Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[John0829]

Maybe the cut problem could be as simple as the grass is too wet.

Not wet, cut was late in the afternoon and dry as bone.

My old 917 with Ys & the new Peruzzo with hammers (basically 5lbs scoops) both leave tire tracks. Usually most of the tracks get mowed, but it's still visible. I generally mow with the Peruzzo offset most of the way to the right & keep the left tires on the previously mowed pass. That minimizes the stripes.

I have the 918 offset so I can keep the left tire in the previously cut area as well.

 

[leonz]

The only thing this leaves me with is the drive belt is loose.
The top run of the V belt has to be near taunt to within an 1/8" of flex.
what condition is the belt in? if its the least bit glazed you need a new belt. The Kevlar V belts are shock resistant.
Mowing good thick sod or brush can really drag down the knife sets no matter how many there are if it is tall or dense.

That flail mower should sound just like a good vacuum cleaner if the height of cut is 2 or 3 inches and the engine rpm is at the 540
rear PTO speed.

 

[John0829]

The only thing this leaves me with is the drive belt is loose.
The top run of the V belt has to be near taunt to within an 1/8" of flex.
what condition is the belt in? if its the least bit glazed you need a new belt. The Kevlar V belts are shock resistant.
Mowing good thick sod or brush can really drag down the knife sets no matter how many there are if it is tall or dense.

That flail mower should sound just like a good vacuum cleaner if the height of cut is 2 or 3 inches and the engine rpm is at the 540
rear PTO speed.

Sad to say the belts were one of the first things I checked, while not new they are not glazed or cracked. I had figured I would change them when I first got the mower but after seeing how good the condition was decided not to bother with them. Although I do intend at some point to get a spare set to keep on hand.

Now as for the sound, there is none that I can hear, of course my hearing is not very good at its best. I cannot hear the flail mower over the exhaust note of the tractor like I can the finish mower or bush hog. Which is one thing that impressed me about the flail, the quiet. Tomorrow I will try bring it up to speed and get behind it to see what kind of sound it is making.

 

[leonz]

Sad to say the belts were one of the first things I checked, while not new they are not glazed or cracked. I had figured I would change them when I first got the mower but after seeing how good the condition was decided not to bother with them. Although I do intend at some point to get a spare set to keep on hand.

Now as for the sound, there is none that I can hear, of course my hearing is not very good at its best. I cannot hear the flail mower over the exhaust note of the tractor like I can the finish mower or bush hog. Which is one thing that impressed me about the flail, the quiet. Tomorrow I will try bring it up to speed and get behind it to see what kind of sound it is making.

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Hello John0829,

as long as I am digging in to this please, remove the V belt cover and watch the V belt. If you have someone that can operate the mule and mow while you are walking beside it all the better. If the belt bounces while the mower is stationary the V belt is bad-providing it has been properly tensioned as it may be as simple as adding more tension to the adjuster.

If that does not work; humor me and disconnect the PTO Shaft and run the engine at the 540 RPM PTO speed and see what the tachometer reads when you point it at the stub shaft of the rear PTO.

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The flail mower rotor should be spinning at 2,200+- RPM under load-meaning mowing. you should have no problem measuring the speed on the pulley side as long as you aim the tachometer at the center of the driven pulley where the stub shaft of the flail mower rotor is located.

 

[hunt4570]

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Hello John0829,

as long as I am digging in to this please, remove the V belt cover and watch the V belt. If you have someone that can operate the mule and mow while you are walking beside it all the better. If the belt bounces while the mower is stationary the V belt is bad-providing it has been properly tensioned as it may be as simple as adding more tension to the adjuster.

If that does not work; humor me and disconnect the PTO Shaft and run the engine at the 540 RPM PTO speed and see what the tachometer reads when you point it at the stub shaft of the rear PTO.

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The flail mower rotor should be spinning at 2,200+- RPM under load-meaning mowing. you should have no problem measuring the speed on the pulley side as long as you aim the tachometer at the center of the driven pulley where the stub shaft of the flail mower rotor is located.

Why would the V belt have anything to do with one small strip in his mowing? The rest seems to be spinning just fine, so that section would be too.

 

[Lnk]

Why would the V belt have anything to do with one small strip in his mowing? The rest seems to be spinning just fine, so that section would be too.

Maybe the side slicers in that spot are not spinning fast enough to fly flat like the rest:cool2:

 

[leonz]

If you look closely at the images he uploaded you will see grass strips that are not clipped well along with the taller mohawk rows the uncut sections leave him.

It may be as simple as spraying PB Blaster or Fluid Film in each mounting station where the loops enter the weldments as they may be sticking in the weldment and cannot freely swivel once the flail mower rotor speed has reached 2,200 rpm+-.

Checking the V belt when its spinning with a manual tensioner is always a good idea. I have had the same things happen on older rotary mowers where it leaves poorly cut grass from loose belts and no amount of snubber tension overcomes a bad belt.

 

[Xfaxman]

Maybe the side slicers in that spot are not spinning fast enough to fly flat like the rest:cool2:

What do you mean "fly flat"?

 

[hunt4570]

Maybe the side slicers in that spot are not spinning fast enough to fly flat like the rest:cool2:

EVERYTHING attached to the rotor spins at the same speed!!

 

[John0829]

==============================================================================================

Hello John0829,

as long as I am digging in to this please, remove the V belt cover and watch the V belt. If you have someone that can operate the mule and mow while you are walking beside it all the better. If the belt bounces while the mower is stationary the V belt is bad-providing it has been properly tensioned as it may be as simple as adding more tension to the adjuster.

If that does not work; humor me and disconnect the PTO Shaft and run the engine at the 540 RPM PTO speed and see what the tachometer reads when you point it at the stub shaft of the rear PTO.

==============================================================================================

The flail mower rotor should be spinning at 2,200+- RPM under load-meaning mowing. you should have no problem measuring the speed on the pulley side as long as you aim the tachometer at the center of the driven pulley where the stub shaft of the flail mower rotor is located.

The v belts are running straight and true, no vibration or bouncing. The tractor is running at the proper rpm, proofmeter and old hand held shaft drive tach (both agree on rpm) 540 at the PTO. Cannot check the rotor rpm since I do not have a laser tach and the old hand held does not go that high.

It does not sound like a vacuum cleaner when @ speed like the LandPride finish mower I have. I do not get the impression there is a large amount of air flow under there. I did carefully look under there with it at idle and at speed and all flails are extended as they would be expected to be. I was totally po'd so took time to reverse the gear box so the rotor now turns counter clockwise, same as the tires. It did make an improvement in the cut, less of the tire strip was left but it was still there.

You can sure tell the difference between the mulching and none mulching rotation, not a deal breaker as long as the strip gets cut which is all I care about.

Maybe the side slicers in that spot are not spinning fast enough to fly flat like the rest:cool2:

I did not notice any of the slicers lagging behind the others, seemed like they were all turning at the same speed, at least those not taking a cirgarette break. :laughing: