Flail Mower I'm getting confused between finish mower and flail mower

[Farmwithjunk]

Farmwithjunk's synopsis is perfect. One more point on the Caroni vs other flail brands. Caroni is a quality company that manufactures in Italy for many other companies as well as selling their own finish mowers, flail mowers and tillers. From what I have learned I think it is fair to say that the quality is very high but they are light to moderate use implements and that is what distinguishes them from the much more expensive US built flails used by highway departments etc. Just compare the weights of the Caroni vs US makes. Caroni flails should work very well in a moderately rough pasture setting but probably are not appropriate for highway medians etc. As noted, they come in two flavors: with knives for finish type cut or with "hammers" for something closer to bush hog use.

Not perfect by any stretch.... I did forget about the difference in hammers. I have used an old MOTT flail a few years back. It was set up for highway right-of-way mowing. You could mow through a pile of concrete blocks with it. It sucked up all the HP a 5000 Ford had to offer in thick weeds (7' cut)

 

[kbota]

Not perfect by any stretch.... I did forget about the difference in hammers. I have used an old MOTT flail a few years back. It was set up for highway right-of-way mowing. You could mow through a pile of concrete blocks with it. It sucked up all the HP a 5000 Ford had to offer in thick weeds (7' cut)

Farmwjunk's description is very accurate, and provides a fair comparison. He mentioned the higher maintenance cost. I would like to emphasise that point. I worked on a golf course summers during college, and the flail mowers we used would provide a cut equal to or superior to a finish mower, although at a higher initial purchase cost. The biggest advantage of a flail mower imho is that it is so much safer. It does not fling sticks or rocks or whatever out the side/back at a zillion mph like a bushhog or finish mower can.
We had a 8' Ford flail pulled by a Ford 4000, and I used that thing almost every day for months. The #1 weak link with a flail is the bearings on the main rear roller. This is the roller that stays in contact with the ground and is primarily responsible for the great cut. The bearings take a huge beating, and being sealed bearings, once a small amount of dirt/sand finds its way into the bearing, it's life is measured in hours. The #2 weak point is the cost/time of replacing the cutting tips. It can be an all day job. This occured frequently. In all fairness, I must acknowledge that one year of golf course mowing is probably like 5 years for personal use. (assuming similar acreage)
But the safety component is a significant issue for those folks who require that feature. On a golf course, it's often being mowed while also being played. Guess what mowers often run over on a golf course? yup....golf balls, and a regular mower can make missles out of those things.

Best of luck whichever tool you go with. They both have pro's and con's.

k

 

[MarkV]

Another advantage to the flail mowers are their physical size if you have to trailer your rig. A 6’ rotary mower requires a lot of trailer space where a 6’ flail mower is like carrying a tiller.

MarkV

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Another advantage to the flail mowers are their physical size if you have to trailer your rig. A 6’ rotary mower requires a lot of trailer space where a 6’ flail mower is like carrying a tiller.

MarkV

Very true. And that advantage isn't exclusive to trailering convenience either. When using a tractor on hilly terrain, weight distribution is most important. A shorter coupled mower has the feel of a lighter mower. In that regard, a flail mower can be a SAFER mower.

 

[IslandTractor]

Another advantage to the flail mowers are their physical size if you have to trailer your rig. A 6’ rotary mower requires a lot of trailer space where a 6’ flail mower is like carrying a tiller.

MarkV

Trailers are not the only place where there is a storage advantage for flails. A flail might make it possible to park the tractor with mower in a normal garage space or barn while the extra five feet or so of a rotary or finish mower would require removing the device each time. That has recently been a consideration for me as I think about upsizing. I can fit my small tractor plus rotary mower into the barn but anything bigger would need to be separated. A bigger tractor and cutter would be about 3-4 feet longer and would not fit. The bigger tractor plus a flail would be about the same length as my current rig. That's potentially a lot of time and aggrevation saved not needing to hook up and unhook the cutter.

 

[IllMarty1]

Hey Guys,

The synopses have covered all the angles I think. Great job.

I just bought a Caroni flail mower, a TM1900, from Agri-Supply. It has the heavier cutting blades(Y shaped), and there are 56 on this model. It was used the first time this weekend, and it performed great. I was cutting down 4-5' talls weeds and light brush with ease. Mowing the lawn around my summer place was a piece of cake in 6th gear, and it left the clippings dristibuted evenly instead of windrows the RC used to leave. The clippings would be finer if I slowed down a bit. It has 2 positions for 3 pt. hook up, and I used the offset position. It cuts about 2' outside my right wheel. This offset is great for mowing around the house, the trees, and most importantly, the pond.

I bought this mower mainly for safety reasons. As much as I would tell my family and guests to stay clear of the tractor while mowing with the RC, I would always have someone closer to me than I liked. I also like that I can worry less about projectiles hitting my house and breaking something. No windrows is nice too.

I priced out a similar Land Pride flail mower (both units weighed about the same) and it was over $4000. The Caroni was just over $1800 with shipping direct to me included. The phrase "no brainer" comes to mind here.

I was able to haul this mower easily in the bed of my truck, and with a few clevises and choker cables, was able to easily unload with my bucket.

If you are looking for a finish look, Caroni has models with finish blades too.

So far I am very happy. Time will tell.

Marty

 

[millpond]

The areas which I will be mowing are brand new. In the end we'll be looking at 5 plus acres of new fields created from clear cutting in northern Vermont.
None of the new fields have been york raked or finished raked at all. The plan
was to stabilize the soils this year and work at picking up the bigger rocks
still in the fields this fall early winter. The property will have 15 yards of entry
drive lawn/field on both sides of drive total length half mile. If the hammer knife flails are tough enough it seems that it will be much safer and more versile in the long run buying flail vs bush hog. But will hammer flail take punishment up front or not ?

 

[IslandTractor]

But will hammer flail take punishment up front or not ?

Look at FWJ's comments above. The hammers are made to take punishment. It is the knife version of the flail that requires more care.