Rotary Cutter Which 5' cutter to get

[leonz]

I have simply stated that flailmowers
are safer method of mowing in my opinion
and Iron Horses excellent narrative only proves
it every time.

The physics of the operation of a rotary cutter
or finish mower as well as the open area of
inlet and or discharge of of some models create
the opportunity for the impact and ejection of
any object it encounters.

 

[kubotakid USA]

AMEN, SoundGuy, Our state Highway dept uses rotarys to maintain the Highway medium as well as our county road comm, One way to keep a mower from flying apart is regular maintence, And keep skatter sheilds in place, my personal prefference is #1 Land Pride, or Woods, Dealer support is key, I would think hard before, You buy one of those NH Boomers, Quite a few around here and a few sick about there purchase, A couple guys that i know personaly are stuck with em,.. They bought em new on long term loans. Go with Kubota, new or used they cant be beat :thumbsup: Eric

 

[Soundguy]

The physics of the operation of a rotary cutter
or finish mower as well as the open area of
inlet and or discharge of of some models create
the opportunity for the impact and ejection of
any object it encounters.

mitigate as best you can ( maintenance, inspection , shields/guards and insurance ), and go on and live your life.

If I worried about every single thing that could kill me.. i'd never leave home.

Heck.. you have a 1:3200 chance of being hit be debri from space.

at those odds, the gig i'm playing at tonight is gonna have 1.5 people being hit from something falling out of orbit...

not gonna worry about it...

if there was some amazing benefit to a flail mower.. that'd be what evert gov't agiency would be using full time. I think I may have actually seen a county flail mower where I live.. once. but I see plenty of rotary mowers all over the place.

soundguy

soundguy

 

[beppington]

if there was some amazing benefit to a flail mower.. that'd be what evert gov't agiency would be using full time. I think I may have actually seen a county flail mower where I live.. once. but I see plenty of rotary mowers all over the place.

I agree that there are no amazing benefits to them, except they provide a closer-to-lawn cut quality, cutting the vegetation into finer pieces, are less likely to dangerously hurtle large objects outside the unit itself, rarely if ever gouge turf, & are closer up toward the rear of the tractor for better maneuverability.

Of course each buyer needs to decide for himself if these characteristics justify owning a flail mower. Obviously for you, Farms With Junk & most govt mowers, it doesn't. For many owners of small to medium & maybe some large farms or ranches, & for some govt mowers, it does.

Alachua Co, FL has at least 2 of them in service.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I agree that there are no amazing benefits to them,

It's not even that complicated.....

ALL of us are living under some sort of budget. Mine is based on what a very competitive market allows.

State maint, and private contractors log considerable hours on multiple tractor/mower rigs....The initial cost and maintenance cost of a typical commercial grade flail mower added to the slow mph's at which you can cut relative to the same width of a rotary cuts my productivity in half....Throw in the fact that the tractor to run a 15' batwing, vs cost of tractor to run an 8' rear mounted and a 7' side mounted flail is ALMOST 1/3rd LESS for the rotary.....compound that by the number of mowers at work....I'm up to 10 now...(7 bat wings, 3 single spindle) And don't forget the shear number of hours.....The cost difference between mowing with rotaries vs with flails is staggering. .....ALL my competition is bidding with "rotary cutter" numbers....I bid (and won) a specific state contract this year where I bid against 19 other contractors. My low bid was less than 2% from the HIGHEST bidder....Bid that same job mowing with a flail...? Bid would have had to be AT LEAST 30% higher....My margin of profit on that mow? (I do it 3 times per year...First 2 are done and paid....) About 7-1/2%

DO the math.....The inefficiency and cost of operation of a flail mower would eliminate any chance of being competitive....

There is only so much money to be had in what I do. Just because I'm infatuated with flail mowers, my competition isn't going to roll over and let me charge double for the work. The money isn't there, and real insurance company numbers tell states that the alleged "safety" of a flail vs real world safety numbers with rotaries doesn't warrant a change in bid specs.

I TRIED to make them work. Like I said in an earlier post....If I had all sorts of free time, and money truely was no object, there'd still be one more reason why I wouldn't own one....Their liabilities outstrip the advantages.....

Cost...Cost of operation...lack of productivity relative to better options....

 

[RoyJackson]

Have you read the large handfull of death and
injury news articles about rotary cutters involved
in object impact incidents here on the forum
which killed or maimed pedestrians or persons
traveling in vehicles nearby? If not, you should
do so as there are many news paper accounts of same.

Other then operator accidents such as falling off the tractor, I've only read of one incident in the last 10-12 years of someone being injured by debris thrown by a rotary cutter.

 

[Soundguy]

well that's enough! ban all rotarry cutters.. they are too dangerous. Even though more people died last year from toothpicks and plastic fork accidents.


soundguy

 

[beppington]

well that's enough! ban all rotarry cutters.. they are too dangerous. Even though more people died last year from toothpicks and plastic fork accidents.

That's just because there were more people pickin' their teeth after picnics :thumbsup: ... than rotary cutters in use. No, I do not have statistics or facts to back that up :laughing:

I don't know if your reply here was toward me, but I'm not saying rotary cutters are bad, just that there are uses for both. In fact, I thought for a while I'd be getting a flail mower when I do buy a mower of whatever kind (been using my dad's so far), & I still might, but I've been having 2nd thoughts because, while I sure like the lawn cut from the flail, & the other benefits I listed, my very wooded property drops a lot of oak & other hard wood limbs ... the kind flail mowers don't handle well. And I don't appreciate having to get off the tractor to move limbs all the time.

 

[Soundguy]

the average person uses a plastic fork 1.5x per week.

every 15 minutes, someone, somewhere is injured or killed by a plastic fork..

i brought that up to illustrate the realative safety of a rotary cutter

leonz made them out to be something like a deathray from outter space cooking people by the millions


sure.. there are plenty of good legitimate uses for flails...and rotary's.. and people still using hand held scythe's..

soundguy

 

[TripleR]

I don't know why this always seems to bring out such strong emotions and sometimes personal attacks.

Rotary cutters and flail mowers work well for some or they would quit making them.

I have never owned or even used a flail, but people I know and trust have and like them.

leonz provides his opinion and others provide theirs, we can take it or leave it, I just don't understand the hostility.

I have gotten a lot of good advice and information from many TBN members including leonz and don't know why we can't remain civil.