Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[IslandTractor]

Here are some photos of 1) part of my broken Caroni clevis collection, 2) better Flailmaster clevis (stock and modified) and 3) Flailmaster clevis after grinding to fit

 

[hunt4570]

Yea Hunt you might want to buy a couple of those Kubotas to keep up with that Caroni. Either that or you can get a Massey and get a spare Caroni. ��

A Massey??? Ewwww.. I like real tractors!:laughing:

Jeeze... whats with people dinging my Kubota?? GREAT TRACTORS!!

 

[hunt4570]

So whats the opinion..New caroni @ $2000, Alamo rusty but not bad at $1200, or and amco mott at $750. dont know much about the mott.. all about the same size..

 

[IslandTractor]

So whats the opinion..New caroni @ $2000, Alamo rusty but not bad at $1200, or and amco mott at $750. dont know much about the mott.. all about the same size..

How handy are you??? The older US flails can be rebuilt but don't expect to get the parts or know how from Home Depot.

 

[hunt4570]

How handy are you??? The older US flails can be rebuilt but don't expect to get the parts or know how from Home Depot.

Pretty handy actually. But is, for instance, the Alamo a better machine? If not, I'd probably rather get the new Caroni, but if it is truly a better machine, then it may be a better thing to get my hands dirty..

 

[IslandTractor]

Alamo/Mott/Verismo/etc are all heavier duty machines. The Caroni is a medium duty mower. To me it is the equivalent of a Woods or Bush Hog standard duty mower while the Alamo etc are more like their medium/heavy duty mowers like a BrushBull etc. Not a knock on the Caroni at all, but there is a reason that the crews that mow highway medians choose the heavy duty US made mowers. Those are certainly overkill for the typical private user but if a good one can be had used for a bargain and you feel you can refurbish it, the Alamos etc can be great values. Bearings and knives etc are trivial fixes. Just make sure the rotor and deck and roller are in good shape.

 

[whirly]

So whats the opinion..New caroni @ $2000, Alamo rusty but not bad at $1200, or and amco mott at $750. dont know much about the mott.. all about the same size..

I have had an original Mott 72 for 3 years. I don't use it much now but when I bought this place (10Ac) it had guinea grass and Hilo grass taller than me (6'). It took a couple of passes to knock it all down with the used blades that came with it. I "found" lava rocks, stumps, saplings, old fence wire and fence posts imbedded in the ground and smoked a couple of belts but the old Mott just kept on going. I've since replaced all 184 blades, the 2 belts mentioned and re-welded a couple of blade posts but that's the extent of the maintenance.

When I got it I greased all of the fittings and made sure the gearbox had good oil. Now i just use it if the rain keeps me from mowing for more than a couple of weeks, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. The grass here grows about 3-4 inches a week and my zero turn just bogs down in the high grass.

It's heavy coming in @ 930# and built like a brick crapper. Flailmaster has all of the parts I've needed and more so I don't worry about it ever, at least in my lifetime, becoming a hangar queen. The upside is I can sell it here for more than I have into it now - including shipping from the mainland, a new PTO shaft and new blades - $1,100. Needless to say I'm certain I made the right choice for the work needed. YMMV

 

[sodamo]

I'm another happy owner of a 68in Value Leader, had it 5 years. I'd caution that you also compare apples to apples. My VL is 780 pounds and 1/4" steel. I think the Caroni is significantly (more than 100 pounds) lighter and when I was comparing, I assumed that likely meant less steel.

I'm on my 3rd set of cutters having gone thru the original set of hammers and 1 set of Y blades, this set is hammers again. As mentioned several times here on TBN, I probably should be considered more an abuser than user of this piece of equipment.

As for fit and finish, I'd call it equal to any of my other pieces when new, maybe even better than 1 or 2 with age and use. My best friend had a Gearmore, about 3 years older than mine. Frequent welding and repainting made it look good when he sold it last year., but I could have bought 2 for what his cost.

While it is offset, I have mine more the mid position and it covers both tires with a little more on the right. I think my tires are maybe 60" outside to outside.

I back mow quite a bit, sometimes lifting, some times not, depending on the terrain. My property is former sugar cane / pasture, lots of unevenness and slopes. Never brought a shear bolt that way, but many by mowing rocks.

I don't particularly like the skids, like the Caroni design better. Way to easy for me to cut into the ground some times. Maybe I just cut too low. Unfortunately, I snagged a big tree root just the other day while mowing merrily along. Jolted me to a stop. May have caused a slight racking I've also snagged my share of fence posts with the offset.

My property is likely similar to Whirly as we are only a few miles apart. Add guava trees into the mix.

Haven't used my Rhino rotary cutter since getting the flail and sold the Woods Rotary.

All not peaches and cream, I did have to replace the rear roller bearings as one rusted out. Not that I've ever mowed wet or in the rain LOL.

And last week I did replace the bearing and seal on the pulley shaft from the gear box. Guess it would be embarrassing to say someone didn't check the oil. I replaced it with a sealed bearing.

Still on original belts.

While I expect to get a lot more use from it, I would not have a tear of regret if I had to replace it, especially if cost to replace was close to same..

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[hunt4570]

So I noticed (going through ebay) that the value leader unit is getting pretty close or sometimes even more than the Caroni unit...probably going to take that one off the list.

 

[hunt4570]

Alamo/Mott/Verismo/etc are all heavier duty machines. The Caroni is a medium duty mower. To me it is the equivalent of a Woods or Bush Hog standard duty mower while the Alamo etc are more like their medium/heavy duty mowers like a BrushBull etc. Not a knock on the Caroni at all, but there is a reason that the crews that mow highway medians choose the heavy duty US made mowers. Those are certainly overkill for the typical private user but if a good one can be had used for a bargain and you feel you can refurbish it, the Alamos etc can be great values. Bearings and knives etc are trivial fixes. Just make sure the rotor and deck and roller are in good shape.

So do you use yours commercially? seems from your posts you probably do, which means you put lots of hours on yours. Me... mine would most likely be used a few times a year on my own place (unless I found a mowing job or something, I'm kind of retired with some time on my hands ). My point I guess is if you use yours commercially and its held up this well, an occaisional use one might last forever..

Also your name is Island Tractor (yes I saw your location) but the two guys that posted after you were both from Hawaii.. how weird is that?