Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

powerscol · Mar 31, 2017

It does even better than expected. My unit is 926 lbs on a 3600 lb tractor. I just can understand why you cant handle the SE. When mowing the weight is off the tractor. Maybe double check with them. Somehow you need to clear your rear tire track with the pivot point to mow ditch banks

murse72 · Mar 31, 2017

i see what you are saying now about the pivot point, the only part that will mow the ditch will be the area to the right of the pivot point, the 210SI might have a wider overall cut but the only part that will be mowing the ditch is the section to the outside of the pivot. There is no one locally that sales ditch bank flails so I have been researching on youtube and anything else i can find about them. I will have to have one shipped to me so i don't want to get something that too much for my tractor. thinking more now of the 180SE

John Fitzgerald · Mar 31, 2017

There is a very good looking Maschio Giraffetta Ditch Bank Mower on our local CL (Fayetteville AR area). It's too big for my compact tractor or I would consider it.

innrkid · Apr 2, 2017

leonz said:
Hello Vic,

Lucky for me I found your thread before I crawled into my warm bed.

Anyway, John Deere, and Vrisimo, are the two that I can think of off
hand that will accept the quick hitch mode. I do not believe the Caroni
can use the quick hitch.

Check with the folks at Iowa Farm equipment to see if the Del Morino, Peruzzo,
Berti and Sicma can use the quick hitch.

You can check with Ken Sweet at Sweet Tractors about the Sicma flail mowers, You can send him a PM through the forum here to ask him or call him. He ships his equipment nationwide.

The smallest JD is the 7 foot 290 unless that has changed recently but the Vrisimo can be purchased in smaller width of cut flail mowers.

Good night to you,

Leon

My del Morino will use a quick hitch, however, it's not quick. It's such a tight fit it's not worth the wrestling match. FYI

pd tractor · Apr 2, 2017

LarJea said:
I have one of these mowers. So far I have only used it one day to mow my roadside ditches and on the trails I made through the woods. It seems to do a good job, I will know more about it as I get used to the hydraulic tilt, (I know now I should Bought a control valve with float for the tilt part of it). I think the only difference between the AGL model and the AGF model is the AGL uses the scoop type of cutter instead of side cutters, but not sure on this. The mower I got is light duty with side cutters and I went with the 42" version.
I ordered my mower direct from the manufacture in China (LEFA Changzhou) If you want more details, let me know.

How are you liking your Farmer Helper flail mower? I'm in the market for a 48" light duty, and these are the least expensive by far. Thanks!

def38 · Apr 2, 2017

Without having to read all 400+ posts, does anyone have experience with the Chicomm flails such as Titan, etc? I am interested in a flail mower for 5 acres, with lawn grass. There will be the occasional root that pops up, likely about 1-2 inches. Other than that, pretty much light duty.

LarJea · Apr 2, 2017

pd tractor said:
How are you liking your Farmer Helper flail mower? I'm in the market for a 48" light duty, and these are the least expensive by far. Thanks!

So far so good. In fact I haven't used the mid mount mower since. I switched over to float for the tilt function but will have to wait and see when mowing season starts to see how that works.

innrkid · Apr 3, 2017

All,

At my property in Wisconsin (grass still dormant) I tried this last weekend to make some passes in some taller grass just to understand operational character of my Del Morino. After lowering the roller to raise the height I found myself trying to get the balance right between skids and roller. Being a complete newbie to this equipment I was under the assumption that they operated together (float the three point and put full weight on unit) in a symbiotic manner. Those of you with experience can imagine the outcome when on saturated ground....ruts. I ultimately figured it out, however, like any good newbie would do to save complete public embarrassment I sent a private message to verify and seek advice fom one of the contributors to this thread. As expected, he helped me understand the error of my ways. Assuming there are other newbies out there that read this thread it might be valuable for others to hear what you experts are doing with top link and how you manage your skids in terms of height.
What have you found is optimal?
I have a hydraulic top link which makes adjusting a breeze and now that I know more, I look forward to my next test runs.

shaeff · Apr 3, 2017

innrkid said:
All,

At my property in Wisconsin (grass still dormant) I tried this last weekend to make some passes in some taller grass just to understand operational character of my Del Morino. After lowering the roller to raise the height I found myself trying to get the balance right between skids and roller. Being a complete newbie to this equipment I was under the assumption that they operated together (float the three point and put full weight on unit) in a symbiotic manner. Those of you with experience can imagine the outcome when on saturated ground....ruts. I ultimately figured it out, however, like any good newbie would do to save complete public embarrassment I sent a private message to verify and seek advice fom one of the contributors to this thread. As expected, he helped me understand the error of my ways. Assuming there are other newbies out there that read this thread it might be valuable for others to hear what you experts are doing with top link and how you manage your skids in terms of height.
What have you found is optimal?
I have a hydraulic top link which makes adjusting a breeze and now that I know more, I look forward to my next test runs.

Glad you got it all figured out! Generally, the skids aren't supposed to touch the ground while mowing. The mower should ride on the rear roller only, and on level ground you should put a small bullet level on the gearbox and it should show level.

innrkid · Apr 3, 2017

shaeff said:
Glad you got it all figured out! Generally, the skids aren't supposed to touch the ground while mowing. The mower should ride on the rear roller only, and on level ground you should put a small bullet level on the gearbox and it should show level.

To be clear...yes I figured out how not to make ruts....my question was am I doing this right by lifting the skids!
I was not aware of what you mention. Mine is ditch bank mower. When I tilt down into the ditch I'm assuming I'm okay but the front to back has to be level. Is that right?

IslandTractor · Apr 3, 2017

It is standard to trim the flail so that front to back is level. However, I sometimes shorten or lengthen the hydraulic topping lift to slightly lower or raise the cutting height while mowing so it isn't critical to have the front to back exactly level. Bottom line is simply to understand the geometry of the mower as it pivots up and down on the rear roller. I might for instance lengthen the topping lift and "push" the mower up a bit when cutting very lush thick grass that would otherwise slow me down. Conversely, I sometimes lower the mower an inch or two by shortening the topping lift if I am trying to cut off brush as close to the ground as possible. Use the rear roller to set approximate cut height and then fiddle with topping lift to get it exact. I even use the 3PT at times to raise the whole mower when backing into thick brush (and then lowering it when I drive forward to get a clean second cut). 3PT also can be used to make small adjustments to cutting height but I prefer to use the hydraulic topping lift. If I had a manual topping lift I'd use the 3PT for the same fine adjustments.

pd tractor · Apr 5, 2017

thanks!
what is the HP of your PTO? Tractor width? I'd like to go with the 48" to match my tractor (48" edge-to-edge tires) but my PTO is 15 HP, not the recommended 20 HP.
They have a 41" rated at 16 HP

IslandTractor · Apr 5, 2017

pd tractor said:
thanks!
what is the HP of your PTO? Tractor width? I'd like to go with the 48" to match my tractor (48" edge-to-edge tires) but my PTO is 15 HP, not the recommended 20 HP.
They have a 41" rated at 16 HP

Ignore the recommended PTO. That's just to make sure you don't complain that you need to slow down in thick grass. It is preferable to cut a bit wider than your tires so you have some ability to get the mower close to objects you don't want to scrape up against (fence, tree, rock).

pd tractor · Apr 5, 2017

IslandTractor said:
Ignore the recommended PTO. That's just to make sure you don't complain that you need to slow down in thick grass. It is preferable to cut a bit wider than your tires so you have some ability to get the mower close to objects you don't want to scrape up against (fence, tree, rock).

ah, just what I needed to hear! More concerned about damaging the tractor; I can mow slowly, I have more time than money.
Thank you!!!

IslandTractor · Apr 6, 2017

Check to see if the mower you are looking at can be offset. My Caroni has two positions for attaching the 3PT bridge to the mower. One leaves the mower centered and the other offsets about 12-15". Additionally, even with the mower "centered", you can adjust the tractor 3PT arms to push over to one side which gets you another 3-4" typically. Also I think a lot of mowers are naturally a bit offset. Mine is 73" with about 12" extra on the right. Works well with my approx 60" tire edge to tire edge distance.

I find a total of 12-15" mower cutting off the right side of the tractor to be very efficient and is my standard setting. It allows cutting closer to obstacles and under bushes for starters. It also means that I can run the left front wheel just at the cut edge of where I previously mowed and gives me the largest possible cut width without risking missed patches. It works best if you mow in a clockwise loop.

pd tractor · Apr 7, 2017

IslandTractor said:
Check to see if the mower you are looking at can be offset. My Caroni has two positions for attaching the 3PT bridge to the mower. One leaves the mower centered and the other offsets about 12-15". Additionally, even with the mower "centered", you can adjust the tractor 3PT arms to push over to one side which gets you another 3-4" typically. Also I think a lot of mowers are naturally a bit offset. Mine is 73" with about 12" extra on the right. Works well with my approx 60" tire edge to tire edge distance.

I find a total of 12-15" mower cutting off the right side of the tractor to be very efficient and is my standard setting. It allows cutting closer to obstacles and under bushes for starters. It also means that I can run the left front wheel just at the cut edge of where I previously mowed and gives me the largest possible cut width without risking missed patches. It works best if you mow in a clockwise loop.

not sure if you were specifically addressing me; thanks if you are
that is good advice. I believe it does have offset positions. Also, as you suggested just adjusting the arms a few inches would probably get me just past the wheel, which would be enough. I am excited to get this after years of hacking at my open grass with a brush hog.

Catman8 · Apr 7, 2017

Update: Bush Hog FM188 or Ford 917 vibration problem, adjustable balance weights missing and no longer available for purchase.

I drew out the weights to scale and ordered a 1-1/2 x 1' piece of cold rolled.

I drilled two holes and used a 7" grinding wheel to make the radius, the weights needed to weight .88 pounds per the print, but they weighed less than that after drilling the holes and making the radius, so I did not bother machining the outside corners.

I gave it a spin using the old blades and she ran as smooth as can be, no vibration. I ordered all new hardware from Flail-master and tried out the two piece ruff cut blades for field mowing, they cut fine except for the very fine grass, it just laid it over. The manual said the standard cut blade would also create a suction and lift the grass and from what I experienced, that is true, if you really don't have thick brush I would stick with the paddle blades.

The original correct hardware was longer and extended past the side skids and I did not care for that because I feel the side skids will protect the blades from hitting the dirt, I could be wrong, but I made new skids anyway. As you can see the previous owner made new skids because most likely they were rusted out. Anyway all worked out ok and I now have a flail mower I can use.