Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[def38]

Thanks for the heads up, but i am familiar with proper grounding and bearings. I will ground to the rotor when welding anti-wrap stud to the rotor. The collar will be bolted or welded to the end plates. The unit will disassemble the same as it does now. I will post pics when complete.[/QUOTE

Deep groove ball bearings come in several versions; Open, shielded and sealed. Be sure when replacing bearings that you select the correct version. Open bearings will likely have a short life in most any AG impliment application. Sealed bearings are just that, sealed and therefore not able to be externally lubricated. Shielded bearings are the right choice for replacement ball bearings that operate in wet, dusty environments and have grease fittings.

 

[chit3522]

I dont believe Brush Hog ever made flails. I think they were just re-branded Ford flails. Other than being old at this point the Ford flails have a good reputation as a light to mid weight flail.

Thanks for the heads up Fallon. Flail-Master has blades for the FH90 and they are identical to the ones they have for the Ford 918H.

 

[chit3522]

I dont believe Brush Hog ever made flails. I think they were just re-branded Ford flails. Other than being old at this point the Ford flails have a good reputation as a light to mid weight flail.

Thanks for the heads up Fallon. Flail-Master has blades for the FH90 that are identical to the blades they have for the Ford 918H.

 

[leonz]

Is anyone familiar with Bush Hog flail mower FH90? One is for sale near me for $1000.

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You can still find parts for them and most of the parts are generic-bearings/knives V belts/gearboxetc.

 

[Riddlewitz]

I was wondering if any of the flail experts can advise on the 5ft flails that came with my two cub lo boys 154. I read an interesting post online after I got two of the flails moving, greased, and essentially operational. The poster made reference to a certain flail only working on reverse rotation PTO machines like the Cub 154 and perhaps early Kubota's. He called the Mott Flail a CLB 60. Basically the point he was making is these flails will not work on my standard Ford tractor do to the PTO. I was about to adapt the PTO shaft this week to fit my Ford tractor. If anyone has experience in using Mott 5 ft flails that came with Cub lo boy 154 I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. I really want to use these flails in the spring but I'd rather not keep the 154 Cubs. Thanks in advance

 

[D2Cat]

Riddlewitz, it should be pretty easy for you to determine if your mower will work on your tractor. Simply turn the PTO shaft the same direction as you tractor will turn it and notice which direction the blades move. Look at the cutting edge of the blades and see if they are moving so they will cut the grass.

 

[chit3522]

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You can still find parts for them and most of the parts are generic-bearings/knives V belts/gearboxetc.

Thank Leon. I did notice that Messick's and Germanbliss had numerous parts available.

 

[jthibodeau89]

Deep groove ball bearings come in several versions; Open, shielded and sealed. Be sure when replacing bearings that you select the correct version. Open bearings will likely have a short life in most any AG impliment application. Sealed bearings are just that, sealed and therefore not able to be externally lubricated. Shielded bearings are the right choice for replacement ball bearings that operate in wet, dusty environments and have grease fittings.

The replacement bearings i procured are shielded. Though the catalog photo showed a grease groove on the OD of the race, they only had a single hole. If the race slips in the housing I'll need to decide if i groove the race (grinder) or the housing (cast iron). I marked the bearing race and housing for reference and will check before each use when i apply 3 pumps of grease.

 

[Riddlewitz]

The cub flails 5ft do in fact mow in reverse. I'm curious how that will work? How the finish cut will look. Thanks for the help

 

[Xfaxman]

This is what Alamo calls forward rotation, same direction as the tractor wheels:

 

[Riddlewitz]

Xfaxman: thanks a ton. So if anyone has run a flail backwards please let me know what the results looked like?

If I need to, I can sell them both and use the 4ft powered Mott units and they have standard rotation.

 

[whirly]

Almost all Chinese Flails run "backwards". If there is no rock guard on the front of the mower it will throw grass forward onto your tractor and the driver's back.

The cut is usually as good as forward rotation mowers just a little messy for the driver.

 

[Xfaxman]

My front mount TORO 5' has reverse rotation, mows great, but it is designed to run that way.

PTO is 1800 RPM.

 

[wims8899]

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

Thought I would share my new purchase, picked up a John Deere 25a the other day. It was the original owner who bought it back in '95 and used it for mowing schools and parks for county jobs. He ended up not using much bc it took up his whole trailer and needed to bring another mower for his help to use. He estimated its got 700 hours. He always maintained it with lithium grease in the bearings and JD fluid in the gear box.


The bad is its been sitting since early 2000s. The drum and roller were locked up and the driveshaft is lock up (won't telescope). The flails could use replacing and I'm sure the belt could be replaced too. We were able to work the drum/drive pulley's free. I never was able to test it bc we couldn't get the pto driveshaft to move (telescope). Didn't mess with the freeing the roller yet. After we worked it for an hour or so he dropped the price and told me to just take it.

All in all, this thing is in good shape. Has some surface rust from sitting but nothing is rusted through. Just needs a little tlc to get her going.


For new flails I'm looking at switching over to the two 'Y shape' flails instead of the scoop "duck's foot" style. I'm less concerned about a low golf course type cut and more interested in having something that can handle thicker brush and woody type weeds. Any thoughts or recommendations on this?

Any thoughts on freeing up the roller? Think it'll free itself once I start running it?

How about the driveshaft? Probably need to just soak it in PB Blaster and throw some heat on it.

Anyways, looking forward to using this thing. I'll be cutting about 22 ac with it. Currently there are some small saplings popping up so it'll be interesting to see how the 25a performs.

 

[leonz]

Hello and good morning wims8899,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations"
Please fill in the rest of the information so we can help you further as you may have a fellow member of the "Flail Mower Nations" nearby than can provide you with hands on help from their personal experience.

Your 25A is ten years older than my fathers 25A and may have sealed bearings. you will need more knife hangers and hanger straps to use the side slicer knife pairs to convert it to side slicer knives-you cannot mix the two types of knives.

You will have to spend a bit of time cleaning out all the mounting holes in the three weldments that are used to mount the knife hangers on each row.

The Y blades you are referring to are called side slicer knives which will give you a great cut and recut the clippings very well with little effort.

You have a great flail mower there and the equivalent new model JD290 would be almost $9,000.00 nowadays.

About the rear roller it would be simpler for you to remove the rear roller and install two new open flange bearings as the rear roller always puts on a lot of miles as it spins faster.
Replacing these bearings will save you a lot of aggravation as they have seen a lot of miles and a stuck bearing IS A BAD BEARING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot emphasize that enough to you.

As far as the propeller shaft goes it will take you a bit of time to take care of as I want you to try to grease the shaft first before you wander around it with any heat.

If you can rent a bearing heater please do that and then remove the entire shaft that will be easier as you will be able to clean the splines with a small wire brush and isopropyl alcohol and then grease it properly before you reinstall it.


NOW:

Please visit your nearest JD dealer to order an owners manual for your flail mower. you need to have all the information that was stamped on the ID plate for the mower before you go to the dealer to order the manual.

The owners manual will have all the information you need for the mower to maintain it for many years as it will outlive your current mule/tractor.

The V belt(s) will need replacing and purchasing a Kevlar replacement V belt will be the best belt for it as it will be much stronger when dealing with shock loads.
The V belt tensioner will need to be backed off to allow the old belt(s) to be removed and the new belts installed.

After you remove the V belt guard cover you will need to do a lot of cleaning as there will be a lot of rubber dust and fine grass dust and dried out grease that will have to be cleaned off by using small scrapers and to uncover the grease fitting(s) buried in dirt.

You can purchase side slicer knives, D rings and hanger straps from either clean cutter or flailmaster depending on where you are located.

Please PM me if you have more questions when ever it is convenient.

 

[def38]

Regarding replacement flails, you say you're going to use it to cut a mixture of growth including brush and weeds. My Chinese flail has the heavy forged duck foot style flails and does an excellent job on both my Bermuda lawn and the field currently in clover with some sticks, brush, saplings and the occasional Buick hubcap.

That PTO shaft should free up with some PB Blaster, as you say. Keep us posted as you make progress.

 

[wims8899]

Hello and good morning wims8899,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations"
Please fill in the rest of the information so we can help you further as you may have a fellow member of the "Flail Mower Nations" nearby than can provide you with hands on help from their personal experience.

Your 25A is ten years older than my fathers 25A and may have sealed bearings. you will need more knife hangers and hanger straps to use the side slicer knife pairs to convert it to side slicer knives-you cannot mix the two types of knives.

You will have to spend a bit of time cleaning out all the mounting holes in the three weldments that are used to mount the knife hangers on each row.

The Y blades you are referring to are called side slicer knives which will give you a great cut and recut the clippings very well with little effort.

You have a great flail mower there and the equivalent new model JD290 would be almost $9,000.00 nowadays.

About the rear roller it would be simpler for you to remove the rear roller and install two new open flange bearings as the rear roller always puts on a lot of miles as it spins faster.
Replacing these bearings will save you a lot of aggravation as they have seen a lot of miles and a stuck bearing IS A BAD BEARING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot emphasize that enough to you.

As far as the propeller shaft goes it will take you a bit of time to take care of as I want you to try to grease the shaft first before you wander around it with any heat.

If you can rent a bearing heater please do that and then remove the entire shaft that will be easier as you will be able to clean the splines with a small wire brush and isopropyl alcohol and then grease it properly before you reinstall it.


NOW:

Please visit your nearest JD dealer to order an owners manual for your flail mower. you need to have all the information that was stamped on the ID plate for the mower before you go to the dealer to order the manual.

The owners manual will have all the information you need for the mower to maintain it for many years as it will outlive your current mule/tractor.

The V belt(s) will need replacing and purchasing a Kevlar replacement V belt will be the best belt for it as it will be much stronger when dealing with shock loads.
The V belt tensioner will need to be backed off to allow the old belt(s) to be removed and the new belts installed.

After you remove the V belt guard cover you will need to do a lot of cleaning as there will be a lot of rubber dust and fine grass dust and dried out grease that will have to be cleaned off by using small scrapers and to uncover the grease fitting(s) buried in dirt.

You can purchase side slicer knives, D rings and hanger straps from either clean cutter or flailmaster depending on where you are located.

Please PM me if you have more questions when ever it is convenient.

leonz, thanks for all the info!

That's good to hear that the 25a is such a great mower. My land was previously tobacco crop fields. There are some rocks and uneven ground so we'll see how that goes. Trying to turn it back to pasture but need to keep the bushy stuff down so grass can grow.

I was looking for a bush hog but the JD 25a popped up at a very cheap price. I could scrap it and almost break even, so its a no brainer. I had not considered one and didn't know much about them, but I haven't read much negative about them and everyone seems real happy with the performance.

I figure if it can't handle the thicker brush I can always get a bush hog that fills that need.

I recall reading somewhere here about an aftermarket bearing brand for those rollers. I'll check those out. Any recommendations on aftermarket Kevlar belts?

 

[wims8899]

Regarding replacement flails, you say you're going to use it to cut a mixture of growth including brush and weeds. My Chinese flail has the heavy forged duck foot style flails and does an excellent job on both my Bermuda lawn and the field currently in clover with some sticks, brush, saplings and the occasional Buick hubcap.

That PTO shaft should free up with some PB Blaster, as you say. Keep us posted as you make progress.

def38, any links or more info on those forged duck foot flails? That makes sense if they have more mass/weight to them to smash/cut up thicker brush. I'll definitely look in to that.

I'll keep you all up to date and post some pics soon.

 

[def38]

def38, any links or more info on those forged duck foot flails? That makes sense if they have more mass/weight to them to smash/cut up thicker brush. I'll definitely look in to that.

I'll keep you all up to date and post some pics soon.

Leonz is the flail expert. I would consult him. My Chinese flail mower came with forged duck foot flails so, I am of no help...sorry.

 

[leonz]

def38, any links or more info on those forged duck foot flails? That makes sense if they have more mass/weight to them to smash/cut up thicker brush. I'll definitely look in to that.

I'll keep you all up to date and post some pics soon.

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Hello wims8899,

You will not be able to make use of a cast hammer flail knife on your JD25A as the mounts are a completely different style and flail mower rotor.


The heat treated side slicer knives and the micro mark wet well grinder and angle setter from wood craft will enable you to have sharp side slicers for many years.


Don't forget that the side slicer knives have two cutting edges and they stay sharp for a long time as long as you take the time to mow at a slow pace with heavy brush and by mowing in a spiral pattern to save on fuel and brake wear.