Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[LouieJunior]

If I recall correctly, the hydraulic kit can be purchased from AgriSupply for ?under 500 bucks. IMO it is only necessary if you need to keep moving the mower while mowing along a fence line. I have the TM1900 and have mine offset semipermanently. As noted, it takes maybe 15-20 minutes to do it. Just unbolting about ?4 or 6 bolts, repositioning the frame and then rebolting. Easy Peezy. I like mine offset to the right even though I don't mow a fence line because I can just run the left tire at the margin of the previously mown strip and I automatically get the widest possible coverage (1.9 meters or about 75 inches). No complaints about the Caroni. A few quirks (oil burps from the gearbox if filled as high as the dipstick says to but there is a workaround for that with a metric extender...just search in this thread) and the factory belts don't last more than a season or two (but everyone seems to have good luck with Gates B43 kevlar belt replacements).

I'm going with your recommendation -- ordered the 74" Caroni today -- without the hydraulic option. This will be my first venture into Flail Nation. Expect some questions from me real soon!

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm going with your recommendation -- ordered the 74" Caroni today -- without the hydraulic option. This will be my first venture into Flail Nation. Expect some questions from me real soon!

When you set it up for the first time, just mount the hitch in the offset position initially so you don't have to waste time doing it later (assuming you want it offset).

Pay attention to rear roller height. And height of "feet". All adjustable later but you can save time by getting it right the first time.

Make a habit of giving a couple squirts of grease into the main bearings before each day's mowing. Occasional greasing of a few other zerks including one hidden under the belt cover. Order yourself a replacement set of belts from a Gates dealer (Amazon works). Order a few sets of replacement clevis's and knives from AgriSupply (actually you can get knives cheaper elsewhere but they are the only source for the clevis). I got a big bag of the matching metric bolts and locknuts from Grainger for much cheaper than buying them one at a time from AgriSupply.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Island Tractor.....Thanks for the response. The vast majority of limbs I rotary mow are rotten and have been on the ends of the limbs from the previous season and fall during storms with wind. We had severe droughts in 2009, 2011 and were a bit behind in rainfall for 2013 so the amount of dried limbs/sticks have been unusually high in the past 5 years. Sounds like a flail mower in conjunction with my Rhino might be more practical. The Rhino works fine but the main drive from our front gate to our house runs through the orchard and the rows and clumps of mowed pasture looks awe full sometimes. A slightly more manicured look would be nice and with the rotary mower I have rocketed pieces of limbs 50-75 feet on occasion so a flail would be safer. As you can probably tell I am seriously talking myself into a flail mower at a accelerated pace!
PS- You have a unique way to roll up garden hose....must be a Island tradition.

 

[IslandTractor]

PS- You have a unique way to roll up garden hose....must be a Island tradition.

You should have been there when it happened. I was mowing tall grass and suddenly this thing came shooting through the grass in front of me. Visions of the anaconda from he1l flashed through my mind and just as I was wondering how to defend myself, the tractor stalled.....

I had some snips in my tool box so just cut the hose away. Lord knows who left it there in the tall grass to be forgotten all summer.

By the way, if the branches are mostly rotten and dried out, the flail will probably do just fine by itself. I was thinking more about fresh 2" branches when I said to use the rotary first. Experiment. You won't hurt the flail it just may take longer than if you do the two stage approach.

I bought my flail precisely because I mow near dwellings and near kids playing outside. Listening to chunks of wood go flying from underneath the rotary mower and seeing what they did on impact make me want something a lot safer. The flail is perfect for that. No material escapes.

I still use a rotary for a few things (initial thick brush mowing away from homes/people) but the flail does virtually all the routine mowing and cleaning up after the rotary. If you travel slowly through brush with the flail the end result just looks like someone carefully spread mulch behind you. For field mowing it is almost like a finish mower. Much different look than a rotary.

 

[Utopia Texas]

You should have been there when it happened. I was mowing tall grass and suddenly this thing came shooting through the grass in front of me. Visions of the anaconda from he1l flashed through my mind and just as I was wondering how to defend myself, the tractor stalled.....

I had some snips in my tool box so just cut the hose away. Lord knows who left it there in the tall grass to be forgotten all summer.

By the way, if the branches are mostly rotten and dried out, the flail will probably do just fine by itself. I was thinking more about fresh 2" branches when I said to use the rotary first. Experiment. You won't hurt the flail it just may take longer than if you do the two stage approach.

I bought my flail precisely because I mow near dwellings and near kids playing outside. Listening to chunks of wood go flying from underneath the rotary mower and seeing what they did on impact make me want something a lot safer. The flail is perfect for that. No material escapes.

I still use a rotary for a few things (initial thick brush mowing away from homes/people) but the flail does virtually all the routine mowing and cleaning up after the rotary. If you travel slowly through brush with the flail the end result just looks like someone carefully spread mulch behind you. For field mowing it is almost like a finish mower. Much different look than a rotary.

A few years back I was mowing the neighbors property on his side of the fence line and wrapped up 80-100 feet of old rust barbed wire around the shaft on a Rhino rotary mower and it took over a hour underneath the unit with a acetylene torch to cut and pull the wire out. It was wound really tight and though I had the unit lifted with a A frame and chain hoist was pretty edgy laying underneath the unit with the torch. I had to be careful with the torch near the lower seal on the shaft. Great lesson learned.....ride and check out pasture first if one is not familiar with the area. One never knows what may have been dumped years ago.

 

[mactrade]

Hi all, I am new to the site and want to thank everyone that has given their input about flails. I pulled the trigger on a Land pride FM 4188 and hope to get it soon and upload some pictures.

 

[leonz]

Hi all, I am new to the site and want to thank
everyone that has given their input about flails.

I pulled the trigger on a Land pride FM 4188 and hope
to get it soon and upload some pictures.

Welcome to the forum mactrade,

When you get the flaimower please upload as many
photos as you can for everyone to to see.

The reason I ask is that the landpride brochures are not
very good with pictures.

If I remember correctly the Land Pride units are the
Machio Brand of Italian flail mowers with Land Pride paint-
Dont worry about the quality-it is excellent.
They have been making mowers, rototillers,
and many other farm implements in Italy for many years


As soon as you get it I will officially welcome you as the newest Member of the Flail Mower Nation.


We are a happy bunch of flail mower owners and we are only a PM or a post away for questions.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[powerline]

Welcome to the forum mactrade,

When you get the flaimower please upload as many
photos as you can for everyone to to see.

The reason I ask is that the landpride brochures are not
very good with pictures.

If I remember correctly the Land Pride units are the
Machio Brand of Italian flail mowers with Land Pride paint-
Dont worry about the quality-it is excellent.
They have been making mowers, rototillers,
and many other farm implements in Italy for many years


As soon as you get it I will officially welcome you as the newest Member of the Flail Mower Nation.


We are a happy bunch of flail mower owners and we are only a PM or a post away for questions.

Welcome to the forum.

The new Landpride flails that i looked at are were made by Seppi. In fact they still have the S embossed in the front shield plates. FWIW.. Seppi has a good reputation like Mashio also.

 

[IslandTractor]

The new Landpride flails that i looked at are were made by Seppi. In fact they still have the S embossed in the front shield plates. FWIW.. Seppi has a good reputation like Mashio also.

I think there must be a lot of incest in the Italian mower manufacturers. Caroni fits in that group as well.

 

[Thomabear]

Dethatching with a flail mower. Just another use of an already great piece of equipment. This is a vrisimo version but they should all basically do the same.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nvTvdzh2TO0