New Caroni TL1500 flail mower

Burtonbr · Mar 17, 2019

I’ve wanted a flail mower for a long time, so I sold my old brush hog and finish mower and decided to go to agri supply and get the Caroni 59 flail mower. The only one they had was a internet purchase return and was reduced by $350. It looked like it had mowed once and was in good shape so I bought it and was happy about saving a little money. I talked to the shop manager about why it was returned and he said the buyer didnt like the way it cut and returned it, but he had checked it out and was good as new, I could see the knives were in good shape and all there. I hooked it up when I got home and it spun nicely no vibrations quiet and smooth, cut one strip in the yard and other than it set to low it seems it is what I need to cut 3 acre pasture I cut a few times a year.
I figured being used by some I should take a good look at it and monitor blade wear and belts since I read here others have had belt fail after a short time.
This is what I found under the belt cover, tension pully had a lot of corrosion on it and one belt about to break. Oh well figured factory belts are cheap and need to be replaced with gates belts though I emailed them to see if they will send me a replacement since it is 60 mi for me to the store. We will see if they do.. I cleaned the tension wheel up too.

Overall I like the mower I will get gates belts for it tomorrow and I think it will be a great tool for what I need it for.

What do you think how long would the belt have lasted?

dlmpsy · Mar 18, 2019

The belt would not have lasted long...especially if you were cutting some heavy grass. Looks almost like the belts were over-tightened, heated up, melted and it sat...or the mower sat for awhile and rust developed where the water collected. My original belts held-up for three years. I replaced them with some that were reinforced with Kevlar supposedly. They should be replaced in sets that are very close in size. You might want to polish the rusted area with real fine emery paper, replace the belts and double check the tensioner before and after you run it awhile.

fried1765 · Mar 18, 2019

Burtonbr said:
I’ve wanted a flail mower for a long time, so I sold my old brush hog and finish mower and decided to go to agri supply and get the Caroni 59 flail mower. The only one they had was a internet purchase return and was reduced by $350. It looked like it had mowed once and was in good shape so I bought it and was happy about saving a little money. I talked to the shop manager about why it was returned and he said the buyer didnt like the way it cut and returned it, but he had checked it out and was good as new, I could see the knives were in good shape and all there. I hooked it up when I got home and it spun nicely no vibrations quiet and smooth, cut one strip in the yard and other than it set to low it seems it is what I need to cut 3 acre pasture I cut a few times a year.
I figured being used by some I should take a good look at it and monitor blade wear and belts since I read here others have had belt fail after a short time.
This is what I found under the belt cover, tension pully had a lot of corrosion on it and one belt about to break. Oh well figured factory belts are cheap and need to be replaced with gates belts though I emailed them to see if they will send me a replacement since it is 60 mi for me to the store. We will see if they do.. I cleaned the tension wheel up too.

Overall I like the mower I will get gates belts for it tomorrow and I think it will be a great tool for what I need it for.

What do you think how long would the belt have lasted?

I believe that Agri Supply will take good care of you!
I do not live close enough to them to ever visit a store, but I had an issue with an overrun coupler from them, and they very willingly resolved the problem.

Burtonbr · Mar 18, 2019

Agri supply support seems to be awesome! I had an email reply by 9:00 am this m0rning saying they were getting the belts shipped today and a tracking number was emailed to me by 10:00. I already got gates belts but I’ll keep the replacements for spares.

Anyone know supply for replacemt blades other than agri, or have a part number for this type of blade from flailmaster ?

dlmpsy · Mar 20, 2019

Sorry, I can't help you with the number, but around here NAPA is pretty good about having belts. I'd try to keep a set on hand (like you have already done) and when one set goes take it in to get measured or order another set from agri. When the new set comes in you could use a permanent marker and put the part number on the inside of the dust cover just in case.

Industrial Toys · Mar 20, 2019

Not all belts are the same. Kevlar should be used in a more demanding application like this. Here, not all automotive places carry them.

BukitCase · Mar 20, 2019

I have the caroni 1900; it uses 3 belts instead of the two in your pic, but setup looks the same - if your belts are 46" x 5/8, these kevlar ones

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G5YZ1M6/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

are what I ordered - I haven't put those on yet, so no idea how much better they'll last - may find out this season as I was NOT impressed with the ones (second set) that're on it now. I'm also not particularly impressed with the monkey motion it takes to change belts, but there're probably 100+ projects ahead of that one ATM...

A usage hint that works REALLY well for me - rather than fiddle around moving the skids up and down, I found it's much easier to control cut height using my hydraulic top link - I just let the mower sit on the ground, and extend the link til the knives are hanging 2-3 inches off the ground with the mower riding on its rear roller - MUCH quicker than messing with bolts, and doesn't leave skid marks... Steve