Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[carson84]

Thanks for the reply. Looking at the Alamo website, it seems that the super heavy duty mowers still use one belt. I'm not at home right now but iirc, when turning the pto shaft by hand in a normal clockwise rotation, the cuttershaft turns in the direction of the tires while going forward. This would mean that I have a reverse rotation cutter, correct?

 

[leonz]

NO,

you have a clockwise rotation flail mower rotor when looking at it from the left side ONLY.

It was designed to slice and lift the clippings over the flailmower rotor
and back down to the ground.


If you had a forward discharge flailmower it would have a large discharge opening in the front
AND it would have been a side mounted mower-not a rear mounted unit.

 

[leonz]

Hello! New member here with a question about an Alamo flail mower I
recently purchased.

I knew absolutely nothing about flail mowers prior to this and I'm still
trying to figure out exactly what I have.

I do know that it's an Alamo brand 7' flail with a rough cut shaft.

I know it's a shd88 and it was previously a commercial unit (maybe road crew?).

It's been sitting up a few years but is in decent shape with all components moving freely.



It was missing one clevis so I purchased it and the blades from flail-master last week (awesome company).


What I'm trying to figure out now is if I have a normal cutter or a reverse rotation cutter.

You have a clockwise rotation(when looking at the left hand side of the flail mower) flail mower rotor.

Forward discharge flail mowers are either mounted in firectly in front of the tractor or side mounted hydraulic units.



I'm hoping someone can tell from these pics. ThanksView attachment 392286
View attachment 392287View attachment 392288

You need a new belt guard and the rear caster wheels. They help support the flailmower to
maintain a level mower to reduce scalping.

You do not have a reversing gearbox to permit it to rotate counterclockwise.

 

[bruceha2000]

Bending the lift link was likely an anomaly, your understanding is correct that the float should allow the whole mower to move up, but perhaps there was another outside factor restricting things. Also the adjustable lift links are sometimes just a tube so it would be significantly weaker in compression (buckling).

As for the reason I use the side chain, one of my fields is very bumpy and I haven't had the chance to level it out yet. This allows the mower the go freely into the ruts and back over and not miss odd chunks of grass. It also evens out the pressure on the rear roller and its bearings.

I also drop the 3ph lever to float and the top link controls the height of the front of the mower. I don't have position control, so using the alternative of using the 3ph to control the front height (and perhaps a chain or floating lop link) would not be unrepeatable without check chains or something else to consistently set the 3ph height. The top link does a fine job of this and I can find adjust right from the seat. Also, my flail does not have a floating top link so that's another reason for me to run this setup.

I don't get any scalping from the skids unless the ground is majorly unevening, which is the result of the ground and not the mower set up. I did some quick analysis and concluded with either setup there is a chance to scalp. With top link setting the front height it can scalp when the tractor's front wheels go into a dip or start down a hill. With the 3ph arms setting the front height its when the tractor's front wheels go up a hill or bump, this lowers the 3ph arms and dips the front of the mower. Properly adjusted skids will avoid any scalping from the blades but the skids themselves might especially during turns.

OK, being a REAL noob here, all the references to different controls doesn't mean a lot to me. I understand the 3 point hitch attaches any number of implements and that the current versions have up pressure but not down pressure (apparently in the 'olden days' they had down pressure as well?) For instance I see you reference not having a position control, I presume that means some tractors do and it is a desirable thing. So .....

Iff'n I were to get a REAL tractor and wanted to get a flail to mow the fields, what "features" would I need to specify? I'm sure a sales guy would be happy to sell me everything possible, including the optional half bath for the cab

Al mowed the 4' tall weeds with a sickle bar mower. If I were to get the 4.5 acres of fields in productive "hay field" condition, would that be the appropriate mower? I don't know that there is really enough acreage to justify one of the "speciality" hay mowers. Lots of ledge so lots of up and down and around. I understand a flail is a "whack it down, chop it up" alternative to a brush hog. I guess that is actually a different question altogether. Unless one has a need to whack overgrown fields on a regular basis, is there any need for a flail or brush hog at all?

Learning and taking notes!

 

[carson84]

NO,

you have a clockwise rotation flail mower rotor when looking at it from the left side ONLY.

It was designed to slice and lift the clippings over the flailmower rotor
and back down to the ground.


If you had a forward discharge flailmower it would have a large discharge opening in the front
AND it would have been a side mounted mower-not a rear mounted unit.

I know it's not a forward discharge but I think it may be a reverse rotation drive. I was looking through flail masters catalog and saw the 2 belt guards available for my mower. One is a standard and one is for the reverse rotation. Looking at the way it would mount, the rust lines from the old guard, and the pulley positioning has me believing its reverse.

 

[JCByrd24]

Bruce, position control on the 3ph is what most tractors will likely have. With this the 3ph lever can be moved anywhere in a range in a slot and the position of the lever is related to the position of the lift arms (unless the lift arms are floating because there is something holding them from dropping further). These usually have threaded knobs that you can position in the slot to limit the travel of the 3ph to stop at the same height consistently. Many small and/or cheaper compacts don't have this feature and the 3ph control is just like a hydraulic valve. In the middle the 3ph stays in the same spot. Move it to the up position and the 3ph arms will continue rising until it's at the top or you return the lever to the middle. Lowering is similar, thus I can't lower consistently to the same spot. My lever will stay in the lower position so I do have float.

I've never done any haying, but my impression is the a sickle bar is the cheapest way to cut a "recreational" hay field. A flail is not the right tool as it'll mulch it all up. You need a mower that cuts the grass off and leaves it full length.

 

[leonz]

NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dont confuse yourself there is no need to worry about it.


looking from the left side clockwise rotation means that the flail mower rotor always
operates slices and then lifts the clippings over the rotor and back
to the ground in the rear of the mower shroud IN THE REAR PERIOD.

 

[leonz]

If it was reverse rotation drive you would have both right angle gearbox and a
reversing gearbox that rotates the rigth angle gearbox.

Flailmaster needs to amend the notation in the catalog as the guard fits the
hydraulic drive units too from what I remember.

No worries just buy the PTO shaft, caster wheels, the belt guard, change the belt and oil
dig out the buried grease fittings do not pump any more than six shots of grease in the flail mower rotor bearings.

 

[Xfaxman]

I know it's not a forward discharge but I think it may be a reverse rotation drive. I was looking through flail masters catalog and saw the 2 belt guards available for my mower. One is a standard and one is for the reverse rotation. Looking at the way it would mount, the rust lines from the old guard, and the pulley positioning has me believing its reverse. View attachment 392349

Here are pictures of the Mott that I used to have.


Here is a close up of the cover with the top hole made black to see it better.

It matches the reverse rotation cover that you posted.

Since idler pulleys go on the non pulling side of the belt, it looks like the rotor rotates counterclockwise.

 

[leonz]

Bruce hire a neighbor to mow it if you buy it.


Haying four acres is only going to get you about 20 tons
an acre with three cuttings of alfalfa if you have enough
rain and or a good seedbed planted with a sure
stand grass seeder.


if you have neighbor that has a flail chopperhe could mow the
acreage for you and then you could do your soil tests plow, disc,
plant and hore the baling done


The other things are soil tests and adding back the needed minerals
including Lime, Gypsum and Potash and whether you will irrigate the
land as that is the way yyou will increase hay tonnage.