Flail Mower Rotary or flail mower ?

[Mugeye]

Don’t know which would be best for me . I’ll be cutting mostly brush . 1/4 inch and up , the bigger the more I’ll like it . Have a 73hp tractor . Don’t care if it’s perfectly cut . I while clean overgrown fields , trails and under brush . 7’ wide would be ideal . What’s your thoughts ?

 

[Z-Michigan]

Will you be mowing close to people or buildings? If not, and with brush as your material, a RC would work fine and probably cost less. For a flail your best bet would be hammers (not scoop knives, which are sometimes mis-advertised as hammers) for durability and mulching of brush. A quality brush cutting flail with true hammers is probably going to run US$5000+. There are several good lower cost flails for grass and pasture mowing, but not setup for heavy brush cutting.

I love flail mowers for grass and mixed weeds, and safety, but for brush in areas without stuff to damage, RCs have their place.

If you go RC you'll want either a 6' or a dual spindle 8' (two x 4' in one housing), because the 7' models are uncommon and huge. If you go flail you can find something within a few inches of 7'.

 

[leonz]

Dont expect to mow overgrown trails unless you plan on operating at 2 miles per hour or less to obtain
fine shredded brush as you will be burning up V belts.

Once you get it down to 2 inches in height and you look at how well it was mowed you will want to
keep it there and it will take less time to do.

Your budget and your wallet will be your overall decision maker.

There are many good American made flail mowers in that size that will work for you.
Iowa Farm Equipment sells many good brands of flail mowers both made in America and
the Italian brands and they stock parts.

As you are at the beginning of your search you need to make a decision tree and then
make a upside down decision tree to verify your previous decision.

If money is no problem the Vrisimo flail mowers made in California are top of the line
flail mowers.

Until you spend time looking and narrowing down your choices its a long process if you want a
flail mower will outlive your current mule and also be able to be used on your next mule if you invest
in a larger horsepower frame size.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Look up the thread "Let's Talk Flail Mowers".
There are over 4,900 posts in that thread.
Hopefully you will be finished reading all the comments before Christmas!

 

[powerscol]

I have used both and prefer my flail hands down. Does a better job for me.
Just my 02

 

[Fallon]

I'm likely replacing my ancient beatup 7' flail with a heavy 7' flail. Its goit to run me $6-7k. I could get a heavy rotary for half that, but i believe in the safety factor on flails. The cut quality is definately better.

Dont look for a 7' rotary. Go with a single spindle 6' or a double spindle 8'. Thelength on a 7' is crazy long, making for weight & manuverability issues. A dual spindle 8' is the same length as a 6'

 

[lpigott]

For what you describe a rotary is hands down the best. This forum is full of flail fan boys that do not live in reality. Unless you are working in a neighbor hood near glass building and people mark them off you list. Don't discount a 7' rotary either if you want that size and have the tractor to run one. They are longer and the weight is noticeable but on 70 HP and up they work good many have the highest tip speed and cut of any RCs. The only reason not to go with an 8' twin instead would be if that would be too wide. Bang for the buck, look at 6' HD units. You can cover a lot of ground and do some serious heavy cutting with a 6' RC on a 73 HP tractor.

 

[lpigott]

D.

Your budget and your wallet will be your overall decision maker.

Best point this guy has made with clearly says you need a rotary cutter.

 

[LD1]

For what you describe a rotary is hands down the best. This forum is full of flail fan boys that do not live in reality. Unless you are working in a neighbor hood near glass building and people mark them off you list. Don't discount a 7' rotary either if you want that size and have the tractor to run one. They are longer and the weight is noticeable but on 70 HP and up they work good many have the highest tip speed and cut of any RCs. The only reason not to go with an 8' twin instead would be if that would be too wide. Bang for the buck, look at 6' HD units. You can cover a lot of ground and do some serious heavy cutting with a 6' RC on a 73 HP tractor.

I cannot add much to this.

 

[shaeff]

I've got both, use both.

The RC for heavy clearing wins hands down in my book. If you're not near a populated area or buildings, the RC is going to make quick work for you.

The flail will give a better cut, at the expense of going much slower. If I had to choose, I'd go with the RC.