Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Nuru]

Im paying $1300 more on the east coast for a 5' with the 940 knives, Hyd side shift, and 1/4" body metal. Well have to compare how they cut.
larry

I bumped my head again!

ouch those prices are up there!

 

[davitk]

Well, i decided to call BETST and talk to Keith, seems like a pretty nice guy and so I asked him a number of questions about their EF-175 Flail mower (68" cutting width). Well by the end of the conversation, I decided to try this unit out. I think it is a gamble I can take. The unit should arrive next week, and if it works as I think it will. I will paint the outside GREEN

Welcome to the club, Nuru

Guess this will be the BETST club

 

[Reg]

Well, i decided to call BETST and talk to Keith, seems like a pretty nice guy and so I asked him a number of questions about their EF-175 Flail mower (68" cutting width). Well by the end of the conversation, I decided to try this unit out. I think it is a gamble I can take. The unit should arrive next week, and if it works as I think it will. I will paint the outside GREEN

Datvik; I would advise anyone who has one of these to call Keith and he has some additional tips on how to adjust the unit for different cutting environments. He also indicate the manual is going to be redone for the flail and the Backhoes they sell. BTW, those are rather inexpensive too! Based on the specs and what Keith was willing to commit to, I would imagine for the homeowner these might not be too bad. Don't try to kill'em and they probably will last - but I will be able to tell you more after I use it!

here is their website on eBay:

eBay Store - Betst Companies: Flail Mower, Backhoe, Wood Chipper

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Call 1-541-895-3083, ext 312
Toll Free 1-877-876-7895 ext.312​

Open Daily from 8am - 5pm Pacific M-F ​

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Looks GOOD !
Do you yet know what the offset from center is ?
With all the concern about getting through narrow barn door openings, that info might be useful.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'd have to disagree on that; my 88" Alamo performs finish cutting very nicely as well as eating larger material for breakfast

I should qualify my statement that the heavy duty flails don't cut grass as well. What I meant was that when the heavy duty flails are set up with the heavy hammers that enable them to mow cinderblocks without damage, that you give up the relatively sharper and more numerous knives that are intended for grass. I actually don't have any experience with the hammer type but I am assuming there is some downside compared with knives and that lawn cutting is where you'd notice it.

 

[sunspot]

Well, I am ready to pull the trigger on a Caroni and lo and behold, I find what may be a cheaper way to go.

It's a unit on oBay that is 150 miles from my home.
Bush Hog brand 6 wide. I did locate a parts diagram on the Bush Hog web site.

Please give me your opinions.

Flail, anyone?

 

[GinNB]

I'd want to look at it first before offering too much money. That vibration could be expensive. Might be as simple as a row of new teeth put on with the rest being old, might be a bad bearing or three, but those are simple fixes. I've got a flail that's currently retired because the cuttershaft is bent. Vibrates like a son of a beach. Cuttershafts ain't cheap, and depending on the mower and shaft design it can be easy or almost impossible to diagnose a bent one. If the shaft's round and you can get a good sight line then you can spin it while looking at a spot past it and see if it moves up and down.

I've got another flail that was vibrating like a bugger and that was because the weld separated where, on the cuttershaft, the round bar that the bearings go on went into the end cap of the shaft pipe. It had a protective extension on the sides of the shaft so the damage couldn't be seen without removing the shaft from the mower. The blades had a funky mounting system that made it impossible to spin the shaft to tell if it was bent (cuttershaft was basically triangular because it was a pipe with 3 lengths of angle iron welded across it). Fun fun fun...

 

[sunspot]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. I would have to blind bid as it's to far away for 2 trips, one to look and one to pick up if won. Also I was only going to go about $400 on the bid maximum.

 

[Nuru]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. I would have to blind bid as it's to far away for 2 trips, one to look and one to pick up if won. Also I was only going to go about $400 on the bid maximum.

Seems like a truthful add, but I think since the BETST is only $975 with a warranty (granted shiiping it back may be a hit is something happened), I would probably pass and try out the new unit first.

 

[Nuru]

Looks GOOD !
Do you yet know what the offset from center is ?
With all the concern about getting through narrow barn door openings, that info might be useful.

I will ask today and let you all know. I totally forgot to ask that. I don't have that issue so I forgot to ask. Another thing I forgot to ask is about Hydraulic shift capability. I will ask that too.

 

[DavesTractor]

I closed the deal on the Rears.
SPF72 K960

It is to be built in about 3 weeks and then shipped direct to me from Rears.

I bought mine through Midland tractor.


I feel a pain in my backside...


right where my billfold goes.

Allen, Rears and Vrisimo seem to be the very best. The only downside is costs. I think a typical 12' orchard models is nearly $10k. A 6' will run over $4k. Of course they will last for thousands of hours, so if a guy is mowing daily, they aren't expensive. I sell Vrisimo (manufactured in California and expensive), I used to sell Caroni, and I have a used 12' Rears that I use in my Orchard. Dandle is also a top notch brand.

We sold perhaps 30 of the 1900 size Caroni's and we found that they had noisy gearboxes, although the gearboxes didn't fail. The rotor bearings are a pain to change and expensive on the Caronis, so keep things greased. The Caroni is probably the best value out there in a light duty flail.