Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[KennyV]

The legs that adjust and hold the mower up tear the lawn apart as you mow.

I have to believe you are NOT referring to the landing leg that is used for parking the unattached mower... right?
What legs are on a flail mower... ???

also like Reg said, properly set up a flail mower (with finish knives) will give a perfect cut. KennyV

 

[Eagleview]

If the desired finish is to be the same as a lawnmower with a catcher , you will need to fit an add on catcher to the flail mower . Cut grass and clippings don't just magically disappear .

 

[dawzie]

Wow, what a thread. It's taken me about a week to read every reply. Great info and has convinced me to get a flail.

I have been mowing with a "hog" and a sicklebar behind a Ford 2000 gas job that only has a streight 4-speed tranny and non-live PTO.

I think a six foot flail should be fine. Any thoughts on this??

 

[Reg]

Wow, what a thread. It's taken me about a week to read every reply. Great info and has convinced me to get a flail.

I have been mowing with a "hog" and a sicklebar behind a Ford 2000 gas job that only has a streight 4-speed tranny and non-live PTO.

I think a six foot flail should be fine. Any thoughts on this??

I think 6ft is GREAT (for me, for MY uses, etc.)
Bigger might be better for BIG acreages, but if you need to trailer it big gets heavy.

BTW, I assumed that the earlier poster was complaining that it was the skid shoes that were digging/scraping.

The biggest thing to get in your head is that you don't just DROP IT when you start mowing.
The cutting height is very much a matter of adjusting the roller height at the rear and, and, and, and, AND...... holding the front UP with the 3pt.
AGAIN, do NOT just "Drop it", lower it.
Set a stop if you have one, at least learn where to LOWER it to.

 

[johnbast3]

Just unloaded a McConnel Magnum 170 Flail mower, and so far very impressed. It is made in England and sold by Tiger Corp. in Sioux Falls, via ebay..I also bought a tooth bar for my fel and they strapped it to the mower with no additional freight. Speaking of which, freight was only 75 bucks..I'll fire this puppy up this weekend and will post results..Also, the toothbar is very well built for only 170..

 

[slate mike]

What a thread. Took me 4 nights to read thru. And even with all the great info here, I still can't decide whether to buy a flail or brush hog to get the 2 acres I need done(3' weeds) and should I get rid of the 6' finish mower(JD Frontier - Woods) I have but don't use because of the side hill slopes. I can do the 2.5 acres of lawn with my Cub in about 1 1/2 hours, so no big deal. I would love to be able to clear the other 2 acres and keep it mowed. Would be nice to clear the rest of the 10 acres, but that would require a "bull hog" and then some.Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[sunspot]

slate mike
2 acres is not a lot to spend close to 2k. See if you can buy a used rotory cutter.

I cut 7 acres of pasture every other week, when it rains.

 

[jab-law]

I need to mow several acres of very rough land -- bricks, logs, stones, weeds, wood, whatever, with lots of bumps (former industrial site, now reclaimed by mother nature).
Is a flail mower or a bush hog type mower the best for this situation -- lots of rocks, bricks, etc??????
thanks in advance.

 

[KennyV]

From your description a dozer or excavator sounds like the best tool.
Short of going through by hand and cleaning up all the junk.

If you must choose between a flail and a rotary the flail with heavy hammer knives will be the safest.
BUT I still think there is no substitute for taking the necessary time to walk around picking up the place... eventually it will need to be done.

 

[jab-law]

thanks for the suggestion. I already burned out a Betst flair mower bearing mowing this property. The manual only called for two or three pumps of grease every 8 hours of use. From reading this thread, it looks like it should have been loaded up from the start. I have emailed Keith on it, to see if it still covered under warranty (only 10 to 15 hours total on the flail mower; bought last year; two year warranty. Emailed him some time ago, still waiting for reply)

The Betst mower cut well and was easy to control on a Ford-new Holland 1920 (32 HP, 29 HP at PTO). I really liked it until the bearing blew out.

I have been looking at getting a Land Pride or Bush Hog rotary cutter, but after reading this thread, I think I will stick with a flail mower (I am waiting for response from Keith on the bearing for the Betst mower).

Perhaps a heavier duty flail mower would be better ( except for the money -- but spending a lot of time fixing a flail mower is not exactly what I planned).

I'll get on picking up this property (it was recently purchased by a non-profit group, and I have just been helping them out, as it is located in a very beautiful area next to the river, with lots of wildlife, etc.).

Would a heavy duty flail mower do better with the rocks, bricks, etc?