Hello,
I am about to buy a 40hp at pto tractor. During the summer we cut paths through thick kudzu so we can put up temp electric fencing for pigs. Kudzu, love it hate it it is high in protein etc and pigs love it.
using a friends 40hp and hog we could cut through. I would prefer a medium grade flail for everything else around the farm. Anyone with kudzu experience? Will the flail make it or get choked up by the vines?
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Hello Randy,
The power you have the better the flail mower will run for you.
The issue is mowing and how well you want the mess shredded.
The idea with controlling invasives like Poison Ivy, Poison Sumac,
Sumac and Poison Oak and Kuzo of course is simply control
and maintaining the clearings and fencelines.
The more you beat them back by mowing the better and the longer
the ground will be open.
The issue is keeping the side slicers sharp and maintaining the cutting edges
buying heat treated knives is a must for multiple task mowing as well as having spares.
It is better to buy a heavier flail without knife hangers for the side slicers
for what you want to do Randy as it will give the best bang for the
buck and having the heavier side slicers will last longer an then you can
flip the knives over to the new edge- BUT NOT BEFORE YOU WASH the flail mower using a
hot high pressure washer or steam cleaner as they will hold the oils from
poison oak, poison ivy, poison sumac etc and needless to say cause lots of issues.
Leaving the cutting height at 2 inches is a must!!!!!
Reversing over the area to be mowed then driving forward will aid you in shredding as you
will be making two passes in one and in the next day or two you can mow over the area and
shred the material even more as the side slicers will pick it up and slicer it even more making
smaller clippings that will dissolve to mulch sooner.
As far as brands go its up to you and how much money you have to spend. I would look at
tractorhouse.com as there are always good new and used flail mowers available.
The Land Pride flailmowers which are a Maschio vineyard and orchard mower that
have a cast scoop knife that is designed to shred brush, vineyard prunings and small
limbs as well as heavy brush. it also has a trash door that can be left open to
prevent plugging in heavy growth from what I remember of them and the EU's
safety standards for mowers are much higher assuring a good mower of high
quality.
The 5 or 6 foot Land Pride/Maschio flail shredder may be what you should look at with
your application.the only down side is that mowing in reverse to knock down the kudzu with
the cast scoop hammers may not shred green brush very well in reverse-saying that if you are certain the
ground does not have have hazards that damage the tractor/mule or mower you will not have to worry
too much about it other than dealing with plugged radiator screens from the chaff created by the mowing job.
I am not trying to spend your money, I want you to succeed Randy.
