Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

Dan in MN said:

Haven't been happy with the cut quality on mine despite at least being able to mow successfully, still doesn't seem to mulch like it should so I ordered a set of Vrismo scoop knives from Flailmaster.com (v-cd2110). Doesn't seem that the side cutters generate much lift at all, we'll see how the scoop knives do...

SCOOP KNIFE FOR VRISIMO

Those are supposed to fit my Value Leader flail with a little grinding on the top corner to clear the drum..

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Is there any possibility of borrowing another brand flail to see how it works? If the tractor power isn't the issue there may be bigger problems than just the blades.

I don't know anyone who has one, so my only chance to try another will be if I buy it. I solved the issue of the tractor bogging down by dropping the roller and giving more room for material to eject and the tractor maintains rpm fine now, so it isn't a power issue.

Dan

MF25 said:

im in the market for a 6 foot flail mower to swing behind my iseki t5000... are there any Aussies with recommendations? I used one to mow for NZ rail in the old days and i think it would be suitable for my needs here in aus...

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Alien in QLD bought one a little while back, check his reviews at around post #2627

I'm selling my 60" wide L3200 here soon & probably sending off the 60" rotary cutter with it. I'll be replacing it with a 72" wide L4060 & have been kind of looking at replacement rough cut mowers a bit. I have an old beatup 7' Ford 917 that is currently down with some blown bearings (not to mention some cracks in the hood I'll probably never fix). I'll keep the 917, but it's not going to be up for any rough stuff (moderate brush maybe 1" or so & yucca). Trying to figure out if I should keep thinking about another flail, or stick with a cheaper rotary for my rougher jobs & just use the 917 for nicer fields. Not in a rush at all as I haven't changed tractors yet & I can get the 917 back online here with a little effort, not that there will be much mowing now that winter is almost here.

I'm a nerd, so I've been researching & putting together a spreadsheet comparing 6' or wider Cat 1 rough cut flails. Hopefully it's useful to others as well. I'll keep working on it as well. Need to get Alamo on there, but I have a feeling that they are going to be ungodly expensive & way out of my budget (LandPride is). I stuck my old 917 in there mostly as reference for myself to compare to. Feel free to make any suggestions I can add to the spreadsheet (or update & add to it your selves, I left it editable).

Flail comparison - Cat1 6'+ rough cut - Google Sheets

Fallon, unless you have money to burn, I'd say that you should recondition the 917 for general mowing but get yourself a medium duty rotary for initial clearing of rough stuff. A flail capable of doing what a medium duty (eg Woods Brushbull 720) can do would be pretty pricey.

Fallon said:

I'm selling my 60" wide L3200 here soon & probably sending off the 60" rotary cutter with it. I'll be replacing it with a 72" wide L4060 & have been kind of looking at replacement rough cut mowers a bit. I have an old beatup 7' Ford 917 that is currently down with some blown bearings (not to mention some cracks in the hood I'll probably never fix). I'll keep the 917, but it's not going to be up for any rough stuff (moderate brush maybe 1" or so & yucca). Trying to figure out if I should keep thinking about another flail, or stick with a cheaper rotary for my rougher jobs & just use the 917 for nicer fields. Not in a rush at all as I haven't changed tractors yet & I can get the 917 back online here with a little effort, not that there will be much mowing now that winter is almost here.

I'm a nerd, so I've been researching & putting together a spreadsheet comparing 6' or wider Cat 1 rough cut flails. Hopefully it's useful to others as well. I'll keep working on it as well. Need to get Alamo on there, but I have a feeling that they are going to be ungodly expensive & way out of my budget (LandPride is). I stuck my old 917 in there mostly as reference for myself to compare to. Feel free to make any suggestions I can add to the spreadsheet (or update & add to it your selves, I left it editable).

Flail comparison - Cat1 6'+ rough cut - Google Sheets

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Nice!

IslandTractor said:

Fallon, unless you have money to burn, I'd say that you should recondition the 917 for general mowing but get yourself a medium duty rotary for initial clearing of rough stuff. A flail capable of doing what a medium duty (eg Woods Brushbull 720) can do would be pretty pricey.

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I'm fixing the bearings & getting it back online, but it's to old & beat to ever get back to really good.

It was missing the PTO shaft & a handful of knives. Replaced PTO & all knives. Promptly found out the knives were missing for a reason... they were hitting the hood. Torched out a large chunk of the dented hood on the back & patched it. It runs pretty well now, but still has some issues.

It's noisy, probably because of some big cracks on the hood where it's welded to support spars. The rear roller brackets were welded in place years before I got it, so the 3pt height is the only way to adjust height.

Some of the knife stations are a bit tweaked (before & even more after I "found" my well head in the tall grass) have the rotor itself might be ever so slightly tweaked.

I paid $100 for it not knowing about flails knowing it was a big project. I now know how lucky I was, even after dropping $400, probably $550 with the new bearings, on it. Even having most of the skills & tools & knowing what a replacement will cost, it's not worth it to do much more than patching the latest problems. It's a well used tired piece of iron 20-30 years old.

In the past 2.5 years there have been exactly 6 flail mowers listed on Craigslist in Colorado. I now own 1, 3 were huge crop shredders & 2 were way overpriced. Like I said I had no idea how lucky I was joining the flail nation with that $100 piece of junk I didn't know anything about.

I may still end up with a cheap (at least compared to a flail) beefy rotary, but I'm a nerd, I research & compare. It's fun. My current rotary is OK despite pushing it harder than it should be. But going forward I should get something more up to hitting yucca & brush. Not to mention a bit wider to fit the new machine.

docsfarm said:

So. I made the plunge and am buying the land pride 4188 flail. Once it arrives and I get it going, I'll report back. I'm excited!!!

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I also bought this mower. Can't wait to try it.

moriboy said:

I also bought this mower. Can't wait to try it.

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How much did you end up paying?

You first!

$7560