Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[LouNY]

A new one is $3150

 

[leonz]

Well making progress on my flail mowers beam;

Working on the side gussets......................................done
View attachment 3730340View attachment 3730345

Getting it painted up, next step install
View attachment 3730346View attachment 3730347

Of course the other day one of my brothers came by, after I had butt welded the tubing and welded on the top and bottom straps. He was standing there and said would have been easier just to cut both ends off and just replace all the tube would have been less work and welding.
Yep, it sure would have, where were you last week with the good ideas

The only problem would be the metric pins it came with and whether they would fit the new bored slugs The other issue would be the required bronze bushings with the same issue of fit

 

[LouNY]

The only problem would be the metric pins it came with and whether they would fit the new bored slugs The other issue would be the required bronze bushings with the same issue of fit

I cut the old bored slug (pivot) off the damaged section and welded it to the new tubing.
Cleaned the bushings this morning applied grease directly to the bushings, and greased the pins.
The first pin went in nicely the second pin took considerable finagling to get the bottom hole lined up for full bore of the pin. About 3 hours getting it in and fitted this morning. Now the mower is back as it was 2 weeks ago.

 

[Tinhack]

I don't know if this is allowed or not, mods do your thing.
I saw this on facebook marketplace a few minutes ago. Is is a good deal? Then my financial manager said no. It's anyone's game.
I do think it's a good match for my MF 451 though.

I got the BCRM-155 last year. That's what I paid for mine new and shipped to my driveway. It may have been a couple of hundred less, I don't recall exactly. All the pretty yellow labels turned white and mostly flaked off. They're cheap paper labels but the cutter works great.

I didn't have anything to lift it except the 3PH on the Ford. I had to partially assemble it down front then haul it up with the tractor. I didn't have the right quick connectors so the cutter was extended while I brought it up the shop. I ran the tires on the Ford at minimum pressure to keep the tread flat. That doesn't work well with this cutter. It flattened the right-rear tire when I lifted it. I had to crawl back to the shop hoping to not break the tire off the rim. It takes full tire pressure to keep the rim out of the dirt. And you will, for sure, know it's back there.

 

[FlailMaster]

It's been some time since I posted in the forum! I hope all you old timers are doing well. I just wanted to stop by and share about a John Deere 25A coarse cut that is for sale in Sequim WA. One of my long time customers passed away and his wife called asking for assistance on selling the mower. She doesn't do social media or computers really so I told her I would help in any way I could to find a buyer. I thought why not post to all the fine folks on the "Let's Talk flailmowers" thread because you guys are awesome & just might know someone in the market. I am attaching photos for reference. If you have any questions or know someone just tell them to call Carrie at Flail-Master & I will get them in touch with the owner. THANKS!

 

[arto98607]

That is a solid fine looking mower for someone!

 

[Doug Vee]

I would have been interested early last year. Not so much now. I am a little over an hour away from Sequim. I will ask around locally.

 

[NCG]

First post here, looking at a Maschio Brava L hydraulic offset vs Del Marino Flipper. I have a Deer 5205 4wd to power it, 56hp engine, 52 at the PTO. Have a front end loader if that matters for counter weight. Wanting to know the largest mower of each model I can use effectively and any pros/cons to the two mowers.

I have to admit that I have read a lot of the posts here…but not all 800+ pages. Thank you for the advice!

 

[leonz]

Hello and good evening NCG,

Both brands of flail mowers meet the European Union agricultural
equipment safety standards which are greater than what the safety
standards are here in the United States.

Your mule has an 8.5 gallon hydraulic system.

Your mule has an 8 speed forward, 4 reverse manual transmission
which will not rob power from the tractors hydraulic system or the
hydraulic offset on the mower.

What is more important is what are the mowing conditions in which
you will be using it whether it is good sod/turf, unmowed heavy brush,
small saplings, heavy thick stalked weeds, crop flail shredding?

Are rocks and frost heave an issue for your property?

The other questions involve mowing.

How often do you intend to mow?

Will there be 2 and 4 legged rug rats running around?

Can you mow the ground at a 2 cutting inch height?
Mowing at a higher cutting height will reduce the mowers ability to
mow well as it will not create the adequate pressure gradient/suction
to lift the clippings up and over the flail mower rotor.

Are you willing to travel at a slow ground speed to recut everything
on the first and second pass at first mowing?

Will you mow when the brush is dormant if mowing brush to mow
it to a better extent to knock down any invasives or saplings.

What type of finish do you want?

Hammer knives will only cut the brush once and will not be able
to recut it.

Side slicer knives will slice the brush and recut it as many times as
is needed until the side slicer knives cut it so small it will not be lifted
up by the 2,200 RPM created by the flail mower rotor speed.

Do you have enough acreage that you can begin mowing in the center
of it and mow in a spiral pattern?

Mowing in a spiral pattern saves fuel and eliminates the need to brake
and back up constantly. Mowing the perimeter of an acreage first will
save you time and fuel.

About maintenance;

Investing in a V belt tension gauge will save you a great deal of maintenance.
Having spare V belts of the correct type tucked in a sealed black garbage bag
will be there when you need them and keeping them in the sealed bag prevents
them from rotting due to ozone exposure.

Having a hot water hose handy and a leaf blower will help keep the mowers side shift free of
grass dust that will rot and make a mess.

Having spare knives/hammers and metric attaching bolts and metric wrenches are a must have.


Leon

 

[NCG]

Greetings Leon, you’ve hit on a lot of points:

48 acres but divided into fields of 5-10 acres. Will be mowing some areas that haven’t been mowed for 5 years, mostly Canadian Goldenrod, assorted herbaceous weeds, and fescue with some saplings (mostly <2” diameter). Plan to mow these areas every other year after first cut. Hope to transform to prairie plants as resources allow, will then be burned every other year with a mowed perimeter. Plan to mow after pruning small orchard. Biggest use will be to chop cover crops, some tall and dense (rye, millet, sorghum, etc.). Currently use a 6’ rotary which leaves a windrow, making tillage difficult.

Some rocks, but not bad, soil is central Ohio glacial till. Most rocks are baseball or smaller.

Rugrats are at a safe distance.

Not sure about 2” cutting height, never tried.

I can drive slow and recut. Slow tractor work is my meditation.

Dormant season is fine for the non cropped areas. After woodies are chopped, prefer to mow early summer to give the redwings nest time.

Finish…not particularly picky. Mulched in place.

Thought I wanted hammers for the prunings and saplings, now not sure.

Spirals are fine.

Thank you for the help.

 

[Torvy]

Imho, unless you are trying to mow a lawn or lawn-like space, hammers are the better option (unless you get both and switch).

We mow once every 4-6 weeks. Saplings and brush pop up in that time and hammers make short work of them.

 

[leonz]

Greetings Leon, you’ve hit on a lot of points:

48 acres but divided into fields of 5-10 acres. Will be mowing some areas that haven’t been mowed for 5 years, mostly Canadian Goldenrod, assorted herbaceous weeds, and fescue with some saplings (mostly <2” diameter). Plan to mow these areas every other year after first cut. Hope to transform to prairie plants as resources allow, will then be burned every other year with a mowed perimeter. Plan to mow after pruning small orchard. Biggest use will be to chop cover crops, some tall and dense (rye, millet, sorghum, etc.). Currently use a 6’ rotary which leaves a windrow, making tillage difficult.

Some rocks, but not bad, soil is central Ohio glacial till. Most rocks are baseball or smaller.

Rugrats are at a safe distance.

Not sure about 2” cutting height, never tried.

I can drive slow and recut. Slow tractor work is my meditation.

Dormant season is fine for the non cropped areas. After woodies are chopped, prefer to mow early summer to give the redwings nest time.

Finish…not particularly picky. Mulched in place.

Thought I wanted hammers for the prunings and saplings, now not sure.

Spirals are fine.

Thank you for the help.

Hello and good afternoon NCG,

Thank you for the detailed response.

If you invest in a crop shredder with heavy side slicer knives
your mowing and future crop shredding needs will be well met.

How often do you wish to mow annually?

The bigger issue is the pain in the a$$ SAPLINGS and how heavy
the plot borders are growing in.

Now the question becomes which type of flail shredder/mower for
your current and future needs.

MASCHIO BRAVA L

The optional fixed upper counter blade will help create a smaller Upper counter blade option - Yes
mulch clipping allowing the clipping to dissolve faster into the sod

The standard equipment manual side shift allows you to slide the
mower left or right to mow as needed by removing the retaining
pins and sliding the mower to the left or right and reinstalling
the retaining pins in the corresponding locking holes.


The mower is equipped with hammer knives as standard equipment. Fish tail knive option - Yes

If you invest in the model 180 model you will have 24 hammer mounting stations
in four rows mounting 6 hammers per row or 6 fish tail scoop knives per row.

If you leave the mower set at 2 inches it should mow well and the
upper counter blade will shred the brush finer on the first pass.


DEL MORINO FLIPPER SUPER

The Flipper Super with hammer knives has a recutting bar for all three models.

Model 132 has 20 hammers in 2 rows with 10 mounting stations per row 180 degrees apart
Model 158 has 24 " in 2 rows " " " " " " " " "
Model 186 has 28 " in 2 rows " " " " " " " " "


Model 132 has 40 side slicer knives in two rows of 40 side slicer knives with 10 mounting stations per row 180 degrees apart
Model 158 " 48 " " " " " " " 48 " " 12 " " " " " " "
Model 186 " 56 " " " " " " " 56 " " 14 " " " " " " "


The flail mower rotors with side slicer knives have the greater advantage over the hammer knife mowers as they
(1) have a greater total mowing edge length in cutting edge per foot of width and they can recut the brush as many
times as desired as the side slicer knives create greater lift per revolution which creates a much greater pressure
gradient/vacuum to lift the clippings up and over the flail mower rotor.
(2) The side slicer knives have 2 cutting edges which allows the user to simply unbolt the side slicer knife and flip it
to expose the new sharp edge allowing the user to mow for a longer period without having to stop and sharpen the
knife edges.

Must haves for either brand of mower with hammer knives:

V belt tension gauge

One set of 3 cog V belts kept in a sealed plastic garbage bag out of sunlight

At least six spare hammer knifes

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the Flipper Super:

V Belt tension gauge

One set of V belts kept in a sealed plastic garbage bag out of sunlight

At east 12 spare side slicer knives

Now as far as sharpening the hammer knives and the side slicers I will tell you that
investing in a slow speed wet well grinder will maintain the cutting edges and will not
cause them to become brittle and lose the tempering.

The least expensive wet well grinder will be good enough for this work as long as you
purchase an angle adjuster for the wet well grinders tool holder to maintain the proper angle.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only other flail shredder mower I would like you to look at is the Vrisimo Minimax flail mower.

I have attached the file describing it in this message.

The Vrisimo flail mowers/crop shredders are made in California.

The widest MiniMax model has a 6 foot width of cut and it has 33 overlapping scoop knives.

It also has the trash deflector doors in the front of the mower to prevent objects from being
thrown forward if they are impacted by the flail mowers scoop knives.

The MiniMax was designed to be operated in front of a mule with a three point hitch
or the rear three point hitch.


Leon

 

[arto98607]

I see often mentioning of V-belt tension gauge which makes me wonder why are the manufacturers not using spring loaded tensioner, like shown in my old Ford 917L Special below - perhaps it's just cheaper to make them without one?

I bought this mower five years ago as a fixer upper and it has worked out very good without any need to mess with the belts, once I figured the correct belt length.

This is obviously light duty mower with side slicer flails and it does a nice job in mowing a field, as well as forested area, without any scalping.

This thread has been very helpful for me!

 

[leonz]

I see often mentioning of V-belt tension gauge which makes me wonder why are the manufacturers not using spring loaded tensioner, like shown in my old Ford 917L Special below - perhaps it's just cheaper to make them without one?

I bought this mower five years ago as a fixer upper and it has worked out very good without any need to mess with the belts, once I figured the correct belt length.

This is obviously light duty mower with side slicer flails and it does a nice job in mowing a field, as well as forested area, without any scalping.

This thread has been very helpful for me!


View attachment 4184713 View attachment 4184711 View attachment 4184719

The European manufacturers use the same side frame weldment frame design for
thier rototillers so they do not bother with designing in a spring tensioner which
requires a snubber pulley arm with a spring.

 

[dieselscout80]

I see often mentioning of V-belt tension gauge which makes me wonder why are the manufacturers not using spring loaded tensioner, like shown in my old Ford 917L Special below - perhaps it's just cheaper to make them without one?

I bought this mower five years ago as a fixer upper and it has worked out very good without any need to mess with the belts, once I figured the correct belt length.

This is obviously light duty mower with side slicer flails and it does a nice job in mowing a field, as well as forested area, without any scalping.

This thread has been very helpful for me!


View attachment 4184713 View attachment 4184711 View attachment 4184719

Interesting both of the 917 flail mowers (74”) I have owned were NOT spring tensioned belts.

I want to convert the current one and I was wondering if a serpentine belt tensioner would work to tension the belt.

 

[Fallon]

Interesting both of the 917 flail mowers I have owned were NOT spring tensioned belts.

I want to convert the current one and I was wondering if a serpentine belt tensioner would work to tension the belt.

My old 917 has a threaded rod & not a spring loaded tensioner as well. I'd assume patent issues or just being cheap.

 

[arto98607]

Interesting both of the 917 flail mowers I have owned were NOT spring tensioned belts.

I want to convert the current one and I was wondering if a serpentine belt tensioner would work to tension the belt.

My old 917 has a threaded rod & not a spring loaded tensioner as well. I'd assume patent issues or just being cheap.

There were 50" and 60" versions made of 917L Special flail mower.

The 60" model like mine, came with spring loaded tensioner, the 50" model did not!



From the Ford manual:

 

[Halftrack]

I had a 917 with the threaded rod as the belt tensioner. i drilled a new hole for the "L" bracket further in and put a rather stiff spring between the bracket and the adjusting nut with a locknut behind it.

 

[dieselscout80]

I had a 917 with the threaded rod as the belt tensioner. i drilled a new hole for the "L" bracket further in and put a rather stiff spring between the bracket and the adjusting nut with a locknut behind it.

I’m going to have to look at doing that.

Thanks

 

[Quarryscapes]

I'm going to ask a dumb question, so apologies in advance.

I have a Winton Verge WVF130 Verge Flail, it's coming to the end of it's second season of use now. It has Hammers and I use it behind a 25hp Iseki compact.

I'm really strugling with belts turning themsleves inside out and jumping across grooves. They are common AX40 belts. It was a week or so shy of 12months old when the first set went pop, now I'm lucky if I can get through 4 hours work on a set of belts. I am happy that the tesnsion is reasonable, the pulleys show no signs of play, damage, wear or misalignment. The replacement belts have so far all been the same as what was fitted from new, i.e. PIX.

The flails themselves are now very worn, to the point that they don't leave a good finish, clog very easily in grass and one has broken (They have been worked hard in grass, scrub and hedge cutting and have met with much hidden stone and many a mole hill).

Would anyone like to guess at what's going on? Could the ultra worn flails be the reson by causing extra slip on the belts? The last belt death occured as I was tiltin the flail up from flat doing a verge to vertical to do some trees along the side of a track (having already been down the other side and done the same). The time before that the flail was near stalled in dense, damp, long grass and weeds.