Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[D2Cat]

I pulled the belt guard off last week, checked the belt, and greased the entire mower and hooked to 730 Case.

Didn't mow until this afternoon, and we had 1.3" of rain last night, but I needed to "do something". I set it so the PTO was horizontal when mowing. I wanted to leave grass for grazing cattle. I think it did fine for what I need.

A few before and after pictures.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Just moved from a development with < 1/4 acre lots to a home on 7.5 acres, most of it in pasture. I bought a package deal of a Ford 1715, a 4' rotary cutter (brush hog), a 5' box blade, a 20' deck over trailer, and a 5' Ford 917L flail mower. The flail mower hadn't been used in over ten years and had been left outside on a narrow island where the salt air blows in no matter which way the wind is blowing. The tractor broke within a few hours of using it so I took it to the local New Holland shop for repairs. While it was there I decided to tackle the flail mower. The first thing I noticed was the condition of the blades. Out of 96 blades, not one of them was straight. It looked like they had been using it to mow quarry spalls level or something. Forty-eight rusted nuts and bolts later I had them all removed. I couldn't find direct replacement blades, so I ordered 100 Alamo fine cut blades because they had the closest similar geometry. The mounting holes were a little too small for the 3/8s bolts so I ordered some 5/16 bolts and nuts and mounted them. I noticed the previous owner had neglected the bearings on the rear roller a little,,, or a lot. There was no bearings left on either end and the roller had been riding on the mounting plate. Messicks had genuine Ford 917L bearings for $97 each, so I ordered some from somebody else, $16 delivered to my door for the pair. So far so good.
While I was waiting for the knives to arrive, I took the belt cover off and found the belts weathered and checked, so I removed them. I noticed that there was no movement in the idler bracket so I tried to remove that and clean it up. After using a can of PB Blaster, and a pipe wrench on the "L" where the spring attaches, I managed to get it moved out 1/4". I put a puller on it and moving it up and down and tightening the puller, I got it out another full 1/2", but then it just refused to move at all. I put an extension on the pipe wrench and pulled up and something popped and it moved freely. Unfortunately that was because the welds holding the shaft into the mount broke. I took it too the truck shop of my former employer and and using a press the foreman had designed and built for working on Mack dump trucks and mixers, plus a little acetylene it finally popped out. Cleaned the shaft and the bracket with emery cloth and eveything moved freely. Found a neighbor to weld it back in place and after a hour of grinding away excessive welds the shaft was back in place and the idler bracket, now with a zerk was back on the machine. Changed the oil in gearbox, greased the bearings, installed new belts and a few cans of Rustoleum and it looks and works pretty good.
I used it today to mow about five acres of roughly brush hogged pasture and it looks great. It was so dry this summer that with not knowing the ground and what I might hit and what sparks might fly that I held off mowing until we had some rain. The grass had absorbed some moisture, so it wasn't the best cut. I have found that if you want to discover old 1/2" steel cable that was buried in the ground, or discover an ancient wire fence that has rotted and fallen over where no fence was supposed to be a flail mower is your best tool.
All in all I am quite happy with the mower, I think it will do a good job in the coming years.

 

[whirly]

I would have left the bent blades on until I found all of the rocks and wire.:2cents:

Welcome to the Flail Nation:drink:

 

[IslandTractor]

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...

It is common in Europe but always seems to involve a utility size tractor rather than a CUT. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of 1) front PTOs are not common on CUTs and 2) historically we are used to pulling bush hogs and RFMs. I’d personally love to have a front mounted flail. I like the idea of being able to see exactly where the mower is. Only downside to my thinking is that in unfamiliar territory or in rough bush hogging you don’t have the option of using the FEL to find obstacles.

 

[IslandTractor]

I would have left the bent blades on until I found all of the rocks and wire.:2cents:

Welcome to the Flail Nation:drink:

View attachment 525011

Those are finish blades. “Bent” or L shaped rough cut blades might be dulled but don’t bend with rock strikes as they are mounted via a clevis rather than directly to the rotor mount.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I would have used those blades. The ones I removed were bent in every shape they could be bent, some I had to bend away from the bolt head to remove them. I think the mower would have shook itself apart if I had used them. I just figured it was better to replace them all.
The previous owner must have been a logger or a rigger because after finding one cable with the mower I looked that area over very well and found 8 to 10 more coils that had self buried by freeze thaw cycles. This area is all sandy silty type soil so I was pretty sure that I would't find any rocks. However, I did find a chrome mudflap hanger from a log truck. The blades are still in good shape with one pair being slightly separated by the cable and a few with nicked cutting edges.
I enjoyed the project, it offered many challenges to my limited knowledge and limited tool selection, and it was rewarding to make something that had been basically discarded work as it should again.

 

[ArmyDoc]

It is common in Europe but always seems to involve a utility size tractor rather than a CUT. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of 1) front PTOs are not common on CUTs and 2) historically we are used to pulling bush hogs and RFMs. I’d personally love to have a front mounted flail. I like the idea of being able to see exactly where the mower is. Only downside to my thinking is that in unfamiliar territory or in rough bush hogging you don’t have the option of using the FEL to find obstacles.

The tractor dealer is concerned about a front end flail or front end rotary cutter throwing debris back into the tractor and cab. I suspect he has no experience with flails. Certainly my rotary cutter with throw things a good ways, is this a problem with flail mowers too?

 

[shaeff]

[QUOTE="ArmyDoc] Certainly my rotary cutter with throw things a good ways, is this a problem with flail mowers too?[/QUOTE]

Nope, usually will pick up debris, roll it over the drum and drop it back to the ground. Much safer in populated areas.

 

[leonz]

I wish to welcome you as the newest resident member of the Flail Mower Nations from the Great State of Washington.

 

[Fallon]

Nope, usually will pick up debris, roll it over the drum and drop it back to the ground. Much safer in populated areas.

I worried if people were within a few hundred yards of my old rotary cutter & would keep the dog locked up. I don't care if my dog wander around or gets within a few dozen yards of the flail.worst case I've seen a rock make it 4-8' when mowing at scalping height (intentionally). Lots of sparks if I accidentally mow rocks, but no real projectile danger. And thats the main reason I'm looking at another flail instead of a rotary for my next heavier mower.

 

[whirly]

Those are finish blades. “Bent” or L shaped rough cut blades might be dulled but don’t bend with rock strikes as they are mounted via a clevis rather than directly to the rotor mount.

Correct. However the OP installed "96" fine cut blades which would have been L blades. The blades in the picture were my first set and that is what they looked like AFTER I managed to find all of the rocks and debris in my fields. Surprising enough, even bent they did a pretty good job in their last pass on pastures and the horses never complained about the cut.

 

[RoyJackson]

Nope, usually will pick up debris, roll it over the drum and drop it back to the ground. Much safer in populated areas.

Yep...and that's why we see a lot more flail mowers used for roadside and highway median mowing nowadays.

 

[ArmyDoc]

I worried if people were within a few hundred yards of my old rotary cutter & would keep the dog locked up. I don't care if my dog wander around or gets within a few dozen yards of the flail.worst case I've seen a rock make it 4-8' when mowing at scalping height (intentionally). Lots of sparks if I accidentally mow rocks, but no real projectile danger. And thats the main reason I'm looking at another flail instead of a rotary for my next heavier mower.

I'm considering a utility tractor, that has a front PTO and buying a vrisimo hammer flail and mounting it up front. It seems the ideal solution for clearing volunteer sweet gum along the edges of the property. Any one have any thoughts on this?

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Thanks Leon
The blades I removed were in sorry shape, I wasn't joking when I said it looked like the previous owner used it to mow a rock garden. The photo is just a sample of what I removed and is pretty representative of what was on the machine when I got it.

I used Rustoleum HiVis Blue on the body of the mower but I thought black looked better on the attachment structure. I think it cleaned up pretty well.
I had to apply the lettering by hand using the outline that showed through the new paint. Doesn't look too bad from 15 feet away.

 

[whirly]

I stand corrected:shocked:

 

[vvanders]

Yep...and that's why we see a lot more flail mowers used for roadside and highway median mowing nowadays.

Yup, that's why I bought one. We've got some neighbors nearby and I could never forgive myself if I sent a rock through their living room window and hurt someone.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Thanks Leon
The blades I removed were in sorry shape, I wasn't joking when I said it looked like the previous owner used it to mow a rock garden. The photo is just a sample of what I removed and is pretty representative of what was on the machine when I got it.

I used Rustoleum HiVis Blue on the body of the mower but I thought black looked better on the attachment structure. I think it cleaned up pretty well.
I had to apply the lettering by hand using the outline that showed through the new paint. Doesn't look too bad from 15 feet away.View attachment 525066View attachment 525067

Nice refurb!

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Thanks Rick, it was fun, frustrating and rewarding. It is the first project I've done since I retired this past July. I am really enjoying getting my hands dirty fixing major things like this as well as the minor fixes and upgrades, and personalization of owning a tractor and implements.

 

[leonz]

I'm considering a utility tractor, that has a front PTO and buying a vrisimo hammer flail and mounting it up front. It seems the ideal solution for clearing volunteer sweet gum along the edges of the property. Any one have any thoughts on this?

As long as you have a utility tractor in mind that has a mid point PTO and you can obtain the mounting hardware for it from Vrisimo or the mule dealer to set it up as a front mount/front discharge flail mower you will have a good mower to use.

You have to check with the Vrisimo folks in California to see if they offer a front mount option for the size flail mower you want before you progress further with this as you may be better off with an offset rear mounted flail mower with actual "cast" flail hammers.

 

[IslandTractor]

Caroni mowers can be adapted for front mount use. Not sure if it is a specific model or more likely some adapter hardware but they showed one in their catalog a while back.