Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Fallon]

Great match. Great brand. Reasonable price considering what they cost new. It would be nice if you could see it spun up to insure balance and bearings are ok but so long as it doesn't look beat up I'd take a chance on it myself.

I ran a 7' Ford 917 on my L3200. I'm sure it would lift a narrower mower fine as the 2501 is the same frame as my old 3200. Power should be fine.

As long as the rotor isn't warped you should be fine. None of the mounting brackets on my 917s rotor are anywhere near straight. Beat to **** & still runs ok or decent.

 

[Iberian]

Mower was in pretty good shape. Out of the 76 mounts two were missing blades. Didn't seem to vibrate that much but I don't have a new Mott j60 to compare it too since they were probably last made in the 80's sometime. It was missing a roller bearing on the rear height adjusting roller. I ran it over my property and it cut without any issues including a few tree branches and a 2 inch sapling "stump" I had cut a while ago and couldn't see.

The only odd thing is that in the manual for the j60 it says to run the PTO at 1000rpms and any slower and it may start wrapping the grass instead of cutting. It cut fine with blades duller than butter knives when ran at 540 off my HST. Running it at x2 that speed seems like it would be insanely fast.




EDIT: No idea why that is upside down. It is right side up on my computer.

 

[IslandTractor]

View attachment 518164


EDIT: No idea why that is upside down. It is right side up on my computer.

You probably took the photo with a phone in landscape mode but "upside down". Some computers are smart enough to make the corrections but the TBN database isn't

 

[PRCWI]

You probably took the photo with a phone in landscape mode but "upside down". Some computers are smart enough to make the corrections but the TBN database isn't

When I click to see the larger image it displays right side up.

 

[Steave]

Same here, it's right side up when you click on it and I'm using Fred Flintstones computer.

 

[Hunhunt]

I'm new to this forum and in the market for a flail mower. Just sold our horses and so we can no longer mow our pastures organically!! We only have about 2-1/2 acres in pasture (alfalfa/grass) as well as some fence rows and road side to mow. I've narrowed it down to the Italian made flail mowers based largely on reading this thread. I have a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor with the gas Perkins engine (Engine 45.5 hp, PTO 38 hp) that I will be using. I do have a couple of questions. I've read about the issues with the Caroni TM1900 clevis breakage and the resolution by replacing with Flailmaster clevis. Looking at other Italian flail mowers (example Del Morino and Peruzzo) it appears that they generally use a single hardened bolt to attach a y-style blade. When talking with a sales person at Agri Supply, it was stated that the smaller Caroni flails use the single bolt connection for the knives with the TM1900 being the only one with the clevis connection. Is there an advantage to the clevis connection for the knives over the bolted connection. Seems like the clevis connection would have more lateral flexibility if that matters. It also appears that among the Italian made flail mowers the Caroni is considerably cheaper and I was wondering why that might be. I've compared weight on various Italian 6' flail mowers and the Caroni seems to be right in there with the others so it doesn't seem like the more expensive ones are heavier built. Anyone have a comment on that? I've tried searching for answers to these questions on the forum but have been unable so far. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[leonz]

I'm new to this forum and in the market for a flail mower. Just sold our horses and so we can no longer mow our pastures organically!! We only have about 2-1/2 acres in pasture (alfalfa/grass) as well as some fence rows and road side to mow. I've narrowed it down to the Italian made flail mowers based largely on reading this thread. I have a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor with the gas Perkins engine (Engine 45.5 hp, PTO 38 hp) that I will be using. I do have a couple of questions. I've read about the issues with the Caroni TM1900 clevis breakage and the resolution by replacing with Flailmaster clevis. Looking at other Italian flail mowers (example Del Morino and Peruzzo) it appears that they generally use a single hardened bolt to attach a y-style blade. When talking with a sales person at Agri Supply, it was stated that the smaller Caroni flails use the single bolt connection for the knives with the TM1900 being the only one with the clevis connection. Is there an advantage to the clevis connection for the knives over the bolted connection. Seems like the clevis connection would have more lateral flexibility if that matters. It also appears that among the Italian made flail mowers the Caroni is considerably cheaper and I was wondering why that might be. I've compared weight on various Italian 6' flail mowers and the Caroni seems to be right in there with the others so it doesn't seem like the more expensive ones are heavier built. Anyone have a comment on that? I've tried searching for answers to these questions on the forum but have been unable so far. Any input would be appreciated.

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These Verticut Flail Mower blades are referred to as side slicer knives.

The Caroni Families line of rototillers uses many of the same weldments, tubing and gearbox components that the flail mowers do that is why it is economical to buy.

And YES the more expensive flail mowers are much heavier my friend dont think they are not heavy.

As far as the TM 1900 goes the only advantage of the clevis is that it allows the blades to be pushed back when hitting an object while mowing in bad mowing conditions AND It allows Caroni to use shorter side slicer knives as the rototiller tube is the same tube used for the flail mower rotor in most models.

The clevis is essentially nothing more than a second relief point in case of impact damage.


If you no longer plan on having hay burners with the accessory horse crap dumpers you can invest in a finish flail with the side shift kit and have more lawn in very short order.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm new to this forum and in the market for a flail mower. Just sold our horses and so we can no longer mow our pastures organically!! We only have about 2-1/2 acres in pasture (alfalfa/grass) as well as some fence rows and road side to mow. I've narrowed it down to the Italian made flail mowers based largely on reading this thread. I have a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor with the gas Perkins engine (Engine 45.5 hp, PTO 38 hp) that I will be using. I do have a couple of questions. I've read about the issues with the Caroni TM1900 clevis breakage and the resolution by replacing with Flailmaster clevis. Looking at other Italian flail mowers (example Del Morino and Peruzzo) it appears that they generally use a single hardened bolt to attach a y-style blade. When talking with a sales person at Agri Supply, it was stated that the smaller Caroni flails use the single bolt connection for the knives with the TM1900 being the only one with the clevis connection. Is there an advantage to the clevis connection for the knives over the bolted connection. Seems like the clevis connection would have more lateral flexibility if that matters. It also appears that among the Italian made flail mowers the Caroni is considerably cheaper and I was wondering why that might be. I've compared weight on various Italian 6' flail mowers and the Caroni seems to be right in there with the others so it doesn't seem like the more expensive ones are heavier built. Anyone have a comment on that? I've tried searching for answers to these questions on the forum but have been unable so far. Any input would be appreciated.

A couple of points to supplement what Leonz posted: I'm the one who keeps talking about breaking Caroni clevises but you need to appreciate that I mow in coastal Rhode Island where glacial rocks and shale are annual crops. If your soil isn't rocky then the standard Caroni clevises are fine.

Regarding cost of Caroni versus other Italian flails, for a given duty rating (simply measured by weight per foot of cut) and considering the cost of extras like hydraulic side shift (nice but not necessary) I think an important reason for difference in price is that AgriSupply buys big batches directly from the manufacturer. I'm pretty sure the smaller dealerships selling other similar Italian flails are buying either in smaller quantities or more likely buying from a middleman who takes a cut. Think of AgriSupply as Costco compared to mom and pop dealerships.

The last point is that the difference between the Caroni TM and TL flails is both the type of blade mount, (direct bolt to blade or bolt, clevis, blade) and that the direct bolt to blade rotor has about double the number of knives. The TL is a true finish mower (think soccer or baseball field or big lawn) while the TM is more for pasture/brush. The TM gives a very good cut if used regularly but can also handle a pasture that is cut just once or twice a year.

Photos show TM1900 giving annual cut.

 

[Greenland South]

A few picks of a portion of the 40 acres I mow starting near the end of July. I used to do this with a tow behind my quad rough cut. The tractor and flail are far more enjoyable.

 

[lostcreekranch]

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A few picks of a portion of the 40 acres I mow starting near the end of July. I used to do this with a tow behind my quad rough cut. The tractor and flail are far more enjoyable.

Nice pasture! What brand / model is your flail mower?