Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[arto98607]

Hello all, my first post. I have read most of this thread and only seen a couple mentions of Mathews flail mowers.
I found one at the local Kubota dealer for a reasonable price, (for the north west anyway) haven't gone to look at it yet. My concern is availability of parts when it needs repair.
Also any opinions on Mathews flails.

This is a great sourse of information!

It looks good in the photo but I am not familiar with this brand and have a suggestion & couple of questions.


Please post photos of the most expensive wear parts i.e. the rotor, lugs for the flails & hangers (if it has hangers?). Some designs use loop hanger, others do not.

Also photos of the belt drive showing pulley and idler condition would be helpful in answering you.
Gearbox oil condition should inddicate if it's OK or not (i.e. how much water or metal contamination?).


A simple item like a small (4 inch diameter) flat idler pulley in the photo below could become a problem if it is one of a kind and no generic replacement is available.



The above idler pulley was supposed to be $25 item from a well known large dealer, except it was false/outdated information.
The idler was discontinued some time ago and there are no suitable replacements to be found!
Unfortunately the bearing is not readily replaceable due to the design.

I will make a new idler no problem, but it will certainly cost a bunch of time & money.



How comfortable are you doing repairs like this yourself?

 

[Industrial Toys]

There is hardly anything that couldn't be made if push comes to shove, but I have a hard time believing that idler is hard to replace. Heck I just went on E-Bay. 800 hits for a 4" flat idler pulley.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

The two main things to concern yourself with are the rotor and the roller. Those will be the expensive parts to replace if bad. Spin the rotor, does it spin straight? Are the bearings loose? Do the same with the roller. Beyond that, the rest of the unit can be repaired with minimal investment. If the rotor is bent, walk away. That will cost as much as the unit. If the roller is bent, that won't be as bad, but still an investment. Blades and bearings are replaceable. Check the gearbox as well. That can be expensive if bad. It seems rare that the gearboxes go bad from what I've seen.

 

[arto98607]

There is hardly anything that couldn't be made if push comes to shove, but I have a hard time believing that idler is hard to replace. Heck I just went on E-Bay. 800 hits for a 4" flat idler pulley.

Yes I thought so too, but it's a double wide 4" flat idler.

I will fix it since I have a shop.

 

[Industrial Toys]

For what it's worth. My Dad once smoked the belts off my 917, thinking it was a harley rake! I cheaped out getting seperate belts, but quickly found out, I needed the double belt.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

For what it's worth. My Dad once smoked the belts off my 917, thinking it was a harley rake! I cheaped out getting seperate belts, but quickly found out, I needed the double belt.

When I first got my 917 it was missing the rear roller. There were a few times it turned into a harley rake. :laughing:

 

[MikeZQ]

I'm going to go look at it this coming Friday.
My take away from all the good advice is bad roller or bad rotor... walk away.
Everything else is something that can be repaired.

Thanks to all for the advice.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I sold my Regular 917 to a friend. Probably shouldn't have. It was so abused that the flanges on the drum were bent over, (probably from Harley Raking) and in some cases making blade replacement difficult. And not an easy thing to straighten out.

 

[JWR]

The two main things to concern yourself with are the rotor and the roller. Those will be the expensive parts to replace if bad. Spin the rotor, does it spin straight? Are the bearings loose? Do the same with the roller. Beyond that, the rest of the unit can be repaired with minimal investment. If the rotor is bent, walk away. That will cost as much as the unit. If the roller is bent, that won't be as bad, but still an investment. Blades and bearings are replaceable. Check the gearbox as well. That can be expensive if bad. It seems rare that the gearboxes go bad from what I've seen.

Agreed -- but some other things can be fairly expensive too. I replaced roller bearings in my aged Alamo SHD88 and it was $305 for the pair. Sold only with the heavy housings they are pressed into. Other things like knives are dirt cheap. Have yet to get into drum bearings and hope I never do.

 

[lostcreekranch]

I'm going to go look at it this coming Friday.
My take away from all the good advice is bad roller or bad rotor... walk away.
Everything else is something that can be repaired.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Ask your dealer if they will hook it up to one of their tractors and run it for you? Offer them $$ for their 30 minutes of labor, to do so, if they won't just do it.

You can easily hand turn the roller but not the rotor.