Leonz,
You have been very patient and informative for me and I think you just cleared up a source of my misunderstanding.
1) Are you indicating that the flail mower has a considerable rear reach as it lowers into the mowing position? If so, how might this compare to my LX4, the rear wheel of which rests 6' from the link arms?
2) My LX4 is just about 400#. BEFCO 60" is similar in weight. My RFM is about 575#. At present, as long as I have my loader attached, I don't have a balance issue, though this weekend I did load a huge section of tree trunk (maybe 20" diameter, 2'long) for balast.
Under these circumstances, would there be any problem with weight/balance?
3) You mentioned drive belts. Are drive belts a significant source of power loss from stretching/slipping? If so, I now understand why a flail mower would use so much more power to run. I was basing my assumptions on attachments that are powered directly by the drive shaft or in the case of my RFM, don't run on intense vegetation in the first place.
4) If #3 is in fact accurate, is BEFCO overselling its products by advertising 60" and 72" flail mowers to be powered by as little as 15 PTO HP? Perhaps this is meant not for jungle clearing as I intend, but for turf mowing instead.
5) Unfortunately, if I have understood correctly, I have some serious thinking to do. I was hoping for a do-it-all mower and retain my 60" cutting swath. Now I would have to decide if I want to sacrifice 12" of cutting width and render my other two cutters irrelevent, add a 60 inch flail but still have to change cutters based on the situation, or just stay with the cutters I have at present
Whatever the decision it is I make, you have provided me with some valuable insight. Thanks for your gift of information.
sincerely,
SI2305
JD 2305
200CX, LX4, 60" Grader blade, 60" LandPride finish mower that replaced our old lawn mower, middlebuster, home made grass rake for long field grass collection, and now a specialized trailer to move heavy logs
Thanks
_________________________________________________________________
Item one: the flail mower which is attached integrally to its power is shorter in total length(unless one owns a towed flail mower that is powered by an engine or a Power Take Off Shaft from the tractor.
Item two: Its always good business to have a bit of weight up front to counter the effects of an integrally mounted implement used for mowing as you have a lot of mass there when it is raised.
Item three: power loss is a given when transmission of power occurs unless a flywheel is used to balance the demand of a powered implement like a conventional hay baler.
The use of a V belt drive system for many powered implements including rototillers like the large Northwest tiller which tills to an actual 14 inch depth is very efficient with regard to speed reduction and higher power transmission(energy available for work) and it is very common to use belts as they are an excellent way to absorb shock loads from impacts and it reduces the strain on all driven components. (A lot of rear finish mowers use V belts believe it or not
to save money in building them)
The 540 R.P.M., produced by you tractor at the engine speed required for the rear Power Take Off is transferred through a one to one right angle gear box (exactly like your rototiller) then the power is transferred to the cross shaft to the smaller drive pulley which operates at a much higher speed. The V belt or belts transmit this power to a grooved pulley which is directly attached to the Flail Mower Rotor which uses flat tensioning pulley which is spring loaded(like mine) or a manually adjusted belt tensioning snubber pulley arrangement.
The spring tensioner and flywheel clutch is the best of both worlds as the power transmitted is delivered at its maximum efficiency at all times until the V belt(s) fail from age or overload(burn up).
The flailmower rotor(s) may be very small (compared to a flail type finish mower (like mine with a large drum type rotor) as it will have longer side slicers or scoop knives or hammers to make up the difference in distance
to the mowing height desired which is something some manufacturers do to save money on constructing this type of implement. A flail type finish mower may have staggered knives/weldments or 2, or 4 rows of side slicers to mow turf and brush.
item four: it was probably tested using a dynamometer. good turf or old crappy turf requires less power to make it look good when mowing as it has less green matter/waterthan thick brush(thats the nice thing about mowing after winter kill as there is little to no moisture).
Item five: lots of the members use the flail mower for every thing and set their other mowers aside or sell them. Some keep their rotary cutters simply to deal with saplings that may have escaped the last mowing.
The use of a five footer will be problematic as your vegetation is dense and may require frequent mowing to manage it.
You may have to reduce your mowing width by sacrificing a foot of width to avoid overloading the tractor in dense brush so the purchase of a 60 inch flailmower is a negative in this respect UNLESS you plant and replant quick growwing grasses in the paths with an overseeder to guarantee germination.
The other issue is time as mowing slowly with a smaller flailmower will take longer but you will be able to knock it down to the sod to aid in controlling invasives which will flourish in the sunlight.
I would be worth the time to chat with a logger that does land clearing as it may be more beneficila for you to hire him and his land clearing feller buncher and his land clearing mower to handle the paths down to the sod and then use 48 inch flail to save your self a lot of time and effort and wear on the prime mover you own.
