Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[prof fate]

I got the offset, for $290 extra it's well worth it.

three uses for it - under fences is my biggie. I have a mile of horse fence.

over top of banks next to the road and similar sitiations where you need to mow a foot or 2 beside you but can't put you tractor there.

Third, trees...I can stay away from them.

And best, being offset it's MUCH easier to mow close to things (fences, buildings, etc) - first you can see it better sticking out and if you get too close you can slide it back in a bit and avoid having to stop, backup, steer away, etc.

 

[Okie Again]

Well Brad, your signature says you have a Kubota L3200. That machine has 25 or 26PTO horsepower depending upon if it is hydrostatic or gear driven. In my opinion a 72" mower is too much, unless your terrain is flat and your grass isn't very tall / thick. I run an MX4800 with 39 PTO HP and find I can bog down in tall grass with my 72" flail mower.

The 5-foot mower is probably fine, and you really don't need a side shifter unless you want it. I don't think that would be very beneficial for trees...rather they are good for reaching out a little further off a ditch bank or near a pond, etc. With a flail mower and trees, you just have to get close and back up to the tree on each side, drop the flail and move forward.

Mine is the gear drive at 26hp I was worried about that being too small for the 72 inch but once it is in shape I should be mowing regular enough I was hoping to take it slower if needed. But then again all my idea really come from reading others ont this forum and videos.

 

[hunt4570]

Ok, I have read the thread and I am ready to buy just not sure what. I have 3.5 acres that is untouched basically. After it is cleared I will mow it all. I should say I am as green as it comes on tractors issues. I worked on a dairy farm as a teenager 40 years ago, but lived in cities since then. We will have several trees to mow around. and fence on 3 sides. I will buy a Woodmaxx or Farmers Helper since I want hammers for clearing then knives later for a nicer cut maybe, and Agri Supply does not carry those.
My real question is about the hydraulic slide. I have a one hydraulic port on the back of my new tractor. I am thinking a 60 inch with hydraulic slide to help with trees or just go with a 72 inch and off set to the left still covering my tire tracts. We will have a couple dozen trees to mow around eventually.
What say you Flail Nation?

Brad

Hi Brad welcome!

I have a Kubota 3540 HYDRO and my PTO hp is listed at 28, I run a Caroni TM1900 73" just fine with it. YES if I get into real tall grass I'll have to slow down but most of the time its just fine. I believe you can get the hydro shift on it, or if you are going to do a lot of offset type stuff you can offset it more manually with just a couple bolts.

Whats the width of the outside of your rear tires? I always have thought a mower (or most other implements) should be at least that wide.

 

[Fallon]

Mine is the gear drive at 26hp I was worried about that being too small for the 72 inch but once it is in shape I should be mowing regular enough I was hoping to take it slower if needed. But then again all my idea really come from reading others ont this forum and videos.

I ran a 7' old Ford 719 flail behind my former L3200. With a HST it was fine, but I had to slow down a lot on thick stuff. If you are running on a geared machine you may have to take partial passes or even half clutch to let the flail catch up.

I generally advocate going wide & slow. But that's with HST as you can constantly adjust on the fly to push things to the limit. A gear machine isnt nearly as dynamic & will be a lot more work to maintain progress & avoid lugging or stalling.

 

[Okie Again]

Hi Brad welcome!

I have a Kubota 3540 HYDRO and my PTO hp is listed at 28, I run a Caroni TM1900 73" just fine with it. YES if I get into real tall grass I'll have to slow down but most of the time its just fine. I believe you can get the hydro shift on it, or if you are going to do a lot of offset type stuff you can offset it more manually with just a couple bolts.

Whats the width of the outside of your rear tires? I always have thought a mower (or most other implements) should be at least that wide.

I am at 55 inches on my rear tires so I am good even with at 60 inch but the 72 gives me more offset ability and still cover my tires.

I just looked at the Farmers helper in 60 inch is out of stock but they do have a 60 inch in Woodmaxx so that may make difference for me.

 

[Okie Again]

I ran a 7' old Ford 719 flail behind my former L3200. With a HST it was fine, but I had to slow down a lot on thick stuff. If you are running on a geared machine you may have to take partial passes or even half clutch to let the flail catch up.

I generally advocate going wide & slow. But that's with HST as you can constantly adjust on the fly to push things to the limit. A gear machine isnt nearly as dynamic & will be a lot more work to maintain progress & avoid lugging or stalling.

View attachment 616897View attachment 616898

The difference between the HST and Gear is interesting. I need to give that some though. I wanted a HST but got a good deal on this gear.

 

[dnw64]

Hi Brad welcome!

I have a Kubota 3540 HYDRO and my PTO hp is listed at 28, I run a Caroni TM1900 73" just fine with it. YES if I get into real tall grass I'll have to slow down but most of the time its just fine. I believe you can get the hydro shift on it, or if you are going to do a lot of offset type stuff you can offset it more manually with just a couple bolts.

Whats the width of the outside of your rear tires? I always have thought a mower (or most other implements) should be at least that wide.

I am also running the Caroni 1900 (73") on my B3030 HST with just 23 PTO HP. For the most part (90% or more) I can run as fast as is physically comfortable, which is 3/4 to full in mid range. Granted, this is my first year, but my first pass was in late June, so the grass was about as thick and high as it gets here.

From what I have heard (and it makes sense to me) the hammers/duckfeet take a lot more power than the Y-Knives/slicers. I have the Y-Knives.

 

[troverman]

I find it interesting you guys are running such large flail mowers with low PTO horsepower.

Heck, my L2501 (same size as the L3200) only has 19 PTO horsepower (HST trans) and I run a small 4-foot flail behind it. That bogs down going through tall grass, especially uphill, although if you go slow it chugs along pretty well in low range.

I have 3" spacers on my rear wheels of this tractor and only a 4-foot mower. It's nice to have the mower stick out past the tires but not necessary. You just use another point of reference on the tractor while cutting (in my case, I line up the row to cut with the brush guard). Everything gets cut and the quality is very good.

 

[dnw64]

I find it interesting you guys are running such large flail mowers with low PTO horsepower.

Heck, my L2501 (same size as the L3200) only has 19 PTO horsepower (HST trans) and I run a small 4-foot flail behind it. That bogs down going through tall grass, especially uphill, although if you go slow it chugs along pretty well in low range.

I have 3" spacers on my rear wheels of this tractor and only a 4-foot mower. It's nice to have the mower stick out past the tires but not necessary. You just use another point of reference on the tractor while cutting (in my case, I line up the row to cut with the brush guard). Everything gets cut and the quality is very good.

Maybe my grass is not as dense as yours. How do you rate it? If it was hay, you could say "X bales at Y pounds per bale per acre"... I actually do have a couple areas so steep (measured at over 50% grade) that I need low range just to go up regardless of whether I'm mowing or not).

I have 2-1/2" spacers on my wheels. I have the flail offset to the right, and as such my left wheels ride on already cut material, leaving only one track that gets smashed down and therefore not cut as well.

 

[Okie Again]

Woodmaxx rates their unit to handle up to 1" saplings. Betstco rates their up to 3" on the heavy duty unit. Is there really that much difference or could it be that Woodmaxx under-promises and Betstco over-promises? I like the flap on the Woodmax but I will some (not much) 2" saplings.