Flail Mower New Caroni TM1900 Flail Mower

[Flatheadyoungin]

well, maybe i stand corrected.........i pretty much only search about 150 miles.....i rarely see one in ky or wv...most in ohio, some in pa......

i do see the ohio dmv using them a lot, so maybe that's why there's some to be had in my driving distance.....

they are on ebay from time to time but they seem to creep up to about 1000 and the condition usually looks about the same as the ones on craigs list for 600 or less.....just an observation, may not be fact....

besides, if you buy one off of craigslist, you may get murdered come to think of it, the guy i bought mine from kept insisting that we meet, alone, at a hotel kidding.....not really funny right now, huh

 

[IslandTractor]

Are the brush "stumps" left by the flail pretty well mashed or rounded, to the point that they don't puncture tires too readily?

The flail tends to shatter small "stumps" on bushes so they are not like punji sticks at all but look like someone drilled a hole in the middle and stuck in a firecracker and exploded it. The material is still there but it is ragged not sharply cut. I have not had any trouble with punctures but I have R4 tires which are very puncture resistant. Not sure what R1s would be like.

 

[texbaylea]

My experience with the flail mower echos IslandTractor's. With the tall stuff, particularly if you don't know what is in there, Back over it a short distance and mow forward. Back in slow and any stumps will stop you with out damage.

I don't have rocks so stumps are what I have to look out for.

Vernon

 

[123rday]

I was looking at getting a finish mower for my 3 acres and a brush hog to control 20 of the 60 acres a year at my parents. A friend of mine has a machine that has blades for finishing and a set he can change to brush hog with. He didn't know the name of the machine when I talked to him, so does anyone know what he was talking about? One machine would be easier to maintain then two. Also perhaps more cost effective over time. Any thoughts would be grealy appreciated since I'm still researching. Maybe my friend was talking about a flail mower?

 

[IslandTractor]

I was looking at getting a finish mower for my 3 acres and a brush hog to control 20 of the 60 acres a year at my parents. A friend of mine has a machine that has blades for finishing and a set he can change to brush hog with. He didn't know the name of the machine when I talked to him, so does anyone know what he was talking about? One machine would be easier to maintain then two. Also perhaps more cost effective over time. Any thoughts would be grealy appreciated since I'm still researching. Maybe my friend was talking about a flail mower?

It is possible though hardly practical to change out the knives on a flail mower. It is not something you'd want to do more than once a season though.

A flail does cut much closer to what you'd get with a finish mower than a bush hog when set up with brush knives. With finish knives it would mow as well as any finish mower.

 

[Builder]

It is possible though hardly practical to change out the knives on a flail mower. It is not something you'd want to do more than once a season though.

A flail does cut much closer to what you'd get with a finish mower than a bush hog when set up with brush knives. With finish knives it would mow as well as any finish mower.

Maybe a new caroni for the finish stuff and a used, old, heavy Alamo for the rough stuff.

 

[J_J]

When I first got my flail, it had thatchers blades on it, which cut a slit in the ground. You can change these blades out as often as you like. Maybe 4 hr at the most, assuming that you have extra parts. If you have a new complete set, with hooks and rings, an air wrench will do it. Here are some pictures of the knives or blades used on some flails. The thin ones are used for finish work, and the thick ones or forged ones are used on thick stuff like one in to two in stuff, and are called flail axe. Some blades can be sharpened, or turned around for a new edge. It is good to have some extra blades and pins, rings, etc. As I said before, if you lose some blades/parts in the center of the flail, just take some from the ends and fill up the row of blades so you will not leave gaps. The price of the blades vary by use, and quantity. They actually sent me a free sample of about 7 blades.

Some blades hang sideways, and others front to back

Click on sub category [ blades ]. There are 5 pages of blades for different brands of flail mowers.

http://www.flailmaster.com/products/products_search.aspx?MainCat=FLAIL

 

[IslandTractor]

You can change these blades out as often as you like. Maybe 4 hr at the most, assuming that you have extra parts.

That is what I meant by once a season. A four hour or even two hour change over job is not something you'd like to do twice a month.

 

[J_J]

Has anyone tried cutting in reverse on the flail, but moving forward? My blades are sharp on the backside also. Right now, it cuts from the top down. Is that the way the other flails cut. My flail is also hydraulic driven.

 

[IslandTractor]

Has anyone tried cutting in reverse on the flail, but moving forward? My blades are sharp on the backside also. Right now, it cuts from the top down. Is that the way the other flails cut. My flail is also hydraulic driven.

Most of us don't have that option as most flails for CUTs are PTO driven. Maybe you could do the test for us. That would be a nice way to avoid needing to switch the blades around when one side gets dull. The other thing is that you could simply only mow lawns in one direction and do all your bush hogging with reversed hydraulics so you don't screw up the nice side of the blades.

 

[123rday]

Thanks for the advice. Maybe a used flail mower or the Caroni TM1900 will work great for all my needs. If nothing else mow what I can, then borrow my uncle's JD 2640 with loader to remove rest of trees.

 

[gogreen]

nunya, not sure if this helps or not, maybe you have tried it, but my 3520 pto shaft wont turn either when the tractor is running but when the tractor is off it will turn about 1/4 turn. When hooking up my finish mower which is hard to turn by hand, I just put it up to the shaft and take my other hand and slowly turn the pto until I feel the teeth line up. Somewhere in that 1/4 turn the teeth always line up.

 

[sunspot]

I had a time hooking up my flail this past weekend.

I stuck a large screwdriver through the yoke of the shaft and turned it until it lined up. Popped right on.

 

[nunyabinis]

nunya, not sure if this helps or not, maybe you have tried it, but my 3520 pto shaft wont turn either when the tractor is running but when the tractor is off it will turn about 1/4 turn. When hooking up my finish mower which is hard to turn by hand, I just put it up to the shaft and take my other hand and slowly turn the pto until I feel the teeth line up. Somewhere in that 1/4 turn the teeth always line up.

My 3030e PTO shaft won't budge even a cat hair. It's held TIGHT. That's why I made the wrench.

 

[nunyabinis]

I had a time hooking up my flail this past weekend.

I stuck a large screwdriver through the yoke of the shaft and turned it until it lined up. Popped right on.

Unfortunately, my 3038e doesn't have a hole in the PTO shaft. That's the first thing I looked for. Figured I could stick a screw stick in the hole and spin the shaft. Oh well.


The custom wrench works well and I can use it to turn other stuff on the tractor and to start conversations.

 

[sunspot]

Unfortunately, my 3038e doesn't have a hole in the PTO shaft. That's the first thing I looked for. Figured I could stick a screw stick in the hole and spin the shaft.

Sorry, I expressed myself badly. I was writing about turning the shaft that goes between the tractor and the implement. The yoke is what holds the U-joint.

 

[nunyabinis]

Sorry, I expressed myself badly. I was writing about turning the shaft that goes between the tractor and the implement. The yoke is what holds the U-joint.

Gotcha.

That's the way I was doing it before I made the wrench. It worked but, at least for me, the wrench makes it easier because my flail shaft is a real bear to turn even with a BIG screw driver.

 

[VAMountains]

Welcome to the Caroni club. We will take over the world one flail at a time.

I looked for the oil tube extension mentioned earlier in this thread but I think the web site is gone.

The link for the item mentioned is here: Item # 300908 on British Metrics, Inc.

 

[danielcuilhe]

Hi TBN!

I have the choice between a gently used Mott 6' with a brand new set of blades, new bearings, new belt for $1,500... or getting a new Caroni 59' for about $1,750 (shipping included). Which would you go for?

[I will be mowing 25 acres of mostly 2' tall tender blackberry, 1-2' tall weeds, some grass, and lots of debris of mature Scotch broom that was shredded with a hired GyroTrak masticator and is littering the hillside.]

Thank you,

DC

 

[IslandTractor]

Hi TBN!

I have the choice between a gently used Mott 6' .....

My question is why a "gently used" flail would need new knives, bearings and belts? If it is not a very high hour unit however the fact that virtually all the wear parts have been replaced would seem to make it a good deal. I'm happy with my Caroni but if I could save $250 to get a truly "gently used" Mott I'd certainly consider it.