As TripleR has stated its a lot of mowing BUT it can be done.
I have found that a flail mower is a better option as it has more
advantages than a rotary cutter.
We mow both brush and sod turf with ours using a rotor with staggered finish mower knives
with no issues.
The issue is over all utility and a flail mower can and does mow good sod and trash quickly for the end user with no modifications.
The flail mower will not throw things like a rotary mower will and is safer to use around pedestian traffic or animals.
You must keep in mind the cutting width of the mower is dependent on the
number of blades and if you drive to fast the mower wil leave rooster tails;
the same applies with a flail mower where it can be stalled and burn up the belts if the ground speed is to fast.
Also the rotary cutters design limits ability to cut full width as one blade leads and the second blade lags which will be difficult to deal with when dealing with heavy brush no matter the hieght.
The flail mower will easily knock down wet brush thich with no issues and the design of a flail mower nearly eliminates the need to clean anything other than the mower roller if it does not have a scraper for the rear roller.
The flail mower will also work well knocking brush down during the winter when it is dead or dormant and the ground is hard or frozen and the brush is not snow covered.
A flail mower cuts for the entire width of the mower at all times and the knives following the previous knive continue cutting the brush to tiny pieces leaving little residue which composts quickly.
The flail mower will cut closer to the ground and destroy any invasives to a greater degree than a rotary cutter.
The flailmower offers more slicing cutting edge surface in total than a rotary cutter of the same width, as multiple knives are used to cut per inch of cut versus 2 to 6 or more cutter blades on a rotary brush cutter.
The very first time a flailmower is used it will shred and slice the brush and leave very lttle to see and it will knock it down the first time for you as long as you drive slowly.
The flailmowers knives are much easier to change than having to deal with a rotary cutter.
as you simply unbolt the individual knive and replace it.
Depending upon the brand of flailmower it will have two three or four rows of knives to slice grass and brush or have a staggered knife pattern roller which provides you with a better cut and shredding ability at all times.
If your looking to contract it out you may be paying 50 dollars or more per acre for a job that will only require your time.
I cover 5 plus acres using a 4 foot motorised flailmower towed behind a tractor in less than 3 hours normally and it does not take long.
the thing is how much is your time worth and how much time do you really have?
One option is a used wide cut flail shredder from a local equipment dealer of looking at tractor house, iron planet or farrm auction.com
The flail shredders scoop knives are easy to change with hand tools.
I would ask ken Sweet about one of his flailmowers as he is sponsor of the forum in good standing and he ships directly from his warehouse, and also look at the Caroni line of flailmowers offered by
www.agrissuppy.com
Please keep in mind that a flail mower whether it is motorised or operated by a front or rear mounted P.T.O., offers you total cutting surface per foot of cut than rotary cutter.
We have two hundred and more pages discussing flailmowers and It is worth reading the person examining the purchase of a mower of one kind or another and the flailmower owners are a very happy bunch here.
I would also strongly suggest you look at iron horses experience with his first rotary catter as it is an eye opener as far as potential damage or injury to persons. we have several links to accident damage and injury reports from OSHA here as well.
In my case specifically my neighbor who is an absentee landlord with acreage hired a logger with a rotary brush cutter head on his articulating rubber tired log shearing tractor and when the field adjacent to my home was cut the first time in 20 years 10 years ago the logger hit something-I dont know what it was but it hit my garage window and broke it and i belive it was a concord grape vine but I could not find it as it broke off and bouced away in a glancing blow to the window; The thing is that the brush mower was 200 feet away from my garage window when I heard it break it.
We are a friendly bunch here so do not hesitate to aske questions as well.
There are a lot of good used wide 7-8 foot flailmowers for sale and they do turn up in the wider sizes in municipal auctions evry year and still have many good years of life in them and parts are always available for almost all brands.
If you would like to chat about motorised flailmowers; and what is available off the board, I will gladly do so if you would like to.
A motorised flailmower will not rob power from the mule you buy to do work and you will be able to mow faster in most cases as you are simply towing in 4 wheel drive if desired.
The motorised flailmower can be used in tandem to make a very wide cut as well with very low horse power required in total.
In our case our flailmower is 30 years old and we have only done regular maintenance and had the main bearings and wheel and wheel bearings replaced once in thirty years.
Welcome to the forum, we have a lot of fun here and do a lot work with it as member contributors and sponsors.
You know that if your looking to buy new, that your looking at 30-40K at a minimum.
