Here we go again... Flail Mower vs. Rotary cutter question... New England / upstate N

[Parkanzky]

Woods IS NOT what it used to be. Here are some photos. 1 is a 10 year old Land Pride RCR60 with well over 500 acres through it, The other is a 2 month old Woods BBX72 with less than 40 acres through it. I am finishing the season and buying another landpride and my Wife home town is home of woods!!!!

We call a friend of mine the "Woods Heiress." Her grandfather and two of his brothers founded the company in the 40's. There was a lot of friction a decade or so ago when the company sold to a venture capital firm. The other two brothers wanted to retire but her grandfather would have rather kept the company.

I know that part of the lure for the company that ended up owning Woods was to increase their distribution channel for other implement brands they owned. They may have decided to combine the portfolios of a few companies but to sell it all under the Woods' brand, which would explain a sudden change in design and construction.

Her father, brother, a friend, and I built a privacy fence at her new home last month. We couldn't help but laugh at the irony of having to call a half-dozen rental shops and everybody we knew to find a PTO-driven PHD to set all the posts!

 

[mjstef]

Well you bought the lightest duty Woods cutter of the three offered and proceeded to use it as a rock breaker. The results could have been predicted. When you respond, post the complete Landpride model # (like RCR_560). I'll bet it is at least the medium duty machine, if not the heavy duty.

Landpride is an RCR1860 which has the same gearbox rating ect. Woods is misleading when they call their cutter Xtreme. Montana has rocks, It's a fact of life living out here. It would take a lifetime to clean most of the areas i cut of them. Cutting the pastures in the good farmland areas you rarely see any but get in the foothills and mountains and many times you have to blast to get a water line 5' deep or get a foundation in. Construction sites are rough and contractors leave stuff all over. I find some of the stuff, The mower finds the rest. I spend nearly 8 hours walking a 60 acre subdivision i mow and still find stuff to hit. Landpride also has the ORIGINAL tail wheel bushing and i got 80 hours out of the Woods one before it disintegrated. Had a machine shop make me a bronze one that is holding up well as no dealer within 500 miles had one in stock and i needed the cutter the next day. Kubota dealer here sells Woods and Landpride and will tell you the same thing about woods quality lacking the last few years...............

 

[SPYDERLK]

Well, it appears Deere won't be honoring a warranty claim for my MX6. I don't blame them - I didn't check the slip clutch this spring, and the deck has taken some good slashes (blades riding up over rocks. My last brush hog (Woods) was a 5'er and worked well for years with no really issues. MX6 didn't hold up as well, and then the spindle broke).

So, I'm in the market for a new cutter. I started looking at the Brown 416 and Woods BB720x (and Brush Hog BH26) as the "obvious" replacements, but happened across the Flail thread (200+ pages!). I see lots of folks love their flails, and I see road crews using them exclusively around here.

But I wonder if they are a good fit for me. I keep a few old fields open (mowing once a year...), grass and small brush at this point (well under an inch, but I've been known to tackle up to 2" when enlarging things). But LOTS of rock (Adirondacks. We grow more rocks than trees...and we have a lot of trees). When I find them and can move them I do, but there is lots of ledge, boulders, etc..., particularly on the ski and sled trails I mow once a year as well.

If a flail will handle this uneven, rough terrain well I'm inclined to go that route (seems quieter and certainly safer).

I don't want to waste my $ on something that won't work though. Particularly after just purchasing the MX6 3 years ago.

Any thoughts / experiences from folks with similar conditions and experience with flails would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and if it matters the tractor is a Deere 4520 (replaced my Yanmar 336D. the Deere is a more comfortable, more capable, faster machine, but I still miss the Yanmar).

Thank you!

Im guessing you have the JD4520 CUT vs the older large heavy 4520 utility tractor. The bigger one would mash and tear up most any bushog that isnt heavy duty. ... To say nothing of what it would do to a flail if you tried to substitute it for a bushog.

Your application seems most suited to a single spindle bushog. Your CUT would be quite happy with a 6 or 7 foot. However, my single experience where I could directly compare the cut quality and HD shredding capability of 2 successive sizes in the same model line steered me to the smaller w/o question. This was with the JD 127 and 227 Gyramor -- 5 foot and 6 foot. The drive was a JD 2010 tricycle w/loaded tires - ~6000#, 45 HP PTO. Both bushogs used the same gearbox rated for 125HP with cutter rated for 4" trees - no stumpjumper. The tractor had no problem with either, but the smaller cutter cut stuff better - large or small. Im thinking 5' is the sweet spot for a single spindle cutter. ... And it was great fitting inside the tire tracks of the JD.

You may actually need a wider cutter for speed in completing the job. Thats too bad because youre getting out of that sweet spot. I believe you will need mid to heavy duty to reduce obstacle size reliably. Be sure to get one with a slip clutch.

As for flail suitability, Its going to cost you a lot in blades and since the blades just bounce off significant obstacles youll be stuck dispensing with them manually rather than pulverizing them naturally in the course of mowing. Flails have their place so its good to have both. We have a 5' Rears flail with heavy rotor and knives. It weighs twice the Gyramor. It chops up the little stuff, up to 2", so nice but is pathetic compared with the 127 in heavy cut situations. I spend 10x keeping it in blades too.

 

[kevin37b]

I would go out in the spring and find the rocks with FEL not the mower .

 

[RickB]

Landpride is an RCR1860 which has the same gearbox rating ect. Woods is misleading when they call their cutter Xtreme.

There's nothing extreme about your Woods.
You bought the lightest of the Brush Bull series.

 

[mjstef]

I would go out in the spring and find the rocks with FEL not the mower .

You can get away with that in Illinois. I grew up on the Wisconsin border and remember picking hayrack loads every spring before we planted corn and oats. Mowing native pastures here it's not that easy. These places have NEVER been tilled. There are rock outcroppings hidden everywhere especially when i get up in the mountains. Try to dig them out and you'll need one **** of an excavator. Most of what i mow is commercial for multiple clients and hobby farmers in my 5,200 sq mile county. Last year we mowed over 100 acres of pastures and vacant lots. 1/3'rd of them are pretty "rugged" I keep a "special" set of blades for those lots. We mow here when the native grasses dry out to keep wildfires at bay as well as keeping noxious weeds in check. I left HELLinois in 1999 and it's a whole different world out here......

 

[mjstef]

There's nothing extreme about your Woods.
You bought the lightest of the Brush Bull series.

Like i said, Misleading advertising.............

 

[MinnesotaEric]

You guys see my Woods BB720X videos?

Here is one of them.

 

[SometimesHappyCamper]

Well, it appears Deere won't be honoring a warranty claim for my MX6. I don't blame them - I didn't check the slip clutch this spring, and the deck has taken some good slashes (blades riding up over rocks. My last brush hog (Woods) was a 5'er and worked well for years with no really issues. MX6 didn't hold up as well, and then the spindle broke).

So, I'm in the market for a new cutter. I started looking at the Brown 416 and Woods BB720x (and Brush Hog BH26) as the "obvious" replacements, but happened across the Flail thread (200+ pages!). I see lots of folks love their flails, and I see road crews using them exclusively around here.

But I wonder if they are a good fit for me. I keep a few old fields open (mowing once a year...), grass and small brush at this point (well under an inch, but I've been known to tackle up to 2" when enlarging things). But LOTS of rock (Adirondacks. We grow more rocks than trees...and we have a lot of trees). When I find them and can move them I do, but there is lots of ledge, boulders, etc..., particularly on the ski and sled trails I mow once a year as well.

If a flail will handle this uneven, rough terrain well I'm inclined to go that route (seems quieter and certainly safer).

I don't want to waste my $ on something that won't work though. Particularly after just purchasing the MX6 3 years ago.

Any thoughts / experiences from folks with similar conditions and experience with flails would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and if it matters the tractor is a Deere 4520 (replaced my Yanmar 336D. the Deere is a more comfortable, more capable, faster machine, but I still miss the Yanmar).

Well, it appears Deere won't be honoring a warranty claim for my MX6. I don't blame them - I didn't check the slip clutch this spring, and the deck has taken some good slashes (blades riding up over rocks. My last brush hog (Woods) was a 5'er and worked well for years with no really issues. MX6 didn't hold up as well, and then the spindle broke).

So, I'm in the market for a new cutter. I started looking at the Brown 416 and Woods BB720x (and Brush Hog BH26) as the "obvious" replacements, but happened across the Flail thread (200+ pages!). I see lots of folks love their flails, and I see road crews using them exclusively around here.

But I wonder if they are a good fit for me. I keep a few old fields open (mowing once a year...), grass and small brush at this point (well under an inch, but I've been known to tackle up to 2" when enlarging things). But LOTS of rock (Adirondacks. We grow more rocks than trees...and we have a lot of trees). When I find them and can move them I do, but there is lots of ledge, boulders, etc..., particularly on the ski and sled trails I mow once a year as well.

If a flail will handle this uneven, rough terrain well I'm inclined to go that route (seems quieter and certainly safer).

I don't want to waste my $ on something that won't work though. Particularly after just purchasing the MX6 3 years ago.

Any thoughts / experiences from folks with similar conditions and experience with flails would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and if it matters the tractor is a Deere 4520 (replaced my Yanmar 336D. the Deere is a more comfortable, more capable, faster machine, but I still miss the Yanmar).

Thank you!

Well, it appears Deere won't be honoring a warranty claim for my MX6. I don't blame them - I didn't check the slip clutch this spring, and the deck has taken some good slashes (blades riding up over rocks. My last brush hog (Woods) was a 5'er and worked well for years with no really issues. MX6 didn't hold up as well, and then the spindle broke).

So, I'm in the market for a new cutter. I started looking at the Brown 416 and Woods BB720x (and Brush Hog BH26) as the "obvious" replacements, but happened across the Flail thread (200+ pages!). I see lots of folks love their flails, and I see road crews using them exclusively around here.

But I wonder if they are a good fit for me. I keep a few old fields open (mowing once a year...), grass and small brush at this point (well under an inch, but I've been known to tackle up to 2" when enlarging things). But LOTS of rock (Adirondacks. We grow more rocks than trees...and we have a lot of trees). When I find them and can move them I do, but there is lots of ledge, boulders, etc..., particularly on the ski and sled trails I mow once a year as well.

If a flail will handle this uneven, rough terrain well I'm inclined to go that route (seems quieter and certainly safer).

I don't want to waste my $ on something that won't work though. Particularly after just purchasing the MX6 3 years ago.

Any thoughts / experiences from folks with similar conditions and experience with flails would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and if it matters the tractor is a Deere 4520 (replaced my Yanmar 336D. the Deere is a more comfortable, more capable, faster machine, but I still miss the Yanmar).

Thank you!

We got a flail to maintain some rougher fields - medium duty - and find that rocks are a serious problem. A couple hammers per hour to replace , which is barely managable. But as well, on our 3rd hour we caught a rock with an edge and it mauled a hammer hanger, so we'll need to wait for the welder to come and hopefully fix that. The particular rock that caused the problem was on a clean field with a buried rock that shows through, which we often caught the top of with our zero turn mower giving us some concern about wear and tear, but never stopping us from mowing. I had my hand on the hydraulic lift but wasn't even anticipating having to make a quick correction on this one.

I'm a fan of DR power string mowers, which can be thrown and anything, though just a little byte at a time. We'll try to get these fields safer for the flail using the string mower to find all the rocks, and mark them or mulch them.

I'd watched the various videos of flail mowers happily cruising overgrown areas , making loud noises but never getting stopped, and was oversold on the idea. Can't do that kind of boldly going where no mower has gone for a few years in New England with our flail.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I have a rotary mower, a drum mower, a flail mower, a lawn tractor and a push mower. I'm probably going to sell the flail mower. There's just no job for which it's the best mower. The flail just won't cut grass over about a foot tall, it wraps around the shaft and jams and burns out the belts. For grass that tall I have to use the rough mower or the drum mower. I find the cutting capacity -- in terms of what it can handle, not width -- is just a little better than the lawn tractor, it just clogs on really thick stuff. For lawns the lawn tractor is better, it's a lot smaller but it's nimbler than my tractor with the flail mower on the back. If I had lawns that were like football fields the flail mower might be better because if you're just going straight you can mow a lot of grass, but my lawns are full of obstacles and irregularly shaped and I need the tight turning radius.

My rotary mower is the most versatile, it's a Woods about 15 years old. I've replaced the blades a couple of times, and the stumpjumper a couple of times, and the rear wheel, and welded the deck. I have a lot of rocks. If I want to convert an area into lawn I hit it first with the rotary mower and wait about a week and hit it with the lawn tractor.