Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Flatheadyoungin]

And, let's be reminded of the fact that it's 25HP of JD power, not even close to NH or Bota 25hp!

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.

 

[IslandTractor]

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.

Horsepower as a concept dates back to the steam engine days when people had to compare the new fangled engines to a team of horses in order to make the decision whether to replace a team running pumps and with how big an engine (thank you google). Horsepower is now defined more precisely in ft lbs/min (or watts for the truly modern) but the original term apparently referred to how much work one horse could do in one day as part of a team running pumps. So, I guess JD would like us to believe that their 25hp engine could do as much plowing as 25 horses pulling plows for a day not that it could pull 25 plows at once. I guess horses got more work breaks than engines do.

In any case, I am pretty sure a JD2520 would have no trouble with a five foot flail.

 

[DavesTractor]

4 PTO HP per foot of flail for grass and field mowing. More for shredding brush and real tall grass.

 

[IslandTractor]

4 PTO HP per foot of flail for grass and field mowing. More for shredding brush and real tall grass.

JD2520 = 20.5PTO HP so 5ft flail is about right.

 

[n3ra77]

Thanks for the info. I am afraid to ask, but any recommendations on brand? Caroni (spelling?)?

Also, this is for rough cutting (grass, basic overgrown stuff in a lightly wooded area) not finish mowing. It has been getting cut once or so a year and I'd like to do it more often and control when it happens by doing it myself. Sounds like a 5' flail would work since it won't get overgrown.

Back to figuring out which tractor....

Thanks much for the help.

 

[Reg]

Horsepower as a concept dates back to the steam engine days when people had to compare the new fangled engines to a team of horses in order to make the decision whether to replace a team running pumps and with how big an engine (thank you google). Horsepower is now defined more precisely in ft lbs/min (or watts for the truly modern) but the original term apparently referred to how much work one horse could do in one day as part of a team running pumps. So, I guess JD would like us to believe that their 25hp engine could do as much plowing as 25 horses pulling plows for a day not that it could pull 25 plows at once. I guess horses got more work breaks than engines do.

In any case, I am pretty sure a JD2520 would have no trouble with a five foot flail.

A furlong was the measure of how far a horse would pull a plow with a man walking behind, a "furrow long", turn around, brief rest, go back and do it again.
This was accepted as what a horse could do if you wanted him to last.
Later standardized to 1/8 mile, 220 Yds.
Not clear who tired first, but a li'l JD in 1 hour day probably couldn't do the work that a Belgian can do in a couple of 12 hour days, or three 8 hour days.
Even with a 2 bottom plow, couldn't do in 1 hour day what a Percheron could do in 12 hours, etc.
So, while I agree that the unit of measure was developed for comparison purposes, I think that there has been considerable exaggeration of the power of said new fangled machines.

PLEEZE don't take any of this too seriously.
746 Watts is close enough for Gummint purposes, or however many ft pounds per minute or per second, it is a rate of doing work.
Force times distance divided by time.

 

[air19]

Hello Flail Mowers,

I have about 50 acres of fields that I bushhog twice each summer to keep the woody stuff from taking over. The problem here in Vermont is that these fields have many rocks in them and they grow more rocks every year when the frost pushing up. The terrain is not exactly level either. There are many sections where you don't have a level 6 foot wide swath.

So what really happens when a flail mower hits a rock and how do they work when the 6 foot swath isn't level side to side?

 

[IslandTractor]

So what really happens when a flail mower hits a rock and how do they work when the 6 foot swath isn't level side to side?

When a flail hits a rock the hammer or knife rotates away just like a bush hog blade pivots. It isn't any better for a flail knife to hit rocks than for a bush hog IMO but they certainly don't disintegrate when it happens and would not suffer the way a finish mower would. I hit rocks pretty often (I live in New England too after all) and after a season I don't see any reason to start thinking about sharpening or replacing the knives. Flail hammers would be less likely to be injured by the contact but I haven't had personal experience.

I don't imagine a flail of the same width would have any major advantage over a bush hog in dealing with unlevel land. A flail is just as rigid side to side and runs on a rear roller. However, I'd think that a flail would be less likely to scalp in that setting and you would not have the problem where the bush hog rear wheel is in a valley while the sides of the mower are gouging out turf. Where there is an advantage is when you drive your tractor into a depression which "V's" the tractor/hog because a flail is much shorter so would be less likely to do damage to toplink or PTO shaft.

 

[SPYDERLK]

A furlong was the measure of how far a horse would pull a plow with a man walking behind, a "furrow long", turn around, brief rest, go back and do it again.
This was accepted as what a horse could do if you wanted him to last.
Later standardized to 1/8 mile, 220 Yds.
Not clear who tired first, but a li'l JD in 1 hour day probably couldn't do the work that a Belgian can do in a couple of 12 hour days, or three 8 hour days.
Even with a 2 bottom plow, couldn't do in 1 hour day what a Percheron could do in 12 hours, etc.
So, while I agree that the unit of measure was developed for comparison purposes, I think that there has been considerable exaggeration of the power of said new fangled machines.

PLEEZE don't take any of this too seriously.
746 Watts is close enough for Gummint purposes, or however many ft pounds per minute or per second, it is a rate of doing work.
Force times distance divided by time.

Belgians and Percherons are more than 1 horsepower horses.
larry

 

[Bill the Elder]

Brand new here but not new to tractors. Found this site and thread while searching for info on flail mowers. I've got a Ford 4600 that's served the family well for over 30 years. Based on what I've read we're switching from our venerable rotary to one of those Caronis that seem to be serving some of you well.

Why you ask? Started with one reason but got my brain working about other benefits. We're in fire country out here in north central WA. Our Brush Hog leaves plenty of fuel on the ground after mowing and since we've gotten so little moisture this year we're hoping the flail will eliminate that hazard. That got me to thinking, we've got grass that doesn't get grazed and the pasture's been declining in productivity lately. Local custom is to burn the field to regenerate it. Does anyone know if using the flail and beating the stalks into little pieces will simulate grazing to a certain extent? We also maintain our soil fertility with green manures. Does anyone have experience using their flail to prepare those materials to be turned back into the soil?

Thanks for any information you care to share. I'll take my answer off the air.