Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[whirly]

So I finally got a hold of the guy with the 77" alamo flail mower, SHD88. It has 184 blades and he says he thinks its a finish type mower, I'm wondering how it would do on brush??
Opinions?

I hate to argue with Island BUT my Mott (Alamo) 72 is a finish mower and has been abused in the field as previous stated. I have never lost a blade in the field and hit almost any obstacle you can imagine.

I HAVE bent blades.

But replacing the whole set is less than $150 from FlailMaster.

The pictures you have shown do not indicate that ground is going to be worse than mine and should be a piece of cake for the Alamo/Mott.

 

[Thomabear]

That picture is worth 1000 words as to why Alamo finish cut knives aren't the best choice for severe duty cutting. If I were using those knives I wouldn't go above 1" saplings or "surprise" fields unless I didn't mind the occasional bending and replacing routine. The mower would hold up fine as its designed for heavy duty work but it would be on a steady diet of knives and likely bearing failures induced by imbalance.

 

[whirly]

Yeah ... it's difficult for mainlanders to fathom how fast vegetation grows here.

I'll admit hammers would have been nice but after the initial "deforestation" they would have needed to be replaced with "Y" knives anyway.

The blade picture is after a year of mowing every 3 months until I moved here permanently and another year of mowing twice a week. Yes I know you can't fathom that grass grows 3-6" a week here and "other stuff" grows just as fast. In the end, I replaced the blades only because the cut was uneven ... 3 sets of blades in the same orbit were bent and left the grass 1/2" higher in that area. The mower was never out of balance. Out of balance is cause by loosing clevises and throwing blades which never happened.

Yes, I abused the flail mightily. The POINT was and is ... it took a likin' and kept on tickin'.

As for the weight restrictions on the Kabota L - the Mott's center of mass is just 18" from the hitch point similar to a box blade. The rotary mowers have a center of mass much farther out. 3pt implements act like a lever with your rear axle as the fulcrum point. The farther out from the fulcrum the more force is exerted by the same weight. The effect is on your front wheels and the ability to steer. If you have a FEL that will enable you to withstand more force at the back end and increase the weight you can carry.

 

[IslandTractor]

That picture is worth 1000 words as to why Alamo finish cut knives aren't the best choice for severe duty cutting. If I were using those knives I wouldn't go above 1" saplings or "surprise" fields unless I didn't mind the occasional bending and replacing routine. The mower would hold up fine as its designed for heavy duty work but it would be on a steady diet of knives and likely bearing failures induced by imbalance.

I don't think finish mower with banged up and bent knives would be out of balance unless quite a few of the blades were actually missing. Whirly shows us damaged blades but not missing ones. I guess the biggest downside to using a finish mower for rough mowing is that the knives would no longer be capable of providing a nice finish cut but I kinda doubt there would be any damage to the rotor or bearings based on his experience.

 

[sodamo]

Yeah ... it's difficult for mainlanders to fathom how fast vegetation grows here. I'll admit hammers would have been nice but after the initial "deforestation" they would have needed to be replaced with "Y" knives anyway. The blade picture is after a year of mowing every 3 months until I moved here permanently and another year of mowing twice a week. Yes I know you can't fathom that grass grows 3-6" a week here and "other stuff" grows just as fast. In the end, I replaced the blades only because the cut was uneven ... 3 sets of blades in the same orbit were bent and left the grass 1/2" higher in that area. The mower was never out of balance. Out of balance is cause by loosing clevises and throwing blades which never happened. Yes, I abused the flail mightily. The POINT was and is ... it took a likin' and kept on tickin'. As for the weight restrictions on the Kabota L - the Mott's center of mass is just 18" from the hitch point similar to a box blade. The rotary mowers have a center of mass much farther out. 3pt implements act like a lever with your rear axle as the fulcrum point. The farther out from the fulcrum the more force is exerted by the same weight. The effect is on your front wheels and the ability to steer. If you have a FEL that will enable you to withstand more force at the back end and increase the weight you can carry.

Your post surely makes me chuckle
And here I thought I was the admitted flail abuser of TBN LOL

As you say, we do have growth here.

I am on my 3rd set of blades in 5 years, hammers, Y's, and back to hammers. The hammers don't bend. They do get duller and I have broken my share, especially the first set. I think the fact they don't bend is possibly why I like them a bit better as I get a more even cut. I wish there was something of a combo blade, a hammer or scoop sandwiched between 2 Y's with all three able to float independently.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[Thomabear]

I don't think finish mower with banged up and bent knives would be out of balance unless quite a few of the blades were actually missing. Whirly shows us damaged blades but not missing ones. I guess the biggest downside to using a finish mower for rough mowing is that the knives would no longer be capable of providing a nice finish cut but I kinda doubt there would be any damage to the rotor or bearings based on his experience.

Whirly stated that in his situation his blades were bent at the same stations surrounding the circumference of the drum. This is likely the reason he stayed in balance while realizing a high spot while mowing. However, bent knives can and will throw the mower out of balance as the same density of rotating mass isn't distributed an equal distance from the center axis. It would be like balancing tires with the weight near the hub verses on the outer edge of the wheel where it should be. The further the weight is from center the more throw it will have at that point of the rotation.

 

[IslandTractor]

Whirly stated that in his situation his blades were bent at the same stations surrounding the circumference of the drum. This is likely the reason he stayed in balance while realizing a high spot while mowing. However, bent knives can and will throw the mower out of balance as the same density of rotating mass isn't distributed an equal distance from the center axis. It would be like balancing tires with the weight near the hub verses on the outer edge of the wheel where it should be. The further the weight is from center the more throw it will have at that point of the rotation.

Understand your point. I would think however that the difference in distance from centerline (an inch max) for the tip of a bent blade and the fact that one blade weighs about 2 ounces (or so) means that the imbalance would be pretty small. The two ounce weight is still there but maybe a quarter of it is closer to centerline. Not sure exactly how carefully these rotors are balanced but I would still think that so long as the blades are not actually missing that the effect of bending would be small.

 

[Thomabear]

With some afterthought I totally agree with your explanation. While small imbalances affect wear to some degree it probably isn't significant enough to warrant any special attention and will likely go un-noticed. If you loose 6 months or so of service life on a bearing that should last 10 years I personally don't see that as a real issue. It kinda goes back to the common sense rule that if you can feel it vibrating you probably should address it.

 

[hunt4570]

Well you guys have polluted my mind, I'm calling Agrisupply in the morning and ordering the Caroni. Been himming and hawing about a used one but they all look so beat up, with a new one I know what I'm getting ... I hope..

 

[IslandTractor]

Well you guys have polluted my mind, I'm calling Agrisupply in the morning and ordering the Caroni. Been himming and hawing about a used one but they all look so beat up, with a new one I know what I'm getting ... I hope..

Used flails can be a great deal but we haven't heard of ?any new flail buyers who wished they had done something else. Take care of the Caroni and it will serve you well for many years. Get a set of Gates kevlar belts and figure out a blade/clevis replacement strategy. Grease before every mowing and you'll be golden.