Which WoodMaxx Flail Mower

[Ricn]

Have the Woodmaxx side shift in 60 inch, geat mower!

 

[Jack Yuan]

I've read through many of the threads regarding flail mowers and I'm seriously considering a WoodMaxx unit. I have one of their snowblowers and have been impressed with the quality of construction and performance with that implement. Pricing on their flail mowers is attractive and the reviews I've read are all pretty good. I will probably go with the hydraulic side shift as I have fences, trees, buildings to mow around.

Tractor is a 2022 Kioti DK5310SE with cab. Just over 50HP with a bit more than 39HP at the PTO. Overall width is 63 inches, outside tire tread to outside tire tread. Plenty of power and lift capacity.

My question is, do I go with the FM-62H which has a width of 65" and a cutting width of 59", or the FM-78H with a width of 79.5" and a cutting width of 74"? Price difference is $275. With either mower the tires will be flattening the grass prior to the cutters getting to it, but what would the collective opinion be on which width would be best and why?

Thank you for any input. This is my first flail mower, replacing a 48" tow-behind rotary mower that was purchased to tow behind an ATV before we got the Kioti. Looking forward to getting the mowing done quicker with a better cut.

Check your tractor wheel track width, then choose the flail mower which cutting width can cover the tractor wheel track.
Flail mower can create air suction and pull up the grass pressed by tractor tyre before cutting.

 

[Beeenvenue]

Check your tractor wheel track width, then choose the flail mower which cutting width can cover the tractor wheel track.
Flail mower can create air suction and pull up the grass pressed by tractor tyre before cutting.

No. You an Leonz both say this but physically it doesn’t make sense.

The underside of a flail is a decent size space with lots of openings. Where would the air go? You’d have to displace all that air out the back creating a pretty powerful fan. And where would it come from? The laws of physics apply to flails as well - you cannot create a vacuum without air movement, and that air is going to come from the area of least resistance - it won’t move up from the ground under the grass when it can “leak in” from the open flail mower housing, the front opening, etc.

You might get a LITTLE lift but it won’t be much, definitely not enough to lift a 2’ tall bent stalk of grass in 1/4 second.

 

[Jack Yuan]

No. You an Leonz both say this but physically it doesn’t make sense.

The underside of a flail is a decent size space with lots of openings. Where would the air go? You’d have to displace all that air out the back creating a pretty powerful fan. And where would it come from? The laws of physics apply to flails as well - you cannot create a vacuum without air movement, and that air is going to come from the area of least resistance - it won’t move up from the ground under the grass when it can “leak in” from the open flail mower housing, the front opening, etc.

You might get a LITTLE lift but it won’t be much, definitely not enough to lift a 2’ tall bent stalk of grass in 1/4 second.

Tractor tyre won't complete press down the grass as road roller, even if the 2' tall stalk is bent by tractor tyre, the bent stalk still has the trend to bounce back straight.

As you said the falil mower will make a "Little lift" force, that's enough to make the grass to be straight again when cutting. This also explain why we don't suggest to use flail mower when the grass is wet after rain, difficult to pull the grass to be straight when cutting. You can have a small test, use flail mower after rain and when the grass is complete dry, see the difference.

 

[eubie5]

I just used it again today to mow down 2' grasses and 1/2" saplings in my other field. The BX2200 didn't even flinch.

I had it setup at a 1" cut height like you'd mow a lawn, because I left my top link set like that when I mowed my lawn with it three weeks ago... Didn't realize it until I turned around and saw how short I was cutting everything.

That's fine... because I won't have to mow it again till probably this fall.

surprised the bx2200 runs it so well.
been looking at their 54", and also the bestco heavy duty.
i'd be using a bx2380

 

[leonz]

No. You an Leonz both say this but physically it doesn’t make sense.

The underside of a flail is a decent size space with lots of openings. Where would the air go? You’d have to displace all that air out the back creating a pretty powerful fan. And where would it come from? The laws of physics apply to flails as well - you cannot create a vacuum without air movement, and that air is going to come from the area of least resistance - it won’t move up from the ground under the grass when it can “leak in” from the open flail mower housing, the front opening, etc.

You might get a LITTLE lift but it won’t be much, definitely not enough to lift a 2’ tall bent stalk of grass in 1/4 second.

The lift is created by the 2200+ RPM of the rotor spinning the side slicer/scoop/spoon/hammer knives.

The closer the flail mower knife is to the ground the closer the flail mower rotor shroud is to the ground.

If the flail knife is set to cut at 2 inches the front edge of the flail mower shroud is low to the ground and as
result the rear of the shroud is also maintaining the same square area which is reduced by the rear rollers
height which reduces the open area of the shroud in the rear by the actual height of the rear roller.

As most of the flail mowers for sale that employ side slicer knives have fixed knife orbits with round mounting
holes in the mounting stations they cannot become airfoils and generate slightly less lift. If they have fewer
side slicer or spoon/scoop knives this also affects the amount of lift they can generate.

Mounting stations that have large loop hangers allow a side slicer knife "with an elongated mounting hole" to
become airfoils/wings when they achieve a high speed of rotation and create more lift.

The lift is created by a pressure gradient in Hg. The pressure gradient occurs in front of the flail mower shroud
and at the rear of the flail mower shroud due to the high tip speed of the knives in the mounting stations.

The more knife sets and mounting stations the greater the Hg. and pressure gradient occurring in front and the
rear of the flail mower rotor shroud.

If you drill and inserts a vacuum gauge in the front bottom edge of the flail mower shroud and the rear of the shroud you can see the Hg.
generated by the speed of the flail mower rotor and the knive sets tip speed when it is set to cut at a 2 inch height.


Edited today for typos and sentence structure.

 

[diesel85]

I'll say this from my experience... when I run a finishing mower and my grass is long, my machine doesn't mow where the tires ran over the grasses. Just doesn't have the same suction as the flail mower does.

When I use my flail mower, I don't have that problem, which is why I prefer using it some times.

 

[leonz]

No. You an Leonz both say this but physically it doesn’t make sense.

The underside of a flail is a decent size space with lots of openings. Where would the air go? You’d have to displace all that air out the back creating a pretty powerful fan. And where would it come from? The laws of physics apply to flails as well - you cannot create a vacuum without air movement, and that air is going to come from the area of least resistance - it won’t move up from the ground under the grass when it can “leak in” from the open flail mower housing, the front opening, etc.

You might get a LITTLE lift but it won’t be much, definitely not enough to lift a 2’ tall bent stalk of grass in 1/4 second

If you wander over to youtube and type in INO BRECE flail crop shredders you will see thier dominator shredders shredding corn stalks and many other crops.