Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[leonz]

All the rotors have 4 rows. F just has twice as many stations as the others. A and F use the same style station mounting, and B and P use the same style station mounting. B and P may be the same rotor, just with different blades. I saw someone convert the B into the P rotor by changing the blades.

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If you look at the image I uploaded only the F rotor has four rows of mounting stations.

My fathers 25 A had 3 rows of mounting stations.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

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If you look at the image I uploaded only the F rotor has four rows of mounting stations.

My fathers 25 A had 3 rows of mounting stations.

I was referring to Carnoni models. I see 4 rows on all of the Caroni rotors. The way it is pictured it is hard to see, but there are 4 rows on each of the rotors they show in the image you posted.

My 917 has 3 rows.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

I was looking at getting a ta 180 but got a tow behind done right field mower instead. Although it is not a ta180 it does work good and was a lot cheeper. Here is a video of it at work.

 

[vvanders]

Looking to see if the wisdom of the communal flail mowers can help me tell what's going on.

So went to go touch up one of the corners of our property this afternoon. Got the tractor started and warmed up, rpms middle-low, threw the PTO level and started easing out the clutch. Keeping an eye on the PTO shaft like I do each time I noticed that it budged ~1/2" and then wouldn't move. Tried a few times almost out to full clutch engagement(but just short). Moved the 3pt a few times thinking things were just "stiff", no dice. Started to smell a bit of clutch so lifted the mower up and shut the machine down.

Wasn't able to spin the PTO by hand so I disconnected it, checked the gearbox oil(good), belts(good). Finally pulled the drum and it spun freely after a light tug. Moved it back and forth a few times and all seemed to spin cleanly. Hooked it back up and machine spun it up like there wasn't any issues.

Only thing I can think is it's been 2-3 hours of mowing since I last greased the bearings. Either way, really weird. I'd think a ~17HP PTO would be enough to overcome and stuck dirt/grime, thoughts?

 

[Fallon]

Remove the belts & PTO shaft. Spin things by hand. Something is jammed up somewhere. Drum bearings or the gearbox most likely. Whichever doesnt spin reasonably freely is toast. New bearings are a bit of a pain, but not to bad.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

It sounds like there might be some moisture in your rotor bearings. When they sit they develop a bit of rust and cling to themselves causing this issue. 17HP should have been enough to break this free, but you didn't fully engage the clutch so you might not have given it full HP to break it loose. It could also be debris building up and drying out. Was there any extra noise coming out of your mower after this? That would give you an idea if something is going bad. You would likely hear a whine or growl noise.

If it was just debris you can do just like you did next time and not worry about a thing. If there is moisture in your bearings it will be difficult to remove. Just make sure you grease it before putting it away and give it a quick spin by hand to spread the grease around. That should help avoid the rust.

 

[leonz]

This is an image of the three flail mower rotors currently offered by the Caroni Company. The F rotor is the only flail mower rotor that has four rows of mounting stations.

 

[leonz]

Looking to see if the wisdom of the communal flail mowers can help me tell what's going on.

So went to go touch up one of the corners of our property this afternoon. Got the tractor started and warmed up, rpms middle-low, threw the PTO level and started easing out the clutch. Keeping an eye on the PTO shaft like I do each time I noticed that it budged ~1/2" and then wouldn't move. Tried a few times almost out to full clutch engagement(but just short). Moved the 3pt a few times thinking things were just "stiff", no dice. Started to smell a bit of clutch so lifted the mower up and shut the machine down.

Wasn't able to spin the PTO by hand so I disconnected it, checked the gearbox oil(good), belts(good). Finally pulled the drum and it spun freely after a light tug. Moved it back and forth a few times and all seemed to spin cleanly. Hooked it back up and machine spun it up like there wasn't any issues.

Only thing I can think is it's been 2-3 hours of mowing since I last greased the bearings. Either way, really weird. I'd think a ~17HP PTO would be enough to overcome and stuck dirt/grime, thoughts?

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As Fallon described to you disconnect the PTO shaft, remove the V belt guard, take off the drive belts and then spin the flail mower rotor at the driven pulley it should spin freely with little effort after you put three or four pumps of grease in each bearing.

When was the last time you checked your V belts? If the tension is manually adjustable you should have no less than 1/8 of an inch of slack under tension. witha spring tensioned snubber you only have to worry about the V belts condition. if the rubber is peeling off in your hands you need a new V belt.

If you have a snubber pulley does it have a greasable bearing?? if not the bearing may have flat spotted and it will bind. Been there, done that with sealed bearings too.

Before we go further we need to know what flail mower you have hooked to your mule.

 

[vvanders]

It's a Caroni tm1300. My guess is moisture on the bearings makes sense to me, we had some rain the previous today and I didn't get a chance to cover it before it came through.

No expensive sounds after it spun up, I'll give it a bit of extra grease and keep an eye on it. Appreciate all the help!

 

[leonz]

It's a Caroni tm1300. My guess is moisture on the bearings makes sense to me, we had some rain the previous today and I didn't get a chance to cover it before it came through.

No expensive sounds after it spun up, I'll give it a bit of extra grease and keep an eye on it. Appreciate all the help!

Three or four pumps in the snubber bearing grease fitting, 4-6 pumps in each flail mower rotor bearing NO MORE.