Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[hunt4570]

You should not be wearing out the skids. The skids are only there to protect the rotor. The mower should ride on the roller only. Raise up the skids to just below the rotor + knife/hanger when held tight against the rotor. Skids will now last the life of the mower. Good luck.

I always thought the skids should be on the same level as the roller.. no?

 

[hunt4570]

What do you guys think about the WoodMaxx FM88? I grew up using a Mott to mow the rough on a golf course my family owned > I know they are tough because when your a teenager and pissed at your dad, you can mow up a forest trying to kill the dam mower so you can go see your girlfriend...... story for another day. Anyway, i have a Kubota L6060 on order and I need to mow 18 acres or so in between hay seasons. Its 60 hp and the coronni mowers don't seem to go up to a machine that large.

I don't know about their flail, but I have one of their sawmills and its a pretty good hunk of machinery.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

I always thought the skids should be on the same level as the roller.. no?

Nope. Skids are there to prevent bottoming out. The roller should carry the weight 99% of the time. Otherwise the skids would dig into the ground constantly causing grooves.

 

[Kiotidriver]

You should not be wearing out the skids. The skids are only there to protect the rotor. The mower should ride on the roller only. Raise up the skids to just below the rotor + knife/hanger when held tight against the rotor. Skids will now last the life of the mower. Good luck.

Thank you for your suggestion but for my particular pasture (not flat) I don稚 want to lower the ground clearance of the mower. If the shaft was to hit a rock it would cost me much more to replace it than just replacing the skids every 4 years ($37.00 each).

 

[Lnk]

You use the top link to control the height, extend it a little. Then raise your skids a hole or two. Will still hit the skids before the roller. It's not an either /or, both can be kept in good shape.

 

[hunt4570]

Looks like I'll be raising my skids next time I hook it up, thanks..

 

[John0829]

OK, color me confused. After reading and reading and reading though this tomb of a thread on flails plus many hours of Google searches I decided I wanted one and after some time finally found a New Holland 918H for a price that was just to good to pass up. The mower is in what I would call very good shape, all the bearings are super smooth and it has only one small weld on a lift mounting ear and the blades, if that is the proper term, are worn but still have what I would consider a lot of life left but could be flipped if needed. They are the "Y" type.

Now on to my problem, the cut quality is what I consider to be poor at best. It is somewhat ragged and leaves the tire track uncut. I say tire track since it is setup as an offset. I tried to mow at 3" and at 2" which did not make any difference in the cut quality, of course the PTO is running @540. The skids are just slightly off the ground and it rides on the roller like I have read it should. The manual states it should be run between 4 and 6 mph ground speed, I have even gone as slow as 3 mph but still leaves the track. It will "almost make s smooth cut if I creep along. Currently the rotor is rotating clockwise as you look at the mower from the left/drive belt side as seated on the tractor, which is opposite the tire rotation. Is this the proper rotation or should it be counter clockwise, same as tire, so it would pickup the mashed down grass which is what I think would be better. However I tend to get into trouble when I think to much.

The gearbox can be configured to rotate in either direction with a couple of hours labor but you end up having to destroy one hard to get $25 seal. I have no problem doing the reconfigure but would hate to do it only to find out I should have left well enough alone. So what is the definitive answer about flail rotation? The more I have read about it the more confused I have become as nobody seems to use the same terminology when talking about the direction of rotation.

I really like not having the windrows of grass I get with a finish mower and not having to worry about something accidentally getting picked up and launched. It is really nice and quiet plus having an offset to cut the road shoulders so I would like to get this sorted out.

 

[Lnk]

If you are not reclaiming pature, get a set of single piece blades from flail master. They will pull up the grass as they move the air unlike the side slicer y blades. Sounds like you are trying to cut a large lawn. No need to reverse direction. I have y blades on my 9 foot dandl and see some blades stand up the next day. Used to bother me, but doesn't any more.

 

[Lnk]

Good on you. You will find you won't wear anything out.

 

[leonz]

Hello John0829,

Welcome to the forum, I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations".

You have a very good flail mower that is well built. The Y blades are what are properly referred to as "Side Slicers".

It sounds as if you have a flail mower with a low number of knife pairs mounted on the flail mower rotor.

If you have the time please flip the side slicers to expose the new cutting edge BUT before you do this please purchase a wet well grinder from MicroMark and a angle setting guide to sharpen the worn edges of the side slicers.

The reason you see what you have with the turf the mounting stations do not allow the side slicer knives to become horizontal to create an air foil and become level to clip the grass at a uniform height of cut.

With this type of mower and its narrow mounting stations and it is best to mow at right angles to obtain a better finish. If you switch to the scoop knives you will have to mow at right angles as well to obtain a good finish.

Can you upload a picture of the flail mower rotor? By doing so we will know how many knife pairs you have and whether it is set up as a finish flail mower or a rough cut flail mower with side slicer knives. Until we see the flail mower rotor we are flying blind here and need to know more to help you have a better flail mower.

No worries we are here to help you and you will have a better mower and better turf in the process.


Happy mowing.


=================================================================================================

OK, color me confused. After reading and reading and reading though this tomb of a thread on flails plus many hours of Google searches I decided I wanted one and after some time finally found a New Holland 918H for a price that was just to good to pass up. The mower is in what I would call very good shape, all the bearings are super smooth and it has only one small weld on a lift mounting ear and the blades, if that is the proper term, are worn but still have what I would consider a lot of life left but could be flipped if needed. They are the "Y" type.

Now on to my problem, the cut quality is what I consider to be poor at best. It is somewhat ragged and leaves the tire track uncut. I say tire track since it is setup as an offset. I tried to mow at 3" and at 2" which did not make any difference in the cut quality, of course the PTO is running @540. The skids are just slightly off the ground and it rides on the roller like I have read it should. The manual states it should be run between 4 and 6 mph ground speed, I have even gone as slow as 3 mph but still leaves the track. It will "almost make s smooth cut if I creep along. Currently the rotor is rotating clockwise as you look at the mower from the left/drive belt side as seated on the tractor, which is opposite the tire rotation. Is this the proper rotation or should it be counter clockwise, same as tire, so it would pickup the mashed down grass which is what I think would be better. However I tend to get into trouble when I think to much.

The gearbox can be configured to rotate in either direction with a couple of hours labor but you end up having to destroy one hard to get $25 seal. I have no problem doing the reconfigure but would hate to do it only to find out I should have left well enough alone. So what is the definitive answer about flail rotation? The more I have read about it the more confused I have become as nobody seems to use the same terminology when talking about the direction of rotation.

I really like not having the windrows of grass I get with a finish mower and not having to worry about something accidentally getting picked up and launched. It is really nice and quiet plus having an offset to cut the road shoulders so I would like to get this sorted out.