Flail Mower advice

[dusty3030]

$20 to $30 per acre. This is based on $3.25 gallon on fuel costs and is information from Michigan State University extension service.
Narrow cutter / going slow, you loose. Wider cutter / going fast, you win.

Personally I would never pay anyone by the hour on a cutting job.

[xtn]

Flusher and xtn do you cut for hire and if so what are you charging per hour?

No I don't. My figures are based only on mowing my field.

[xtn]

264*12*78=274,104 square inches divided by 144 square inches= 1,716 feet per minute at 3 miles per hour of advance.

Using this figure for the fourty acre property for mowing alone would require
40*43560 or 1,742,400 square feet/1,716 square feet per minute=1,015 minutes or 17 hours of "actual" mowing time.

Its better for you to plan on mowing an acre every two hours just to be safe...

Sorry if I'm confused. 40 acres in 17 hours is 2.35 acres/hour. Probably in line with my average of 1.7 acres/hour when you add in turning around, backing up, row overlap, etc.

But you recommend planning on only 0.5 acres/hour to be safe?

That's one heck of a safety factor!

[greg_g]

Greg can you explain why the brush cut knives are a detriment

Well, there are several knive/hammer types. Each is designed for specific applications. Hammers and brush knives don't ordinarily hit the ground (or at least aren't intended to), so they're not designed with sharpening in mind. Assuming normal use, combo knives and finishing knives however, can be resharpened several times over their lifespan. that said - if you take that mower into unknown territory - it's hard tellin' what you're gonna hit. If what you hit damages (rather than simply dulls) a knife, it's replacement time. Mine (I use T-type combo knives) - I can easily resharpen. Same with drive belts. Banded belts for my flail are over $20 bucks a pop now. Don't take long in unknown ground to smoke a belt to the point of replacement.

Your machine, your money. My perspective simply comes from what I'd do if it was MY machine and MY money lookin' at that 40 acres.

//greg//

[leonz]

I was examining the use of a spiral mowing pattern and sharp grass slicers
too where there is no braking, stopping or readjusting for realignment etc.


The Biggest worry is sucking up barbed wire or a fence post in that you have to manually disconnect the shaft and move the rotor by hand to unwind the crap out from under the hood-always better to drop the mower on its nose with the shaft off if you have wood or concrete blocks to lower it on to get room to work or use good jack stands on wood pads made from Plywood and 2bys for added stability.


The nice thing about having a fender mounted radio to while away the time when mowing reduces the boredom. Next thing on my list to buy is a Motorola or Radio Shack fender radio for the lawn tractor. I will probably mount it on the suitcase weight frame behind the seat.


If you can locate the actual center of the property it aids in mowing as you
simply power up and hit one of the steering brakes to make the crop circle to start. You spend a lot of time getting the edges if you are not directly centered BUT if you have a good radio and a dry day.......................


Hope this helps.

[flusher]

Thanks for the reply guys. I just noticed the thread on "Large area Mowing" and read through it. I got some insight on others thoughts there. Flusher and xtn do you cut for hire and if so what are you charging per hour?

Nope--just do my own 6 acres. A few years ago I mowed my neighbors 7 acres with my 6-ft brush hog when he was laid up after surgery. My mower found the concrete blocks and 4x4 lumber he lost previously in the weeds.

BTW: my flail is a 68" wide model from Value Leader. OK for mowing stubble in my hayfield. I haven't challenged it by mowing in the woods yet.