Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

davitk · Apr 30, 2008

sunspot said:
I pulled the trigger on the Caroni. I spoke to Beverly and placed the order. The freight charge to my door is $230.00 so the final price will be $1925.95.
Like Dave's (The other Dave, not Davestractor), mine will be fresh off the boat.

Congrats!! Shiney new is nice

jrl@nf.sympatico.ca · Apr 30, 2008

This batch of information on flail mowers has completely changed my mind from a bush hog and finish mower to one simple flail mower. I do have a large field(six acres) with heavy weed stock to cut out and I think a heavy duty flail for my 68 PTO Hp would be the answer. Thanks for the discussion everyone.

Nuru · May 1, 2008

jrl@nf.sympatico.ca said:
This batch of information on flail mowers has completely changed my mind from a bush hog and finish mower to one simple flail mower. I do have a large field(six acres) with heavy weed stock to cut out and I think a heavy duty flail for my 68 PTO Hp would be the answer. Thanks for the discussion everyone.

Yep this thread got me and mine is going to show tomorrow. I went for the BETST flail vs the Caroni. I know i will miss the extra 4 inches a little, but I think I will get used to not having to worry about blowing grass onto my mulch beds!

And being able ot brush cut up to 2" diameter saplings.

Nuru · May 1, 2008

Tommorrow in the afternoon with a loader de-truckin' operation!

DavesTractor · May 1, 2008

Here is a used 12' flail we just put new knives on. A little overkill for 10 acres I suppose.

Rara Avis · May 2, 2008

DavesTractor said:
Here is a used 12' flail we just put new knives on. A little overkill for 10 acres I suppose.

Care to tell us the cost of reknifing a 12' flail...We are sitting down...

IslandTractor · May 2, 2008

PaulChristenson said:
Care to tell us the cost of reknifing a 12' flail...We are sitting down...

In dollars or busted knuckles?

DavesTractor · May 2, 2008

PaulChristenson said:
Care to tell us the cost of reknifing a 12' flail...We are sitting down...

Takes less than an hour, no tools, about $160 in knives.

GinNB · May 2, 2008

Nice price on the knives. Mine're usually a bit under $3/knife ($2 if I'm lucky), one knife per inch of cutting width. That doesn't include shackles and clevis pins if they need to be redone. Total blade cost typically costs me roughly $2/acre of mowing, but that includes some rocky and less-than-flat ground but not many bushes.

Chuck_Lind · May 3, 2008

Just looked at a Land Pride 72" flail mower. Wow...very pricey!! $4600.00

Think I'll keep by brush hog.

Nuru · May 4, 2008

Chuck_Lind said:
Just looked at a Land Pride 72" flail mower. Wow...very pricey!! $4600.00

Think I'll keep by brush hog.

That is why i went with the BETST Flail for $975
68" cut width and i figure if I keep oil in it, it should last. Seems like it is medium duty likwe what was stated earlier in this thread.

Oh yeah, i know

" The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

Well i hope to not have the "pq" experience. If I do, then its back to the MMM and the drive over MMM (72" OnRamp MMM) is next!

davitk · May 4, 2008

When does it arrive, Nuru? I used mine today and boy was it nice

Nuru · May 4, 2008

davitk said:
When does it arrive, Nuru? I used mine today and boy was it nice

Davitk; mine has arrived also, I haven't had the time to play with it yet, might wait for the 3520 to show on the 16th and cut with them both on the 17th. BTW, can you show us some pics of the unit's work on lawn mowing? I wanted to get an idea of how it cuts lawn?

davitk · May 4, 2008

I am still looking for that "perfect" setiing; too high it doesn't cut evenly, too low it dethatches the lawn, pulling up dead stuff and leaving a blanket of clippings on top of the grass. It may be that once the lawn is thouroughly and properly dethatched that problem will go away, don't know. Sometimes I get it adjusted "just right" for the particular area (most of our's is thick due to being old, well fertilized pasture but varies) and it cuts fine. Another problem is that I adjust the top link, mow a bit, see that it's good, mow some more and the top link unscrews itself lowering the setting.... you'd think I might get smart and fix it with the nut, maybe mark it with a felt pen, take some notes.... nah, that just takes the fun out of it

Maybe once you get yours sighted in you can send me the cliff notes

No recent pics, sorry, been a busy weekend, the dog decided to play tag with a car and came up with a broken leg. Border collie in a cast, what fun

Nuru · May 4, 2008

davitk said:
I am still looking for that "perfect" setiing; too high it doesn't cut evenly, too low it dethatches the lawn, pulling up dead stuff and leaving a blanket of clippings on top of the grass. It may be that once the lawn is thouroughly and properly dethatched that problem will go away, don't know. Sometimes I get it adjusted "just right" for the particular area (most of our's is thick due to being old, well fertilized pasture but varies) and it cuts fine. Another problem is that I adjust the top link, mow a bit, see that it's good, mow some more and the top link unscrews itself lowering the setting.... you'd think I might get smart and fix it with the nut, maybe mark it with a felt pen, take some notes.... nah, that just takes the fun out of it Maybe once you get yours sighted in you can send me the cliff notes

No recent pics, sorry, been a busy weekend, the dog decided to play tag with a car and came up with a broken leg. Border collie in a cast, what fun

hmmm, do I see another MMM in my future? Or a rotary finish mower?

n3ra77 · May 7, 2008

What size flail mower, if any, could you run with a JD 2520?

Thanks

Nuru · May 7, 2008

davitk said:
I am still looking for that "perfect" setiing; too high it doesn't cut evenly, too low it dethatches the lawn, pulling up dead stuff and leaving a blanket of clippings on top of the grass. It may be that once the lawn is thouroughly and properly dethatched that problem will go away, don't know. Sometimes I get it adjusted "just right" for the particular area (most of our's is thick due to being old, well fertilized pasture but varies) and it cuts fine. Another problem is that I adjust the top link, mow a bit, see that it's good, mow some more and the top link unscrews itself lowering the setting.... you'd think I might get smart and fix it with the nut, maybe mark it with a felt pen, take some notes.... nah, that just takes the fun out of it Maybe once you get yours sighted in you can send me the cliff notes

No recent pics, sorry, been a busy weekend, the dog decided to play tag with a car and came up with a broken leg. Border collie in a cast, what fun

Hey Davtik, did you call Keith for some tips. I plan to initially set mine to 4 inches and cut to that height, and see how that works.

Nuru · May 7, 2008

n3ra77 said:
What size flail mower, if any, could you run with a JD 2520?

Thanks

Under 40" probably? you need to review the specs and see what horsepower it requires, and JD's recommendations.

IslandTractor · May 8, 2008

Nuru said:
Under 40" probably? you need to review the specs and see what horsepower it requires, and JD's recommendations.

Under 40 inches? Is that a typo? The JD is a 25hp tractor and I would imagine it would run a 60 inch flail with no trouble at all. A 72 inch might be OK for lawn but would be too big if used for rougher bush hog type work.

Reg · May 8, 2008

IslandTractor said:
Under 40 inches? Is that a typo? The JD is a 25hp tractor and I would imagine it would run a 60 inch flail with no trouble at all. A 72 inch might be OK for lawn but would be too big if used for rougher bush hog type work.

That would be 25 of JD horse power ?

Given that a horse can pull a plow through the ground, I doubt that this li'l twaktor can pull 25 of them.