New Tractor and Flail Mower

[vlcakc]

Drove over to the dealer this afternoon to check out the new tractor and mower I ordered. The tractor is a 2018 Case Farmall 55 CVT w/cab. The mower is a Land Pride FM2584 flail, the "84" in the model number being the cutting width in inches. The tractor and mower replaces the New Holland TC-45D and New Holland 918H I've used for the past 16 years. The mower mounts with a Land Pride QH15 quick hitch. The dealer had the mower mounted and had tested it before I arrived. The mower mounted easily with the quick hitch. Mower ran very smoothly with no vibration felt in the cab. Mower appears very "beefy", even more so than the NH 918H which was a pretty heavy duty mower in it's own right. Mower came equipped with the "Y" blade option. I also ordered a set of HD hammer blades to deal with a brushy pasture area that needs clearing later this Spring. Dealer is waiting on the last implement, a grapple, to be delivered before he can deliver everything. Grapple is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, so may get delivery later this week.

I'll be very interested to see how the new mower performs compared to the old NH918H. The old mower handled everything I tried with no problems. Never even had to replace the belts! Can post pics and initial impressions in a few days if anyone is interested. Later, Vic

 

[Xfaxman]

Yep, pictures please.

 

[majorwager]

Agree with photo request. Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

 

[vlcakc]

Agree with photo request. Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

The last implement, the grapple, was delivered to the dealer today, so hopefully I will get delivery soon! Photo requests noted! I'll have the camera ready when the delivery truck arrives.

The dealer was a little concerned that the flail I specified might be too large for the tractor I bought. He was more concerned about the 3-point lift capacity than the PTO HP though. Land Pride Engineering was contacted with the question. Their response was that there would be no problem with HP, that this flail could be used on tractors with even less PTO HP. A test run in the dealers yard verified that the lift capacity was way more than adequate. There was no heavy grass or weeds in the. dealer's yard to mow, so the PTO output couldn't be really challenged. After using the NH 918H flail on a smaller tractor in some heavy 5-6' vegetation with no problems, I've become a member of the "If you can lift it, you can spin it school". When I start clearing the brushy pasture land later this Spring I'll find out for sure. Vic

 

[RoyJackson]

Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

I have a Caroni 1900 flail mower (72") behind a 46 PTO tractor. It's going to depend on how thick and tall the vegetation is. I normally mow field grasses up to about 3' tall and not real thick. Doesn't even slow the mower or tractor down a bit.

 

[vlcakc]

Tractor and implements were delivered this afternoon!



Yuk! New Land Pride / Kubota orange isn't a great color match for a red tractor. It'll just have to do though.



Close up showing LP Quick Hitch installation.



I had to give it a trial run! More later. Vic

 

[vlcakc]

Quick test run on last year's Bluestem vegetation. "Y" blades were on the mower. Hammer blades are on order.



Cut was smooth and clean. Granted, dry grass isn't much of a challenge, but it's all I've got now.



Mulching was very good on the dry grass. The skids will need to be adjusted as they were dragging a furrow. Otherwise everything looks good.

I'll start another thread on the EA grapple later. Vic

 

[majorwager]

An orange tractor purchase would have solved the color coordination issue. Land Pride did offer a beige color option, perhaps not now that they are kubota owned??

 

[Fallon]

Agree with photo request. Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

I had to go slower with my 7' flail than my 5' rotary on my L3200, but covered the same acres per hour more or less. What was explained to me & makes a lot of sense is mulching. Flails re-cut material a lot more & do a better job mulching. But all that re-cutting takes power. I like the superior finish quality & mulching action, so it's worth it to me.

 

[Fallon]

Beat to **** patched up old Ford 917 7' flail behind my old L3200. A 7' wide mower on a 25hp PTP 32hp engine machine is kind of pushing it. But it did the job well if a little slowly in that thicker grass & brush. I ran that mower on my new L4060 last year until I replaced it with the yet un-proven Peruzzo Super Bull here this winter.

I love the nice smooth carpet it left, no clumps even in that heavy grass. And due to the heavy mulching action that fine carpet disappeared below the live grass quickly.

 

[vlcakc]

Re: New Tractor and Flail Mower-Photos!

An orange tractor purchase would have solved the color coordination issue. Land Pride did offer a beige color option, perhaps not now that they are kubota owned??

I looked at Kubota seriously and really wanted to like the orange tractors. There is a dealer not too far away that is good to deal with. I've bought implements from him before. However, after a couple of test drives I just didn't feel as comfortable in the Kubota. The cab seemed a bit cramped, I'm 6'-4" and 250, and the controls felt a little awkward compared to my old New Holland TC-45D. The Case cab is roomier and the controls are fairly similar to the old NH. I probably could have adjusted to the Kubota controls after some use, but the Case was just easier. I also preferred the emission control system design on the Case compared to the Kubota.

My old Land Pride implements were beige, but after LP was bought out by Kubota orange seems to be the color of choice. A beige color if available at all seems to be limited. At any rate for what I wanted orange seemed to be all the dealer could source. Vic

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

I had to go slower with my 7' flail than my 5' rotary on my L3200, but covered the same acres per hour more or less. What was explained to me & makes a lot of sense is mulching. Flails re-cut material a lot more & do a better job mulching. But all that re-cutting takes power. I like the superior finish quality & mulching action, so it's worth it to me.

Yes but your cutting 5 ft compared to seven hook up a seven ft rotary mower and see how your tractor handles it

 

[vlcakc]

Adjusted the cutting height of the LP FM2584 flail mower today. Cutting height can be adjusted from 0" to 6" in one inch increments by raising or lowering the rear roller. As delivered it was set at 1" which resulted in excessive scalping, the skid plates digging furrows and a nice mud pack on the inside of the mower housing. Here is a shot of from the rear with the access door open. It isn't necessary to open the access to adjust the cutting height, I wanted a better look at the internals of the mower. The rotor and Y blades are shown.



The mower was raised and supported on jack-stands. Shown here is the left side roller adjustment plate in the original 1" position. The right side is a mirror image.



The plate is adjusted by removing the uppermost large bolt and pivoting on the one on the left side of the plate. The LP manual suggests lowering the mower to the supporting surface to the approximate height desired and using a pry bar to raise the roller assembly to final height. I chose to leave the mower on the jack-stands and raise the roller with a Hi-Lift jack under the rear skid plates. I decided to raise the cutting height 2" from the original position for a total of 3" for another test run. Shown here is the roller in the new position.



Another test run was made. No more scalping, furrows or mud slinging! I plan on leaving the cutting height at 3" until later this Summer when the turf grasses (mostly Bermuda here) are actively growing, Then I'll raise the height a bit more. Later, Vic

 

[TSO]

Very nice. I run my 90" 918h behind my Massey 1652 HST which has around 40'ish PTO HP. What made you upgrade to the new flail? Was it just a matter of getting new equipment?

And congrats on the new tractor, I'll be interested to hear how you feel about the CVT transmission compared to your hydrostat.

I also like to make recommendation to you. Get a hydraulic top link for that tractor!!! They're not that expensive and they literally are a night-and-day change to what you've been dealing with on almost every rear Implement that you'll be using. With the flail, you can change the cutting height on the fly simply by extending or retracting your top link. Basically you change the angle of attack of the flail, and it's an instantaneous change from the seat of your machine while you're driving.


Here's some frozen Cattails that I mowed down this winter when the ground was firm enough. By removing the rear trash door of the flail and pulling in the drawbar to tilt the back up, on the Fly, I was able to back into the worst areas and run the machine almost like a forestry Mulcher until I knocked it down a bit. (Note, this wasn't my 918h, actually borrowed my buddies, as I managed to break the mounting 3-point bracket on mine a week prior and didn't get a chance to take it apart and reweld it... His flail doesn't have the rear rolling drum, so it's easier to back into brush like this)

 

[TerryR]

Yuk! New Land Pride / Kubota orange isn't a great color match for a red tractor. It'll just have to do though.

I have never understood the obsession with matching tractor and implement colors. What's wrong with the color of the implement showing off its brand? Are people not proud of the brands of implement they bought, or what?

 

[vlcakc]

TSO: Nice job on the cattails! The 918H flails mow really well. The buyer that bought the old NH TC-45D wanted a package deal since he had no tractor or implements. I sold him everything: Tractor, flail mower, grading scraper, box blade, 3-point sprayer, quick hitch, tiller, etc. The NH 918H was still mowing great after 16 years. As I got older, I'm 82, I no longer had the hand and arm strength to mount the mower and stab the drive line on the PTO stub shaft by myself. I'm hoping the new tractor and mower with quick hitch will be a somewhat easier, particularly mounting the PTO shaft.

I'm starting to get used to CVT operation. I still find myself shifting my right foot trying to the find the other pedal to reverse directions at times. Sixteen years of habit are hard to break overnight! The steering column mounted lever is becoming easier to remember after some use.

I've looked at the hydraulic top links in the past. Seem to be very useful. May try one later.

TerryR: I'm not really obsessed with matching tractor and implement colors. I ran the NH TC-45D tractor for 16 years and never had any blue implements. Actually I had beige, orange and red implements. When I say "match" I don't mean necessarily the same colors, just those that don't clash! If I wasn't "proud" of the implement brands I bought, I'd of bought something different! . Vic

 

[TerryR]

I'm not really obsessed with matching tractor and implement colors. I ran the NH TC-45D tractor for 16 years and never had any blue implements. Actually I had beige, orange and red implements. When I say "match" I don't mean necessarily the same colors, just those that don't clash! If I wasn't "proud" of the implement brands I bought, I'd of bought something different! . Vic

I noticed that you didn't seem too concerned, but I see lots of comments here about getting implements in matching colors which has always seemed odd to me. So my comment was aimed more at my long-standing puzzlement. Your comment just brought it to mind again.

 

[ericm979]

Someone on this forum a while back mentioned a trick for hooking up PTO shafts- loop a bungy cord around the top link and the shaft. Find the right size and strength so it holds the shaft level with the PTO stub on the tractor.

 

[Fallon]

I have never understood the obsession with matching tractor and implement colors. What's wrong with the color of the implement showing off its brand? Are people not proud of the brands of implement they bought, or what?

I just got a green Peruzzo flail to go behind my Orange Kubota. Asked the dealer if there were other color options, but there weren't. Was concerned enough to ask, but not enough to do much about it.

 

[vlcakc]

Someone on this forum a while back mentioned a trick for hooking up PTO shafts- loop a bungy cord around the top link and the shaft. Find the right size and strength so it holds the shaft level with the PTO stub on the tractor.

Thanks, good tip! I've used a somewhat similar method in the past using a ratchet strap instead of a bungy cord to support the shaft. My problem was turning the mower PTO drive shaft against the inertia of the mower gear box and rotor to align the splines with the tractor PTO shaft. The TC-45D PTO shaft was locked in place when the PTO was not engaged and would not turn. The Case PTO shaft has some movement when not engaged allowing the splines to be aligned without turning the mower shaft. I haven't had to dismount/remount the mower yet, so time will tell. Vic