Flail Mower Brands

   / Flail Mower Brands #1  

BonnyDoonCA

New member
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
3
Location
Bonny Doon, CA
Tractor
b3200
My first post...

I'm about to get a Kubota B3200 (PTO = 23hp) and want to choose the right flail mower. My mowing needs are about 3 acres with some sloping and dipping terrain, grass and weeds, sometimes clearing some brush in odd places but probably not more then 1" dia. I'd like a nicer finish then a rotary mower and also the added safety of not throwing stuff at scary velocities that could hit my wife, kid, car, house, dog, etc... I don't anticipate hitting a lot of rocks (the area has been well-cleared of rocks) but it will happen from time to time so the teeth will get some dinging but not regular abuse.

My dealer sells Gearmore and my questions are:
1. Is that a good brand?
2. What model(s)/features/considerations would be a good fit (Gearmore or other brand)?

Thanks!
-Mike
 
   / Flail Mower Brands #2  
My first post...

I'm about to get a Kubota B3200 (PTO = 23hp) and want to choose the right flail mower. My mowing needs are about 3 acres with some sloping and dipping terrain, grass and weeds, sometimes clearing some brush in odd places but probably not more then 1" dia. I'd like a nicer finish then a rotary mower and also the added safety of not throwing stuff at scary velocities that could hit my wife, kid, car, house, dog, etc... I don't anticipate hitting a lot of rocks (the area has been well-cleared of rocks) but it will happen from time to time so the teeth will get some dinging but not regular abuse.

My dealer sells Gearmore and my questions are:
1. Is that a good brand?
2. What model(s)/features/considerations would be a good fit (Gearmore or other brand)?

Thanks!
-Mike




Hello Mike,

Welcome to the forum as a new member, When you purchase your flail mower please let us know so that I can welcome as the newest member of the Flail Mower Nation.


NOW; on the issue of purchasing flailmowers I would like you to look at the flail mower posts and threads that are located here in the attachment section and then decide what you would like to do.

We flail mower owners are a happy lot and we can and will gladly offer advice with regard to maintenance, operation and care of your flail mower what ever brand you choose.

You have made a major decision with regard to the type of mowing implement examining the safety concerns of discharged material and high velocity projectiles that will exit a rotary mower or brush cutter so that in itself is one hurdle overcome. The added bonus of a full width striping roll at no extra charge is a bonus of course.

As you have explained your mowing chores a heavy duty flail mower with hammer knives is not needed. You have to decide which type of flail mower you wish to own and operate and in saying that you have to decide what type of finish you want for your plot.

You have to decide on the following:

The type of knive

Being;

Standard duty side slicer, hardened side slicer, scoop knive also know as a shovel knive blade, or hardened scoop knive. The side slicers give the best finish but the scoop come in second place and leave a bit of a waffle pattern when not mowing at 90 degree angles to the first passes.


Depending on your selection your flail mower rotor will have 2, 3, or 4 rows of knive mounting stations with single mountings for scoop knives and the side slicers will have 2 knives per station.

Your flailmower will have two, three or four rows of knives. The more rows of knives you have the finer the clippings and the faster they will decompose as the clippings will be shorter in length and will dehydrate faster.


My four foot towed motorised finish flail mower has 4 rows of knives which translates to 64 mounting stations which carries 128 side slicers and 64 dethatching blades. My flail mower also has a pick up basket incorporated into the mower to pick up the clippingas well as discharge them back to the ground to pick them up later if the lawn gets ahead of you(it lets the grass clippings dry out and they will pick up quickly and not create dead spots in the lawn.

Sadly no one in the United States makes a pick up flail mower anymore and a new one would have to come from England or Italy now.

I want you to be an informed consumer and make your decision this way; Just remember that there are many good brands of flail mowers available and a finish rotor with four rows of knives will handle everything you need to do and keep the invasives under control. In my dads case we used a JD25A finish flail mower with four rows of knives using his Ford Jubilee which is about the same horsepower as your Kubota for years untill he did not want to mow the place anymore and he had neighbor cleadr it off for heifer hay. He used the JD25A to knock down 10-12 foot golden rod and other weeds in clearing the 12 acres of pasture to the ground so it a finish mower can and will handle heavy brush.

There are a lot of good used JD25A flail mowers on the market and Parts are available from the John Deere Dealer too so thats not an issue. A used JD25A is something you should look at as your B3200 can manage it quite nicely and you can find them in 6 and 7 foot sizes(ours was seven footer).
 
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   / Flail Mower Brands #3  
There are a lot of good used JD25A flail mowers on the market and Parts are available from the John Deere Dealer too so that's not an issue. A used JD25A is something you should look at as your B3200 can manage it quite nicely and you can find them in 6 and 7 foot sizes(ours was seven footer).
I'd be a bit careful there. The B3200 is a sub-compact, weighing in at a relatively dainty 1764 (un-ballasted) pounds. The JD25A flail weighs in at over 600 pounds, more than 1/3 the weight of the tractor. Yes, it cuts a 78" swath, but that's deceiving. As with all flails, they're actually a lot wider than that. In this case it would be a 99 inch wide mower hanging behind a 54 inch wide tractor. Plus, John Deere itself recommends a minimum 22 PTO horsepower. I have to say that's too much mower for a B3200.

Regarding the Gearmore, I'd consider your dealer recommendation specific to the B3200. Mine would be to get the lightest offset mower with a swath equal to your tire width plus offset. The offset will let you mow closer to obstructions without hitting them with a tire. Individual knives are pretty much for grass (finish cut), hammers are for the real rough stuff (brush cut). So consider the Y-knife. Given that you mentioned 1" brush, it's a good compromise between finish and rough.

//greg//
 
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   / Flail Mower Brands #4  
Can't help you with the choice but I have to say, I really loved OLD the flail mower I used to have. It was a 4ft. Mott hammerknife mounted under a Farmall Cub. Even with the very limited horsepower of that cub, the mower would go through almost anything including grass and weeds that were taller than the tractor. It amazed me every time I used it.

Kevin
 
   / Flail Mower Brands #5  
I forgot to mention the rears of of my Fathers Ford Jubilee were loaded with Calcium Chloride.

The B3200 has 32 gross horsepower and 23 horsepower at the Power Take Off according to Tractor Data.

It never hurts to have the rears loaded with ballast at 75 percent anyway to improve both stability and tractive effort/adhesion/traction.


As Kubota in its wisdom will not provide The Nebraska Tractor Tests with any of its iron the actual results may never be known..............


My thoughts about a used 25A of 5,6,or 7 foot were based mainly on expense as you have aready spent $15,000 plus tax on your orange mule already and my flail mower is 32 years old.

Let us know if you have a vibration problem with the B3200 as it can be very evident and the fix is easy simply by readjusting the fuel pump timing to the original specs- they changed the timing to comply with the EPA's exhaust requirements by changing the fuel injection timing and the end result is a vibration problem which has been discussed here very often .
 
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   / Flail Mower Brands #6  
BonnyDoonCA,


I use a TM1900FSC - 73" Caroni Flail Mower. This is the same model as the TM1900BSC - 73" Caroni Flail Mower with the type F rotor that is fitted with twice the number of blades that give a more accurate and closer cut.

I operate it on a Kubota B3000HSDCC, which has, practically speaking, the same power as your 3200 (30hp gross, 23hp pto)

It is more than sufficient for the type of duties you describe, it does a fine job on my acreage both on the lawn grass as well as brush and sage, and the power produced by the B3000 is quite capable for this mower.

(I do have the rear tires loaded with BioTire, more for stability than anything else.)

I special-ordered it from Agrisupply Flail Mower, Caroni, Flail Mowers, Caroni Flail Mower | Agri Supply, 30837

The one picture is the B model; I ordered the F model.
 
   / Flail Mower Brands #7  
I'd be a bit careful there. The B3200 is a sub-compact, weighing in at a relatively dainty 1764 (un-ballasted) pounds. The JD25A flail weighs in at over 600 pounds, more than 1/3 the weight of the tractor. Yes, it cuts a 78" swath, but that's deceiving. As with all flails, they're actually a lot wider than that. In this case it would be a 99 inch wide mower hanging behind a 54 inch wide tractor. Plus, John Deere itself recommends a minimum 22 PTO horsepower. I have to say that's too much mower for a B3200.

Regarding the Gearmore, I'd consider your dealer recommendation specific to the B3200. Mine would be to get the lightest offset mower with a swath equal to your tire width plus offset. The offset will let you mow closer to obstructions without hitting them with a tire. Individual knives are pretty much for grass (finish cut), hammers are for the real rough stuff (brush cut). So consider the Y-knife. Given that you mentioned 1" brush, it's a good compromise between finish and rough.

//greg//

His Kubota can run and pull that flail mower with no problem. It's not a MUST to have EXACTLY the recommended HP. It's just a guideline. If I was worried about pto HP in my farming operation, I'd be home quaking in my boots all day long instead of getting work done. 600 lbs is no problem, either. I pull implements behind my farm tractors that are much more than 1/2 the weight of my tractors with no problems and they're much higher, too. Flail mowers are low center of gravity and the roller rides on the ground. If weight is an issue, then just add a set of weights to the front.
I swear you Huey's run around like a pack of wet hens worried about the littlest issues....

A 600lb flail mower is fine....
 
   / Flail Mower Brands #8  
I wanted to add this about the purchase of a new or used John Deere 25A flail mower


The 25A will also allow you to install dethatching blades to clean up the thatch
in you lawn if desired and I believe the 25A can also use the scoop knives as well.
 
   / Flail Mower Brands #9  
I'd be a bit careful there. The B3200 is a sub-compact, [/I].

//greg//

Sorry man, you are very mistaken.

As someone else said, B3200 is the same size as his B3000. Same size as my B3300SU -- in fact, my manual is for both the B3200 and the B3300SU. These are Kubota's 3rd smallest tractors. The BX is the sub-compact line. The B2xxx (current models) are 48" wide machines and the B3xxx are 60" wide machines.

Despite the seemingly light listed weight of 1764 lbs, they are rated at 1300lbs of lift 24" behind the lift point. -- way more than adequate to lift a 600lbs mower. I barely even notice my 550 lbs RFM. I do have the loader on all the time to help with balast - I just drop the bucket when I don't need it.

I'm hoping to pick up a 6' flail mower later this spring with no worries about running it.
 
   / Flail Mower Brands #10  
If you want to clear 1" brush, a bush hog is a better choice than a flail. There are types of flails that will cut 1" bush but they are way too much for your tractor. Flails will cut really tall grass and weeds though and if there's the odd mound of dirt or debris, the knives on a flail will fold to limit damage and not throw the debris out. Still you should always walk through any area you're going to cut and remove any debris and note other obstacles. If you can find a used Mott/Alamo flail, you'll have a good mower that will last for decades. They made a 60" super heavy duty model if you can find one. The Ford and JD flails are much lighter built than Mott's. Compare the thickness of the decks and you'll see the difference. There were sod farms that used fine cut Mott mowers. Some of the newer Italian flails have copied the Mott knife design. It's always better to have a smaller mower with a little extra HP than a larger mower with not enough HP for the tough jobs. However, if you're just cutting a lawn at regular intervals, you can use a large size mower.
 
 
 
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