Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[D2Cat]

Leonz and Steave, thanks for your insight. I was looking for a set up to mow a pasture. It's native grasses and about 2' tall now. Wanted to knock it down to about 8", like a Bush Hog would do. Will this do that for me? Can I adjust the gauge wheels for a higher cut?

How much Hp would be required? I have a Case 730 and Deutz 6206 (both diesel, both in the neighbor hood of 60HP) I usually use for mowing.

I'm on the Kansas side. About 20 miles West of the Mo. line, and 25 miles to the suburbs of KC.

 

[leonz]

Leonz and Steave, thanks for your insight. I was looking for a set up to mow a pasture. It's native grasses and about 2' tall now. Wanted to knock it down to about 8", like a Bush Hog would do. Will this do that for me? Can I adjust the gauge wheels for a higher cut?

How much Hp would be required? I have a Case 730 and Deutz 6206 (both diesel, both in the neighbor hood of 60HP) I usually use for mowing.

I'm on the Kansas side. About 20 miles West of the Mo. line, and 25 miles to the suburbs of KC.

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Hello D2Cat,

Is this pasture an exercise pasture or a forage pasture?

Your mules will have plenty of power the issue is mowing. If your actively grazing 4 legged hay burners mowing shorter will always allow fresh growth UNLESS your dealing with drought.

Using a flail mower at a higher mowing setting/cut will affect its mowing efficiency as your flail mower will mow better at a shorter height of cut and it will keep any poison ivy, oak or sumac under better control.

Mowing at a higher height of cut will work but the mower will not cut very well versus mowing at 2-3.5 inches as there will be much less of a pressure gradient to lift the clippings up and over the flail mower rotor and back down to the ground.

Please understand that I want to help you with this as you have a gem of a flail mower that will out last your mules.

I would like you to readjust your flail mower.
You need to block up your flail mower using hardwood blocking under the flail mower rotor or use jack stands on stable ground or a concrete shop floor to change the mowing height and then readjust the rear roller by lowering it to the lowest mounting holes in the side weldments of the flail mower to raise the cutting height.

Please keep your body and arms out form under the flail mower while doing this.

If the name plate/ID tag is still there it is probably covered in paint on the right or left front or rear cross brace or under the V belt guard on the side weldment.


I am going to attach a manual for a Mott 60 and 72 inch mower here.

 

[Kirch169]

Well I got the smooth cut flail blades and the look great but three of them hit the shroud of the mower. I think I need to take them off and grind them down a bit with the wet wheel and trim them down by 1/10th of an inch or so.

I will let you know how it goes.

--Kirch

 

[whirly]

Well I got the smooth cut flail blades and the look great but three of them hit the shroud of the mower. I think I need to take them off and grind them down a bit with the wet wheel and trim them down by 1/10th of an inch or so.

I will let you know how it goes.

--Kirch

If only 3 of the knives are hitting the shroud then the shroud is more than likely deformed in that area. Check to see if there is a dent or crease. If you can find the deformation see if you can work the dent back out.

 

[Fallon]

If only 3 of the knives are hitting the shroud then the shroud is more than likely deformed in that area. Check to see if there is a dent or crease. If you can find the deformation see if you can work the dent back out.

Wery much correct. I got my 7' Ford 917 for $100. Put in the missing knives, then promptly foud out why they were missing and I got it for only $100. Took the plasma cutter out & torched out a large chunk of the back of the hood. It was to bent to hammer out, got backed into somethig I'm guessing.Welded a patch over the holes. It's still a piece of crap with a huge crack in the hood, but also better than a new rotary.

Had similar knife strike issues when the rotor bearing blew.

 

[Kirch169]

I checked that but it looks like the entire width of the one flail in rubbing on the shroud. the other two hit at the back edge of the shroud and not real deformation. I cannot find smooth cut blades for the 907 so these are as close as I could come to the specs of the 907 blades

It realy should be no big deal to alter the blades takes a couple minutes per blade and there are only 33 of them

 

[powerscol]

Well had more fun with the Graffetta. Mowed two acres of grass that had a years growth on it with irrigation. It was twice the height of the mower. Put a good load on the tractor but did and excellent job of mulching. I do need to raise the side skids a bit as it trapped and drug the long grass leaving big clumps. After mowing I checked the hammers. Definitely need to sharpen them as some had folded over grass stems wrapped up on the hammer. Ill try and take a few pictures tomorrow.

 

[houser52]

Update on the Caroni with the 45" belts and duckfoot blades.

Mowed about 10 acres of pasture this week. The cows have been grazing on it but there's still a pretty good crop of 18" Dallas grass stems everywhere. The cows won't eat those stems and hopefully cutting those and other weeds will stimulate some new fescue growth before the first frost.

Almost all the mowing was done in 5th gear, approximately 3 mph, 2400 engine rpm and 530 pto rpm.

The duckfoot blades did a good job cutting everything that was thrown at them. The new 45" kevlar belts are holding up well and it seems to run a lot cooler too. I can hold my hand on the belt cover as long as I want without being too hot to be uncomfortable. I tried to avoid those pesky fire ant hills but did hit a few. They seem to have had no negative effects to the mower, blades or belts.

Mowing with the flail was actually pretty enjoyable today. Pretty weather, good clean pasture and the mower/ tractor both ran good without any mishaps. Gotta love it.

 

[DoubleDeere]

Mowing with the flail was actually pretty enjoyable today. Pretty weather, good clean pasture and the mower/ tractor both ran good without any mishaps. Gotta love it.

AGREED. :drink:

 

[ArmyDoc]

Have a question - sorry if it's already been asked. Has anyone here tried using a front mount flail, using the front PTO? Seems common in Europe, but no one I know around here does anything but pull bush-hogs...