I am going to an auction soon to look at a couple of used flails (not sure condition),
I am brand new lails and wondering what zI should look for? Thanks
First:
Thank you so kindly Nighttrain for the kind compliment
Second:
Hello and good evening UGAbulldog,
First and foremost you will need to find out if the flailmower(s)
will fit your actual needs and mowing duties.
My dad used a seven foot JD25A finish flailmower for years behind
a gas Ford Jubilee with an oil bath pre-cleaner
If they have side slicers they will do mow brush and also good sod
for you with no changes other than mowing height.
A scoop knive is used for heavy brush mowing and can be used for good
sod but will leave a bit of a waffle pattern.
The second thing is making sure you have power enough in your
prime mover(tractor) to operate the flailmower. The other issue
is whether you have a hydrostatic tractor and it has a high enough
PTO horsepower available at 540 R.P.M.
If you can spend some time before the auction with these mowers:
A small machinist hammer will tell you the condition of the steel and
the welds. check the three point attachment points, they can be a bit rusty
but thay have to be solid-you should not be able to bend them.
you still can obtain pin adapters to convert a type one or two hitch to a
type three hitch etc.
Parts are available for most all makes of flailmowers and parts for the Mott
line are a specialty of the two families that own flail master and clean cutter.
Bearings and V belts are always available as they are a metric sized repair part
so thats never an issue.
The side slicer knives, scoop knives and hammer knives and knive hangers are
what is referrred to as a consumable part which are also available.
If the mowers are used Motts or john Deere flail mowers you will have
a bidding war on your hands but hold firm and wait the other bidders out
when bidding as parts are available.
These units do not have any special drive line requirements as the V belts are the
sacrificial link to protect the flailmower. More than likely the PTO Shafts will be
gone and then you can buy the right sized shaft for the mower and your tractor.
If the flailmowers are the older Motts they may go inexpensively and would be
a good winter project if your into that sort of thing as a repaired functional flail
mower will sell on craigs list or the local pennysaver/shopper.
If it is a John Deere 25A either a 5-6 or seven footer win the bidding war by biding
your time as the competition will drop out.These mowers(7 footers)are hitting
the $6,000.00 range as new units.
You can buy parts for old John Deere flail mowers too so thats not an issue.
People have a generla dislike of flail mowers because they have more mower knives
and require a bit of work BUT the safety and piece of mind with flail mower cannot be
challenged by any other mower in my opinion because they do not throw things like a
rotary cutter and mow at a much lower decibel rating for the end user even mowing
heavy brush as all the noise is kept under the mower hood.
If you could provide me with an auction link I can give you a better opinion.
leonZ
