Flail Mower flail mowers-how are they holding up?

   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #11  
I love my flail.....Mott/Alamo

I know I'm going to step on some toes, here, but I'd seriously look for a used commercial flail before even thinking about a new Chinese one. Parts are easy to find and they are built like tanks. Heck, $600 will get you a pretty nice, clean, commercial flail.......they were all over craigslist.org a while back.

I pull an 88" one behind my 45hp New Holland gear drive and I simply can't believe some of the things it'll cut.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #12  
I also have a Caroni 1900 (75 inch) that has performed very well for me in both brush clearing and pasture mowing duties. I got rid of both my bush hog and finish mower after using the flail.

Regarding the belt issues, I wondered about this issue after a clear failure posted on TBN but after two seasons (maybe 40-50hrs on 10-20 acres) of pasture mowing and brush work there is really no noticiable wear. I don't think it is a major issue though certainly one or two people have busted belts.

I haven't reversed the blades yet so I guess I'll end up getting at least four seasons out of a set even though I do a fair amount of bush hog work with it cutting up one inch plus brush.

Regarding power, I have about 35hp at PTO I believe and it runs the 6ft flail with no issue at all even in heavy brush. I may have stalled the tractor once or twice but I virtually never use full PTO speed to drive the thing. I'd think 5hp/ft would be fine with these non heavy duty style flails as a minimum for pasture/finish cutting and perhaps a bit more for brush work but certainly you can get by with much less than 10hp/ft.

All in all the Caroni flail is one of my favorite implements and was definitely worth the $1700 I paid.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #13  
I second IslandTractor's comments. I have the same flail mower and have slightly less hp at the PTO. I am going into my second season and have no signs of any problems. I will go over it thoroughly before this season. I have yet to pull belt cover but do check for belt debris on the outside and have not found any.

I had 2 bush hogs when I bought the flail - sold one then and am thinking about selling the second one. I have not even thought about using it.

Vernon
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #14  
I forgot to make one additional comment. Flail mowers need more meticulous attention to greasing than bush hogs or finish mowers. Flails are not more delicate they just have shaft bearings that need proper lubrication. I routinely put a few pumps of grease into each of the three relevant nipples each day I mow.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #15  
$2400 seems high for the caroni. Agrisuppy shows the 75" for $2100 on the website with shipping, and for less than $1789 in their newest catalog, without shipping. Also, if I remember right, another poster got a cheaper shipping rate by calling to order rather and buying on the website.

That was me, and yes I did. I think at the time it was 1700$ on the website, and I paid 1300 plus shipping. The deal was that the website price included shipping, so if it's being shipped to Anchorage, I think you're winning, if it's to let's say, Jackson Hole, it's cheaper for them to calculate the shipping separately. They're very helpful overall.

-Jer.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #16  
Skipperbrown, the Caroni is made in Italy and Agri Supply supports their products very well. You may want to see how close you are to one of their locations (they have two in Georgia). Be sure you call and verify they have what you want in stock for here they don't stock a lot of those all the time.

You may also have a sales tax advantage to have them ship to you or Ga tax on farm equipment may be less. Now saying all that, I rather have local service. But believe the Italians have the Chinese beat hands down on such.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #17  
Italian agriequipment in general is very good. I'd consider Caroni similar to stuff from Woods, LandPride etc. The Caroni flails are not constructed like the heavy duty models ($$$) built by some manufacturers in the USA but at the price point they inhabit they are a very solid value.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #18  
lots of good info here.. thanks...
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #19  
I love my flail.....Mott/Alamo

I know I'm going to step on some toes, here, but I'd seriously look for a used commercial flail before even thinking about a new Chinese one. Parts are easy to find and they are built like tanks. Heck, $600 will get you a pretty nice, clean, commercial flail.......they were all over craigslist.org a while back.

I pull an 88" one behind my 45hp New Holland gear drive and I simply can't believe some of the things it'll cut.


Same here, I got a used alamo 88, paid 400 for it (CL) and put 140 worth of parts in it and works great. I pull it behind a JD 4310 no problems. For the few times a year I use things I can't see buying new.
 
   / flail mowers-how are they holding up? #20  
I have a one of the well known chinese flail mowers...I can only say one thing...junk and no customer service! PM if you want details. Tried to post warning about these guys but it got pulled.
 
 
 
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