Flail Mower Titan Flail mower

[Fallon]

In the case of mine, the top link is fixed (somewhat) so there would be stress on the tower if the terrain pushed up on the rear of the mower. Isn't the lift done by the bottom two links?

The toplink is generally only there for stability. All the lift mechinism is attached to the 2 lift arms. For a plow or blade you need stiffness on the toplink to prevent the impliment from rotating up & into the tractor. But not for a mower as they should be riding on a roller or tail wheel.

There should be a flex mechinism at the top of the 3pt for mowers & other terrain following impliments. Many impliments have a slot instead of a hole to the toplink wont take force until the mower is lifted. Most brush hogs have flat stock bolted together so it can fold up using the bolt(s) as a pivot. Replacing the toplink with a chain also works well.

 

[Molalla1]

Agreed...the strap design never seems to break. The steel is considerably thicker. This Titan design 'looks nice' but is very weak at the bed points.



I think welding the broken edges back on won't be enough. On mine, I bought plate steel in similar thickness to the support towers, cut it to fit inside, heated it with a torch, and bent it to match. Then I welded the plate to the towers on both sides, along with welding the broken mounting edges to themselves and the plate.

:thumbsup: no it won't

I agree, but this was a quick, free weld and he didn't want to do more. I have another source that will be able to improve on it. I am thinking of a simple bridge between the angle to make it a triangle of sorts, probably using 1/4 steel.

Sorry Guidshir that's about what the weld is worth . . .

 

[def38]

The toplink is generally only there for stability. All the lift mechinism is attached to the 2 lift arms. For a plow or blade you need stiffness on the toplink to prevent the impliment from rotating up & into the tractor. But not for a mower as they should be riding on a roller or tail wheel.

There should be a flex mechinism at the top of the 3pt for mowers & other terrain following impliments. Many impliments have a slot instead of a hole to the toplink wont take force until the mower is lifted. Most brush hogs have flat stock bolted together so it can fold up using the bolt(s) as a pivot. Replacing the toplink with a chain also works well.

On a flail mower, the top link provides rearward pressure to position the mower on the rear roller and to provide adjustment for cutting height. However, the force needed to provide this rearward pressure is modest and not enough to cause these Titan top link tower brackets to fail. The fix would be to use a strap steel bracketing system thereby saving cost, eliminating the stamping and bending of the current steel brackets thereby eliminating failures. I'm sure Titan would like to eliminate warranty replacements due to these failing brackets.

 

[troverman]

Good point def38...the top link does exert some rearward force to adjust the 殿ngle of attack of the leading edge of the mower. However, it痴 much less stress than when the mower is lifted.

This is certainly a fixable problem from Titans perspective. For some reason they just haven稚.

 

[Guidshir]

I'm not interested in continual support from Titan. It was cheap, I bought it, I semi-sorta-regret it. On the other hand would it be worth 3 times as much for a better one? It's hard to tell. It's obvious that this was not designed by someone who had used a flail mower in real life.

I'd rather get the one I have fixed and improved so that I know what issues are there (like a car that you spent time with). I may try a chain setup for this mower's top link to let it rotate as needed.

And yes, I apparently need to learn to weld.

 

[Molalla1]

:thumbsup: yep.

 

[def38]

However, itç—´ much less stress than when the mower is lifted.

When the implement is lifted, the major forces are all in the lower lift arms and the lower pins on the implement. When lifted, there is even less force on the top link system. The Titan brackets (in fact, the whole mower) is a copy by the Chinese without concern for unknown or undetermined forces. I suspect that they use scrap steel plate of unknown alloy and don't have any idea the Young's Modulus of the material they are working with or the degree to which it is work hardened during processing. Steel strap bracketing would eliminate all of the problem and save cost.

 

[Guidshir]

I don't have a picture, but I have a different friend with some scrap metal and he welded some braces on and gave me a 5 minute lesson in welding to boot. After welding we pried on it a little with another scrap piece and I think it will be stronger than before. Strong enough? Only time will tell.

 

[def38]

Maybe a bit off topic but, I damaged the plastic PTO shaft plastic safety cover chain attachment loop when I lifted the mower with the anti rotation chains attached and tore the tractor end chain off. Has anyone found a reliable repair for reattaching the chain to the plastic safety cover thingamajig? I'm always concerned regarding safety and those PTO shaft covers provide safety when they are properly attached.

 

[def38]

My Titan flail has been sitting awaiting new top link brackets. They arrived and I installed them today allowing further assessment of the original top link brackets that were just beginning to show cracks in the paint at the lower bends. I torqued the new brackets dry to 70 ft. lb. using the new hardware provided with the new brackets.

Next, I attempted to fit my quick Hitch to the Titan. The Titan lower Cat1 points are too close together to allow engagement and the top link design on the Titan would not allow hook engagement. Boy, that mower is a struggle to get connected to my M-F 231 but, the M-F doesn’t even know its back there.

If I replace the Titan, I’ll make sure the new mower is QH compatible. I have been looking at Woodmaxx flail mowers. I’m inclined to discount the Italian mowers due to cost and some belt issues.

I thoroughly greased both the tractor and mower, checked the belts (they are original and looked new and snug), then ran out of grease in my gun, installed a new grease cartridge and finished greasing everything….Pheeeew.

Just before dinner, I took the rig out and did a short mow of my 2 foot high field…no runs, no hits, no errors, no vibration. All is well so, tomorrow I’ll cut the whole orchard after insuring the beer fridge in the garage is well stocked with Yuengling.

After mowing the orchard, I’ve got to decide whether to rebuild my almost new Craftsman 30cc 4-cycle weed eater or buy another. The Craftsman engine is very rugged and ran fine. However, the recoil starting design is junk and Craftsman wants me to buy the whole engine to repair the defective starting system. I think I’ll pass. The item is under warranty and they don’t want to repair it so, they refunded my money. Terrific warranty policy so, I think I’ll buy another Craftsman weed eater…does that sound crazy?

Wish me luck tomorrow when I’ll be mowing and imbibing (in the correct order, of course). Greetings from Dixieland. Roll Tide.