Fixed the rear roller on the flail. . . i think

[Big Bri]

I posted some pic a while back about bending my rear roller on my flail. Well i call and got a price of about $800 for a replacement with shipping. I decided to fix it my self.
I bought a 6' piece of 5" sch 40 pipe for $80, ya a little high per ft but i didn't want to buy 21' stick. Anyway i cut the ends off my original roller and noticed how thin the pipe was. I would say 3/32, or a hair under 1/8" thick. Well i welded the ends on my new pipe and everything works fine.
well now my dad is telling me that i'm going to break something else by going with such a heavy pipe. He feels they built it that way for a reason and that i should have used thinner pipe. (i think they just saved some money) My thinking is that at worst i might where out the bearings on the end of the roller quicker. But i would rather replace a couple 5 to $10 bearings (in 30 min) than to have to replace the roller (took me 5 hrs form the time i picked up the steel got it home, cut it to length square the ends on the pipe weld and put back together.)
So what say you? Is the pipe too much?
Thanks

 

[CharlieS]

I suspect you're right that the thickness of the factory roller is a mfg cost issue. Engineering says this will work based on stress information for the material in question. You'll have a little more weight on the 3 pt. when lifted but that should be minimal and with the mower down its a static, rolling load on the mower frame, bearings etc. I dont see this being an issue myself.

 

[Big Bri]

I suspect you're right that the thickness of the factory roller is a mfg cost issue. Engineering says this will work based on stress information for the material in question. You'll have a little more weight on the 3 pt. when lifted but that should be minimal and with the mower down its a static, rolling load on the mower frame, bearings etc. I dont see this being an issue myself.

ya i'm with you, i just wanted someone else to tell me it's ok.
thanks

 

[hawkeye08]

Cost of materials and weight. The weight drives consumer costs up because it costs more to ship more weight and it seems many of the implements are coming from offshore... so if they can do it with lighter materials, they do.

I like Gravely (the older ones) because they were built heavy and used standard bearings, etc. but they were built here in US so shipping from Europe or China is not a concern...