install the hammer blades first. As I was almost done, 4 stations on last row left I had an idea. What if I were to install a combination of hammers and Y? It would appear if I installed 2 opposing rows of each, for example 12 & 6 hammers, 3 & 9 Ys, that the rotor would be balanced and the spacing would allow a complete cut by each type per revolution.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Anyone tried anything similar? I'm thinking I might get a better cut overall, don't expect a worse cut. A bonus would be having a half set of each type as spares, meaning this arrangement could mean these two sets last longer than if installed normally.
Appreciate any feed back pro or con. I mow reclaimed pasture. Mowing is pretty much monthly year round and usually not allowed to get too tall except a couple of perimeter areas that may only get mowed 3 or 4 times a year.
David
Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

David-

I want you to bury that idea at sea by Diamondhead please and bury it DEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The force on the bearings will not be equal around the complete orbit of the knives or hammers and the
bearings will not last long.