Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Alien]

Yes it says to SUIT a skid/steer. I have quite a few heaps that need to be cleaned up as well as a lot of brush/trees.
There are a couple of businesses that operate those not far from here but I haven't followed it up.

 

[jthibodeau89]

All this makes me wonder what the going rate is for hiring such a machine, with operator, to clear land per acre , say in the Eastern USA ? Would it compete with a medium sized dozer? Probably so. After all the dust settles can I bush hog over what is left ?

Got quoted $135/hr from the guy cleaning up the farm next door. Yes, ready to bushog/mow when he was done. Fantastic for making trails. The hrs/ac would depend on what is being cleaned up. Stumps go away quick if not in rocky ground. About the same $/hr as a medium dozer around here (middle TN). But no stump or brish piles to deal with, just wood chip mulch.

 

[Tinhack]

Got quoted $135/hr from the guy cleaning up the farm next door.

How long ago was that? I was paying more for equipment rental 15 years ago. Typically, it's NOT going to be cheaper than renting the equipment and doing something yourself. Check around. I'd pay more than that to cut my grass.

 

[dieselscout80]

There is place near where I live that they ran one of those Forestry Mulchers on and less than six months later you could not tell it ever was forest it just looked like grass had been there always.

 

[lostcreekranch]

A good Forestry Mulcher operator will go back and "back drag" the area to chop everything up even finer .. resulting in even faster decomposition.

 

[jthibodeau89]

How long ago was that? I was paying more for equipment rental 15 years ago. Typically, it's NOT going to be cheaper than renting the equipment and doing something yourself. Check around. I'd pay more than that to cut my grass.

Within the last year.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

I guess soil would blunt them fairly quickly?

This is the one I want.

DIGGA MAGNUM MULCHER SUIT SKID STER LOADER BOBCAT EXCAVATOR | Other Parts & Accessories | Gumtree Australia Liverpool Area - Austral | 127971841

They're typically tungsten carbide teeth which do not dull easily. They will chip and break on rocks, but dirt usually doesn't phase them. It's similar to stump grinder teeth, those don't go dull quickly in dirt either. I have a carbide chain for one of my chainsaws and I can cut dirt with it while cutting a tree at ground level and it stays sharp. And the saw chain would be far more susceptible to dulling than the teeth on the forestry mulcher. Sharpening the carbide teeth is another thing. You need diamond grinders to sharpen anything carbide.

To put the abrasion resistance of tungsten carbide into perspective: we use tungsten carbide to cut hardened steel. We cut abrasion resistant steels (D2 for those who know steel) up to 60Rc hardness with carbide cutters, but typically they're dull after a few cuts. A36 is easily cut with carbide endmills with hardly any dulling after several cuts. Tungsten carbide is, however, brittle. If you strike a rock with the tooth it will chip or shatter, depending on the strike. I can take a hammer and shatter a carbide endmill easily. Typically if an endmill is dropped the tips are broken off.

 

[Alien]

Thank you for that comprehensive answer. Really appreciated. I do have rocks on my property but they are mostly a softer sandstone type but they still play heck with my flail mower. I usually run it a bit higher to avoid rocks and sticks.
OK on the chainsaw blade. I am aware of how quick they go blunt if you hit the dirt. Caught too many times.

 

[Rockit350]

Regarding this whole thread and buying a Flail. Question, there is a Titan Implements company in Tn. that makes GRAY implements reportedly in the US. Then there is a Titan that makes red attachments from China. Are these two different companies of different origin? I like what I see of the Gray Flail Mower from Tn. As a newby I have read most of it. My PTO HP is around 56, Eng 67. Any comments please.

 

[DavesTractor]

We sell the gray ones built in India for Titan out of TN. If you happen to be in Northern California, I have a dozen or so of those flails in stock. Heavier duty by far than most of what is commonly imported from China. These specs out closer, and look more like, some of the European commercial-grade flails.