Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[DirtHauler]

View attachment 332386View attachment 332388I could use a bit of advice from you Caroni owners out there. Took delivery of my TM1900 last week...have mowed about 12 hours with it (just grass, hay field regrowth, no brush) and find that the roller is not always turning due to scrapper bar. In fact, there is one strip about 5/8" wide, running the full length of the roller that looks like chrome from dragging so much.

Anyone else run into this problem?

Have you Caroni owners modified your scrapper bar so it doesn't ride directly on the roller? If so, what did you do.

Oh, before someone asks, I greased bearings before use, and again after 5 hours. If scrapper is lifted up, roller spins like a top.

I just removed my scraper bar because my roller gets pretty beat up banging over rocks etc. and the mower works fine without it! But keep it on if you're mowing wet grass. The other thing about the scraper bar is if you look at each end you'll notice it rides on the end cap weld seams, you can wait till it wears in or, like I did, notch the bar ends to clear the welds and it will ride flat on the roller.

 

[Hill Billy Bob]

Dirthauler,
Since my original post, I've secured the scraper bar in a full raised position with two tie down straps. Have mowed an additional 30 hours in this manner with great results. Don't get those occasional clumps of grass that build up, on and around the scraper, then fall off...much cleaner looking job when finished. When this season is over, like you, I will be removing it completely...Bob

 

[esbwn]

Hello Flail Nation. Im trying to join your ranks. Ive found a ford flail that i can afford but cant find much info on it. Anyone know where i should look? Also, what should i check for when i inspect it? The owner says he replace the belt and its a 5' mower. Thanks all!

 

[JustBob]

Does anyone know how to tell which bearings I have on the cutter shaft without taking the bearings out? Due to a back injury Saturday is the only day I will have help to take it apart and put it back together again. I was told by FlailMaster to take the bearings out before I ordered replacements, to see if I had the old style or the new style bearings.


Here are a few pics if it helps, I do have the old style gearbox...









The bearing plate is the same for both sides...

 

[Reg]

Does anyone know how to tell which bearings I have on the cutter shaft without taking the bearings out? Due to a back injury Saturday is the only day I will have help to take it apart and put it back together again. I was told by FlailMaster to take the bearings out before I ordered replacements, to see if I had the old style or the new style bearings.

As a sweeping generalization...
Where it matters manufacturers often change things like this with a step in serial (or model) numbers, or at least record the number above which the new part was used.
I would get back to them with the question; "Can you tell by serial number being above/below a particular number ?" and quote them my serial & model numbers.

Where it doesn't matter, e.g. just a product improvement or cost reduction, might as well use the newer part anyway.

BTW, have they told you that new part won't fit or won't work in place of old part ?

 

[IslandTractor]

How about ordering both old and new replacement bearings and just return the ones you don't need?

 

[JustBob]

As a sweeping generalization...
Where it matters manufacturers often change things like this with a step in serial (or model) numbers, or at least record the number above which the new part was used.
I would get back to them with the question; "Can you tell by serial number being above/below a particular number ?" and quote them my serial & model numbers.

Where it doesn't matter, e.g. just a product improvement or cost reduction, might as well use the newer part anyway.

BTW, have they told you that new part won't fit or won't work in place of old part ?

How about ordering both old and new replacement bearings and just return the ones you don't need?

Problem resolved itself, found a crack in the outside flange so I ordered new flanges with the bearings. Wish I had seen that earlier...

 

[Thomabear]

Well I just spent 2 days off and on reading this very informative thread and enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to everyone who contributed. :thumbsup:

Just to shift gears a little I would like some opinions on an idea I've been pondering for some time. What I would like to experiment with is installing a "quick change" flail blade system on a Caroni TM1600 with the F (finish) rotor. About once a season I'm in need of dethatching and over seeding pasture with annual rye. What I would like to do is remove all the flail hanger bolts and install a continuous rod through all station covering one complete row per rod. This will save the time of removing several nuts and bolts everytime I switch blades. I don't foresee a rotor balance issue due to rows having the same length rod at 12-3-6-9 o'clock and being installed nearly against the rotor. The four rods would be grade 8 installed via a small access hole drilled on the opposite side of the belt train and in alignment with the hangers. Once slid into place the rods would be pinned or fastened with a castle nut and cotter pin. Also of note, this is clean obstacle free pasture and the distances between flail stations are real close allowing excellent rod strength between the hanger stations. If this idea doesn't prove to be a beneficial option it's always easy to switch back. Any thoughts?

 

[GinNB]

I have no experience with the Caroni but have three Vrisimo flails that use a slide-out rod to hold on a row of hoops that their d-rings attach to. There is no problem with the rods working their way out sideways under use with no retention mechanism. I'm on my phone at the moment but I'm sure Google can bring up images of their cuttershaft system somehow.

 

[IslandTractor]

Well I just spent 2 days off and on reading this very informative thread and enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to everyone who contributed. :thumbsup:

Just to shift gears a little I would like some opinions on an idea I've been pondering for some time. What I would like to experiment with is installing a "quick change" flail blade system on a Caroni TM1600 with the F (finish) rotor. About once a season I'm in need of dethatching and over seeding pasture with annual rye. What I would like to do is remove all the flail hanger bolts and install a continuous rod through all station covering one complete row per rod. This will save the time of removing several nuts and bolts everytime I switch blades. I don't foresee a rotor balance issue due to rows having the same length rod at 12-3-6-9 o'clock and being installed nearly against the rotor. The four rods would be grade 8 installed via a small access hole drilled on the opposite side of the belt train and in alignment with the hangers. Once slid into place the rods would be pinned or fastened with a castle nut and cotter pin. Also of note, this is clean obstacle free pasture and the distances between flail stations are real close allowing excellent rod strength between the hanger stations. If this idea doesn't prove to be a beneficial option it's always easy to switch back. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a reasonable idea. So long as the balance is OK, which it should be, and that the ends are appropriately secured (hard to imagine a castle nut on such a small rod) it should be fine. I am not sure it will save a lot of time compared to using a powered wrench to work the bolts on the original system but it might. Make sure you let us know how it goes.