Flail Mower Caroni Flail mower with hydraulic shift kit

[IslandTractor]

Big questions I have, the page dosn't mention if it has hammers or knives, I assume knives, I hope, are they? Also, for those who have one already, did it come with a PTO driveshaft?

Knives. Yes, it comes with the PTO driveshaft. Great mower. I've used it mostly as a bush hog and like it much better than my perfectly satisfactory Bush Hog SQ480. It mostly clobbers anything less than 2 inches and will eat 3 inch stuff with a bit of noise. Very close cut, essentially finish quality, even with bush hogging. I have hit lots of debris (rocks, metal, tires, stumps) without doing any damage. Be careful when you set it up as the directions specify adding oil to the gearbox and everyone seems to report that it already has oil. Just makes a mess if you over fill as it will come bubbling out when it gets hot.

Photos show 1) knives, 2) tm1900 mounted, 3) single pass through 5ft brush, 4) mess when oil overflows, 5) angle iron rapped around spindle (no damage, 2 minutes to unwind), 6) close cut when cutting brush (one pass) compared to what you get with a bush hog.

 

[napabavarian]

Sweet deal, looks like you got the HD mower, the little guy is suposed to be good for grass but that's all I need, thanks for the reply! My wallet feels lighter already

 

[Vjf]

Caroni Flail owners, I've been thinking of replacing a really beat Mott 6Ft flail mower with a Caroni TL or is it TM1900 flail, the 73 incher.
Maybe you guys could help me out with some questions.
Joe has stated preset height adjustments. How does that work??? with the Mott I adjust height of cut on the go, using a hydrolic top link. The mower just rolls back on the rear roller lifting the knives, I don't touch the 3Pt lift. Will I be able to do the same thing with the Caroni????
The other thing is, my rear tires are about 71 inches wide, and these Caronis are offset. Am I going to be able to shift the mower, using the lower lift arms of the 3PT, so I'm covering my tracks??? Someone mentioned a 60/40 offset, seens to be alot of offset. I'm running a Kubota 4330 with the subframe for the BH90 hoe. That hunk of iron back there may get in the way, when lifting shifted lower 3PT arms. I don't want to have to get the hydro shift kit. And then again, anyone have a decent 6 footer for sell near the PA NY border??
Vince

 

[IslandTractor]

Caroni Flail owners, I've been thinking of replacing a really beat Mott 6Ft flail mower with a Caroni TL or is it TM1900 flail, the 73 incher.
Maybe you guys could help me out with some questions.
Joe has stated preset height adjustments. How does that work??? with the Mott I adjust height of cut on the go, using a hydrolic top link. The mower just rolls back on the rear roller lifting the knives, I don't touch the 3Pt lift. Will I be able to do the same thing with the Caroni????
The other thing is, my rear tires are about 71 inches wide, and these Caronis are offset. Am I going to be able to shift the mower, using the lower lift arms of the 3PT, so I'm covering my tracks??? Someone mentioned a 60/40 offset, seens to be alot of offset. I'm running a Kubota 4330 with the subframe for the BH90 hoe. That hunk of iron back there may get in the way, when lifting shifted lower 3PT arms. I don't want to have to get the hydro shift kit. And then again, anyone have a decent 6 footer for sell near the PA NY border??
Vince

I'll try to answer your questions. I haven't used the toplink to adjust the cut height myself. Interesting thought. I've used the 3PT and find that easy enough. There are skid plates on either side of the mower and these can be adjusted though you wouldn't want to drag those as a way of setting cut height and they are more for setting minimum height. I get pretty consistent cut height just using the position control.

I doubt you'd have trouble with the backhoe subframe. I have a Woods BH90x subframe and it doesn't come close to interfering with the flail.

The offset is interesting. My tractor also has about a 72 inch track in the rear but about six inches less in front. The mower definitely sticks out to the right about six to eight inches even without the shift kit which would only push it out to the right further. I haven't tried to "center" the mower by offsetting the 3PT to the left. That means that the left rear tire does travel in grass that will not be fully cut. On the other hand it makes it pretty easy to cut rows without missing patches as you just line the left front wheel up so it is just inside the previously cut path on one direction and put the right front wheel six inches or so into the uncut on the other direction and you get a nice close to 73" cut each time without missing little strips. It seemed a bit odd at first but works very well.

 

[napabavarian]

I was in Tractor Supply Company yesterday and discovered they carry Caroni, it'll be $200-300 cheaper than having it shiped from Agri Supply, even after I pay $100 in sales tax, but they still don't seem to be on the web site.

 

[Vjf]

Island, Thanks for the reply, So when you adjust the mower height with the position control, you must be lifting the rear roller??? I'm far from an expert, but it seens the the top link should be used. Don't you want as much weight as you could get on that rear roller at all times while mowing???

Tomorrow I call Tractor Supply, But, New York is a long way for California.

Vince

 

[napabavarian]

Tomorrow I call Tractor Supply, But, New York is a long way for California.

Vince

www.tractorsupply.com

Punch your zip cod into the proper box in the upper right corner, stores are all over the place

 

[IslandTractor]

Island, Thanks for the reply, So when you adjust the mower height with the position control, you must be lifting the rear roller??? I'm far from an expert, but it seens the the top link should be used. Don't you want as much weight as you could get on that rear roller at all times while mowing???

I haven't been using mine so much for finish lawn as for brush and field mowing so the roller hasn't been an issue. If finish mowing I guess the roller contact would insure an even cut. I honestly had never even thought of using the toplink to control cutting height. This is my first flail mower and so I just adjusted things the way I would with a bushhog.

Why not call the guys at AgriSupply? They were pretty knowledgable when I spoke to them a couple of years ago. I doubt the TSC people would know much so even if you end up buying it from TSC you'd be better off getting advice from the long term importer AgriSupply.

 

[DirtHauler]

For you guys who own or will own a Coroni flail mower, there is a quick and simple fix to eliminate that oil mess. I did this with my Coroni, unscrew the vent/dip stick cap, get a piece of 2"x 1/2" galv. water pipe and union(? that darn thing you use to join two pieces together ( brian not working!), wrap teflon tape on threads, screw the pipe assembly onto the gearbox (thread pitch slightly diff but will go) tighten, install vent, WAALA no more oil mess!
You may want to check your gear oil level first if you are incline to use the dip stick method as after this fix the dip stick will be useless. I thought I had a close up pic of this but not, so I've attached the only one I have right now, you'll probably have to use a magnifier to see it, will post a close up in a couple of days when I get out to the "ranch" to take one.

On the "cut adjustment" the roller will always be about 3/4" lower then the skid shoes, so when you raise/lower the shoes, adjust the roller to be lower.
Lower the mower to where the roller rest on the ground, adjust your draft arms and top link to where the mower is level front to back/side to side. The "shoes" are there to prevent the side plates from digging in or getting bent.

 

[IslandTractor]

For you guys who own or will own a Coroni flail mower, there is a quick and simple fix to eliminate that oil mess. .

I haven't exactly done a scientific study but I have noticed that if I tolerate having the oil level at the bottom of the acceptable range on the dip stick that I see very little or no oil overflow when the mower gets hot. As a practical matter for a new owner, if you tolerate the mess for a few mows without adding extra, the oil seems to reach an acceptable level where there is no further overflow.