Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[thoner7]

So I'm starting to reconsider if a flail mower will ever work for me???

My property is fairly hilly and uneven. I have a number of ditches and swales to cut across. Also lots of ruts. saying it's a bumpy ride is a serious understatement. There's rocks too.

I'm not sure an 88 or 90" mower would be the best idea?? Do you just have to make sure you cut across swales and ditches at an angle?

 

[Fallon]

So I'm starting to reconsider if a flail mower will ever work for me???

My property is fairly hilly and uneven. I have a number of ditches and swales to cut across. Also lots of ruts. saying it's a bumpy ride is a serious understatement. There's rocks too.

I'm not sure an 88 or 90" mower would be the best idea?? Do you just have to make sure you cut across swales and ditches at an angle?

I'm not sure a rotary cutter will be any better, probably even worse. With the extra length from the deck & wheel it's going to high & low center going over a ditch. I go over some pretty rough terrain or ditches with my flail & would be as cautious with a rotary. Its been a while since I had a rotary cutter & I dont remember it being a panacea.

Given the short length of a flail it's sometimes better to go straight across some ditches than angle across twisting things & hitting the crown with the center of the rotor where there are no skid shoes.

 

[leonz]

Hello Thoner7,

A lot of that is going to depend on how shallow the ditches and swales are as you will be rocking back and forth if the ditches and swales are short in length form side to side.

Perhaps a Del Morino boom mounted flail mower would be better as it will be able to follow the walls of the ditches and the slopes of the swales as you travel along side of them.

The Funny Super comes in two cutting widths 106 centimeters 42 inches rounded)and 132 centimeters 51 inches (rounded).

 

[thoner7]

The ditches and swales are pretty abrupt for the most part. They'll knock you right out of the seat!

 

[KenB2920]

somethings wrong with this picture

 

[Fallon]

View attachment 621992somethings wrong with this picture

I'm gonna guess it was setup for a front hitch of some sort rather than the normal rear 3pt.

 

[KenB2920]

Missing a pulley ... I was using it a month or two ago and it stopped working. As I went to put a new belt in because the old one broke, I realized the cutter shaft pulley was missing. I just found the pulley.....

 

[Ford850]

Ouch. You'll find the rest of it when you get the flail running again.

 

[thoner7]

I'm getting ready to jump on a flail I've found online. It's a Ford 917. The website says it has a 88" cut which seems common however, Flailmaster says there are only 5, 6, and 7 foot models. I assume that should be considered a 7 foot?

The unit is missing some knives so I figured I will replace them all, but I can't order the correct parts without know what is what

 

[leonz]

If you have abrupt swales and ditches you will have to use a boom mounted flail mower or spend time using a back blade to reduce the slopes of the swales and ditches.
The last option would be burning the ditches out every year with a roofing torch or a tractor mounted propane fired weed dragon field weeder with narrow nozzle spacing.