Happy Camper (Farmer)

[drjay9051]

OK. Just finished one of the fields. Looks great. Very satisfied with my Caroni flail. Dont think Ill ever go back to a finish. BTW: My dipstick has no marks. Is it ok to fill just below the top? Any harm? I got some overflow but SimPle Green and a hose. Looks good.

 

[TripleR]

I have never used a flail, can you mow while backing up? Do you have to raise it to turn?

 

[drjay9051]

I'm not sure if it cuts in reverse. Grass does not look same as in forward. I would think it would be obvious. However there is a heavy steel roller at the rear so maybe grass is compacted down in reverse. Turning is a breeeze with the roller as well as skids on either side. Skids look sort of like front skis on snomobile or skids on helicopter. I'd post pics but just got in and exhausted. Lots of mowing. low 90s high humidity.

J

 

[leonz]

The gear box should only be half full or slightly above otherwise you will have more oil on the mower If you fill it up further the oil will really be pushed out the vent and dip stick.


Its and either or kind of issue as you wil has more oil coming out and making it messy but you know it has oil in it.

some of the owners have made their own solutions which we have chatted about here on the forum.

They are like any other gear box as the dip stick is there to maintain the minimum oil level as it is a splash lube system
just like small push mowers and horizontal crank shaft engines like those used on many rototillers.


They do cut in reverse easily as the slicer knife has two cutting edges so its no problem.


STAY HYDRATED DRJay!!!!!!


You just drive very slowly forward after you mowed in reverse as the roller has matted it down; if you look at island tractorss pictures

It has a neat set of photos for shredded bushes that were easily delt with.

 

[seca111]

so what is the big different between a flail and finished mower. I'm planning on buying a mowing deck in the spring but maybe a flail would be better

 

[leonz]

so what is the big different between a flail and finished mower. I'm planning on buying a mowing deck in the spring but maybe a flail would be better

1. they do not throw objects.

2. much quieter mower.

3. no scrapping wet grass off the mower shroud interior.

4. better cutting with a finish rotor.

5. The flailmower has more total cutting edge length than a belly mower of the same size versus the "6" cutting edges on belly mower of the same size.

6. the entire width of the flail mower is cutting at all times slicing grass and brush faster than a rotary mower does and leaves very small cuttings which compost quickly.


7. the rear roller is used as the hieght guage for the cutting hieght of the flail mower. the rear roller also reduces scalping to a bare minimum with the flail mower.

8. if you ding a flail mowers grass slicer knife you only have to change one of them which is easier than a rotary mower does.

9. the flail mower knives will last longer than rotary mower-if a blade hits an object and is damaged its no longer of any use.

10. the slower you mow the less clippings will remain and you can go back over the longer clippings if you have any and cut them up even more -you can do that with a belly mower unless the grass is so dry its brittle and even then you still leave a huge amount of clippings.

11. you can shred leaves witha flail mower with no fuss or muss to grind them to powder.

If you buy a finish rotor flail mower you can mow brush and turf the same day without changing knives.


You can buy a small width deck and it may take you a bit longer but the grass and brush will be carpet if you want it that way.

The option of hydraulic side shift for all the Caroni flails allows you to overlap or mow close to objects too.


Oh, and they are safe to use around the 2 legged and 4 legged rug rats.

I hope that goves you reason enough to buy one and dont let a salesman tell you they cost to much or are an unsafe mower or very high in maintenance either they are not high in maintenance you just have grease them check the belts and change any bad or broken knives BTW we have had our OEM flail mower for over 30 years with a bearing rebuild and repair parts and some of the grass knives are 30 years old BTW.

whoopsie time to go to work :laughing::thumbsup:

I will get the pictures up sometome before snow flies

 

[seca111]

no downside other than cost?

 

[leonz]

no downside other than cost?

If you include your ability to mow easily
have fewer parts problems with unbalanced or bent blades and expensive ruined blades, not having to scrape the mower, the piece of mind knowing that you will have almost no scalping, no worn out gauge wheels, anti scalp wheels, deck v belts that will suck in branches and ruin the cording of the v belt, very low power usage per foot of cut due to the mowers high speed of rotation, full width roller preventing side to side scalping, and in the caronis case the rotor can drop no further than the skids as its last line of defense in a sudden drop while in float, twisting and racking is not going to happen where belly mowers under a tractor may rack due to terrain, no broken wind baffles on belly mowers, no damaged outlet guards on the discharge end.

 

[mooseracing]

no downside other than cost?

Even though it was mentioned above, they do NOT mow brush well. THey are more of in the middle of a finish mower and brush hog.

 

[leonz]

No, actually the finish blades/slicer knives on a flail mower do mow heavy green or winter killed dead brush very well as long as you go slowly the first time around. you may have to mow rag weed stems twice as they will typically require it due to the rotor passing over the stems while mowing.

The only reasons it would not mow brush very well are:

1.too fast a forward speed for any knive type or flail hammer
the first time over brush.

a. deciding to take full cut with the tractor and flail mower that may be used

a1. slashing/clearing with a full width on a smaller properly sized tractor and flail mower where a half cut is better (a high horsepower tractor and high horse power rated flailmower would not have this as an issue in any case).
mowing growth that is very tall with a small tractor and mower requires multiple passes to slice it to tiny bits.

a2. mowing winter killed brush is easier and less raxing on asmall mower if the brush is not snow covered.

b. mowing areas where they have not, or never been mowed in many years and have a partial woody growth state where you have small coniferous trees, hardwood saplings, heavy concord grape vines, as well as poison ivy vines in large diameter
or the tasmanian devil on vacation on the australian continent whbre iron horse is located.




2. too low an engine R.P.M. to maintain 540 R.P.M. at the power take off shaft.

a. too low an engine R.P.M and a faster forward speed

b. too high a cutting height where the stems are not sliced off near the ground.

c. Slipping or worn V belts.

d. sheared key on a slipping driven rotor or drive V belt pulley
d1. Worn V belt pulleys which allow th edrive pulley to slip and not transmit full RPM to the rotor pulley.
d2. cracked V belts whuch do not adhere properly and slip when encountering minimal loading

3. dull knive edges
a. missing or broken knives
b. huge population of woody saplings and hard wood stems
c. dense wood trash and stumps on the ground being reclaimed by flail mower
d. not using forged knives if the conditions require it for heavy vines and small saplings

Mowing heavy undergroth or growth that has never been mowed or ground that has returned to a near original state takes longer but you can and will have a closely mowed carpet if you want it. (We do it)