Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[CADplans]

JD website says the 390 is 1093lbs for the 8'3" overall width unit. For something 8n sized you may want to consider some ballast on the front. If you come up on a slope you may very well be looking at the sky.

I knew it was something like that,,,
Hmmm,, maybe a hook up on the next warm day is in order??

 

[shaeff]

I knew it was something like that,,, Hmmm,, maybe a hook up on the next warm day is in order??

That 390 is a beast, my 25A is only a bit over 600lbs!

I'd give it a whirl (no pun intended), you're an experienced operator, be safe and you should be fine. Lift it up and see if you can bounce the front by hand maybe? You'll have a pretty good feel of it when you're running it. Besides, a lot of the weight is on the roller while in use.

 

[deanocraft]

Thank you Island Tractor and Fallon! I think I will get myself a flail shortly... I think the grass will be easier to get under control during the winter.

 

[CADplans]

That 390 is a beast, my 25A is only a bit over 600lbs!

I'd give it a whirl (no pun intended), you're an experienced operator, be safe and you should be fine. Lift it up and see if you can bounce the front by hand maybe? You'll have a pretty good feel of it when you're running it. Besides, a lot of the weight is on the roller while in use.

Well,, I took the JD 4105/JD390 for a spin today,,,

No issues at all, the 4105 has plenty of power, everything ran smooth,, nice cut, too,, but, not lawn quality.

The front end never tried to lift.

 

[shaeff]

Nice! And that's a nice looking machine, too! Sure makes my '64 Massey 35 Utility look like a rattletrap.

 

[aarolar]

So I've been reading this thread hard and I'm up to page 107 and I have a question I haven't seen answered yet. How many hours can I expect to get on a set of knives with the TM1900? I have zero rocks around here and it would only see grass no brush at all hardly besides the occasional pine sapling. I estimate I typically put around 25hrs per year on my 5ft rotary mower as of now could I expect more than one season from the flail?

 

[innrkid]

So I've been reading this thread hard and I'm up to page 107 and I have a question I haven't seen answered yet. How many hours can I expect to get on a set of knives with the TM1900? I have zero rocks around here and it would only see grass no brush at all hardly besides the occasional pine sapling. I estimate I typically put around 25hrs per year on my 5ft rotary mower as of now could I expect more than one season from the flail?

That was answered on page 108. Just kidding.
Island Tractor is your man for the answer.

 

[aarolar]

That was answered on page 108. Just kidding.
Island Tractor is your man for the answer.

Up to 125 now wife is getting ill with me everytime I purchase something new I go into "research mode" and will read for hours. I've pretty much decided I'm getting one but I'm still real skeptical but I know I'll always wonder if I don't try it.

 

[leonz]

Don't feel bad, I spent 7 years researching which coal stoker boiler to buy.

I have been using the same set of knives I sharpened in 1992 for my Mathews Company Lawn Genie finish flail mower when it was still at my fathers place if that helps you make the spousal unit more cranky.

Just remember the more knives you have the finer the clippings and the finer it will shred them on the second and third pass.

Mowing in spiral makes it even easier as you can overlap as needed and then after you spiral outward you can go back to the center and travel in reverse to recut with so little fuel burned.

Between the mule and the lawn genie I averaged 4 gallons of premium gasoline between both engines for mowing six acres and you had to dig to find the clippings in the sod.

If you do anything invest in the Caroni finish flail mower and you can always remove two rows of knives if you want to make the first pass of the season and then you can put the second and fourth row of knives back in and never have to remove them again unless you have dulled the knives and need to sharpen them.

Wet well low RPM knife sharpeners are inexpensive and can be purchased from Micromark for $99 + tax and shipping.

A wet well grinder is the best grinder for all types of flail mower knives. I still have the same one I bought in 1988.

You will want to sell any rotary mower you have left as it will want to crawl under a rock and not do anything anymore after you purchase the finish flail or the TM model if you do not want a finish cut mower.

 

[IslandTractor]

So I've been reading this thread hard and I'm up to page 107 and I have a question I haven't seen answered yet. How many hours can I expect to get on a set of knives with the TM1900? I have zero rocks around here and it would only see grass no brush at all hardly besides the occasional pine sapling. I estimate I typically put around 25hrs per year on my 5ft rotary mower as of now could I expect more than one season from the flail?

Good question. In ten years of mowing in fields with plenty of rocks, I've never had a blade "wear out" and never even reveresed them much less sharpened any but that is largely due to the fact that I lose blades regularly and replace them. The original Caroni supplied metric clevises are engineered with a shoulder to be the weak point and they do break when hitting a big enough rock. When a clevis breaks you lose the knives. I don't know if I have any of the original clevises left so I doubt I have any original knives. I now use 3/8" clevises from Flailmaster. Good news is that none of them has broken after a rock strike. Bad news is that the knives break if the clevis doesn't. Over the past ten years I have probably gone through at least 60-70 knives but all because of loss in the field.

I am pretty sure my experience is only relevant to folks in rocky post glacier regions of New England. If I had to guess I'd say that a set of knives would last 4-5 years in the north and maybe 3-4 years in the south before needing to be reversed if you are mowing grass and brush rather than rocks.