Flail Mower New Caroni TM1900 Flail Mower

[nunyabinis]

Did you just chop saw it (the PTO shaft) to shorten the shaft?? How much did you take off?? I have to do the same with mine....

I cut both shafts 6" shorter. I first marked the plastic safety covers six inches back with a sharpie then used metal shears like a pair of scissors to cut the safety cover off the shaft. I then used a recipricating saw with a metal cutting blade to cut the PTO shaft. Piece-O-Cake.

 

[Builder]

So you guys are former rotary cutter owners that switched to flails, huh?

I'm getting ready to buy a rear mower. Still time to change my mind.

What's the advantages? Tougher, less debris thrown around? more reliable?

They do seem like a more professional tool for the job.

 

[nunyabinis]

So you guys are former rotary cutter owners that switched to flails, huh?

I'm getting ready to buy a rear mower. Still time to change my mind.

What's the advantages? Tougher, less debris thrown around? more reliable?

They do seem like a more professional tool for the job.

I had specific reasons for going "flail" after my 50" Craftsman riding mower finally died:


1) I wanted one mower that would do the job of a finish mower and a rotary cutter since I need to cut yard grass and hay fields at home and shooting lanes down at the Hunt Club. The flail isn't as good at each specific job as a mower designed for those jobs but it CAN do them all acceptably.

2) The flail is WAY shorter from front to back than an equivalent rotary cutter so I can get a much bigger flail to fit on my trailer while attached to the tractor for transport to the Hunt Club. As a matter of fact, I can get my tractor with FEL, 5' King Kutter tiller AND the Flail all on the trailer at the same time!!!

 

[DMF]

One "problem" however: The 3038e has a brake inside the PTO assembly that holds the PTO shaft tight when the PTO is not engaged. I'm used to PTO shafts that you can turn easily by hand to line up the splines with the implement drive shaft. Since I couldn't turn either the tractor PTO shaft or the implement drive shaft by hand to line them up, I had to use a crowbar on the implement universal joint to turn the implement shaft to line up the splines. That is a real PITA!!! Do any of you folks have a Better Way?

John Deere doesn't have a release lever for the PTO shaft; am I missing something? My two tractors have been Massey Fergusons but they both have releases for the PTO shaft just for that purpose...I can't imagine why a big name tractor like JD wouldn't have one...?

That said, I can't imagine how I'd hook half of my implements up without having it! I Just assumed all tractors had them...?

 

[jgrreed]

So you guys are former rotary cutter owners that switched to flails, huh?

I'm getting ready to buy a rear mower. Still time to change my mind.

What's the advantages? Tougher, less debris thrown around? more reliable?

They do seem like a more professional tool for the job.

Hi,

Never owned a rotary, but have used them a fair bit.

Advantages of a flail are:

Tougher - Maybe. Rotary's can be pretty tough too, but the flail's seem BOMBPROOF!!! Both are very simple by design, so there's little to go wrong, and they're easy to maintain.

Less Debris - For sure. I'll summarize parts of the 60+ page thread on flails. Rotary's can, and have, killed people with flying debris. From what I've read, a flail will not do that.

Shorter rear length - The flail is like a tiller on the back of the machine, whereas a rotary is like carrying a 10' 2x4 over your shoulder and taking out your buddy with it!!!

Cut quality - I've been happy with the little I've done so far, and from what I've read that a flail, with the right knives/hammers, can leave as nice/almost as nice, a cut as a finishing mower.

Brush Cutting Ability - There are several examples on TBN of guys clearing some serious brush with a flail, up to 2" saplings I think.

Flail's are expensive, except for the Caroni!!! A Frontier or Landpride can be well over 4k, but the Caroni is only around 1600$. Call Agrisupply and see what their direct price is (phone price is cheaper than internet).

I wouldn't hesitate to go with the flail. If you want to mow golf course greens, a 3pt rear finisher isn't what you want anyway, and a bush hog is DEFINITELY the wrong choice. For that you need a zero turn type unit anyway.

Hope that helps.

-Jer.

 

[jgrreed]

uuuuhhhhh.....

Sorry, but I just checked the Agrisupply website and the Caroni Flail is now 2100.00 USD. I got mine for 1600 USD last August, and just a week or so before that it was 1299USD.

I guess Agrisupply caught on to what everyone else is charging.

There are some flails on Ebay that are made in Asia that are pretty cheap. From what I've read people have had good luck with them.

-Jer.

 

[Builder]

Hi,

Never owned a rotary, but have used them a fair bit.

Advantages of a flail are:

Tougher - Maybe. Rotary's can be pretty tough too, but the flail's seem BOMBPROOF!!! Both are very simple by design, so there's little to go wrong, and they're easy to maintain.

Less Debris - For sure. I'll summarize parts of the 60+ page thread on flails. Rotary's can, and have, killed people with flying debris. From what I've read, a flail will not do that.

Shorter rear length - The flail is like a tiller on the back of the machine, whereas a rotary is like carrying a 10' 2x4 over your shoulder and taking out your buddy with it!!!

Cut quality - I've been happy with the little I've done so far, and from what I've read that a flail, with the right knives/hammers, can leave as nice/almost as nice, a cut as a finishing mower.

Brush Cutting Ability - There are several examples on TBN of guys clearing some serious brush with a flail, up to 2" saplings I think.

Flail's are expensive, except for the Caroni!!! A Frontier or Landpride can be well over 4k, but the Caroni is only around 1600$. Call Agrisupply and see what their direct price is (phone price is cheaper than internet).

I wouldn't hesitate to go with the flail. If you want to mow golf course greens, a 3pt rear finisher isn't what you want anyway, and a bush hog is DEFINITELY the wrong choice. For that you need a zero turn type unit anyway.

Hope that helps.

-Jer.

Jer,

Thanks! That's what i had heard, too. Had no idea the Caroni was that reasonably priced.

How do you adjust height?

Can you adjust height on the fly via 3pt adjust or a hydraulic adjust?

Is there a 7' available that will work with 38PTO HP?

 

[nunyabinis]

John Deere doesn't have a release lever for the PTO shaft; am I missing something? My two tractors have been Massey Fergusons but they both have releases for the PTO shaft just for that purpose...I can't imagine why a big name tractor like JD wouldn't have one...?

That said, I can't imagine how I'd hook half of my implements up without having it! I Just assumed all tractors had them...?

I can't find a way to release the PTO shaft in either the Operator's Manual or the Technical Manual. I submitted the question to JD through their website. I'm interested to see their answer.

 

[nunyabinis]

I can't find a way to release the PTO shaft in either the Operator's Manual or the Technical Manual. I submitted the question to JD through their website. I'm interested to see their answer.

******************************


Bad news.

The 3038e has an electrically operated PTO system that has an internal braking system. It's either on (spinning) or it's off (locked). The dealer recommended adding an overrunning clutch to the PTO shaft of the tractor so that you can spin it one way by hand to line it up.


I think I'll try getting a PTO extension and welding a handle to it so that I can force it to spin by hand first. It won't take much to line up the splines.


JD let me down on this one.

 

[Builder]

I checked other brands, they sell fior 3X the Caroni, like $6-8,000