Flail mower for BCS 730?

[farmerboybill]

Be careful when using the flail mower on a 107d. I've dealt with two clutch failures due to the flail mower and improper engagement of the clutch by the user. Joel has a good overview on proper clutch engagement when using a high-power requirement attachment like the flail mower.

 

[CodeMonkey]

How big are the tires?

I think they are 5-10

The ones on my BCS are 4-8 I think - much smaller

I unloaded it when I got home from work. Took me a while to figure out I wasn't getting it into gear, I thought there was something wrong with it, but it is just hard to tell when it is in gear.

So then I mowed the ditch along my road with the sickle mower, and tried some brambles and tall grass.

I think I am going to prefer the flail mower, especially for brush and brambles. That will be my next thing to try.

I also think this thing is going to give me quite the workout and I am very glad for the steering brakes as they make it easier to manage on uneven ground.

The cables need some adjusting and I tried real hard but could not get the diff lock to engage - I could have used it a few times.

I also think I am going to get some axle extensions and maybe dual up the wheels.

But so far, overall I like it better than my BCS. The quality seems to be better.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Be careful when using the flail mower on a 107d. I've dealt with two clutch failures due to the flail mower and improper engagement of the clutch by the user. Joel has a good overview on proper clutch engagement when using a high-power requirement attachment like the flail mower.

ok thanks - i will try to find that

 

[CodeMonkey]

 

[farmerboybill]

Nice looking machine. You have the adapter you need to run the tiller and chipper from your 730. It's the 2 inch long extension between the sickle mower and the quick coupler.

Also, I don't like the setup your flail mower came with. You can buy an integral quick coupler from Earth Tools that will have an elongated hole to allow for side to side tilt. This will make the flail mower follow the lay of the ground better. It's an easy change out.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Nice looking machine. You have the adapter you need to run the tiller and chipper from your 730. It's the 2 inch long extension between the sickle mower and the quick coupler.

Also, I don't like the setup your flail mower came with. You can buy an integral quick coupler from Earth Tools that will have an elongated hole to allow for side to side tilt. This will make the flail mower follow the lay of the ground better. It's an easy change out.

Thanks for the info.

Do you know which coupler that is, or do I need to ask Earth Tools?

 

[CodeMonkey]

I am thinking I will probably keep the tiller from the BCS 730 then, adapt it to the Grillo, and put the sickle bar on the 730 and eventually sell that.

Not sure what I will do with the chipper shredder. I will try it with the Grillo and try using the chipper chute instead of the shredder chute again. I tried it before but I didn't really care for working it that way - it was much easier to just put the material in from the top, but that will kill the engine on the 730 too easily. Plus, most of my material was just too large for it either way - it was a LOT easier to just put it in a pile and burn it.

All my slash is burned now though (save for a few stumps that didn't completely burn yet), so most material I will have now going forward will be stuff I could chip/shred if the chipper will handle it.

I would like to use the material to work it back into the ground, but the slash was just too large to deal with and there were a lot of stumps in there too. Fortunately I only had three piles to burn. I am so glad I didn't clear cut like my neighbors. My property looks so much better and I have the trees and shade still.

 

[farmerboybill]

Just ask for the components that make a Berta flail mower attachment from a bolt-on into an integral quick coupler. There will be a round hole on one side and an oval hole on the other side. Put the oval hole up so you get the side to side tilt. The round hole is for use with a rotary plow I don't think Joel even offers the flail mower without this attachment anymore.

 

[CodeMonkey]

So I switched over to the flail - which has the quick connect already - and took that out for a spin. Much much better at brush cutting than the sickle bar. This is very much going to work for me. Slower, but does a better job and doesn't just scoot under the brambles like the sickle bar.

I was pleasantly surprised at how it would try to chew up saplings 2 to 3 inches thick - at about that point I had to back off or it would stop.

What stopped it in an instant is that ground cover cloth. Plastic sheet can somewhat slow it down it down, but that fabric cover cloth stops it right now. And no, I didn't know it was there - the PO put it down and that was grass and other stuff had grown up through it. The plastic was in the briars. The PO was bad about throwing stuff into the woods - for all his posturing about not cutting down trees and letting the forest alone, he sure treated it like a garbage dump. :irked:

Anyway, I definitely need bigger wheels. I would get stuck in holes and ruts, which there are plenty of, both bottoming out the tractor and spinning the wheels. Also need more weight in/on the wheels, and I think widening out the wheel stance will help too.

 

[jrpeterson05]

Got a low hours Grillo 107D with 11 HP Honda, sickle mower and flail mower for $2000

Pretty good deal IMO

I am hoping that this will do the trick.

So you are the person who got that. I am in Utah and I was ready to drive 12 hours one way to pick it up. I have been looking for a 107d for over a year.

I hope it works out for you.