Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[leonz]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice, any recommendations for a flail mover that would suit 35HP (CK3520SE)? I'm in Canada (Alberta specifically) and I'm having a hard time finding much - I was leaning towards a TMG Industrial 60” Flail Mower but having read a few threads on here about them it seems like a should stay clear.

I won't be using it a great deal, maybe once every 2 months, clean up around an orchard and then knocking down a wildflower meadow twice a season.

Thanks.

I am sending you a PM.

 

[powerscol]

@lazaroo
I have a Bobcat CT235 (35 hp) and run this unit Maschio Giraffetta 160SE Flail Mower (this is an offsetting ditch bank mower) It has been a good match. Zero issues over the years I have had it. Somewhere here I have a thread of what I went through to choose it. Leon was a grate help educating me.

BTW I am mowing at 6500 feet with a naturally aspirated diesel tractor, so I am probably at 25 HP. If the grass is real heavy, I just slow down.

Stay Safe

 

[CliffordK]

Oh, it looks like I have a little reading to do. I just started flailing around yesterday!!!

The mower (knife flails) really chews up blackberries.

Is there any reason not to just remove the rear roller so that I can attack stuff both directions? Perhaps add either skid plates or castors to the side.

 

[leonz]

Oh, it looks like I have a little reading to do. I just started flailing around yesterday!!!

The mower (knife flails) really chews up blackberries.

Is there any reason not to just remove the rear roller so that I can attack stuff both directions? Perhaps add either skid plates or castors to the side.

What brand flail mower do you have mounted on your mule/tractor?
What type of knife is it equipped with, formed spoon/scoop, side slicer/cast hammer?

The rear roller serves five purposes,
(1) to prevent scalping
(2) to prevent damaging the mower knives
(3) damaging the flail mower rotor from a ground impact and breaking the knife mounts and hangers
(4) maintaining the rigidity of the flail mower shroud, the tubular steel bracing
and preventing the steel components from wracking/twisting
(5) the rear roller is used as the mowing height gauge


To operate effectively the flail mower/crop shredder needs to create a suction lift-negative pressure gradient
to lift the clippings up and over the flail mower rotor.
It does this by pulling the surrounding air under the flail mower shroud as the flail mower rotor
spins at 2,200 RPM+ as it cuts the grass or brush.

If the flail mower has side slicer knives it can recut the material on the second pass as the side slicer knives
act as an airfoil. The side slicer knives that are mounted on D ring hangers become airfoil's/airplane wings and the centrifugal
force of the high speed of rotation increases the blade tip speed to slice rather than rip the grass or brush and the following
knives also the grass blade assuring a level cut.

The stationary knives mounted on the twin stub weldments of most flail mowers only allow the knives to orbit the flail mower rotor and not become true airfoil's as they are bolted in place due to the narrow width of the knife mounting stations which is the thickness of 2 flail mower knives. This creates a saw tooth grass pattern that looks a bit rough and does not damage the turf.

 

[CliffordK]

What brand flail mower do you have mounted on your mule/tractor?
What type of knife is it equipped with, formed spoon/scoop, side slicer/cast hammer?

Man, you guys start with the tough questions!!!!

The tractor is a Landini 60F.

Frankly I'm not quite sure what the mower is. It is about 5 foot wide. I do intend to mow both backwards and forwards.

Excuse the upper link pin. I'm still working on getting stuff working. The Landini is still a work in process too.

Anyway, I'll probably keep this old yellow setup for steep mowing of blackberries. Perhaps I can get some grass seeded. And it is pretty clear that the slope isn't at all uniform, so perhaps that rear roller will be vital, unless I get it replaced with something better.

I did pick up an older Rinieri TRC 185 70" Flail Mower yesterday. It is stunning the differences between the old yellow mower and the TRC 185. The TRC has obviously taken some abuse, but it is made STOUT. I was hoping for hammers, but it has heavy duty knife flails which may suit my needs. I'll upload some photos once I get it unloaded and start testing.

The TRC 185 (new) is listed at 50 to 80 HP and 1210 lbs.

https://bdimachinery.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TRU%20TRU-D%20+%20TRC%20TRC-R.pdf

I think the Landini should be able to handle it, but perhaps it will be better to keep the lighter mower on it when mowing the steep stuff. I'm maxing out at somewhere around 45°.

 

[leonz]

I love seeing that Mott Interstater Flail Mower on the back of your Landini,
how old is the Landini?

Are the side panels missing on your mule??

A new replacement rear roller will help you a great deal if you decide to
invest in one and new bearings and bearing mounts.

The rubber guard is something you can replace with a wide
round baler belt and new nuts, bolts and washers.

Whether you want to sharpen the side slicer knives or simply flip them
is an issue you have to mull over as the knife mounting stations do not
look healthy and the mower has seen a great deal of use and removing
the nuts with a grinder would be the way to go on this.

Mowing in reverse allows you to knock down whatever you wish to mow
in 2 passes as long as you travel slowly and allow the knives to work to
make small clippings that you can recut again.

 

[CliffordK]

Mott... Thanks.

I'm not quite sure how old the Landini is. It came to me at auction a month ago as a non-runner.

See thread here:

Landini Trekker 60F

I picked up a Landini Trekker 60F at auction last week. Data Plate lists 1TAL/AS, but it seems to match the Trekker 60 or 60F. Listed as a Non-Op. If it runs, the price will be an absolute steal. If not, an expensive boat anchor, although the engine may be worth more than I paid, if it...

www.tractorbynet.com

It had been partly cannibalized (and thus not a chance it could be started before purchase). I'm slowly getting it back stable enough to use.

It has a date on the engine tag:
Yanmar 4TNV94L-N
This engine conforms to 2004 Model Year US EPA Regulations.

The engine side panels are missing. I'm not sure if they're available in the USA.

However, I can tell that driving forward through the blackberries will ultimately tear up the remaining part of the grill and hood.

 

[CliffordK]

In my browsing, trying to identify the Rinieri TRC 185 mower I just picked up at auction...

https://bdimachinery.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TRU%20TRU-D%20+%20TRC%20TRC-R.pdf

They seem to have a unique feature that I hadn't noticed before with the TRU-D mower that is "reversible".

REVERSIBLE ROTARY MOWERS TRU-D

Orchard and vineyard rotary mowers TRU-D

www.rinieri.com

Apparently designed to mount either forwards or backwards, depending on one's preferred direction of mowing.

That isn't the model I had found at auction. But, it does make one think about the possibilities.

Ouch!!! Those are rather more expensive than what I paid!!!

 

[CliffordK]

Whether you want to sharpen the side slicer knives or simply flip them
is an issue you have to mull over as the knife mounting stations do not
look healthy and the mower has seen a great deal of use and removing
the nuts with a grinder would be the way to go on this.

Once I get going I'll look at that closer. The mower seemed to shred anything I needed to shred as is.

However, those look like cotter pins and not nuts. So, they should come off relatively easily. Then I just have to determine if they're worth saving... the pins and not the cotters.

 

[John0829]

I just replaced all the pins and cutters on mine as well as rebuilding the roller. I would much rather do the cotter and pin then the bolt & nut like on my New Holland 918H. The pins had some wear but most of them probably would have been fine for another round.

 

[arto98607]

In my browsing, trying to identify the Rinieri TRC 185 mower I just picked up at auction...

https://bdimachinery.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TRU%20TRU-D%20+%20TRC%20TRC-R.pdf

They seem to have a unique feature that I hadn't noticed before with the TRU-D mower that is "reversible".

REVERSIBLE ROTARY MOWERS TRU-D

Orchard and vineyard rotary mowers TRU-D

www.rinieri.com

Apparently designed to mount either forwards or backwards, depending on one's preferred direction of mowing.

That isn't the model I had found at auction. But, it does make one think about the possibilities.

Ouch!!! Those are rather more expensive than what I paid!!!

I think they mean it can be mounted either behind or in front of the tractor.

 

[leonz]

I think they mean it can be mounted either behind or in front of the tractor.

Yes, that it is what Rinierie is describing exactly to the reader meaning the flail shredder can be mounted on the front of a tractor with a front three point hitch and power take off as well as the rear power take off.
The galvanized shields/folding shutters that are in front and the rear are required by the EU farm equipment safety regulations.

 

[leonz]

Hello and good morning CliffordK,

www.USfarmer.com

From www.equipmentradar.com

Lucky you, Landini has a farm equipment dealer in California with 2 dealerships!

The Landini dealers name is San Joaquin Tractor Company and they have 2 dealerships,
one in Bakersfield and the other in Wasco.

Bakersfield, California office 1-661-324-4517

Wasco, California office 1-661-758-3953

Please do not give up on that beautiful Italian track drive Mule!

Landini still makes farm equipment in Italy so please don't give up as I am sure they can help you
with that beautiful tracked mule.

www.landini.it

They still manufacture 2 crawler models and they are built well enough to drool over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CliffordK]

Thanks for the links. I followed Landini's global website, and they didn't list any USA dealerships, although a few tractors and crawlers show up in the USA, so there had to be a dealership somewhere.

It is a unique machine. It is tiny and low to the ground for the horsepower that it packs. I did have a thread about it here:

Landini Trekker 60F

I picked up a Landini Trekker 60F at auction last week. Data Plate lists 1TAL/AS, but it seems to match the Trekker 60 or 60F. Listed as a Non-Op. If it runs, the price will be an absolute steal. If not, an expensive boat anchor, although the engine may be worth more than I paid, if it...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[jonsstihl]

I have a mott 72 with gauge wheels on the back but mine still has the roller as well. you have the long finish knife configuration which should be pinned on. Mine has the bolted on D-ring and short knives configuration. I think the D-ring is more resistant to rough cutting configurations but it is still the fine cut version with lots of knife stations. the rough cut versions have a lot less knife stations and the knives are much more beefy.

 

[leonz]

Call the people at San Juaquin in either Bakersfield or Wasco Ca. to get
a manual for your Landini.

 

[jonsstihl]

does that mean you can actually reverse the direction of rotation of the rotor just by hooking up to the other side of the mower. keeping the mower on the rear of the tractor. that would be interesting. of course the gearbox/drive pulleys would end up on the other side.

looks like a well built mower and it can be offset hydraulically

 

[arto98607]

If you are asking about Rinierie flail mower - no it does not!

It's not "reversible" at all, that's just a little language problem with the translation I think.

Check the brochure in post #7974 for more details.

 

[Kevrobster]

I just picked up my first flail mower-a crusty old John Deere. At first I assumed it was a 25a but after inspecting the name plate it apparently is an F2200. Anyone ever seen an F2200 flail mower and would you happen to know if 25a parts will interchange?

It's going need bearings on the roller at minimum. The one side is missing the entire bearing and housing assembly and the other side looks rough.

Also would be curious if anyone here has a parts mower that would sell the rear deflector/shield from, and/or the belt cover? If not I would consider making them if anyone could provide some of the dimensions.

Once I get it working good I'd like to give to some fresh paint!

 

[arto98607]

That looks like a solid old mower in somewhat neglected condition.

Should be fine after overhaul - hopefully no big surprises.