Flail Mower New Caroni TM1900 Flail Mower

[jgrreed]

Welcome to the Caroni club. We will take over the world one flail at a time.

I looked for the oil tube extension mentioned earlier in this thread but I think the web site is gone.

Here you go.... (see pic). They're great to deal with, will be on your doorstep within days...

-Jer.

 

[joes_427_vette]

Nice flail mower ! My best wishes to the guard dog also. I never priced one new but I bought one ( 5' ) minus the angle drive system. The local school never checked the oil level and burned it up. They traded it off when the repair estimate was received. I'm anxious to get it going as I have a gear box for it and have to engineer the drive belt system. I'm curious... does yours have two belts or just one wide V type belt ? I hope the JD 4110 has enough power to make it work properly.

 

[nunyabinis]

I'm curious... does yours have two belts or just one wide V type belt ?

It has three drive belts.

 

[IslandTractor]

Wonder if a top/tilt (just top, not tilt) would work?

I have not mowed yet this year but as I recall I use the hydraulic topping lift to fine tune cut height. I could be misremembering but I recall using the 3pt to set the flail rear roller on the ground and then use the topping lift to change the angle of the cutter which slightly raises or lowers the cutting drum/flails.

Also, regarding the "burp stopper", I got it from British Metrics (410-857-3990) part number CAST 300-908. Description "extended adapter 16 x 1.5". It just screws into the gear box where the oil dipstick is and you then put the dipstick back on top of it. It acts like a little chimney to prevent the gears from flinging oil directly on to the vented oil dipstick cap and therefore prevents it from dribbling out oil onto the mower. Costs about $10 plus shipping as I recall.

Here is a link to a photo: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...223171613-lets-talk-flail-mowers-img_9251.jpg

 

[Builder]

Wouldn't that result in a mistaken reading on the dipstick? (oil level would read too low?)

 

[IslandTractor]

Is this the right mower for what I would call a transition lawn? Like a stretch of grass between the finish lawn and an all-out field of tall grass?

I need something to cut along a long driveway where the grass is more "rough" than a finished lawn.

Do the skids leave skid paths and pull the grass out? I was concerned they would eventually become permanent bald tracks in the lawn.

I think it would be great for "transition" grass. It doesn't cut like a highly tuned golf course greens mower but it cuts a lot closer to a finish mower than any rotary mower does. Some people would find it fine for their lawn (I do) while those who really want perfection might complain. However, I cannot imagine anyone complaining about how it would cut a transition area or a pasture. It also mulches much better than a rotary mower so you don't get clumps of grass scattered about.

Regarding the skids, I have mine set so that they only hit obstructions. The weight of the mower is entirely on the rear roller for mowing grass and the skids clear the ground by a couple of inches when I mow. When I bush hog with the flail I use the 3pt and hydraulic topping lift to raise it up a bit so it is not on the roller (I find that helps the roller push over stuff if I am mowing backwards). Depending on how clean a look I want while brush clearing I will then drop the mower and mow normally on my way forward. The mower does cut more cleanly when mowing forwards but does a fine job on brush when backing into it.

 

[IslandTractor]

Wouldn't that result in a mistaken reading on the dipstick? (oil level would read too low?)

Thanks for reminding me. I put this in my original post but forgot to repeat it here. When the extender is in place, the oil reading shows "minimal" level (ie just readable) when the oil level is actually full (top of normal range without the extender). It is simple enough to remove the extender to calibrate it yourself but I've learned to just make sure I can see oil on the tip of the dipstick.

 

[brianidaho]

Have any of you used this mower on brushier, hillier terrain? I have a 20 acre parcel, with a lot of small <=1" brush, plus some bigger stuff (2") some in thick clumps. Ideally I'd like to be able to cut that with the mower, but if worse comes to worse I can chainsaw the big stuff first. Will the flail "mulch" stuff this big if it were cut first? Do they work reasonably well over uneven ground? I'd think they would still be better than a rotary. I also have a lot of rocks...I'll try to avoid them but I'm sure some will get hit. I can't imagine this is good for the flails, but then again, it seems like small flails would be less drama than hitting rocks with a rotary.

 

[nunyabinis]

Being so small and low in mass, the flail blades tend to bounce off rocks better than rotary cutter blades. I know a guy who hit a rock with a JD 10' rotary cutter. The rock bent one blade upward, it hit the underside of the deck and put a 4' gash in the metal.... kinda like the Titanic. It took one heck of an impact to slice that cutter deck because that is one heavy duty cutter.


As for mulching, the flails also tend to mulch better than rotaries. They really chew stuff up.

 

[IslandTractor]

Have any of you used this mower on brushier, hillier terrain? I have a 20 acre parcel, with a lot of small <=1" brush, plus some bigger stuff (2") some in thick clumps. Ideally I'd like to be able to cut that with the mower, but if worse comes to worse I can chainsaw the big stuff first. Will the flail "mulch" stuff this big if it were cut first? Do they work reasonably well over uneven ground? I'd think they would still be better than a rotary. I also have a lot of rocks...I'll try to avoid them but I'm sure some will get hit. I can't imagine this is good for the flails, but then again, it seems like small flails would be less drama than hitting rocks with a rotary.

I've used my Caroni flail in similar circumstances and find it does a very good job. One inch brush is no sweat and I just drive over it forwards. Two inch brush is pretty easily handled by the flail but I don't like driving over it forwards as it tends to mangle electrical connectors, hydraulic hoses etc under my tractor so I back over it instead with the flail. When you back over brush it cuts it but leaves a 4-5 inch stubble which can then be cut down by driving forwards with the mower. The flail mulches much much better than a rotary mower.