Jerik
New member
So I am a complete newbie, never even owned a riding mower. My wife and I bought a 9 acres spread 20 years ago as a retirement home. We rented out the house and paid someone to bush-hog the half of the fields twice a year for $500 a pop. Two other fields were being hayed by a neighbor, and another neighbor fenced in another pasture for their cow. Sometimes I would cut the sections of lawn with my push mower (3+ hours), sometimes hire someone. But now the cow is gone, the first neighbor is talking about moving further south, and we are in the house. I figure it is time for me to do the mowing.
My wife was the one who first heard about flail mowers and they really appeal to us. I've been doing some research, found this forum, and have learned a lot. At this point I am thinking about a JD 1025R (PTO = 18 HP) or a Kubota BX-2380 (PTO = 17.7) or a Kubota BX-2680 (PTO = 19.5), along with a WoodMaxx FM-54 (minimum PTO = 18 HP). I figure getting a new tractor will make it much easier on me with service & maintenance, being a newbie, plus the used ones I've seen listed almost always come with either a FEL or a mower. Since I would be using it almost exclusively to pull the flail, I'm thinking I can save $3K by not getting a loader.
How important is having a position control 3 point hitch with a flail mower? Since the flail is supposed to ride on the rear roller, it seems to me that the having the 3 point hitch either up or down is sufficient, but I could easily be missing something.
Some people in the forum like the Caroni flail, but I figure the WoodMaxx is a bit wider, needs less PTO, 20% lighter and $300 less expensive with the shipping. Also a lot of people on the forum have been getting wider flail mowers, but the tractor is a sub-compact, and as someone else said in the forum, I have more time than money, so I think a 4-footer should be OK.
Given that I'm not planning to get a FEL, the one dealer I've been to so far said that I needed front end weights. How much is needed?
The lawn is by no means pristine, so I'm hoping that I can get by doing most of it with the flail instead of using a regular mower, and don't want to spend the close-to-$2K for a belly mower. The fields are pretty clear, both rolling and flat, nowhere that I would term steep. Most of the fields have some trees, but not many. We'e always had a bunch of honey locust treelets sprouting up which we then have to deal with by hand, so I figure more frequent mowing will help stop that. I'm not going to making new trails, pretty much maintaining the fields, so I shouldn't need anything heavy duty.
Given my application, I'm still unsure of which flail blades would be best. WoodMaxx says to use the duckfoot blades for clearing saplings (1" diameter or less), and the Y-blades for grasses, but I thought I read here that the duckfoot blades give a nice appearance to lawns. Does it make sense to spring for both set of knifes, based on the application? Also, should the tractor have turf tires or industrial ones?
Another issue is how to handle the unpacking and setup of the flail when it gets delivered by the liftgate truck to the top of my gravel driveway.
Any comments, advice, and/or suggestions would all be appreciated. Now I need to convince my wife that spending $15K+- on the pair is money well spent.
My wife was the one who first heard about flail mowers and they really appeal to us. I've been doing some research, found this forum, and have learned a lot. At this point I am thinking about a JD 1025R (PTO = 18 HP) or a Kubota BX-2380 (PTO = 17.7) or a Kubota BX-2680 (PTO = 19.5), along with a WoodMaxx FM-54 (minimum PTO = 18 HP). I figure getting a new tractor will make it much easier on me with service & maintenance, being a newbie, plus the used ones I've seen listed almost always come with either a FEL or a mower. Since I would be using it almost exclusively to pull the flail, I'm thinking I can save $3K by not getting a loader.
How important is having a position control 3 point hitch with a flail mower? Since the flail is supposed to ride on the rear roller, it seems to me that the having the 3 point hitch either up or down is sufficient, but I could easily be missing something.
Some people in the forum like the Caroni flail, but I figure the WoodMaxx is a bit wider, needs less PTO, 20% lighter and $300 less expensive with the shipping. Also a lot of people on the forum have been getting wider flail mowers, but the tractor is a sub-compact, and as someone else said in the forum, I have more time than money, so I think a 4-footer should be OK.
Given that I'm not planning to get a FEL, the one dealer I've been to so far said that I needed front end weights. How much is needed?
The lawn is by no means pristine, so I'm hoping that I can get by doing most of it with the flail instead of using a regular mower, and don't want to spend the close-to-$2K for a belly mower. The fields are pretty clear, both rolling and flat, nowhere that I would term steep. Most of the fields have some trees, but not many. We'e always had a bunch of honey locust treelets sprouting up which we then have to deal with by hand, so I figure more frequent mowing will help stop that. I'm not going to making new trails, pretty much maintaining the fields, so I shouldn't need anything heavy duty.
Given my application, I'm still unsure of which flail blades would be best. WoodMaxx says to use the duckfoot blades for clearing saplings (1" diameter or less), and the Y-blades for grasses, but I thought I read here that the duckfoot blades give a nice appearance to lawns. Does it make sense to spring for both set of knifes, based on the application? Also, should the tractor have turf tires or industrial ones?
Another issue is how to handle the unpacking and setup of the flail when it gets delivered by the liftgate truck to the top of my gravel driveway.
Any comments, advice, and/or suggestions would all be appreciated. Now I need to convince my wife that spending $15K+- on the pair is money well spent.