Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[saxtonhill]

What kind of knives are you using?

I use Y grass knives

 

[leonz]

The 5 horsepower per foot rule is simple hearsay and a marketing gimmick and not a useable
means to determine the needed PTO horsepower for a flail mower or rototiller.

 

[Sid Post]

5hp per foot is a general rule of thumb. Some areas don't need that much hp and others need more.

For me and really heavy mowing, 7hp is where I'm at but, on short stuff my 20hp tractor pulls a 6' mower just fine and rarely bogs down.

 

[diesel85]

I run a Woodmaxx 62" flail mower with Y-knives on a Kubota BX2200. I've cut 2-3' tall grasses with it no problem in L gear going 2-3 mph.

Mulches it up perfectly.

I also use it to mow my lawn occasionally and it does a fantastic job with how much air it pulls to lift and cut the grasses with the Y-knives.

The efficiency of a properly maintained flail mower is second to none if you have a smaller machine.

The flail mower does such a great job, I get excited and can't wait to use it. It's my favorite implement.

 

[Mousehog]

We have small acreage and are clearing a 20 acre section of fallen timber. We use a tow behind flail mower with our Kawasaki 600 mule. It does a brilliant job of cutting through thick tussock grass, weeds and crap. It also handles the odd hidden log, big tree root or rock. We just go at a walking pace with the Kawasaki in low gear.
It has transformed our lightly wooded center section.
We can't get the tractor on a wet property but the Kawasaki will.
It is early days yet, but we love the UTV/Flail mower combination at the moment.
Future mows should be easier than current churn through thick long grass, weeds and vines.

 

[nova3930]

Hit a hidden rock in the weeds last weekend and monkeyed up a whole section of blades on the drum. For now plan on just beating them back into shape on the old anvil.

Come winter though I was thinking about maybe putting a heavier duty blade on since I'm mostly doing bushhog type work with it. It's a fine cut 88" Alamo that uses the long thin blades like #1 in the picture. I'd like to use the parts in the box to swap to one of the blades with a 1x1/2 hole in it, like a heavy duty side slicer or a duck foot. The ring is 3/8 instead of 1/2 but that's only 1/16 on either side and when it's spinning it shouldn't matter anyway. Is that reasonable?

 

[leonz]

If you do this the flail mower rotor will become unbalanced. The best thing to do is simply
remove the opposite knife mounting station if you do not have the identical knife to replace it
and raise the cutting height of your beautiful flail mower.

 

[JethroB]

For what you say, I would look at Agrisupply and the Caroni flails built in Italy. They work really well in conditions like what you describe with similar tractors.

I have a 10 YO 6’ Caroni from Agri Supply with the Y blades. I use it mostly for clipping old Bahai grass pastures frequently. With 45 PTO HP the tractor doesn’t know it’s back there. I don’t believe considerably less HP would be an issue for my use. My favorite implement and tractoring past-time.

 

[nova3930]

If you do this the flail mower rotor will become unbalanced. The best thing to do is simply
remove the opposite knife mounting station if you do not have the identical knife to replace it
and raise the cutting height of your beautiful flail mower.

I'm talking about replacing all the blades, not just the mangled ones....long as you're using the same blades at every station balance shouldn't be an issue I'd think...

 

[ross0201]

I know I've seen this talked about on this forum, but I can't find it now.

I would like to be able to trim trees back from paths and shooting lanes. Do people have much luck running a flail mower vertically? I like flail mower and have an old Rhino RF60 which works well for me. I would be interested in a 72" mower but I'm not sure how to size these for stability running vertically. Tractor is a John Deere 4600 (35 hp, 3,450 lb plus FEL). I'm open to filling tires to add weight.

Open to other suggestions too (sickle bar?)

 

[LouNY]

My flail mowers can mow in the vertical position,
one of them is a 78" and it bounces a 10,000 tractor around,
the other is a 48" boom arm mower and it also is the maximum mower I'd want on my tractor.

I wouldn't recommend these types for a tractor your size.
They do make sickle bar mowers that will trim smaller sized brush and limbs.
FH-BRM Boom Sickle Hedge Cutter | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service:

 

[dieselscout80]

My flail mowers can mow in the vertical position,
one of them is a 78" and it bounces a 10,000 tractor around,
the other is a 48" boom arm mower and it also is the maximum mower I'd want on my tractor.

View attachment 813120

View attachment 813121

I wouldn't recommend these types for a tractor your size.
They do make sickle bar mowers that will trim smaller sized brush and limbs.
FH-BRM Boom Sickle Hedge Cutter | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service:

View attachment 813123

LouNY, if one didn’t run a 78” ditch bank flail vertically could it be run on a 4800 pound tract with 39 PTO HP?

 

[LouNY]

LouNY, if one didn’t run a 78” ditch bank flail vertically could it be run on a 4800 pound tract with 39 PTO HP?

I think to 78" would be just to much weight when swung out to the side. While directly behing or just a sliver offset you'd likely be alright. But any offset is going to really load the heavy side axle and hub.
The HP needs would be directly related to how heavy of a material being cut and how fast you want to go.
A 48" is going to be under 1000 pounds and would likely be much more manageable.

 

[ross0201]

My flail mowers can mow in the vertical position,
one of them is a 78" and it bounces a 10,000 tractor around,
the other is a 48" boom arm mower and it also is the maximum mower I'd want on my tractor.

View attachment 813120

View attachment 813121

I wouldn't recommend these types for a tractor your size.
They do make sickle bar mowers that will trim smaller sized brush and limbs.
FH-BRM Boom Sickle Hedge Cutter | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service:

View attachment 813123

Thanks for the advice! What does that 78" weigh? There's a Del Morino Centurion Super line that are all under 1,000 lbs.

That sickle is interesting, looked a little fussy in their video, but I'll think on it a little.

 

[LouNY]

Thanks for the advice! What does that 78" weigh? There's a Del Morino Centurion Super line that are all under 1,000 lbs.

That sickle is interesting, looked a little fussy in their video, but I'll think on it a little.

Around 1800-2000 pounds as I recall.

 

[workinonit]

My 10' Maschio weighs almost 2100 pounds.

 

[Fallon]

My Peruzzo 7.2" is 1,500lbs. My L4060hstc is probably under 5,000lbs with loader & loaded rears. If I side shift it over. It torque my machine pretty good. That's just side shift with only 1/3 or so of the flail hanging out to the side. Not even an offset one like the other guys are talking about.

I'd look at an old sickle that can run vertical for your use case. A sickle also slices cleanly. A flail is pretty safe on the ground, but raise it up in the air & the spinning hammers or knives is going to have the ability to throw debris around a lot.

 

[ross0201]

My Peruzzo 7.2" is 1,500lbs. My L4060hstc is probably under 5,000lbs with loader & loaded rears. If I side shift it over. It torque my machine pretty good. That's just side shift with only 1/3 or so of the flail hanging out to the side. Not even an offset one like the other guys are talking about.

I'd look at an old sickle that can run vertical for your use case. A sickle also slices cleanly. A flail is pretty safe on the ground, but raise it up in the air & the spinning hammers or knives is going to have the ability to throw debris around a lot.

Thanks, you have the most directly comparable tractor to me, I would be around 4,500 lb with beet juice in the tires plus whatever a FEL weighs. You would still feel unstable in your rig with an 800 lb mower?

 

[Sid Post]

Thanks, you have the most directly comparable tractor to me, I would be around 4,500 lb with beet juice in the tires plus whatever a FEL weighs. You would still feel unstable in your rig with an 800 lb mower?

On my L-4600, no way would I try that. When you upset the balance, most people will not react fast enough to save it, if they can at all, before it rolls over.

Big heavy mowers require big heavy tractors for safe operation. Hanging them off the side of the tractor multiples the problems and risks.

 

[ross0201]

On my L-4600, no way would I try that. When you upset the balance, most people will not react fast enough to save it, if they can at all, before it rolls over.

Big heavy mowers require big heavy tractors for safe operation. Hanging them off the side of the tractor multiples the problems and risks.

Yeah, I'm just getting advice all over the place, trying to compare apples to apples. Peruzzo lists pretty mowers as compatible with smaller tractors. My advice from a Del Morino dealer was more conservative. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the only chart, or rule of thumb I have is the one attached.