Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Kodiak45]

Found the spool of wire I was missing….



I was cutting nicely until I found my missing spool of fence wire. After untangling the mess, here is what I’m left with. Looks like I need parts 5,6,8.
Will I be able to get this off with a standard bearing puller?
Any tips would be appreciated as this is my first bearing replacement.
It looks like I can only find aftermarket parts for this JD 26.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

For situations like that I usually use a Dremel and cut-off wheel to score the bearing race in 3 locations evenly space around the circumference. Usually the bearing will crack at one of the scores when they get deep enough. At that point I can begin to pry it off and it will break at the remaining scores. I haven't had luck with a bearing puller on something like that or even with a bearing splitter in a press. I've also done a single score, then a bearing puller when it cracked. That one was on a boss where I could only get a Dremel to one side of it, and It had to be a spiral cut at that. Don't worry too much if you cut too deep and mark the shaft, there is plenty of surface area left to hold the new bearing. I would cut as deep as you can on the first cut to create heat in the bearing race. When the bearing race cools down is when it tends to crack. I've had it crack as I was putting the Dremel away. If you get to a point that you don't feel comfortable going any deeper and it still doesn't crack you can hit it with a chisel in the cut to see if it will split.

 

[LouNY]

I'd weld a couple of tabs on it for a puller to have something to pull on.
Also, I have seen bearing races free up with a good heavy bead laid on them.

 

[John0829]

I have seen bearing races free up with a good heavy bead laid on them.

That is how I remove just about all races anymore, so simple and it really does not that big of a bead.

 

[cbg8670]

Sharing couple flail mower pics

 

[Axleman27]

New tractor owner and first time poster here.

After reading a lot of this thread and some others, I settled on a flail mower instead of a brush hog.

I ended up getting this Titan FL135 from a dealer in my state. Apparently these are not very popular in Alabama and this dealer was the only one I found that stocked small flail mowers.

I haven't seen much info out there on this model, so I thought I would share.

This is an Italian mower made by Cosmo and imported by Titan Implements (not palletforks dot com). I paid $2000 for it at Dixie Horse and Mule Company. It came with hammers installed but also included the Y blades. I wouldn't say it's QH compatible but I was able to connect it to my QH.

My little Kubota BX has no problem at all running it and I have been abusing it quite hard clearing some woods. I have been very pleased so far.

 

[diesel85]

^^ Nice setup you got there!

 

[toolslinger]

I always get a kick out of folks that post about cleaning up their woods... No criticism in any way. I kinda wish I could.
The woods at my place is in fact trees living in an endless pile of rocks. If I tried to take any kind of mower through there it would be destroyed in short order.
This is becoming more of a concern of late. With the ash die off, I've got a whole lot of open canopy now, and the ferns, and a couple other plants have taken off along the old logging roads. Those roads are bad enough to drive when you can see the ground, but with a 2-3' tall carpet of ferns, it can become real exciting on a tractor with no power steering...

 

[kenmbz]

i was running my flail yesterday in the woods, cutting the 2' high stiltgrass when I hear a loud boom.
Thought I hit a rock, but it was only a branch. Checked the hammers and no more damage than already known.
I have had to pull rocks from every path during the winter to make the trails flail compatible
But it is nice to have and if i use the bucket low i usually find the bad stuff first.

It's so nice to take only an hour to do two trails that used to take me days with the brush cutter.

 

[leonz]

New tractor owner and first time poster here.

After reading a lot of this thread and some others, I settled on a flail mower instead of a brush hog.

I ended up getting this Titan FL135 from a dealer in my state. Apparently these are not very popular in Alabama and this dealer was the only one I found that stocked small flail mowers.

I haven't seen much info out there on this model, so I thought I would share.

This is an Italian mower made by Cosmo and imported by Titan Implements (not palletforks dot com). I paid $2000 for it at Dixie Horse and Mule Company. It came with hammers installed but also included the Y blades. I wouldn't say it's QH compatible but I was able to connect it to my QH.

My little Kubota BX has no problem at all running it and I have been abusing it quite hard clearing some woods. I have been very pleased so far.
View attachment 756753View attachment 756754View attachment 756755

Hello and good afternoon Axelman,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations"
from the Great State of Alabama.

You need to replace the two rivets on the mowers identification plate that are missing
with 2 small bolts and nylock nuts to hold it in place before you mow again.

You have a very well built flail shredder in you Cosmo flail shredder that was designed and built to the
European Union/CEMA farm equipment safety standards that will outlast your current mule and will provide
you with a high quality mowing and shredding finish.

Is the owners manual printed in a dual English/Italian language format?

 

[Axleman27]

Hello and good afternoon Axelman,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations"
from the Great State of Alabama.

You need to replace the two rivets on the mowers identification plate that are missing
with 2 small bolts and nylock nuts to hold it in place before you mow again.

You have a very well built flail shredder in you Cosmo flail shredder that was designed and built to the
European Union/CEMA farm equipment safety standards that will outlast your current mule and will provide
you with a high quality mowing and shredding finish.

Is the owners manual printed in a dual English/Italian language format?

It came with separate Italian and English manuals

 

[Riddlewitz]

Curious if anyone knows how to replace the belt on a vintage Mott model 72? Is there a trick to making this fit? It is a factory belt but I couldn't find a green kevlar style belt. Thanks in advance

 

[dieselscout80]

The spring loaded idler pulley has to be pushed away (up) from the belt.

Turning the pulley will also help roll it into the groove of the pulley.

Then when you let it back down it will go on and let it will tension the belt.

 

[toolslinger]

That idler looks odd compared to my Mott 72... Yours looks like a V-Groove pulley, and the idler, (both original, and replacement) on mine is just a flat face, without the deep V. I could see that being a pain to fit. That said, either pull it back, or disconnect the spring, and get the belt and pullies in place, then throw the spring back on if you must. I haven't been able to find a kevlar belt for mine either.

 

[ColdRider]

Hi all, New flail owner. After reading almost all this thread, I bought a Titan fl165. Not impressed with cut I'm getting. It has the hammer blades on it and I'm trying to cut heavy clover and hay that hasn't been mowed this season. It will bog my L3800 hst unless I just crawl. I'm wondering if the included y grass blades would work better. They are not as sharp like the hammers are. Hammers are packing full of hay and not cleaning out. Running at 540, level and in 2nd hole from highest setting. Ground is rough but not terrible was planted in oats with grass seed mix last season.

 

[Riddlewitz]

dieselscou80 and toolslinger: thanks for the replies. the idler pulley does not move. It seems like it was fixed in a certain position. Perhaps welded along the base. I tried to remove the spring so the arm connected to the idler pulley could loosen. even with the idler pulley off the belt is too tight. Seems strange that it would be this tough. Thanks

 

[toolslinger]

Riddlewitz: That arm should move freely, and really has to, so you need to start there. It wasn't hard to take it off on mine, so unless they welded it for some reason, it is likely just bound up badly somehow. Could you take a photo of the arm that the spring is attached to? It kinda looks like it's on there backwards in the one photo. That would screw things up for you.

I also noticed that you've got the odd square gearbox on yours. I kinda recall that's for a higher input RPM than 540. Possibly a 1k unit? Don't know for sure, but it isn't a 540 gearbox.

 

[toolslinger]

I wonder, since you've got a V pulley on the idler, and the tension spring looks backwards to me, is yours supposed to tension the belt from the inside, so it would make a triangle shape, rather than a kidney shape with the belt?

 

[Riddlewitz]

Here are the pics. The irony is when it threw the belt it was working very well. I agree that this unit for sure has its quirks. It runs in reverse to my understanding. When I use it the grass clippings is thrown all over the back of the tractor. However I did put all new blades on the flail. It does chop the grass very well. If someone has this model and can post pics of their belt setup? thanks a ton guys.

 

[Xfaxman]

even with the idler pulley off the belt is too tight. Seems strange that it would be this tough.

That means it is the wrong belt.