Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[whirly]

.... Just priced a FM2560, and our local dealer wants $4300 without blades, ...

That's like selling a car without tires!!

 

[AGTtactical]

That's like selling a car without tires!!

Yes, very true!

 

[AGTtactical]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=4865289

I don't have a Victory but I do have a Titan. I have seen the Victory up close and personal. Looks the same as the Titan except for the paint job. My Titan is a monster and cuts well behind my M-F 231S. No belt issues and I have only stalled the mower once when I ran into some fence wire on the ground. I have been to China many times and observed first hand their manufacturing techniques. My only concern for a Chinese flail mower would be the welds. My inspection indicates that the Titan and Victory are welded properly with good penetration and no slag. The Chinese machines seem to be a close copy of the popular brands. Bearings, fasteners and other wear items are standard off the shelf stuff available most anywhere. My 6 foot Titan weigh the same as popular non-Chinese brands, about 600lbs. I like the service and free shipping offered by Titan.
Flail Mowers - 3 Point Attachments

Two guys here have mentioned that the lube points were not standard and had to be replaced on their Titan, and that the roller lube points were almost on the ground, easily damaged, and broke off. What model do you have that doesn't have this grease zerk placement problem?

 

[AGTtactical]

As I mentioned earlier, I installed the new duckfoot blades on my Caroni TM1900 yesterday and had enough time before dark to try them out.

Everything seems to be balanced as I didn't have any mower vibration at all. I had weighed each blade at exactly 6 ounces each. These new blades have a different sound than the Y blades when the machine is running, more like a deep hum of a heavy duty vacuum cleaner. Raising the mower while cutting creates a cloud of clippings and dust from under the mower. The blades must create a lot of suction.

I have the cutting height set with the roller in the fourth hole from the bottom which makes it set pretty high which is the way I want it. I ran the tractor at a little less than 540 PTO speed and the tractor around 2200 rpm.

I tried it first by cutting pretty thick 8" grass around my tractor shed. The finish was very similar to my zero turn leaving a nice clean cut. I then mowed about another hour around the old home place in similar grass and it mowed just as well.

It's probably too early to tell but the new green Kevlar belts are holding up well so far.

Here's a couple before and after pics of the grass at my tractor shed.

Houser52, you sure you weren't a Marine Corps test pilot years ago? You write the most thorough, detailed, and informative troubleshooting posts I've ever seen about this subject. THANK YOU!

 

[metalbender]

Wow, pretty pricy on the mower. Mine came in at $3100 taxes and shipping in. Extra cost was installing a splittee valve on the rear to run the hydraulics, $ 400, did the work myself.

 

[audsp98]

Extra cost was installing a splittee valve on the rear to run the hydraulics, $ 400, did the work myself.

What did you get? I noticed that in your pictures and was curious what your setup was.

 

[leonz]

I guess you have not read the entire flail mower thread then?

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Well, I finally did it. I ordered all new knives, links, and hangers for my Ford 917. Instead of the airplane wings that it came with, I decided (after much deliberation and research) to get the extreme duty side slicers from Flailmaster. I installed them over the weekend. The mower came with half the blades missing or broken. I took it for a quick spin and I like the results. It's still not at it's fullest potential as I am waiting for a local shop to make me a new roller and roller brackets. So I was mowing without a roller and it seemed to do decent. It would sure be nice to be able to set the mower down on it's roller to keep a height instead of waiting to hear it hit the dirt and adjust...

I cannot say enough good things about Flailmaster. Their online store is down and it is difficult for me to order over the phone with my work schedule. I emailed them explaining this, and Carrie gave me her cell phone number to complete my order after hours! That's good customer service. :thumbsup:

 

[metalbender]

A couple of picks of the paths cut through the "forest" as my grandkids call it. A small very overgrown and neglected orchard. Like the results from the flail mower better than the bush hog in this application. Mulching action of the flail leaves fairly fine residue, the hog left lots of branches. Will have to see if the flail will clean them up.

 

[leonz]

Hello metalbender,

Glad to see that you are happy with the first mowing in the "forest"

As long as you keep the mower at two inches in cutting height you will recut much more material.

Please forgive me as I do not remember this, but do you have the side slicers or scoop knives with your mower?

If you have the scoop knives they will not recut the material left on the ground.

The mowing job looks great though. will you be going through and mowing at right angles to reclaim the orchard rows?