Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail

   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #1  

POC

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
334
Location
Southern Indiana
Tractor
Mahindra 3215 4x4
I need some help with parts for this mower I bought. It needs knives which I can't seem to find on flailmaster. I also need some bearings for the roller, but again, I can't find those either. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #2  
I have a 917 I bought as a package that I dont want. It's missing some flails so it vibrates. We're in SW Ohio east of Cincinnati.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #3  
I got new rotor bearings for my 917 from Messicks. I'd give them a call, their parts guys were helpful & knowledgeable.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #4  
You didn't say what width you have, so got you to the page, that has 3 selections @ New Holland online parts book. Official New Holland Online Parts Store and Online Parts Catalog for New Holland and Ford Tractors. Bearings, and knives may be the same for all. Just choose the one you have, and select in the list. Once you find the part you are looking for, select it in the list. Another page will appear, with the part number. Copy, and paste that part number to a search engine. I have the best luck using Google. Got a lot of hits for the knives, even on Amazon.com. Through New Holland, knives are like $9.42 ea. Saw a set of 20 on Amazon for around $94.00. TISCO has them for $5+ change ea.

If you want to do some price comparison, as mentioned, go to Messicks. When you enter the part number, it will give the price. Usually good at any NH dealer in the lower 48.

As far as the bearing number, you may be able to cross it, to get the part number, by going through NAPA: NAPA Auto Parts - Buy Car & Truck Parts Online | Auto Supply Stores Near Me You'll probably have to select "interchange", if nothing appears. If it does happen to come up there, it should give the bearing number in the description. Copy and paste that to Google, and you can compare pricing. In some instances, I have even searched ebay, and found NOS bearings real cheap.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail
  • Thread Starter
#5  
It is a 60". I did find the bearings on ebay. All the knives are so expensive and I can't figure out why.
Thanks for looking.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #6  
We've had a lot of calls lately for parts on these older Ford mowers and tillers. VERY limited success finding parts. Messick's has some and New Holland has some, but many parts unavailable altogether.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #7  
Do your knives need sharpened or replaced? I have a 50" 917L and although it could sure use blades/knives/teeth, I get by with sharpening what I have. Blades cost more than I paid for the mower. I have had to replace the drive pulley side bearing, and broke the pulley getting everything off. Ford-New Holland parts from dealer would have been well over $300, but amazon bearing for around $8-12, a pulley around the right size at TSC for $15, and some welding had me back to mowing.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #8  
I bought knives from Flailmaster for my 917L. They were Alamo fine cut knives. (Flail Master #:MH-386000000312) They were closest to the original geometrically but not identical. However at 71 cents close was close enough. I bought 100 of them with the total cost including shipping to NW Washington totalling $100. The one error in their listing is that it is a 3/8s mounting hole. Unfortunately it was a little small and I had to order 50 5/16 bolts and lock nuts for another $30 delivered. I installed them on mine and they seen to cut well enough. If I had been forced to pay the high parts prices, I would have scrapped the mower.

With regards to bearings, any bearing of the same dimensions should work. Mine needed bearings for the roller and I found some online that were about 10% of what Messick was charging for genuine Ford bearings.
 
Last edited:
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #9  
If you download the flailmaster catalog there's a Ford 917 section.
 
   / Need help finding parts for Ford 917L flail #10  
If you download the flailmaster catalog there's a Ford 917 section.
917 and 917L are completely different outside of width of cut and that they are flail mowers
 
 
 
Top