Flail Mower rotary mower vs flail

[rhuffie]

I have a several acre hilly property that has lots of grasses and brush. I am attempting to make look "park like". At first I bought a rotary mower. However because of the uneven profile of the land and the fact that I want to be able to remove short saplings and withstand the occasional run in with a foreign object, the 60" rotary mower does not do a very good job.
It seems like I need more of a muncher rather than a mower. Would a flail attachment work better?
I am running a L3902 Kubota with 30hp to the PTO.

 

[JethroB]

I use my medium duty rotary for rough areas, heavy brush, and the occasional sapling. It can take more of a beating. Just be sure to use the proper grade shear bolt or that the slip clutch is working properly.

I use the 6 foot Caroni flail with Y knives in semi-tamed areas, old pastures, roadsides, and in similar cleaner areas. I replaced all the blades, clevis’s and bolts last year so I still baby it a bit. Belt driven so they will slip if needed.

The really thick stuff with small trees (6”) I hire a CTL forestry mulcher by the day. It can grind stumps even with or slightly below grade. Awesome machines. Just a bit costly. Then spray herbicide, rotary cut, and hopefully one day the area will be tamed enough for the flail.

 

[Torvy]

Seems if a rotary cutter is not handling saplings or debris well enough, a flail would be worse.

 

[leonz]

I have a several acre hilly property that has lots of grasses and brush. I am attempting to make look "park like". At first I bought a rotary mower. However because of the uneven profile of the land and the fact that I want to be able to remove short saplings and withstand the occasional run in with a foreign object, the 60" rotary mower does not do a very good job.
It seems like I need more of a muncher rather than a mower. Would a flail attachment work better?
I am running a L3902 Kubota with 35hp to the PTO.

Renting a FECON self propelled forestry mulcher for a day or two will be easier to do as you will be able
to remove everything and also dig below the surface to shred the stumps.

 

[rhuffie]

Seems if a rotary cutter is not handling saplings or debris well enough, a flail would be worse.

It's the size (unwieldy) and the unevenness of my land that's the problem with the rotary cutter. This is about both fire protection and aesthetics....we live in the Sierra Nevada foothills. No farming to be done. The big land clearing has been done already. Now it's just light brush and short/small oak saplings

 

[K5lwq]

A flail with hammer blades will handle the small saplings and bushes just fine. But from your description I would use a rotary mower until it was clean and grass takes over. The occasional foreign object will not be good for a flail.

 

[TerryR]

At first I bought a rotary mower. However because of the uneven profile of the land and the fact that I want to be able to remove short saplings and withstand the occasional run in with a foreign object, the 60" rotary mower does not do a very good job.

What does "not do a very good job" mean? What's it doing or not doing that is a problem? Without knowing what problem you are trying to solve it's very difficult to suggest an alternative.

 

[rhuffie]

What does "not do a very good job" mean? What's it doing or not doing that is a problem? Without knowing what problem you are trying to solve it's very difficult to suggest an alternative.

The 60" rotary mower is huge and because of it's shape and the fact that the ground is very uneven it leaves parts cut very short whole leaving others at 6"...not good for wildfire mitigation. It's large boxy shape also makes it is very difficult to impossible maneuver around the trees. it seems that if my property was cleared of more trees and had been tilled and then graded to be smooth and flat in big open spaces the rotary would be fine.

 

[ericm979]

A flail will cut uneven ground better IF the dips are parallel to the direction you're mowing. If you mow across the dips then the roller will keep it up on the rises. So it's likely that it won't do much better than the rotary.

Can you use a box blade to level out the land for easier mowing?

 

[leonz]

Hello rhuffie,

A flail shredder with cast hammer knives like the Del Morino or Maschio flail shredders will
work much better for you as it is shorter in total length and leaving it in the float position
with the top link adjusted so the gearbox is level will allow you to have a good 2 inch cut
for brush management.

 

[oosik]

My neighbor finally got around to "preparing" a three acre plot for his wife. It is for a garden and the many wildflowers she grows. BTW - he is a BIG cattle rancher and finally found time for this project.

First he burned it and burned it HARD. Then he hit it with a big industrial grade rototiller. Then he packed it back down, somewhat, with a cultipacker. It all turned out very nice.

The three acres is half on flat land and half runs back up on a shallow sloped hill.

 

[leonz]

Hello oosik,

The OP is trying to clear up the plot for wildfire prevention mitigation.

Do you have much snow in and around Amber??

Leon

 

[oosik]

Hi leonz - wildfire mitigation. Yes - that's what I understood also. I use to disk a 30 to 40 foot wide swath around the west and south sides of my 80 acres for wildfire mitigation/suppression. Then eight years ago I got to witness my first actual wildfire. Watermelon Hill wildfire. The fire came at us from the west. The wind was launching "fire bombs" up a quarter mile ahead of the fire front. That's when I realized that my 30 foot wide fire break would be worthless. Fortunately - the wind shifted and several ranchers with uber large tractor got it out.

I was REQUIRED to evacuate. The State Police man would not leave my property until I was in my truck and following him down my driveway. I figured all was lost and didn't know different until I was allowed to return home. You better believe I checked my homeowners insurance policy when I got home.

Anyhow - it quit snowing two days ago and I had eleven inches on the ground. I now have about five inches - a whole lot of rain and melting has happened around here. Still haven't plowed my driveway. The Taco Wagon has no problem busting a path thru the driveway snow. Once a path has been busted - the rest is easy.

You just watch. By the time I get the energy to plow - it will be ALL melted. My enthusiasm for the plowing project is seriously tempered by all the pine limbs that overhang the driveway. That one pass up - one pass back will fill the entire operator area plus me with wet snow. Those limbs hold a ton of snow and are just waiting for me on my tractor. It's the one time I DO wish I had a cab on the tractor.

So..... life is good and it appears that the monster storm will bypass us here this week.

 

[leonz]

I forgot to ask you if the pup is enjoying the snow?

I felt the same way about the rain when the house did not have rain gutters.

The problem with the 4" rain gutters now is they are too small and I need the 6" rain gutters.

I have an irobot luge rain gutter cleaner and it works very well, the problem is the
Alaska rain gutters hanger straps are too short and as I have a bad metal roof it is
hard to use the luge to clean them.

 

[oosik]

Brownie( brown cocker spaniel) enjoys being outside a whole lot more than I do. It's particularly good for him right now. It's below freezing and the snow has a crust. Allows him to race around like some kind of wild monkey. He stops every so often and chews on a bit of the crusted snow. He likes it - like we like ice cream.

I enjoyed Alaska when we first went there - 1960. Not so very much when we left -1982. Too many people - too many rules/regulations. That's the primary reason I quit and we came down here to our property.