Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[sodamo]

Thanks guys. My only experience is my own which I can turn by pulling on the blades or turn the shaft to align with the PTO coupler, but then mine hasn't been sitting unused a few years. I think he got a great deal.
Here's a pic


David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

[sodamo]

Good news. Neighbor removed belt and everything seems to be freed up and working fine. A bit of maintenance and attempt to mount on his tractor.

Wow, can't believe I saved him $1100

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

[Blaneypark]

Still looking for a gear box with gears for a Mott 60 flail mower. Someone out there must have one sitting around.

[leonz]

Still looking for a gear box with gears for a Mott 60 flail mower. Someone out there must have one sitting around.

Have you checked with the folks at flailmaster or from Wwengers of Myerstown PA.? the Wengers
folks are supermarket of used farm machinery.

[DaNag]

Having busted several clevises on my Caroni 1900 recently during an initial lot clearing, I discovered the sticker shock of buying parts from Agri Supply for this implement. Querying here for options resulted in the sad news known to many of you - nobody seems to have found an alternative for the ridiculously priced $7 metric clevis. That didn't sit well with me...

I may have found a solution. I say "may", as I've not actually tried it yet - but once I've used up the last of my four spare metric clevises from Agri Supply, I'll give it a try and report back if nobody else has given it a whirl.

I got the idea from Island Tractor's post, wherein he gave the info on cheaper blades from Flailmaster.com. I picked up a bunch of those, and they do indeed work fine. However, he also mentioned an SAE clevis - Flailmaster part #M-100761. This clevis is too wide to fit between the ears of the Caroni drum. However...I was able to easily tweak it to fit. Pic:



I simply took one of the M10x80mm bolts and a nut, and pressed the SAE clevis together. It deformed as I expected, such that the ears are no longer perfectly parallel - but that doesn't seem to matter. The assembly shown above still moves easily on the stock M10x80mm bolt, swinging back and forth with no interference. The clevis modification takes all of a minute or so.

Some caveats:

- You'll likely want to replace all of your metric clevises if you go this route - not just the broken ones. This SAE clevis is indeed beefier than the metric one, and weighs more. I'd be concerned about proper balance mixing them up.

- The entire assembly is just a tad longer than stock - perhaps 1/8".

Here's a breakdown of current pricing from Agri Supply vs. the sources I used for the entire assembly:

Agri Supply

Clevis: 6.99
2 x Blades@ 3.49: 6.98
M10x80mm Bolt: 3.49
M10 Nylock nut: 1.49
Total: $18.95

Elsewhere

Clevis M-100761: $2.80 (flailmaster.com)
2 x M-108381 blades@$1.54: 3.08 (flailmaster.com)
M10x80mm Bolt: 0.46 (nutty.com)
M10 Nylock nut: 0.13 (nutty.com)
Total: $6.47

Yup...almost 1/3 the price. And, based on the sturdier appearance of the SAE clevis - my guess is, the cheaper assembly will hold up to more abuse.

Again - untested, but looks promising.

[GinNB]

How's the balance? Untested means you haven't mowed with it or haven't powered it up to check for vibration? How easy was it to bend the new clevis enough to keep it from binding (and therefore sticking in place) for its full range of motion?

[J F]

Can someone please remind me (I actually read the whole thread awhile back) the downsides to a flail mower? Just curious.

[leonz]

Can someone please remind me (I actually read the whole thread awhile back)
the downsides to a flail mower? Just curious.

The only down side is the initial purchase price per foot as compared to those
ugly rotary cutters, but saying that the Agrisupply internet prices for the finish
and rough cut flailmowers are very good in my opinion for the first time buyer if you
are on a budget.

My 48 inch flailmower is 32 years old so its long life asset in any case.

[J F]

Thanks, Leo.

[leonz]

Having busted several clevises on my Caroni 1900 recently during an initial lot clearing, I discovered the sticker shock of buying parts from Agri Supply for this implement. Querying here for options resulted in the sad news known to many of you - nobody seems to have found an alternative for the ridiculously priced $7 metric clevis. That didn't sit well with me...

I may have found a solution. I say "may", as I've not actually tried it yet - but once I've used up the last of my four spare metric clevises from Agri Supply, I'll give it a try and report back if nobody else has given it a whirl.

I got the idea from Island Tractor's post, wherein he gave the info on cheaper blades from Flailmaster.com. I picked up a bunch of those, and they do indeed work fine. However, he also mentioned an SAE clevis - Flailmaster part #M-100761. This clevis is too wide to fit between the ears of the Caroni drum. However...I was able to easily tweak it to fit. Pic:



I simply took one of the M10x80mm bolts and a nut, and pressed the SAE clevis together. It deformed as I expected, such that the ears are no longer perfectly parallel - but that doesn't seem to matter. The assembly shown above still moves easily on the stock M10x80mm bolt, swinging back and forth with no interference. The clevis modification takes all of a minute or so.

Some caveats:

- You'll likely want to replace all of your metric clevises if you go this route - not just the broken ones. This SAE clevis is indeed beefier than the metric one, and weighs more. I'd be concerned about proper balance mixing them up.

- The entire assembly is just a tad longer than stock - perhaps 1/8".

Here's a breakdown of current pricing from Agri Supply vs. the sources I used for the entire assembly:

Agri Supply

Clevis: 6.99
2 x Blades@ 3.49: 6.98
M10x80mm Bolt: 3.49
M10 Nylock nut: 1.49
Total: $18.95

Elsewhere

Clevis M-100761: $2.80 (flailmaster.com)
2 x M-108381 blades@$1.54: 3.08 (flailmaster.com)
M10x80mm Bolt: 0.46 (nutty.com)
M10 Nylock nut: 0.13 (nutty.com)
Total: $6.47

Yup...almost 1/3 the price. And, based on the sturdier appearance of the SAE clevis - my guess is, the cheaper assembly will hold up to more abuse.

Again - untested, but looks promising.

As you are in Port Angeles Home of the A boats;

Any supply company that sells marine clevises for nets and cable should
have easy access to metric clevises as the majors like Campbell chain make them.