Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

hunt4570 · Apr 21, 2015

Kathryn, watch out for that Island Tractor guy, he will be very good at spending your money!! HAHAHA!

I'm into about $3000 in new implements cause of him!:laughing:

All good stuff, I bought a Caroni flail partly due to his advice and I love it! Dont ask him about a grapple however, unless you want one of course!

Thomabear · Apr 21, 2015

Kathryn, If you are going to be mowing +50 acres I would be looking at a medium/heavy duty flail mower with at least an 84" cut. Not knocking Caroni but I think the widest they offer is a 6'.

IslandTractor · Apr 21, 2015

Thomabear said:
Katherine, If you are going to be mowing +50 acres I would be looking at a medium/heavy duty flail mower with at least an 84" cut. Not knocking Caroni but I think the widest they offer is a 6'.

I would agree that wider is better but the cost of going past 75" (Caroni) involves basically at least doubling the acquisition cost. More if heavy duty. If they are a non commercial hobby farm it just may not be worth the extra $$.

Thomabear · Apr 21, 2015

IslandTractor said:
I would agree that wider is better but the cost of going past 75" (Caroni) involves basically at least doubling the acquisition cost. More if heavy duty. If they are a non commercial hobby farm it just may not be worth the extra $$.

Valid point! I guess it depends on their budget and willingness to put in the extra seat time. Having kept up about 40 acres of semi rough property with a 72" cut was very convincing. My thinking is more seat time equals more wear and tear time on your body, tractor and implement, not to mention the additional fuel and maintenance due to running everything longer. I can't speak for everybody but to me that additional 2k investment is well worth it in the long run.

IslandTractor · Apr 21, 2015

Thomabear said:
Valid point! I guess it depends on their budget and willingness to put in the extra seat time. Having kept up about 40 acres of semi rough property with a 72" cut was very convincing. My thinking is more seat time equals more wear and tear time on your body, tractor and implement, not to mention the additional fuel and maintenance due to running everything longer. I can't speak for everybody but to me that additional 2k investment is well worth it in the long run.

Understood. The other issue with going bigger though is the available PTO HP and the fact that they mow infrequently and therefore are mowing lots of material. No doubt 38hp can drive more than a six foot flail but not so sure it could drive a 7 or 8 ft flail in thick grass at normal mowing speed. If you have to slow down it partial nullifies the benefit of the wider mower.

sodamo · Apr 21, 2015

Friend of mine got the 7ft value Leader from Betstco last year and very happy doing his 30 acres. Sorry I don't remember exact size or price.

David

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Kathryn M · Apr 25, 2015

Thanks for all of the responses. I have decided to go ahead and order the Caroni. We are fortunate that we could spend more for a heavier duty mower, but we can use the extra money on other items on our list, especially if it's not needed. If we did not already have several rotary mowers, I might go with the heavy duty flail. All of our rotary mowers are only five feet, so a six foot flail is definitely an improvement.

Here are some pictures of the front pasture the Craig cut last weekend with the rotary mower that leaves rows of grass and causes ruts. Sorry about the rotated one - I could not figure out how to fix it.

IslandTractor · Apr 25, 2015

You won't see windrows with the flail but if you cut really high or lush grasses, there will still be evenly distributed cuttings laying on top of the cut grass that will turn hay color in a few days. Only way to prevent that is to cut more often.

mjstef · Apr 25, 2015

IslandTractor said:
The Caroni should be fine for your acreage even with long intervals between mowing. It won't leave the land looking like a golf course but it is much better than what a bush hog does. I mow typically every 6-8 weeks and in some areas just once a year. Just don't mow when it is wet. I'll repost a few photos showing what it looks like below.

If you are used to maintenance free bush hogs you will need to readjust however. Greasing of bearings (2 minutes) each day and periodic replacement of drive belts (about $50 every few seasons) are routine maintenance requirements. Blade replacement intervals will depend on how many obstructions you hit. Some guys seem to go forever without needing blade maintenance when mowing pastures. Others, myself included, mow in rocky areas and I probably replace about one set of two blades and clevis every four or five acres mown. If you have read through the whole 1947 posts before yours, you are probably aware that the Caroni supplied clevises used to hold blades are not as durable as those sold by Flailmaster (but which require minor modification to fit).

Based on my experience, the Caroni will certainly fix your problem with clumping. I would probably still use the bush hog to do first cutting of the 10 acres of thicket even though the flail can do that work too simply to save on broken clevises/blades.

Those pics look really nice!! What kind of speed are you running to get those results?

IslandTractor · Apr 26, 2015

mjstef said:
Those pics look really nice!! What kind of speed are you running to get those results?

In the really heavy stuff or brush I typically run in low range both for better cut and so I can look out for obstacles. Not sure what MPH. Strolling pace is the best I can come to quantifying speed.

In fields I know well but are dry and have tall but not dense grass (usually Sept or Oct after no mowing since Spring) I mow in midrange at a speed that doesn't rattle my teeth too much. The fields are a bit lumpy. I'd say fast walk or jogging speed.