def38
Platinum Member
That would make me sick. When I'm in tall grass and need to see the ground ahead better, I stand up to better judge what's ahead.
Flail Mower Titan Flail mower
- Thread starter ktmpat
- Start date
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That would make me sick. When I'm in tall grass and need to see the ground ahead better, I stand up to better judge what's ahead.
In this case I was mowing at the edge of a public drinking water reservoir. I was going very slow, but my focus was keeping the mower and wheels right at the edge of the water without dropping in which would have been a huge problem. The grass was extremely tall. I thought I ran over a log which frequently drift in to the shoreline when the water gets high. It was a quick, if not brutal death for the poor thing. I did feel pretty terrible about it, but there really was nothing I could have done. I've had them pop up nearly right in front of me and wobble away while I wait, but this one didn't. I dragged what was left off into the woodline. Anyway, I always try to be extra cautious.
def38
Platinum Member
Troverman,
Please don't misconstrue my comments...you did nothing wrong...it was an accident. I am not judging you. I'll bet your a nice fellow...I might like to have a beer with you one day...you're buyin'.
Yeah, no worries def38. Appreciate your comment.
As for my Titan mower, I ran it for another 8 hours yesterday. Unfortunately, one of the flail knife supports on the drum broke off, leaving the knife supported only on one side. It still mows and doesn't vibrate, but I'm not sure how to fix this. Can you buy the supports separately? I'm thinking about trying to weld the bolt head to what's left of the support for now. What do you guys think?
As for my Titan mower, I ran it for another 8 hours yesterday. Unfortunately, one of the flail knife supports on the drum broke off, leaving the knife supported only on one side. It still mows and doesn't vibrate, but I'm not sure how to fix this. Can you buy the supports separately? I'm thinking about trying to weld the bolt head to what's left of the support for now. What do you guys think?
leonz
Super Member
Hello Troverman,
my first reaction was YYYYYEEESHHHH!!!!!!!!, UGH.
That is damage that a peanuts happy dance will not solve for sure.
NOW to the problem at hand; the best thing to do is to remove the 2 hammer knives above the broken one in the
image you were so kind in uploading. Removing them will prevent the possible bearing damage from an out of balance
flail mower rotor.
You could have a mounting lug made by a welding shop but the chance of heliarc welding it on the flail mower body could
fry the bearings and weld the inner bearing races to the stub shaft of the flail mower rotor is very high.
Gas welding would be the preferred method to do this after grinding the old weld off but it will require patience and multiple layers of weld to strengthen the
weldment of the new welding lug.
Getting the original lug weight should be as near as possible to the original with the steel thickness, lug height and its width with the mounting hole drilled in the lug.
If the welding shop has a rosebud torch the welder could heat up the rotor and the mounting lug and create a better weld with less
potential damage to the bearings as long as the ground is welded to the flail mower rotor close to the broken mounting station.
The ground should be welded in line to with the second mounting lug in the image you provided after the rotor is heated with
the rosebud torch.
I wish I could be more help but ideally the best way to fix it is to remove the flail mower rotor and weld the new lug in place after the section is heated with a rosebud torch then balance it using a high speed balancer.
Removing the 2 hammer knives closest to the broken mounting station will be the better option as this section of flail mower rotor will no longer
be in play and affect the balance of the flail mower rotor. I am assuming the mounting stations are 120 degrees apart and the removal of the 2
hammer knives will cancel the effect being an imbalanced state that they create when the flail mower is running at 2,200 RPM+-
You will have to mow a bit more but the repair job is really a winter/no mowing season job to do it well.
You could do what Iron Horse did with his mule in Australia- He essentially hung a york rake under the mule so that he could avoid having any potential impact damage to the mower stopped before it could enter the mower body.
Having a steel rake made up and mounted in front on the engine frame -if your mule has an engine cradle would be the best way to do this as it would be long enough to almost reach the ground using the chain as a measure to hook to shackles on both sides and you would still be able to lift it up and chain it vertically in place to keep it out of the way.
I wish I could be more help.
my first reaction was YYYYYEEESHHHH!!!!!!!!, UGH.
That is damage that a peanuts happy dance will not solve for sure.
NOW to the problem at hand; the best thing to do is to remove the 2 hammer knives above the broken one in the
image you were so kind in uploading. Removing them will prevent the possible bearing damage from an out of balance
flail mower rotor.
You could have a mounting lug made by a welding shop but the chance of heliarc welding it on the flail mower body could
fry the bearings and weld the inner bearing races to the stub shaft of the flail mower rotor is very high.
Gas welding would be the preferred method to do this after grinding the old weld off but it will require patience and multiple layers of weld to strengthen the
weldment of the new welding lug.
Getting the original lug weight should be as near as possible to the original with the steel thickness, lug height and its width with the mounting hole drilled in the lug.
If the welding shop has a rosebud torch the welder could heat up the rotor and the mounting lug and create a better weld with less
potential damage to the bearings as long as the ground is welded to the flail mower rotor close to the broken mounting station.
The ground should be welded in line to with the second mounting lug in the image you provided after the rotor is heated with
the rosebud torch.
I wish I could be more help but ideally the best way to fix it is to remove the flail mower rotor and weld the new lug in place after the section is heated with a rosebud torch then balance it using a high speed balancer.
Removing the 2 hammer knives closest to the broken mounting station will be the better option as this section of flail mower rotor will no longer
be in play and affect the balance of the flail mower rotor. I am assuming the mounting stations are 120 degrees apart and the removal of the 2
hammer knives will cancel the effect being an imbalanced state that they create when the flail mower is running at 2,200 RPM+-
You will have to mow a bit more but the repair job is really a winter/no mowing season job to do it well.
You could do what Iron Horse did with his mule in Australia- He essentially hung a york rake under the mule so that he could avoid having any potential impact damage to the mower stopped before it could enter the mower body.
Having a steel rake made up and mounted in front on the engine frame -if your mule has an engine cradle would be the best way to do this as it would be long enough to almost reach the ground using the chain as a measure to hook to shackles on both sides and you would still be able to lift it up and chain it vertically in place to keep it out of the way.
I wish I could be more help.
Jack Yuan
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2013
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- Changzhou, JiangSu, China
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- Jinma 504, Jinma 904, DF1604, YTO X1804
Hi Leon, my dear friend, nice to see you here again, best wishes to you.
Hi Troverman, this is the CAD drawing for that hammer bracket, the size in the drawing is millimeter.
Remove the old welding material, then weld this bracket again.
Thanks Leonz.
I had one of those mounting stations break completely off on both sides last year, taking the hammer knife with it. Fortunately, I was able to recover all the parts, and a welding shop welded it back on in-situ. No problems with that one since.
This morning I decided to trailer the whole thing back to my workplace, where we have a small gas MIG welder. One of the guys who's better at welding than me is going to grind off the broken mounting station and weld a new piece in that is the same basic size and thickeness, and hopefully I'll be back in business later this afternoon.
I honestly look at these Titan flail mowers as throw-away items. If welding somehow damages the bearings or something else, I couldn't care less. I wanted this mower to last at least the first cutting of my two-cutting 2019 season; we'll see if this repair can limp it along until I drop another $1600.
I see many flail mowers are designed like this with welded cutting stations. Bad design, in my opinion. My Vrismo uses a rod-through-drum design with a triangular hanger and loop system. In this case, the flail knife, the loop, or the hanger can all fail before any damage is ever done to the rod or drum, and they are all easily replaced without welding...replace in the field.
The Titan does cut OK when it's working. My biggest complaints are the top-link uprights are not strong enough and frequently break, the roller is too small and has the most terrible open bearing design which clogs with grass and stops rolling almost immediately, and finally, the method of mounting the flails. It's cheap to buy, and that's what it has going for it.
I had one of those mounting stations break completely off on both sides last year, taking the hammer knife with it. Fortunately, I was able to recover all the parts, and a welding shop welded it back on in-situ. No problems with that one since.
This morning I decided to trailer the whole thing back to my workplace, where we have a small gas MIG welder. One of the guys who's better at welding than me is going to grind off the broken mounting station and weld a new piece in that is the same basic size and thickeness, and hopefully I'll be back in business later this afternoon.
I honestly look at these Titan flail mowers as throw-away items. If welding somehow damages the bearings or something else, I couldn't care less. I wanted this mower to last at least the first cutting of my two-cutting 2019 season; we'll see if this repair can limp it along until I drop another $1600.
I see many flail mowers are designed like this with welded cutting stations. Bad design, in my opinion. My Vrismo uses a rod-through-drum design with a triangular hanger and loop system. In this case, the flail knife, the loop, or the hanger can all fail before any damage is ever done to the rod or drum, and they are all easily replaced without welding...replace in the field.
The Titan does cut OK when it's working. My biggest complaints are the top-link uprights are not strong enough and frequently break, the roller is too small and has the most terrible open bearing design which clogs with grass and stops rolling almost immediately, and finally, the method of mounting the flails. It's cheap to buy, and that's what it has going for it.
Very helpful - thanks! I will use this as a template.
So I repaired it and went a different route to do it. Since the lower portion of the mounting station still existed, I ground the area clean and welded the nut and bolt to it, in their proper position. The flail knife pivots on the bolt, so that is not affected. I built the area up all around it so it is surrounded by weld. The mower runs and I'll be heading out shortly to mow for 7 hours. I suspect it will be fine. Thanks for all your help.
def38
Platinum Member
Hope it works out well for you.