Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Nuru]

Having not used one of these, how much debris do they leave behind? (i.e. will I need to rake it up or will it just be so small it will be okay to leave on the grass?). I think it will be okay for the grass but if I use it to mutilate leaves it might not.

 

[swampvol]

I just priced out a Deere 72" flail for 4,025.00 and a Rhino 74" for about 5,000.00 (list is at 5,600.00). That Coroni is looking better all the time!

Makes me wonder why the Coroni is less than 1/2 the price of the others.

 

[davitk]

Makes me wonder why the Coroni is less than 1/2 the price of the others.

I just bought this Chinese one on flea bay for 800.00. (plus 210.00 shipping)




For that price I decided to be the guinea pig and will report back if it was a mistake.

 

[rankrank1]

Have enjoyed reading this thread.

Can anyone address the real world cutting capbilities of the 3 knife styles that Caroni offers on the TM models?

A) TM1900A (Normal cut knives, with 56 total knives)
I am guessing this is mostly for grass, but how tall of grass/weeds would this handle? What diameter brush?

B) TM1900F (Normal cut knives, with 112 total knives)
Obvioulsy would produce a superior finish cut in lawns, but would double the knives be a detriment in tall grass/weeds and in brush? Would more tractor hp be required due to the added knives?

C) TM1900B (Brush cut knives with shackles, with 56 total knives)
I think this is the knife style that Island tractor has based on his pics, but am not sure.

 

[Reg]

Makes me wonder why the Coroni is less than 1/2 the price of the others.

Brand name ?

CARONI (with an "A")

JD is now basically an importer/re-brander, apparently with the belief that their green paint somehow endows quality and justifies a hideous mark-up.
Forget the race to the bottom, Chryco already placed FIRST in that one, at least they re-branded some half decent Mitsubishi cars for a while.

 

[Reg]

Have enjoyed reading this thread.

Can anyone address the real world cutting capbilities of the 3 knife styles that Caroni offers on the TM models?

A) TM1900A (Normal cut knives, with 56 total knives)
I am guessing this is mostly for grass, but how tall of grass/weeds would this handle? What diameter brush?

B) TM1900F (Normal cut knives, with 112 total knives)
Obvioulsy would produce a superior finish cut in lawns, but would double the knives be a detriment in tall grass/weeds and in brush? Would more tractor hp be required due to the added knives?

C) TM1900B (Brush cut knives with shackles, with 56 total knives)
I think this is the knife style that Island tractor has based on his pics, but am not sure.

====================================
Addressed on the Caroni web site.

Yes, it is a trade-off between lawns and pastures.
LAWN and FINISH mowers are for "superior finish".
Yes, mowing tall thick weeds with twice as many blades presents a bigger load. Once you HAVE a given tractor your choice might be limited to a slower ground speed for an initial cut and/or mowing more frequently.

 

[greg_g]

I just bought this Chinese one on flea bay for 800.00. (plus 210.00 shipping)

There's no photo to actually help confirm this. https://www.ruralking.com/Store/detail.aspx?ID=38755 But I suspect that's the same Chinese model that Rural King is selling for $800. I also believe shipping (to a retail store) is included. I contacted them to check on the size range(s) available. Unfortunately they're currently only importing the 5 footer. So I'm still shopping for a reasonably priced medium duty in the 7-8 foot range.

//greg//

 

[IslandTractor]

Have enjoyed reading this thread.

Can anyone address the real world cutting capbilities of the 3 knife styles that Caroni offers on the TM models?

A) TM1900A (Normal cut knives, with 56 total knives)
I am guessing this is mostly for grass, but how tall of grass/weeds would this handle? What diameter brush?

B) TM1900F (Normal cut knives, with 112 total knives)
Obvioulsy would produce a superior finish cut in lawns, but would double the knives be a detriment in tall grass/weeds and in brush? Would more tractor hp be required due to the added knives?

C) TM1900B (Brush cut knives with shackles, with 56 total knives)
I think this is the knife style that Island tractor has based on his pics, but am not sure.

I have 56 knives and I recall they are shackled so it is probably the "B" model. Although the Caroni catalog lists a whole bunch of variations, I believe the only TM1900 model carried by AgriSupply is the one I have.

 

[IslandTractor]

Makes me wonder why the Coroni is less than 1/2 the price of the others.

I thought about that question too. I couple of possible answers:

1) Flail mowers are more common in Europe so they have high volume sales = lower prices

2) The major US flail makers build heavy duty models for highway crews etc for >$5000 so maybe when they build a medium duty version like the entry level JD they just knock off a little of that price

3) No demand in USA so no price competition for these medium duty mowers

I think it is mostly to do with volume and manufacturing efficiency. None of the US manufacturers feature flail mowers as a major volume item so they cannot sell them at the price point Caroni can and still make a profit.

 

[williamemack]

I have had a lot of experience with Mott (now Alamo) flail mowers. It is very important to recognize the difference between a reverse and a forward rotation flail. Reverse rotation is for lawns. Forward for heavier material. These are what are used for roadside mowing. It's waht I have. One advantage of the forward is the as your tires push over material, the forward rotating knives pick up the bent over material and then cut it off. If money is no object, check out the Kuhn ditchbank flail mower.

One last tip, use chains to connect your upper lift arms to your lower lift arms so that you will not twist the frame of the flail when going over uneven ground.

 

[davitk]

Have enjoyed reading this thread.

Can anyone address the real world cutting capbilities of the 3 knife styles that Caroni offers on the TM models?

A) TM1900A (Normal cut knives, with 56 total knives)
I am guessing this is mostly for grass, but how tall of grass/weeds would this handle? What diameter brush?

B) TM1900F (Normal cut knives, with 112 total knives)
Obvioulsy would produce a superior finish cut in lawns, but would double the knives be a detriment in tall grass/weeds and in brush? Would more tractor hp be required due to the added knives?

C) TM1900B (Brush cut knives with shackles, with 56 total knives)
I think this is the knife style that Island tractor has based on his pics, but am not sure.

Agri Supply only has the "B" rotor, as in TM1900BSC.

 

[davitk]

There's no photo to actually help confirm this. https://www.ruralking.com/Store/detail.aspx?ID=38755 But I suspect that's the same Chinese model that Rural King is selling for $800. I also believe shipping (to a retail store) is included. I contacted them to check on the size range(s) available. Unfortunately they're currently only importing the 5 footer. So I'm still shopping for a reasonably priced medium duty in the 7-8 foot range.

//greg//

out of curoisity I called Rural King, the sales person of course had no idea about the mower. Here is her e-mailed follow up:



I just recently talked to the buyer on these and he told me they were a one time buy for us and we do not have anymore. I suggested to get them in stock, but we would probably not have them in time for mowing season. Sorry and thank you for shopping ruralking.com.

Thank you,

Sara Durbin

Rural King Internet Sales

1-800-561-1752

217-235-7101 ext. 320








Not that I am recommending my purchase but for anyone interested my flail mower is coming from Betst (spelled correctly) in Oregon, they have been importing from the same company in China for 13 years, have a wharehouse stocked with parts and are selling on flea bay.

 

[Eagleview]

Having not used one of these, how much debris do they leave behind? (i.e. will I need to rake it up or will it just be so small it will be okay to leave on the grass?). I think it will be okay for the grass but if I use it to mutilate leaves it might not.

If you leave the rear flap closed the clippings that are discharged will be smaller than chaff and will not be noticable and help create humus to the lawn . Have a look at how little material has been left after mowing 8' tall scrub in my gallery pics .

 

[greg_g]

out of curoisity I called Rural King, the sales person of course had no idea about the mower. Here is her e-mailed follow up:

She's the one with who I corresponded as well. But in my case, I guess she went a little higher up the food chain. She forwarded this email in response to my enquiry:
-----Original Message-----
sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 6:30 PM
From: Mark Sims
To: Sara Durbin
These mowers are imported from China. I currently show one on hand at the Mattoon, Il store. I am currently not able to special order this from this company. Sorry.

Sara Durbin
Internet Sales
Rural King Supply

 

[IslandTractor]

Whatever the availability of the Rural King mowers, it sounds like parts and service backup would be a nightmare.

 

[greg_g]

Whatever the availability of the Rural King mowers, it sounds like parts and servicve backup would be a nightmare.

Can't argue that, same as when they first started selling Jinmas. They wanted sales, but refused to pay a wage sufficient to attract competent diesel mechanics or parts managers. Their problems began with poor assembly and prep, and went downhill from there.

To be fair, I'm told they learned by (some of) their mistakes. But I'm sure the same slow learning curve will apply to the introduction of such a comparatively unfamiliar implement as well.

//greg//

 

[Nuru]

If you leave the rear flap closed the clippings that are discharged will be smaller than chaff and will not be noticable and help create humus to the lawn . Have a look at how little material has been left after mowing 8' tall scrub in my gallery pics .

IR, wow that is pretty impressive. Looks like I could get one of those and just shred the leaves in the fall instead of blowing them into the woods. I could also investigate another setof hammers/knives that might do the job beter than the finish mower one or the standard ones that come on the uinits, right? I just don't want to leave a large amount of leaves on the grass over the winter, it really needs to cut them up very well.

 

[Grapeman]

Further back in this thread, someone said that flail mowers weren't available with a grass catcher and I would have agreed. While snooping around in Ebay today, I ran across an MC 3 pt pto flail mower with a grass/leaf catcher attachment for sale/auction. It just goes to prove that if someone can think of something, someone else has built it.

 

[Eagleview]

Further back in this thread, someone said that flail mowers weren't available with a grass catcher and I would have agreed. While snooping around in Ebay today, I ran across an MC 3 pt pto flail mower with a grass/leaf catcher attachment for sale/auction. It just goes to prove that if someone can think of something, someone else has built it.

There are also high dump models that can empty straight into a small tip truck and i have seen trailed catchers you can add to your existing flail mower , just clips on and has it's own set of wheels . Nuru// leaves will turn to chaff with a flail mower and will be gone in a couple of days . And as flails do'nt leave winrows will not be noticable at all . As you have seen what happened to the 8' tall Lantana in my gallery , imagine what your results would be . I do large lawns with my setup and people say the finish is better than their lawn tractor can do .

 

[Foozle]

Well, I was all set to get a Woods rotary cutter and Woods finish mower until I read this thread, now it has given me pause to think. Does Woods make a flail mower? They have something called a "flail shredder" but it doesn't look the same. More tough decisions - all I needed!

From the spec sheets it appears that the max cutting height for flails is around 6", but I seem to recall a poster earlier said they cut weeds that were 2 feet high. If max height is really 4-6", it seems the rotary cutters would have an advantage in that department? As someone said earlier, it seems odd that rotarys and finish mowers aren't obsolete at this point if flails are that compelling. It make me wonder if something is being missed that might be other advantages of rotarys and finishing mowers.