Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Xfaxman]

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D2Cat the pulley's all turn clockwise if you look at them like this View attachment 610203 the flails go the same direction as the tractor rolling forward.--------------------

Right, clockwise looking from the right side. Anytime there is an idler pulley it will be on the slack side of the belt, especially if it is spring loaded.

 

[LandofCheese]

alright so I've got some more info with one turn of the pto shaft the shaft with the knives turns about 2.3 revolutions, so its looking like i have a 1000 PTO speed gearbox if my math works out right :mur:

Io I either need a tractor with 1K pto speed or I need to sell the unit and get something else to mow with pretty quick.... man i was so looking forward to using a flail mower too.... is there something that can be done with pulley sizes? or am i just making mroe work than its worth?

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

I wouldn't mess with the pulley sizes. You likely won't have room for the drive pulley to go as big as you need it to go, and the rotor pulley is already pretty small. Plus you're going to put extra stress on the gearbox that wasn't meant for it. With the low HP you have it shouldn't be a problem, but if you sell it to someone with more power they can destroy that gearbox pretty quick. If you're willing to invest in this one you could call Flailmaster, they sell the 540 gearbox, but you would also need the lift frame to mount the 540 gearbox to, and you might need other driveline parts to go with it. You're probably better cutting your losses and buying something else.

Right now is a bad time to try to find a used flail. If you want you can check craigslist and tractorhouse. Be prepared to take a drive, though. I had to drive down past Chicago to get mine. Too bad I just sold my 5' and 6' to get an 88".

 

[def38]

Thank you for the welcome, a little more info on why i'm concerned about it being a 1000 PTO speed unit, when i picked the unit up the owner had a IH284 which to my knowledge has both a 540 and a 1000 pto setting. me being stupid didn't think to ask about the pto speed the unit was used on, and now the owner has passed so my window has closed on that bit of info.

the knives are dull! so i will sharpen View attachment 610299View attachment 610300

i would LIKE to get in more often to maintain as i have planted 1500 trees as a fence/windbreak this spring and they need all the help they can get!

What kind of trees did you plant? How log did it take you to plant the 1500?

 

[Fallon]

I wouldn't mess with the pulley sizes. You likely won't have room for the drive pulley to go as big as you need it to go, and the rotor pulley is already pretty small. Plus you're going to put extra stress on the gearbox that wasn't meant for it. With the low HP you have it shouldn't be a problem, but if you sell it to someone with more power they can destroy that gearbox pretty quick. If you're willing to invest in this one you could call Flailmaster, they sell the 540 gearbox, but you would also need the lift frame to mount the 540 gearbox to, and you might need other driveline parts to go with it. You're probably better cutting your losses and buying something else.

Right now is a bad time to try to find a used flail. If you want you can check craigslist and tractorhouse. Be prepared to take a drive, though. I had to drive down past Chicago to get mine. Too bad I just sold my 5' and 6' to get an 88".

I concur, I wouldn't mess with it unless you really wanted a project & had corresponding fab skills.

As far as a "bad time" do you mean the time of year? I've seen a dozen, 20 flails tops for sale in Colorado in the past 4ish years on Craigslist. I own one & at least half of the rest have been huge crop shredders. So ya, spring & early summer is the worst time to buy a mower, but it's never a good time to find a used flail.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

This time of year is especially bad for finding used ones. They are out there, just a few of them right now. And anything reasonably priced is typically snatched up right away this time of year. If you look late fall through early spring you can find stuff. This area you can find used stuff more than other areas it seems. There's a place in Michigan that seems to carry a line-up of used flails on tractorhouse.

 

[PatMcD]

I went with the FM-7 blades. I was talking to someone who used to work on these mowers, and he said the lighter blades do better against rocks because they bounce off easier and don't get damaged. They're also thinner so when they do become dull they're sharper than the thicker blades when dull. I had the "extreme service" blades on my Ford 917 for helping clear brush, but this time I went with the FM-7 because I have a brush saw and it will be a one-time deal clearing the rest of the brush. I'd stick with the clevis pin and cotter pin. If the threads get damaged you will need to replace the nut and bold. The clevis pin can be reused with a new cotter pin which is cheap. It took me about 1-1/2 hours to remove and about 2-1/2 hours to install the new blades, only because I needed to straighten some lugs that got bent in. If you use the clevis pin I have some advice: There is a small hole on the sides of the mower that line up with the clevis pin holes in the lugs. Use that and push the pin in from the outside to give easier access to the cotter pin.

My extreme service blades did well against the rocks, so I'm sure you'll be fine with those. I considered the forged blades but something steered me away from them. I can't remember what steered me away, but I remember there was a reason I didn't get them. My new FM-7 blades did great against the tall grass yesterday. I don't regret getting them over the thicker ones and saving some money.

I had a long conversation with the fine folks at Flailmaster the other day. They said almost the opposite on the size of blades and rocks; the heavier blades will hold up much better. I went all-out and got the heavy forged blades at $1.98 each, so I paid $100 more than the FM7's for a set of 100. We'll see what happens next time I mow. I also went with the bolts and nuts ($.87 per set). It took half of forever to get the cotter pins out of the old set, no way in **** I'm going through that again. New ones went on in a flash. I'm not too afraid of the threads getting damaged; impact guns are a wonderful thing.

 

[JWR]

Ok, I am blown away. This HAS TO BE the longest thread in TBN history ! I guess I will add my post to the pile.

How can i identify and find out exactly what mower i have ? Pictures below. Bought at auction. Most people say it is an Alamo. Sticker on one end does say "Alamo Group" but seems to have been added. No idea what year. The nameplate in picture below has been scratched and beat up so bad I cannot tell anything from it. It has been thru several wars with much welding repair, etc. but works quite well. I replaced a belt and a few bolts, replaced the tubular shim in the slip clutch, etc. and added gear lube. Broke off a few flails and a local Deere dealer who services Alamo had matching ones in stock. It cuts a 7.5 ft swath. The big roller has hex shafts on each end resting in ball bearings.

Can anyone shed light on the brand, model, year, etc. ?

 

[whirly]

If you zoom in on your fantastic high bit image of the daya plate, you can see it was built in Italy and the model probably is a T280 ... 280CM or 9+ foot. That looks about right when mounted on your tractor. So that knocks out all of the American, German and Chinese flails.

 

[JWR]

That' s some helpful insight but it is no where near 9ft wide. It cuts a 7.5 ft wide patch so with the side metal, etc.it is probably 8ft wide overall. I do see the "Italy" word.
Not a Mott or Alamo ? Was there manufacturing in Italy of Mott or Alamo flail mowers at some point I wonder ? Lots of puzzles.