Need flail blade advice

   / Need flail blade advice #1  

vjcoppola

Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
32
Location
Forestville, NY
Tractor
Mahindra 5010 Gear, Ford 2000 prior
I have an older 6' Mott flail mower and I'm thinking about new blades for this season. It has the lighter Y blades on it that mount with D rings and pins. I want to use it for general mowing around the farm rather than the brush cutter. I'm wondering if I can use a heavier blade, maybe the T type so I can grind up light brush. Is this possible? Will it ruin the bearings? Has anyone out there done this?
 
   / Need flail blade advice #2  
I have an older 6' Mott flail mower and I'm thinking about new blades for this season. It has the lighter Y blades on it that mount with D rings and pins. I want to use it for general mowing around the farm rather than the brush cutter. I'm wondering if I can use a heavier blade, maybe the T type so I can grind up light brush. Is this possible? Will it ruin the bearings? Has anyone out there done this?



Hello VJcoppola,

Welcome to the flail mower nation. About your Mott, you can purchase replacement knives being the Y blades/side slicers and hanger parts easliy and very economically from the folks at Flail Master.

If you have a fine cut flail mower rotor(with 4 rows of knives) you will not be able to use a scoop knive unless you change the rotor to a course cut rotor as far as I can remember.

Which of the side slicers are you using?, the long thin ones or the short three inch side slicers?

Am I correct in assuming your mounting hole on the side slicer knive is a 1/2 by 1 inch long slot?

I can help you with this, and I just need to grab my catalog.


A scoop knive is not offered for your Mott Mower but the heavy hardened knives are economical to purchase. Do you have spare hangers and D rings?

You can also purchase these parts from Flail-Master - Mower Replacement Parts, Commercial Riding Mower Parts, Rotary Cutter Parts, Blade grinders, Trimmer Line, Mowing Accessories - Flail Master - Flailmaster -
 
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   / Need flail blade advice #3  
I am back,

If you have the 6 footer your Mott Flail mower model is the FH174?

Which flail mower rotor do you have on this mower?, is it a course cut
flail mower rotor with three rows of knives or a fine cut flail mower rotor with four rows of knives?


If you want a heavier blade you can purchase a hardened side slicer Y blade
to replace the blade set on the flail mower now.


Have you left the rear shroud on the mower hood or have you removed it to
mow?
 
   / Need flail blade advice
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Hello leonz,
Thanks for the reply. I don't know the model number. It has a 2" diam shaft with four rows of stations and a 3" diam roller. There are 24 stations per row. The blades attach with D rings and nuts and bolts. The blades are 1 1/4" wide and 2 3/4" long and rather thin. There is a 3/8" hole in the blades, round, not slotted. The shaft rotates in reverse, opposite the direction of the wheels.

The gal at montageent.com said that if it uses fine cut blades and if I used heavier ones I might damage the shaft or bearings due to the increased weight. It doesn't seem they would be that much heavier, but they are moving prety fast and the load may not be uniform over the length of the shaft. So I''m wondering what the experience of users has been regarding the use of heavier blades on this size mower.

The reason I'm so interested in using heavier blades is that I'd like this mower to take over as much of the mowing currently done with the brush chopper as possible. If the shaft is too light can it be replaced?
 
   / Need flail blade advice #5  
Hello vjcoppola,

How far are you from the finger lakes region?

Now that I know more about your mower:

It is obviously a fine cut finish flail mower

Your mower has the original model flail rotor with 96 stations.

About your side slicers/Y blades

You will be better off simply using the fine cut blades with your Mott as a replacement fine cut rotor with 88 stations is $2,471.30 plus tax of $197.71=$2669.01 with free shipping.

Its always good business to replace the bearings and seals AS a matter of principle if the rotor is changed or removed.





Replacing all the D ring hangers, nuts, bolts and 192 knives with original equipment spec'd replacements would cost:

192-fine cut side slicers @0.45 cents OEM #101993 $94.08
96- D rings @0.94 cents OEM #101991 $90.24
96- ring clips @0.55 cents OEM #101992 $52.80
96- bolts @0.22 cents OEM #000032 $21.12
_________________________________________________ _____
Total not including tax and shipping $258.24
8% sales tax 20.66 _______

Subtotal $278.90
plus freight- free shipping over $100.00 in sales ______
$278.90



Replacing the original knives with heavy duty knives using the Ford replacement FM7 heavy duty blades 192 @ 0.79 cents each = 151.68 +12.13 sales tax =163.81 with free shipping







You may simply want to keep spare grass slicer knives and D rings on hand as it will cost you less money.




The flail mower is rotating in the right direction in which the flail knives cut and lift the grass and brush over the flail rotor and back fown to the ground which is normal.

As long as the rotor is balanaced with the same weight and size blades for all
four rows you will not have any issues with the rotor being unbalanced.


As long as you keep the bearings greased and replace the bearings when they they fail you can use the heavier blades with no problems.


You could purchase a replacement rotor for this mower but a rotor replacement is an expensive item and as you have ninety six stations already I would not do it unless and only if the rotor is damaged in some manner affecting its ability to rotate at high speeds.

There is no reason you cannot use it for all the mowing as it is.

Does your Mott Mower have the removable rear shroud? If it does you can remove it and mow the heavy brush at a lower ground speed.

The D ring hangers will work with the slotted heavy duty blades with no problems to.



As your rotor has 96 stations you will need 196 heavy duty blades or 196 standard duty blades. I have 30 year old 3 inch standard duty blades on my mathews lawn genie and replace them as needed.






Not to name drop:

Your Mott mower uses the Flailmaster MH-293 fine cut blades
which are the OEM 101993 Mott side slicer knives.

These side slicers are 45 cents each in quantities from 1 to 499 pieces and 43 cents each for quatities over 500 units. (plus tax and shipping)


The fine cut blades will shred the material in finer pieces and the brush will turn to compost much sooner.





I would remove the trash shroud if so equiped) and raise the mowers cutting height by lowering the rear roller(unless you have already done this of course)
to mow the heavy brush and then go over it a second time if desired and then decide if you want to lower the cutting height by raising the rear rollers mounting position.

Its easy enough to reposition the rear roller and raise the cutting height to mow the heavy brush if desired.



I want you to be an informed consumer about your flail mower as it will outlast your tractor as long as you maintain it.

As you are realatively close I could come visit to look at your mower if you would like.

But I think I have given you enough to work with and as the replacement knives are low in cost and you can raise the cutting height and remove the shroud(most likely) you should have no issues mowing everything.

As I mentioned you will most likely have to lower your ground speed- thats when a nice fender mounted radio comes in handy to listen to while you mow.


Some of the members simply remove two opposing rows of knives to mow heavy brush and thats an option as well.


_________________________________________________________________
Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking:::drool:
Pronovost or not at all!!!:thumbsup::licking::drool:
 
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   / Need flail blade advice
  • Thread Starter
#6  
leonz,
I'm about 3 hours west, 1 hr west of Buffalo, up in the hills above Dunkirk.

Thanks for all the info.

I replaced some of the bearings when I first got the mower, new belts and a paint job too. I used it a while, tried sharpening the old blades, used it somemore but it was leaving alot of stems so I went back to the brush chopper but that needs alot of work.

I've been reading some of the posts on flail mowers here and I think that the problem was due to the old blades and probably not running it fast enough. I've been using my old Ford 2000, 4 cyl gas but I just bought the Mahindra 5010. I'm hoping the additional power will keep the Mott running faster.

There are no removable shrouds. The deck is round with a piece of flat diamond plate, with 1" square tubing at the leading edge, across the front. Would it make sense to make that removable?

How heavy is the brush I can expect this mower to handle? Will small branches an inch or so in diamerter be too much?

How does removing opposing rows help with the heavy stuff?
 
   / Need flail blade advice #7  
I run a smaller 48" version of Mott hammerknife. However mine is forward rotating, I don't know what difference it makes. I tried to use is as a brush cutter, it worked well to shred the 3/4" and less saplings into nothing. But, that maneuver wasted my knives in about one acre. The problem wasn't the material being cut, but the knives folding back only to be contacted by next cutting edge in line behind it. I now use it on tall grass only.

67522127.jpg


You may notice the burrs on the cutting edges. This pic was before the brush cutting, and I did not get one after I damaged them.
 
   / Need flail blade advice
  • Thread Starter
#8  
XSKIER,
I'm not thinking of mowing acres of saplings, just the occasional ones that come up in the fields and the smaller branches that fall off the trees bordering the mowed areas.

Those blades are alot longer then the ones on my machine. My deck isn't open like yours, it's closed front and back. I wonder if it requires more power when it's closed? It sems the clippings would spend more time inside the deck. I haven't run it in a couple years but I remember spending alot of time in 1st gear and having to go over areas. Hoping the increased power of the Mahindra will help there.
 
   / Need flail blade advice #9  
leonz,
I'm about 3 hours west, 1 hr west of Buffalo, up in the hills above Dunkirk.

Thanks for all the info.

I replaced some of the bearings when I first got the mower, new belts and a paint job too. I used it a while, tried sharpening the old blades, used it some more but it was leaving alot of stems so I went back to the brush chopper but that needs a lot of work.

I've been reading some of the posts on flail mowers here and I think that the problem was due to the old blades and probably not running it fast enough. I've been using my old Ford 2000, 4 cyl gas but I just bought the Mahindra 5010. I'm hoping the additional power will keep the Mott running faster.

There are no removable shrouds. The deck is round with a piece of flat diamond plate, with 1" square tubing at the leading edge, across the front. Would it make sense to make that removable?

How heavy is the brush I can expect this mower to handle? Will small branches an inch or so in diameter be too much?

How does removing opposing rows help with the heavy stuff?



How do neighbor? May I address you as Vincent? My aunt and uncle moved to Dunkirk for a teaching job many years ago. I always loved Dunkirk Ice Cream too.


Anyway onward and upward,

540 RPM Power Take Off speed at all times when using the flail mower.

Mowing any brush with a finish flailmower will take time and once its down to ground level the mowing time will be much less.

You can very easily take half cuts to mow the brush down and then go back over it with the full width of the mower when you have an area knocked down.

Running the flailmower in the late fall with the brush dormant and dead is always a good thing as the brush is frosted and killed and there will be less water in it as the green plant fibers are dead from the cold.



If you remove two opposing rows of side slicers the cut will be rougher and it will be a bit easier to do. The issue is travel speed-running the Implement at the 540 R.P.M., engine speed is the key at all times with heavy brush as it directs the pwered required to the flail mower rotor to mow.


The square tubing is there for a specific reason it adds strength and rigidity to the flail mowers shroud and side weldments and prevents it from twisting and racking to maintain the side weldments position to prevent binding the open bearings used for the flail mowers rotor.


I have picture on the forum here of a Hiniker brand flail chopper (and links to wide flail mower vidoes also)that uses a 4 inch tubular steel to maintain the cross sectional rigidity of the mower frame just like yours only larger.


If you can buy a wet well grinder for the knives you will be a happy camper,

I have a WEN wet well grinder that is used for cutlerty and believe me it works, I bought it from Northern Hydraulics -now norther tool in 1988 and still have it in the original box. works like a champ with a wet drum to grind and cool the knive edge to prevent its over heating.


As far as the dealing with the brush type goes both travel speed and mower height is the issue.

If you can leave the mower raised a bit off the ground when backing over the brush clumps it will shred the brush. you may have to go over it a couple of times but it does work.


If you have the mowers rear roller adjusted so the mower is operating at its highest cut it will reduce the load on the mower as well.


As long as you creep backwards over clumps of brush and drive forward at the same speed with the mower down to the ground it will shred the brush.
You may need to change a broken blade or two but it will work for you and leave a pile of shredded cuttings.


No worries as you have good mower. I would see about buying a wet well knive grinder as it is a god send for sharpening thses side slicers/Y blades.


_________________________________________________________________
Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:
Pronovost or not at all:thumbsup::licking::drool:
 
   / Need flail blade advice
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I got the standard Y blades that Leonz advised from flailmaster with a few spares, got them installed and wow, what a differance. No more stems. The only problem is that the grass the tires go over is noticably longer.

Thanks for all the help.
 
 
 
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