Flail Mower Anyone use a mighty max flail by vrisimo?

[muktananda]

I need a 6-7 foot flail mower for my L3130 kubota. I have 22 acres of hay field/pature and can't hay three - four acres but use it for pasture. My goats just don't eat it all down. Some gets very high and thick. My brush hog won't cut the tall stuff and plus even when I cut it at a lower height it makes a mess of course. I need a fine cut to mulch it back into the soil. I have decided I need a flail and after looking at John Deer, Caroni, Land Pride, Rears and Vrisimo I think the Vrisimo would work best as it seems to be fairly heavy duty and the PTO HP required (22- 24) works for my tractor where as some of the others do not. However, I can not find one review by anyone on the internet for the vrisimo mighty max 6 or 7 foot flail mower or any of their flail mowers? The dealer here is telling me it is better than the Land Pride which is one of the few others I can safely put a 6-7 footer on my tractor. The dealer sells both brands. I am hoping someone will be able to tell me if they use a vrisimo mighty max or other vrisimo flail in their hay field to mulch up tall, thick grass and what you think of it.

 

[leonz]

I need a 6-7 foot flail mower for my L3130 kubota. I have 22 acres of hay field/pature and can't hay three - four acres but use it for pasture. My goats just don't eat it all down. Some gets very high and thick. My brush hog won't cut the tall stuff and plus even when I cut it at a lower height it makes a mess of course. I need a fine cut to mulch it back into the soil. I have decided I need a flail and after looking at John Deer, Caroni, Land Pride, Rears and Vrisimo I think the Vrisimo would work best as it seems to be fairly heavy duty and the PTO HP required (22- 24) works for my tractor where as some of the others do not. However, I can not find one review by anyone on the internet for the vrisimo mighty max 6 or 7 foot flail mower or any of their flail mowers? The dealer here is telling me it is better than the Land Pride which is one of the few others I can safely put a 6-7 footer on my tractor. The dealer sells both brands. I am hoping someone will be able to tell me if they use a vrisimo mighty max or other vrisimo flail in their hay field to mulch up tall, thick grass and what you think of it.

We used a 7 foot JD25A fine cut flailmower with a Ford Jubilee on 12 acres of overgrown pasture for a long time and it knocked down 12 foot golden rod without any hesitation. After a few weeks of continuous mowing we had the pasture down to the sod where we wanted it and kept it that way with the flail mower. The John Deere 25A flail mowers are extremely well built also.


You will not go wrong buying the land pride flailmower either as it is an
italian made flailmower with the land pride colors.


Just dont expect the scoop knives to cut very well until the entire mess is knocked down;
and in saying that, the grass knives/side slicers will mow better and much quicker for you.

The rigidly mounted side slicers do not have the ability to swing out and create an airfoil to permit the side slice to cut level so you you will have funny looking grass after you cut it.


There is usually a small herd of the John Deere 25A flailmowers for sale-both new and used in tractorhouse every week and parts and knives are easiy purchased locally-but spare parts from the clean cutter and flailmaster folks are less expensive than from John Deere.

 

[billybobjimmyjoejack]

I use a 5' offset Vrisimo that is about 20 years old (same as the mighty max) that I bought used about 3 years ago on craigslist for less than $300 (what a deal). I replaced the bearings which where stock sizes ($125) and a new belt ($54) and then later I replaced the knives and hangers ($125). I have mowed about 250 acres that was mostly shorter grass with some blackberry vines.
I use my Ford 1715 with no problems at all.
Vrisimo is in California and the guys in the technical department were a great help with any questions that I had.
I also believe that the Vrisimo is a better mower than the Land Pride.

 

[muktananda]

Thank you for your replies. I would love to get a JD. Everyone seems to love them but they won't work on my tractor that can only take a max 24 HP PTO. I am really limited. The Varisimo had a 6' flail (mighty max C172) that would work for my pto limits. There are BestCo (made in China I understand) flails that appear they might work also. However, JD, Land Pride, and Rears which are all sold in my area had too high of a min pto limit. The Vrisimo was built for almond orchards in Ca and has been out for about 40 years. It looks fantastic and strong. Seems to meet my needs but since it was built for orchards and not hay fields and I have not been able to find anyone who uses it to clean up tall thick grass, I was a bit concerned. Could not even find folks talking about it anywhere on the internet. Even the folks who manufacture, nor the local seller could not hook me up with a farmer using it in tall grass fields. Seemed strange.

 

[leonz]

Thank you for your replies. I would love to get a JD. Everyone seems to love them but they won't work on my tractor that can only take a max 24 HP PTO. I am really limited. The Varisimo had a 6' flail (mighty max C172) that would work for my pto limits. There are BestCo (made in China I understand) flails that appear they might work also. However, JD, Land Pride, and Rears which are all sold in my area had too high of a min pto limit. The Vrisimo was built for almond orchards in Ca and has been out for about 40 years. It looks fantastic and strong. Seems to meet my needs but since it was built for orchards and not hay fields and I have not been able to find anyone who uses it to clean up tall thick grass, I was a bit concerned. Could not even find folks talking about it anywhere on the internet. Even the folks who manufacture, nor the local seller could not hook me up with a farmer using it in tall grass fields. Seemed strange.

Spend some time on the Attachment page of the forum
after you type flail mowers in the search box and you will
learn quite a bit about flailmowers. You will see many of
us that use flailmowers inn tall grass as I mentioned with
zero issues.

There is a simple learning curve YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND:

DO NOT TRAVEL FAST THROUGH TALL GRASS AND BRUSH,
you will burn up a set of flailmower drive belts and or stall.

This is all you have to remember, A lot of us use a lot of
different brands of flail mowers AND grass knives/side slicers
work very well in all conditions-except in trying to knock down
small trees with a small flail mower.

The gras and brush mowers are not ment for that specific job
which requires a forestry flailmower.

 

[sodamo]

Thank you for your replies. I would love to get a JD. Everyone seems to love them but they won't work on my tractor that can only take a max 24 HP PTO. I am really limited. The Varisimo had a 6' flail (mighty max C172) that would work for my pto limits. There are BestCo (made in China I understand) flails that appear they might work also. However, JD, Land Pride, and Rears which are all sold in my area had too high of a min pto limit. The Vrisimo was built for almond orchards in Ca and has been out for about 40 years. It looks fantastic and strong. Seems to meet my needs but since it was built for orchards and not hay fields and I have not been able to find anyone who uses it to clean up tall thick grass, I was a bit concerned. Could not even find folks talking about it anywhere on the internet. Even the folks who manufacture, nor the local seller could not hook me up with a farmer using it in tall grass fields. Seemed strange.

Talk with Keith at Betsco about the Value Leader line. I got the EFGCH 175 couple years ago, very well built and way more affordable than anything I could get locally or anything else shipped. Value Line has a variety of sizes and duty ratings.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[muktananda]

Leonz, I did not see anyone using a Vrisimo mighty max which is the one I hoped to purchase since it seems to be the best built one that would fit my pto requirements. I am very limited. Did I miss someone talking about them. I also hoped to buy an American made machine. It is possible Vrisimo is no longer made here, but it use to be made here. (Things do change and everything seems to move to China.) I know about the different types of blades and how to use the flails. Even know some brands that work great. They just won't work on my tractor. I plan to go look at the BestCo flails tomorrow although I hate to give up what looks like a well built Vrisimo. Do you know anything about the Vrisimo brand used in tall thick hay fields? I have seen some flails leave more of a mess than others. That is what my concern is. I only want to mow once. I know a John Deer flail will mow the field easily and mulch it great leaving a clean cut but I can't use any of them on my 24 hp pto. This is the issue I am having with all the ones I know will do a good job.

 

[leonz]

Leonz, I did not see anyone using a Vrisimo mighty max which is the one I hoped to purchase since it seems to be the best built one that would fit my pto requirements. I am very limited. Did I miss someone talking about them. I also hoped to buy an American made machine. It is possible Vrisimo is no longer made here, but it use to be made here. (Things do change and everything seems to move to China.) I know about the different types of blades and how to use the flails. Even know some brands that work great. They just won't work on my tractor. I plan to go look at the BestCo flails tomorrow although I hate to give up what looks like a well built Vrisimo. Do you know anything about the Vrisimo brand used in tall thick hay fields? I have seen some flails leave more of a mess than others. That is what my concern is. I only want to mow once. I know a John Deer flail will mow the field easily and mulch it great leaving a clean cut but I can't use any of them on my 24 hp pto. This is the issue I am having with all the ones I know will do a good job.

About your needs;


You can mow with the john deere, the issue is whether you can lift it.

The Vrisimo is still made in California by a second owner of the firm name
and equipment line.

If you are trying to mow in one pass and have sod with a flail mower the issue
is horse power and more of it while the machine is crawling in low range gear.


I would rather you bought a new flail mower for your mule from Ken Sweet as
he is a forum sponsor in good standing.

Your going to have to look at a flail mower with a five foot cut or better yet a
mower with a "four foot cut with a fine cut flail mower rotor with four rows of knives"

I have four footer with a fine cut flail mower rotor that is motorised and it works very
very well and a PTO powered mower of this size or a five footer will work well as long
as you travel slowly.

I must stress to you that you read the flailmower posts here on the forum to get your answer
as Vrisimo is not the only builder of flail mowers and a tractor that runs at the engine speed for the rear PTO
will permit you toi take half cuts witha five footer and still knock it down.

MOWING ONCE A YEAR will only postpone problems for you where if you mowed more often or when
the sod and brush is winter killed will require less energy because there is less water in the brush and grass.

 

[troverman]

Old thread, but maybe helpful to someone. I am running a Vrismo Mighty Max 4-foot flail mower behind my Kubota B2920. I am mowing 25 acres with it, in grass ranging from thinner field hay up to nearly 3 foot tall thick stalky grass. This also includes some wet areas, and a lot of slopes. The mower does great, but definitely requires patience. I am using the lowest of my 3 gear ranges, and in the very tall, or very thick, or very wet sections I am just creeping forward. The end result is a very nice mulched up carpet behind you, rough in a coupe of spots here and there, but overall a very nice look. I think a bit more horsepower would help (I have 21 PTO hp) but also be aware of the weight of a good flail - my little 4-footer is about 650 lbs. The Vrismo is well made. They use a silly "banded" double belt which is $70+ but it turns out you can run two v-belts, 49" long, which work great