Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[leonz]

Save yourself some aggravation and call every JD dealer within 500 miles on this side of the border and ask if they have have a used 25A in good condition for sale that came in on a trade.

I would also do the same in calling any JD dealers in Canada if the search on this side of the border is not fruitful.

In my opinion the first place I would call is the green parts store in Indiana. At least with the JD flail mowers you will be able get any part you need in a short time.

 

[p0opstlnksal0t]

Save yourself some aggravation and call every JD dealer within 500 miles on this side of the border and ask if they have have a used 25A in good condition for sale that came in on a trade.

I would also do the same in calling any JD dealers in Canada if the search on this side of the border is not fruitful.

In my opinion the first place I would call is the green parts store in Indiana. At least with the JD flail mowers you will be able get any part you need in a short time.

I'm not sure I want a 25A after looking at them the duckfoot blades look lightweight and not that good for heavy brush cutting like a heavy hammer blade would be. I think a WoodMaxx with hammer blades would be better for my needs

 

[p0opstlnksal0t]

Save yourself some aggravation and call every JD dealer within 500 miles on this side of the border and ask if they have have a used 25A in good condition for sale that came in on a trade.

I would also do the same in calling any JD dealers in Canada if the search on this side of the border is not fruitful.

In my opinion the first place I would call is the green parts store in Indiana. At least with the JD flail mowers you will be able get any part you need in a short time.

I found one a few hours away honestly it looks like new for 2K but now I'm thinking I really need a flail with heavy hammer knives for what I want to do

 

[leonz]

All the scoop knives/duck foot type knives are made from formed sheet steel and then heat treated after sharpening them in most cases

The majority of side slicers knives are a heat treated flail mower knife.

Many of the so called hammer knives are smaller thinner castings with gussets(ribs)to the strengthen the thinner casting.

If you expect to purchase a true hammer knife orchard and vineyard flail shredder you will need to look at the Maschio line of orchard and vineyard shredder mowers.

You need to narrow down what frame size mule you can afford to buy or pay for over time and then invest in a flail mower, orchard and vineyard flail shredder or small boom mounted orchard and vineyard shredder.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

I'm not sure I want a 25A after looking at them the duckfoot blades look lightweight and not that good for heavy brush cutting like a heavy hammer blade would be. I think a WoodMaxx with hammer blades would be better for my needs

If I had not found my Alamo I was going to order a Woodmaxx. I would recommend the Woodmaxx over the Betstco mostly because Woodmaxx seems to be a better unit with more features. The belt is tensioned with an actual tensioner, betstco you adjust the jackshaft. Woodmaxx has the rakers to help shred, but they are removable. Woodmaxx also has an opening trash door to help clear tangles and debris.

The John Deere style duckfoot blades are good for grass, but not much more than 1" thick woody materials. I actually switched my Ford 917 from the airplane wings (similar to the JD duckfoot) to side slicers due to the increased flexibility in cutting with the side slicers. The hammers are not the best for grass, but they work decent when sharp. Nice thing about the Woodmaxx is you can put either type of blade on. You can order the unit with hammers, order a set of sideslicers to go along with it, and then switch them out as needed.

 

[p0opstlnksal0t]

If I had not found my Alamo I was going to order a Woodmaxx. I would recommend the Woodmaxx over the Betstco mostly because Woodmaxx seems to be a better unit with more features. The belt is tensioned with an actual tensioner, betstco you adjust the jackshaft. Woodmaxx has the rakers to help shred, but they are removable. Woodmaxx also has an opening trash door to help clear tangles and debris.

The John Deere style duckfoot blades are good for grass, but not much more than 1" thick woody materials. I actually switched my Ford 917 from the airplane wings (similar to the JD duckfoot) to side slicers due to the increased flexibility in cutting with the side slicers. The hammers are not the best for grass, but they work decent when sharp. Nice thing about the Woodmaxx is you can put either type of blade on. You can order the unit with hammers, order a set of sideslicers to go along with it, and then switch them out as needed.

for 3500 bucks shipped for the 84" with hammers i think that woodmaxx would really be the best way to go for my needs and shredding up to 2.5" diameter saplings. i wont really be using it for grass cutting, just trail cutting and maintenance with my M5-111

 

[jthibodeau89]

The JD 390A with 5/16" (8mm) thick side slicers shreds much heavier stuff than the 25A. I have both JD flails. Use the 700lb 25A on a 30hp 4300HST, and the 1300lb 390A on a 70 HP AGCO-ALLIS 5670.

 

[DieselBound]

I was looking really closely at the WoodMaxx but ended up with a Nova Tractors MXZ220: for smaller flails I'd be going with a WoodMaxx (I was initially aiming for a 5' flail for my B7800, but after thinking about things a bit more I felt that I'd be better off outfitting my Kioti with a flail as it is facing having to cut more and more grass).

Rear roller diameter on the MXZ220 spec'd larger than the WoodMaxx (at the time I was comparing). Hammers are 3 lbs each. I've pretty much run the flail through its paces and am confident that it's going to hold up just fine. Had one incident (scary!) that I was sure I'd damaged something, but NOPE. I figure I'll never break a hammer: fortunately I don't have a lot of rocks, nothing like many have. Flail is around 1,200 lbs.

If running through the woods I FULLY recommend hydraulic side-shift: and even if NOT for use in the woods, it's still very nice to have if you're working along fences (and ditches).

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Well, that's not good...

The roller was old and quite beat up already, and it finally gave way last night. I don't recall hitting anything, but it could have been when I was mowing the ditch it wasn't sitting on a flat surface and the weight with a bounce was enough to do it in. It could also have been when I ran over a stump that was level with the grass, but there was a sudden bump when I went over it. There must have already been a crack there and last night was the final straw. Because the roller was so beat up I bought new roller ends back when Flailmaster was clearancing everything out for their restructure plan. Now I just need to get the tube. I'll likely go with a thicker wall tube than factory as weight is not an issue for me with this tractor.

 

[leonz]

OY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you can buy thick tube steel locally that would be best.
Do you have new rear roller bearings??

 

[MoMower]

View attachment 699412

Became a member of FMN. I am impressed! Went this way because the swing of a rotary mower would not have fit through my trails.

 

[MoMower]

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

OY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you can buy thick tube steel locally that would be best.
Do you have new rear roller bearings??

I have new bearings, purchased when I bought the roller ends. I'll need to do some measuring and order the tubing through one of my vendors where I work.

 

[Number15]

So guys, I have been trying to read through this thread but I jumped in at the end here because I ran across a Nova ditch mower for sale at a golf course near me. The claim they did not use it a lot because the angle and length of their ditches were to steep. They are ordering a RC on a boom. $1200 so I jumped on it. Hopefully a good purchase and should work well with the grass at my place (I hope) I'm so new at this I know I am going to make a mistake or 2 and this may or may not be one

 

[Smokeydog]

So guys, I have been trying to read through this thread but I jumped in at the end here because I ran across a Nova ditch mower for sale at a golf course near me. The claim they did not use it a lot because the angle and length of their ditches were to steep. They are ordering a RC on a boom. $1200 so I jumped on it. Hopefully a good purchase and should work well with the grass at my place (I hope) I'm so new at this I know I am going to make a mistake or 2 and this may or may not be one

View attachment 699419

Great buy and sure to be handy. If it doesn’t work out let me know. Trying to decide between a side shift or ditchbank model.

 

[jjeff]

Hi I'm wondering if anyone has or is using a flail or brush mower on a mini excavator under 6k lbs with less than 10 gpm hydro flow rate? It wouldn't be used for extensive deforestation or brush removal. Mostly weed control and maintenance around ponds, planted xmas trees, and ditch banks.
Thanks J
btw accidentally posted in wrong category.

 

[leonz]

Hello Momower,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of The Flail Mower Nations the the Keystone state.

Happy mowing.

 

[leonz]

Hello Jeff,

The excavator size you describe has too little a flow rate for a hydraulic drive flail shredder mower.

How difficult/time consuming would it be to cut slopes less than 15 degrees around these areas?

 

[jjeff]

Hello Jeff,

The excavator size you describe has too little a flow rate for a hydraulic drive flail shredder mower.

How difficult/time consuming would it be to cut slopes less than 15 degrees around these areas?

Looking for some justification to buy a smaller mini excavator and get rid of my 3 point bh a small mower attachment helps my justification and would be used fairly extensively. I've used small mini ex's under 6k and was amazed the amount of work you can do with one given time and some experience, plus the smaller size really helps in the tight areas I'll be using it. Don't want or need larger pieces of equipment plus the price puts it out of justification. My question is why don't they make a flail or brush cutter for the smaller mini ex's used for lighter jobs and property maintenance?
Thanks J

 

[leonz]

The forestry/flail mower attachments are heavy and require a huge amount of flow and torque because the forestry flail mower rotor heads are very heavy and require a huge hydraulic motor and flow rate to run the forestry mower.
If that mule in your avatar is the mule you have perhaps you should be looking at a boom mounted orchard and vineyard flail shredder mower as it would work well as long as the rear tires are loaded with liquid ballast.

The Brush Hound 30EX excavator flail mower made by by Valley Tool and Manufacturing weighs 792 pounds and requires 12 gallons per minute to operate the gear type hydraulic motor.
The excavator weight range required for this attachment is 8,000-13,000 pounds to provide enough weight to safely use this specific flail mower attachment.

You need a lot of weight with a cast weight mounted in the frame rails or removable weight plates on the rear of a zero tail swing excavator to counter the load weight of 792 pounds at the end of the standard length upper boom and standard length dipper boom on an excavator with the weight of 8.000-13,000 pounds.