Excellent thread. Being in the UK I would add (if it helps) that flails are widely available and used hear. They are seen as an excellent tool to get a good mulched material finish on lawn and brush as already stated by others.
In the UK "forged hammer" flails are generally seen as the best type of flail in most circumstances (except rocks) as they are aerodynamic (low HP requirement), give a very even finish on lawn (noticeably better than Y type flails) similar to finishing mowers, and are very tough for mulching anything woody they come accross.
For anyones info, in the UK Market the following makes are widely available and have a very good range for compact tractor owners...
"Kuhn" (german build) is possibly the premier brand in the UK and reasonably priced compared to all but the chineese makes. But getting hold of one is difficult towards the end of the season as the factory produces "once yearly" batches of each product, so once they are sold out you have to wait to the next batch is produced!
"Major" (UK built) a very good reputation
"Wessex" (UK Built) another with a very good reputation
"RYETEC" very expensive but good reputation
"Teagle" (Italian) a good reputation
Others makes not so widely available in the UK are...
"Orsi" (Italian) a reasonable reputation, Y type flails only (no hammer type).
"Rotomec" (USA build) these are low spec units (unusuall for a USA product, normally USA products like JD are high spec), not well known
"Hymari" (Chineese build) low spec, not well known
Sadly Caroni I have not heard of in the UK but I will have a look.
I read the first 20 pages of this thread and then the last five only as that alone took over an hour. Hope I didn't miss any gems in the middle?
RobinGB
In the UK "forged hammer" flails are generally seen as the best type of flail in most circumstances (except rocks) as they are aerodynamic (low HP requirement), give a very even finish on lawn (noticeably better than Y type flails) similar to finishing mowers, and are very tough for mulching anything woody they come accross.
For anyones info, in the UK Market the following makes are widely available and have a very good range for compact tractor owners...
"Kuhn" (german build) is possibly the premier brand in the UK and reasonably priced compared to all but the chineese makes. But getting hold of one is difficult towards the end of the season as the factory produces "once yearly" batches of each product, so once they are sold out you have to wait to the next batch is produced!
"Major" (UK built) a very good reputation
"Wessex" (UK Built) another with a very good reputation
"RYETEC" very expensive but good reputation
"Teagle" (Italian) a good reputation
Others makes not so widely available in the UK are...
"Orsi" (Italian) a reasonable reputation, Y type flails only (no hammer type).
"Rotomec" (USA build) these are low spec units (unusuall for a USA product, normally USA products like JD are high spec), not well known
"Hymari" (Chineese build) low spec, not well known
Sadly Caroni I have not heard of in the UK but I will have a look.
I read the first 20 pages of this thread and then the last five only as that alone took over an hour. Hope I didn't miss any gems in the middle?
RobinGB