Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

TheFarmerInAdell · Jul 30, 2020

nittanyjd said:
I've been looking at flails for quite awhile now and sorting out whether rotary or flail is the way for me to go and had a few questions and concerns people on here I know can answer. I have not read all the posts, but more than half for sure.
I have been mowing 20 acres with my 5 woods rotary mower for 10 years and time to upgrade mower since I upgraded my tractor a few years back and I need something wider. Currently using JD CUT 4320 48hp with 40hp at pto per specs. One of my criteria is that I need it fit on my trailer and prefer to have it mounted to tractor to transport. It is 100 miles one way to my camp which I visit frequently. I prefer to haul it to and from home so I do not have to leave it out in the weather which I currently do on my woods mower. Winter weather is taking its toll on it. Trailer width is 80 rail to rail and is a 20 utility hauler.

What I have come up with so far if I stick to rotary is a Bush Hog squealer 7 offset rotary as one choice, but that will not load easily in trying to keep it centered on my trailer and keep it inside wheel width to keep cops away. As far as flails, I think the John Deere 370 model is my best fit. Width fits on trailer and covers my tractor width and works with my Imatch hitch. Weight (900lbs) is plenty, but with tractor only and loader removed should be good to haul. A newer 25A is also a possibility with Deere. Also looking at Caroni and Woodmaxx. Caroni TM1900 quoted 2750 delivered.

The ground I am mowing is not the smoothest and I can only manage about 4mph average. Grass varies from 8 to 5 in height and thick in some areas. This is in the mountains so not an alpha field and mostly weeds and orchard grass. Wet in some areas but mostly dry and currently mow it twice a year but would do more if I had a more convenient setup. I am mowing 95% grass and very little to no brush now since I have that cleared back and can always use the 5 woods if I need to for that. Do the flails float with ground contours decently? My mower sometimes scalps the high spots. Rocks are few, but some around.
So my criteria is: Area is 20 Ac 85% open 15% around trees; 40hp pto mule; mowing mostly grass; field rolls and not a lawn, but is flat; 6 +/- mower fits trailer may be able to go 7? trying to convince myself to buy a flail. Jd or other model.
Last question is my tractor does not have rear remotes so with the loader off if I had a hydraulic shift flail can you hook those lines to the loader ports and make it work?

Any flail recommendations? I"ll try and attach a before and after picture of a portion of my area I just mowed last week.
Thanks, Brad

View attachment 664594

Have you considered renting the land out for hay harvest? 20 acres is quite a bit of area to mow and not harvest if you're only cutting twice a year. Then you won't need to haul equipment, and you get some extra spending money. When I put my land up for rent (hay only) I had people crawling over each other to cut it. My fields are mostly grass and weeds with some clover and maybe some alfalfa mixed in. Your area might be different, but it's worth a try. Some farmers use that type of hay for horses and grass fed beef.

TheFarmerInAdell · Jul 30, 2020

D2Cat said:
I've noticed something unusual when mowing with a flail, and wonder if others notice the same thing. I have an area around my barn with some grass and some weeds. I mow with the flail, and cut the material so when I'm finished it looks like I mowed it with a push mower, only a few inches tall.

The odd part is as soon as I'm out of the way with the equipment the cattle get over there and graze everything! There are some buffalobur and they even eat that like it's a treat. Why do they eat it right after it's been cut?

The smell of fresh cut forage might be what draws them in.

Tinhack · Jul 30, 2020

TheFarmerInAdell said:
The smell of fresh cut forage might be what draws them in.

Ya! Nothing like the smell of fresh grass. Oh, you mean the lawn.

Ok, that's smells good too.

pripyat · Jul 30, 2020

I was noticing something similar this past week when cutting. One instance, I had some kind of sea bird come down within 30ft of the tractor and start foraging for either bugs or worms. It was to the point that he kept having to move depending on where I was cutting but he stayed right in the edge of my cut. The next day I was cutting a different field and shooting the field mice as they scurried off to the woods. I saw one take off running and I stopped the tractor to pull the pistol out. A hawk swoops in out of nowhere to get the rat. There was a third instance I noticed of wildlife gravitating towards the tractor but I can't remember what it was. Neat stuff.

JWR · Jul 30, 2020

Pripyat -- you must be one heck of a good shot with a pistol to hit a field mouse! I couldn't hit a rabbit or ground hog with a pistol I don't think. About the fresh cut grass: I think the fresh cut stems are still oozing liquid and much more juicy than dried surface grass that animals normally get while grazing. Cows are always drawn to eat it where I mow and the birds are all over it but I think the birds mainly seek freshly exposed/uncovered surface critters like worms and bugs.

nittanyjd · Jul 31, 2020

leonz said:
Hello Nittanyjd,

A JD 370 will work well for you for this task. The JD25A was the same width machine that my father used with his ford Jubilee to mow his reclaimed pasture in 4 acre blocks.

You may end up having to have flag holders welded to the side weldments of the flail mower due to the trailers 80 inch width.

With a flail mower the rear roller is the height gauge for cutting. You adjust the cutting height by unbolting the rear roller arms and resetting its location up or down in the holes of the side weldment.

As far as following the contour a rear mounted flail mower works best with the mower adjusted for cutting height and then the mower is lowered to the point where the rear roller touches the ground and then you stop lowering it and lock the valve. Some flail mowers use a chain for the top link to allow the flail mower to follow the ground but you can run into problems with it if the tractor bottoms out and the mower nose dives.

Once you have the mower on the ground you adjust the top link using a torpedo level on the gearbox or the front steel tube of the flail mower and then when the bubble is in the center of the level lock the top link in place and then you can mow leaving the lower link valve locked in place.

You can mow down to 2 inches running in a spiral pattern and save fuel, brakes and time when mowing and still have an well mowed parcel.

If you want to invest in a hydraulic side shift flail mower you can use the loader valve to control it but the boom and bucket have to come off the mule.

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Leonz - thanks for the reply and info. I like the the 25A for the width in cutting but not hauling, but I like the 25A being lighter for hauling. Just can't have it all.

I thought I read the 25A is better for cutting grass than the 370 because of the knives? I'm on the hunt for nice 370 and still considering others.

TheFarmerInAdell - As far as renting it out that doesn't work due to the access to the property.

Thanks for the replies and help.

leonz · Jul 31, 2020

You can have a 290 or 390 assembled with side slicer knives so that is not an issue. the 25A is simular in size to the 290.

I guess your down to a boom mounted flail mower to assure it is centered on the trailer and able to be more versatile when mowing around obstacles.

JonBoyHunter · Aug 6, 2020

Good morning all - I wrote in shortly after purchasing our new property with some questions on flails. Just to catch up - I have an old beat up 5' brush hog, but want a flail to keep about 6 acres of field/meadow cut down once a month or so. I have a Deere 3033R and a 72D MMM for yard mowing.

So I've found a flail mower, but hoping I can get a little bit of feedback on it. I'm told it's a Mott Alamo #72 - possibly 80's vintage, with finish knives. I did a bit of searching parts manuals and google image search, but I'm not coming up with the exact model. The right side drive pulleys is throwing me - most that I'm finding have the drive line on the left side. Also, I don't see any with the extension on the front of the mower body like this has.

It looks to be in good shape, I just want to be sure it's the correct rotation and speed. Any other thoughts are welcome. Thanks!

Jon

Tinhack · Aug 6, 2020

Well, I can't see the knives from here so it's hard to tell which way they're suppose to rotate. :confused2: You also didn't say which way it's rotating now.

Mine uses the "folded spoon" style knives. When the knives are hanging down, the cutting edges face the front. This is because mine rotates back to front.