Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[IslandTractor]

I have heard this this entire thread is a conspiracy perpetratrated to entice poor weary folks like me into buying a worthless piece of junk! Well it worked! My Caroni shipped yesterday. Thanks guys for all the wisdom and experiences!! Greg Harrison

I wonder how many people have bought flail mowers after reading about them on TBN. Used to be that only bushogs were used by most CUT owners but flails certainly seem to be catching on. If Leonz had a buck or two for every flail convert he'd be a rich man. On the other hand I think he has more of a religious devotion than commercial interest in flails so he's probably up for sainthood in flail heaven when the time comes..

 

[CADplans]

Well, never thought to look up Verge in the dictionary as I always assumed it was some type of name for one of the flails. I guess my guessing of meanings is getting farther off every day. :laughing:

Thanks for the info.

So,,, are you saying,,,, you are on the VERGE of getting old??

:laughing:

 

[Steave]

So,,, are you saying,,,, you are on the VERGE of getting old??

:laughing:

Good one. I passed on the Verge of getting old a while ago. Retired and love it. Only thing I miss about working is the paycheck.

Just finished almost 5 hours of flailing. Cheap therapy. But with the sun beating me up I've had enough therapy to last me a few weeks. :drink:

 

[CCWKen]

I wonder how many people have bought flail mowers after reading about them on TBN. Used to be that only bushogs were used by most CUT owners but flails certainly seem to be catching on. If Leonz had a buck or two for every flail convert he'd be a rich man. On the other hand I think he has more of a religious devotion than commercial interest in flails so he's probably up for sainthood in flail heaven when the time comes..

I'm not sure why but flail mowers are pretty rare in my area. I've had people stop and ask what the machine is on the back of the tractor. I had never seen one up close until I took a chance at an auction and got mine about seven years ago. I had to haul it from 100 miles away. I still use the rotary for heavy stuff but my flail leaves a finish mower look with the spoons. I wouldn't give either one up.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm not sure why but flail mowers are pretty rare in my area. I've had people stop and ask what the machine is on the back of the tractor. I had never seen one up close until I took a chance at an auction and got mine about seven years ago. I had to haul it from 100 miles away. I still use the rotary for heavy stuff but my flail leaves a finish mower look with the spoons. I wouldn't give either one up.

I use both too. Hog for more efficient initial clearing of brush and then flail for following mowing and routine meadow cutting.

 

[Ozarks Landowner]

I've decided that some previous owner had welded weights on the drum of my project as what was on there just didn't seem correct. Looked like way too much weight to be factory. There was nearly 5 pounds in one place.

So I have removed the drum and cut off all the weights and removed all knives and hangers. I weighed and adjusted all the knives and hangers to weigh exactly 1110 grams each on a digital scale.

I am taking the drum to be dynamically balanced bare first then with all the knives attached. I first took it to a guy that said he could static balance it. This guys Father in law was a machinist by trade and when he saw what was being done informed him that the drum could not be static balanced correctly because there is no way to tell which end the weight needs to be balanced. Once I have the balance done it will be put back together with new bearings. Someone previously had put a 1.5'' bearing on a 1 7/16'' shaft. may of had some vibration from that too.

I imagine this will take care of the vibrations but there will probably still be the problem I had of grass building up on the knives.

 

[IslandTractor]

Ozarks, you are certainly going about the renovation very professionally. Let us know how it goes. Where did you find someone to dynamically balance the rotor?

 

[Ozarks Landowner]

Ozarks, you are certainly going about the renovation very professionally. Let us know how it goes. Where did you find someone to dynamically balance the rotor?

Oh I don't know about how professionally it's just something that needs to be done that I can't do myself. It's like paying the price for the rings and clips to fit the rotor I have. I have built my own instead of paying the crazy high price that would get me something that seems to have not worked very well on this machine in the past. I'm sure the previous owners were pretty dang hard on it though.

As far as getting it balanced I found a company online that has several locations within 200 miles or so that has the equipment. I will take it to them and install the knives myself after the initial balance as I can do it in about 15 minutes. They charge $95 an hour and expect it to take 1 to 1.5 hours. It is called Evans Enterprise inc. I will be going to the Springfield Mo shop.

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks Ozarks. I hope people can find your post when rotor balance issues might pop up. Those issues are rare but it's nice to know where to go for help.

 

[Steave]

Oh I don't know about how professionally it's just something that needs to be done that I can't do myself. It's like paying the price for the rings and clips to fit the rotor I have. I have built my own instead of paying the crazy high price that would get me something that seems to have not worked very well on this machine in the past. I'm sure the previous owners were pretty dang hard on it though.

As far as getting it balanced I found a company online that has several locations within 200 miles or so that has the equipment. I will take it to them and install the knives myself after the initial balance as I can do it in about 15 minutes. They charge $95 an hour and expect it to take 1 to 1.5 hours. It is called Evans Enterprise inc. I will be going to the Springfield Mo shop.

Electric motor shops build up then turn shafts on motors. They have a balance machine to check it. Do you know what kind of balancer they use. I've seen them running and turning the motor shaft but a 6' or more flail shaft might be too long ?? and it might not be the type of balance you need ?? Just a thought.