Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[K5lwq]

Thanks everyone for your help setting up my new flail! Longer top link did the trick. Happy with the cut now and just need more seat time to become more efficient with it. :thumbsup:

 

[Michael In Tennessee]

There are actually 2 clips and I had both off when I was checking the idler but it wouldn't budge even with some persuasive tapping. I will use a puller when I get back to this. It's going to be a while though, as my current focus is to get ready to go camping and fishing for a couple of weeks. Way more fun than fixing things.

Definitely more fun. Enjoy. The parts list shows two clips holding the idler on the shaft, two clips holding the bearings in the idler. Can't tell if the bearings hit an internal stop or if they can be simply pushed out together. Kinda looks like you can just press out the pair together.

 

[electrycmonk]

I'm definitely finding my "rhythmn" with the 6' 917 mower. The last two times to mow the big backyard I got ~90% done in 1hr20minutes & 1hr & 10minutes..... Lubed zerks a few times each pre use. Had a few oddities happen so far.
1) I'm not sure how on Earth the 22y/o didn't notice the top link came unbolted from the tractor and the link danged from tractor side "bouncing off PTO u-joint while mowing from yard with the 917. The scuff marks and polishing to the u-joint forensically tells me it was about 1/2 the front yard was mowed this way. How on Earth did he not see this????(SMH) and part 2; how did the steel twisting studs didn't get caught in the u-joint and grenade the PTO is beyond me as well!

It's also mowing the big back yard so nicely that I have found the prickly pear cactus that's returning..... I should be able to extract it and relocate it to a non-mowed zone in the back yard 'finally'.

Thanks as always y'all for this wisdom.

 

[jthibodeau89]

917L idler:

View attachment 660308 The idler pulleys on my JD25A and JD390 are both 8" diameter. I don't understand the logic behind the small idler pulley diameter.

 

[arto98607]

917L idler:

View attachment 660308 The idler pulleys on my JD25A and JD390 are both 8" diameter. I don't understand the logic behind the small idler pulley diameter.

Cost savings.

There is a limited amount of space under the V-belt cover and it would have been costly change if the idler had been twice as big.
IE. Lot more than just a belt cover would have changed.


917L was a Ford light duty flail mower and the idler bearing lasted some 35 years which is not so bad after all.

I just wish it had been designed to have a replaceable bearing, but again due to cost savings at the time it did not!

They got out and sold the Ag business few years later.


It is now CNH (Case IH, New Holland), which is part of Fiat group:

New Holland Agriculture - Wikipedia

CNH Industrial - Wikipedia

 

[Lnk]

Try running it without the cover, are your belts rubbing on the cover? Heat is caused by slipping, if it were bearings, the wheel with the bad bearings would be way hotter than everything else.

 

[Skagit]

New member, just bought 30 acres of forestland, the property is mostly hillside with several overgrown logging roads crossing it.

I've been borrowing a New Holland 918H, after a lot of time reading this thread I ordered a Woodmaxx FM-78. It was delivered last week, the upper part of the 3 point hitch had been knocked around in the shipping crate and scratched up the paint on the mower in a few places. No real damage that some touch-up paint won't fix though.

Build quality and fit/finish seem better than most imported implements. I ordered it with hammers but will probably switch over to knives in a year or two after clearing some of the brush and downed limbs.

 

[K5lwq]

New member, just bought 30 acres of forestland, the property is mostly hillside with several overgrown logging roads crossing it.

I've been borrowing a New Holland 918H, after a lot of time reading this thread I ordered a Woodmaxx FM-78. It was delivered last week, the upper part of the 3 point hitch had been knocked around in the shipping crate and scratched up the paint on the mower in a few places. No real damage that some touch-up paint won't fix though.

Build quality and fit/finish seem better than most imported implements. I ordered it with hammers but will probably switch over to knives in a year or two after clearing some of the brush and downed limbs. View attachment 660631View attachment 660632View attachment 660633

Congratulations and welcome to TBN! Keep us updated on how you like your new mower!

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I agree that sounds like a pretty high idler pulley temperature.


Just an observation:

I am just in process of repairing idler pulley on my (new to me) Ford 917L and it is noticeable how the idler looks like it's pretty small diameter in the Caroni.
The 917L idler had failed due to worn out single row sealed ball bearing which was designed to be non-replaceable.

The OD in 917L idler is 4 1/4 inches which I thought was pretty small until I had a look at your photos!


Probably the smaller the diameter the more bending of the belt IE. more heat.



917L idler:

View attachment 660308

I got a 917L as part of my tractor package. The idler bracket was rusted on to the pivot shaft. PB balasted it, heated it, got it ot move about 1/2 inch, then it broke. Had a friend press it out, but it wouldn't budge without a little acetylene. Cleaned it up and put a grease fitting on it, give it one shot a year.
My second problem was finding knives. I found Mott fine cut at Flail Master which are about as close as I could find.
Works great now and does a nice job on the grass.

 

[arto98607]

I got a 917L as part of my tractor package. The idler bracket was rusted on to the pivot shaft. PB balasted it, heated it, got it ot move about 1/2 inch, then it broke. Had a friend press it out, but it wouldn't budge without a little acetylene. Cleaned it up and put a grease fitting on it, give it one shot a year.
My second problem was finding knives. I found Mott fine cut at Flail Master which are about as close as I could find.
Works great now and does a nice job on the grass.

Thank you for the suggestion - grease fitting for the idler arm at the pivot shaft is a good idea and I will add one on mine also since it was bone dry.

I have made some progress repairing the idler pulley but it's been delayed due to other priorities.
(I decided to make a new hub wide enough for two bearings and reuse the rest of the idler)

Here are couple of photos of work in progress: