CodeMonkey
Silver Member
I have a BCS 730 with a 9 HP B&S engine that I bought used about 2 years ago.
It came with a tiller and shortly after that I bought a Bio100 chipper/shredder from a rental outfit.
I have wanted to get a flail mower for this tractor every since I bought it, and now I need one even more.
I have lived on this 20 acre plot for almost three years. It is moderately wooded with 50 to 60 year old fir, some cedar and maple and scrub oak and hazelnut. Near the house it is mostly cleared, with some grass and shrubs, but also some overgrown brush because the PO let it go wild.
About 16 months ago I had a logger come in and thin the trees in about 3 acres near the house. I marked each tree he was to cut, mostly cutting immature trees and trees too close to the others. I made some money on the deal, but spent all of that (and more) on land improvements. As part of the logging he cleared a lot of the underbrush and left me some scrap logs I am cutting into firewood. I just now finished burning the large slash piles.
Last summer I had the chance to use a TD6 dozer for an afternoon to clean up some remaining brush and brambles, so the result is a lot of the brush I wanted cleared in the thinned area has been cleared, but I still have significant areas of brush and brambles I need to cut. The heavier brush I will use a dozer to clear later, but I now have a lot of underbrush that has grown up, mostly green brush including grass, but also some woody plants.
My lawn mower can't handle it, and it will be an ongoing task to keep it managed, so I want a flail mower that I can use to get in and around some trees and vegetation I want to keep (ferns and salal) and beat back the briars/brambles before it takes over (I have been spraying some of that) and other crawling vegetation that is trying to take over.
I called Earthtools and they said my tractor doesn't have the power for anything except maybe the 20" Bellon flail they sell and that I should also buy larger wheels. I agree on both counts - the chipper/shredder can kill the engine if I feed it a long hardwood sapling of just an inch thick and I don't slip the clutch to keep it going, pretty much making the chipper useless to me (I am going to sell it).
But I don't know anything about the Bellon flail. I haven't been able to find out much about it.
Does anybody have any experience with it, or with a flail on the BCS 730?
I am not talking about cutting grass or hay in a level field with this - I am talking about woodland underbrush - a mix of grass, other green plants, and some woody plants. I don't expect it to handle woody plants of an inch diameter or more, but I do want it to handle wood plants smaller than that so I can keep them from growing larger.
The ground is uneven and has holes from dug up stumps and brush and ruts from the logging equipment, so I need to be able to handle that kind of environment and to get around and into small areas - otherwise I would just rent/borrow a larger 4 wheel tractor with a rotary mower once a year.
Thanks in advance for any info.
It came with a tiller and shortly after that I bought a Bio100 chipper/shredder from a rental outfit.
I have wanted to get a flail mower for this tractor every since I bought it, and now I need one even more.
I have lived on this 20 acre plot for almost three years. It is moderately wooded with 50 to 60 year old fir, some cedar and maple and scrub oak and hazelnut. Near the house it is mostly cleared, with some grass and shrubs, but also some overgrown brush because the PO let it go wild.
About 16 months ago I had a logger come in and thin the trees in about 3 acres near the house. I marked each tree he was to cut, mostly cutting immature trees and trees too close to the others. I made some money on the deal, but spent all of that (and more) on land improvements. As part of the logging he cleared a lot of the underbrush and left me some scrap logs I am cutting into firewood. I just now finished burning the large slash piles.
Last summer I had the chance to use a TD6 dozer for an afternoon to clean up some remaining brush and brambles, so the result is a lot of the brush I wanted cleared in the thinned area has been cleared, but I still have significant areas of brush and brambles I need to cut. The heavier brush I will use a dozer to clear later, but I now have a lot of underbrush that has grown up, mostly green brush including grass, but also some woody plants.
My lawn mower can't handle it, and it will be an ongoing task to keep it managed, so I want a flail mower that I can use to get in and around some trees and vegetation I want to keep (ferns and salal) and beat back the briars/brambles before it takes over (I have been spraying some of that) and other crawling vegetation that is trying to take over.
I called Earthtools and they said my tractor doesn't have the power for anything except maybe the 20" Bellon flail they sell and that I should also buy larger wheels. I agree on both counts - the chipper/shredder can kill the engine if I feed it a long hardwood sapling of just an inch thick and I don't slip the clutch to keep it going, pretty much making the chipper useless to me (I am going to sell it).
But I don't know anything about the Bellon flail. I haven't been able to find out much about it.
Does anybody have any experience with it, or with a flail on the BCS 730?
I am not talking about cutting grass or hay in a level field with this - I am talking about woodland underbrush - a mix of grass, other green plants, and some woody plants. I don't expect it to handle woody plants of an inch diameter or more, but I do want it to handle wood plants smaller than that so I can keep them from growing larger.
The ground is uneven and has holes from dug up stumps and brush and ruts from the logging equipment, so I need to be able to handle that kind of environment and to get around and into small areas - otherwise I would just rent/borrow a larger 4 wheel tractor with a rotary mower once a year.
Thanks in advance for any info.