Flail mower buy

[Deleted member 216442]

Def38's comment regarding misoriented grease fittings also applies to the USA made Rhino I purchased used. The expensive spherical seat roller bearing I had to replace had its grease fitting oriented such that a grease gun would never get on it; hence it was run dry for too long. Probably a factory issue as the paint on it looked original and uncracked. I missed the fact that the bearing had failed when looking at it considering purchase. The bearing and grease fitting on the other end of the roller were ok. I wholeheartedly agree with the advice to buy the heavy duty blade version of any flail as opposed to the light duty blades. I spent a lot of time removing and straightening blades on the anvil right after I got it, and already bent a few.

 

[JWR]

There are some pros and cons about the heavy cast metal flails versus the stamped sheet metal ones. There are 2 versions of the sheet metal Y blades -- one is lighter duty and the other so called heavy duty. The heavy duty ones are pretty universally used by the state road depts maintaining roadsides AND the local Deere dealer near my farm stocks plenty of replacements that are quite inexpensive. Lot of safety in numbers with most anything and in this too. I have 44 flails and to swap all of them out for the cast metal choppers would have been a chore and expense I did not want to do. I did find that the Y type flails and hangers won't stand 2" limbs and unforseen debris like a post or large rock, etc. For that reason, in the rougher parts of the pasture field, I stick to my 7ft bush hog which will stand head sized boulders without whimpering and 3 or 4" limbs do not have to be steered around. Clipping more sedentary grassy areas, meadows to clean before winter, and all that the flail is just a great tool and I find it maybe 20% faster than the 7ft hog plus more maneuverable.

I got my 88" Alamo in an auction for less than the money I spent replacing the roller bearings (!!) What a find. There was nothing really much needed to put it in useable shape and I have gotten tremendous use out of it. Needed a belt tightener spring and a few bolts was all. As metalworkshed said, the roller bearing on one end was totally shot and the other was still OK. I replaced them both for around $300 total. The housings are pretty much indestructible but the average bear stands no chance of getting the old bearings out to replace them. Only practical thing is to replace the housing with bearings pressed in AND that is all the state-road-supplying dealers stock. I do not think there is any issue regarding lubrication access on mine. Both ends are made identical and you do have to poke around a bit to find the opening to get the grease gun onto the zerk but it is there. The new bearings came thoroughly packed too.

 

[Deleted member 216442]

I did buy just the new bearing and it was tedious to get the old one out and new one in. With the spherical seat you have to insert it through the slots provided, then spin it 90 degrees, all whilst getting the grease hole to align with the housing grease fitting hole. Sort of like shooting trap - you learn to lead to have it arrive in the right spot. It took me a couple attempts to get the hole lined up. The bearing alone was $130 to my door and the PTO twist collar kit was $35. You did quite well getting yours at auction for less than $300 - I spent a bit less than 1k more when I bought mine. Mine has 216 fine cut knives, or 108 Y blades if you will which are actually 2 pieces each. The parts diagram shows a different drum with different mounts for the coarse cut knives.

 

[JWR]

I did buy just the new bearing and it was tedious to get the old one out and new one in. With the spherical seat you have to insert it through the slots provided, then spin it 90 degrees, all whilst getting the grease hole to align with the housing grease fitting hole. Sort of like shooting trap - you learn to lead to have it arrive in the right spot. It took me a couple attempts to get the hole lined up. The bearing alone was $130 to my door and the PTO twist collar kit was $35. You did quite well getting yours at auction for less than $300 - I spent a bit less than 1k more when I bought mine. Mine has 216 fine cut knives, or 108 Y blades if you will which are actually 2 pieces each. The parts diagram shows a different drum with different mounts for the coarse cut knives.

Geeze. You had $130 in the bearing alone. My housing with the bearing in it was a little under $150 each plus tax. Glad I got the whole unit as I would have dorked up the bearing probably.