Flail Mower Brands

[BonnyDoonCA]

My first post...

I'm about to get a Kubota B3200 (PTO = 23hp) and want to choose the right flail mower. My mowing needs are about 3 acres with some sloping and dipping terrain, grass and weeds, sometimes clearing some brush in odd places but probably not more then 1" dia. I'd like a nicer finish then a rotary mower and also the added safety of not throwing stuff at scary velocities that could hit my wife, kid, car, house, dog, etc... I don't anticipate hitting a lot of rocks (the area has been well-cleared of rocks) but it will happen from time to time so the teeth will get some dinging but not regular abuse.

My dealer sells Gearmore and my questions are:
1. Is that a good brand?
2. What model(s)/features/considerations would be a good fit (Gearmore or other brand)?

Thanks!
-Mike

 

[leonz]

My first post...

I'm about to get a Kubota B3200 (PTO = 23hp) and want to choose the right flail mower. My mowing needs are about 3 acres with some sloping and dipping terrain, grass and weeds, sometimes clearing some brush in odd places but probably not more then 1" dia. I'd like a nicer finish then a rotary mower and also the added safety of not throwing stuff at scary velocities that could hit my wife, kid, car, house, dog, etc... I don't anticipate hitting a lot of rocks (the area has been well-cleared of rocks) but it will happen from time to time so the teeth will get some dinging but not regular abuse.

My dealer sells Gearmore and my questions are:
1. Is that a good brand?
2. What model(s)/features/considerations would be a good fit (Gearmore or other brand)?

Thanks!
-Mike

Hello Mike,

Welcome to the forum as a new member, When you purchase your flail mower please let us know so that I can welcome as the newest member of the Flail Mower Nation.


NOW; on the issue of purchasing flailmowers I would like you to look at the flail mower posts and threads that are located here in the attachment section and then decide what you would like to do.

We flail mower owners are a happy lot and we can and will gladly offer advice with regard to maintenance, operation and care of your flail mower what ever brand you choose.

You have made a major decision with regard to the type of mowing implement examining the safety concerns of discharged material and high velocity projectiles that will exit a rotary mower or brush cutter so that in itself is one hurdle overcome. The added bonus of a full width striping roll at no extra charge is a bonus of course.

As you have explained your mowing chores a heavy duty flail mower with hammer knives is not needed. You have to decide which type of flail mower you wish to own and operate and in saying that you have to decide what type of finish you want for your plot.

You have to decide on the following:

The type of knive

Being;

Standard duty side slicer, hardened side slicer, scoop knive also know as a shovel knive blade, or hardened scoop knive. The side slicers give the best finish but the scoop come in second place and leave a bit of a waffle pattern when not mowing at 90 degree angles to the first passes.


Depending on your selection your flail mower rotor will have 2, 3, or 4 rows of knive mounting stations with single mountings for scoop knives and the side slicers will have 2 knives per station.

Your flailmower will have two, three or four rows of knives. The more rows of knives you have the finer the clippings and the faster they will decompose as the clippings will be shorter in length and will dehydrate faster.


My four foot towed motorised finish flail mower has 4 rows of knives which translates to 64 mounting stations which carries 128 side slicers and 64 dethatching blades. My flail mower also has a pick up basket incorporated into the mower to pick up the clippingas well as discharge them back to the ground to pick them up later if the lawn gets ahead of you(it lets the grass clippings dry out and they will pick up quickly and not create dead spots in the lawn.

Sadly no one in the United States makes a pick up flail mower anymore and a new one would have to come from England or Italy now.

I want you to be an informed consumer and make your decision this way; Just remember that there are many good brands of flail mowers available and a finish rotor with four rows of knives will handle everything you need to do and keep the invasives under control. In my dads case we used a JD25A finish flail mower with four rows of knives using his Ford Jubilee which is about the same horsepower as your Kubota for years untill he did not want to mow the place anymore and he had neighbor cleadr it off for heifer hay. He used the JD25A to knock down 10-12 foot golden rod and other weeds in clearing the 12 acres of pasture to the ground so it a finish mower can and will handle heavy brush.

There are a lot of good used JD25A flail mowers on the market and Parts are available from the John Deere Dealer too so thats not an issue. A used JD25A is something you should look at as your B3200 can manage it quite nicely and you can find them in 6 and 7 foot sizes(ours was seven footer).

 

[greg_g]

There are a lot of good used JD25A flail mowers on the market and Parts are available from the John Deere Dealer too so that's not an issue. A used JD25A is something you should look at as your B3200 can manage it quite nicely and you can find them in 6 and 7 foot sizes(ours was seven footer).

I'd be a bit careful there. The B3200 is a sub-compact, weighing in at a relatively dainty 1764 (un-ballasted) pounds. The JD25A flail weighs in at over 600 pounds, more than 1/3 the weight of the tractor. Yes, it cuts a 78" swath, but that's deceiving. As with all flails, they're actually a lot wider than that. In this case it would be a 99 inch wide mower hanging behind a 54 inch wide tractor. Plus, John Deere itself recommends a minimum 22 PTO horsepower. I have to say that's too much mower for a B3200.

Regarding the Gearmore, I'd consider your dealer recommendation specific to the B3200. Mine would be to get the lightest offset mower with a swath equal to your tire width plus offset. The offset will let you mow closer to obstructions without hitting them with a tire. Individual knives are pretty much for grass (finish cut), hammers are for the real rough stuff (brush cut). So consider the Y-knife. Given that you mentioned 1" brush, it's a good compromise between finish and rough.

//greg//

 

[NoTrespassing]

Can't help you with the choice but I have to say, I really loved OLD the flail mower I used to have. It was a 4ft. Mott hammerknife mounted under a Farmall Cub. Even with the very limited horsepower of that cub, the mower would go through almost anything including grass and weeds that were taller than the tractor. It amazed me every time I used it.

Kevin

 

[leonz]

I forgot to mention the rears of of my Fathers Ford Jubilee were loaded with Calcium Chloride.

The B3200 has 32 gross horsepower and 23 horsepower at the Power Take Off according to Tractor Data.

It never hurts to have the rears loaded with ballast at 75 percent anyway to improve both stability and tractive effort/adhesion/traction.


As Kubota in its wisdom will not provide The Nebraska Tractor Tests with any of its iron the actual results may never be known..............


My thoughts about a used 25A of 5,6,or 7 foot were based mainly on expense as you have aready spent $15,000 plus tax on your orange mule already and my flail mower is 32 years old.

Let us know if you have a vibration problem with the B3200 as it can be very evident and the fix is easy simply by readjusting the fuel pump timing to the original specs- they changed the timing to comply with the EPA's exhaust requirements by changing the fuel injection timing and the end result is a vibration problem which has been discussed here very often .

 

[RFB]

BonnyDoonCA,


I use a TM1900FSC - 73" Caroni Flail Mower. This is the same model as the TM1900BSC - 73" Caroni Flail Mower with the type F rotor that is fitted with twice the number of blades that give a more accurate and closer cut.

I operate it on a Kubota B3000HSDCC, which has, practically speaking, the same power as your 3200 (30hp gross, 23hp pto)

It is more than sufficient for the type of duties you describe, it does a fine job on my acreage both on the lawn grass as well as brush and sage, and the power produced by the B3000 is quite capable for this mower.

(I do have the rear tires loaded with BioTire, more for stability than anything else.)

I special-ordered it from Agrisupply Flail Mower, Caroni, Flail Mowers, Caroni Flail Mower | Agri Supply, 30837

The one picture is the B model; I ordered the F model.

 

[Hay Dude]

I'd be a bit careful there. The B3200 is a sub-compact, weighing in at a relatively dainty 1764 (un-ballasted) pounds. The JD25A flail weighs in at over 600 pounds, more than 1/3 the weight of the tractor. Yes, it cuts a 78" swath, but that's deceiving. As with all flails, they're actually a lot wider than that. In this case it would be a 99 inch wide mower hanging behind a 54 inch wide tractor. Plus, John Deere itself recommends a minimum 22 PTO horsepower. I have to say that's too much mower for a B3200.

Regarding the Gearmore, I'd consider your dealer recommendation specific to the B3200. Mine would be to get the lightest offset mower with a swath equal to your tire width plus offset. The offset will let you mow closer to obstructions without hitting them with a tire. Individual knives are pretty much for grass (finish cut), hammers are for the real rough stuff (brush cut). So consider the Y-knife. Given that you mentioned 1" brush, it's a good compromise between finish and rough.

//greg//

His Kubota can run and pull that flail mower with no problem. It's not a MUST to have EXACTLY the recommended HP. It's just a guideline. If I was worried about pto HP in my farming operation, I'd be home quaking in my boots all day long instead of getting work done. 600 lbs is no problem, either. I pull implements behind my farm tractors that are much more than 1/2 the weight of my tractors with no problems and they're much higher, too. Flail mowers are low center of gravity and the roller rides on the ground. If weight is an issue, then just add a set of weights to the front.
I swear you Huey's run around like a pack of wet hens worried about the littlest issues....

A 600lb flail mower is fine....

 

[leonz]

I wanted to add this about the purchase of a new or used John Deere 25A flail mower


The 25A will also allow you to install dethatching blades to clean up the thatch
in you lawn if desired and I believe the 25A can also use the scoop knives as well.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I'd be a bit careful there. The B3200 is a sub-compact, [/I].

//greg//

Sorry man, you are very mistaken.

As someone else said, B3200 is the same size as his B3000. Same size as my B3300SU -- in fact, my manual is for both the B3200 and the B3300SU. These are Kubota's 3rd smallest tractors. The BX is the sub-compact line. The B2xxx (current models) are 48" wide machines and the B3xxx are 60" wide machines.

Despite the seemingly light listed weight of 1764 lbs, they are rated at 1300lbs of lift 24" behind the lift point. -- way more than adequate to lift a 600lbs mower. I barely even notice my 550 lbs RFM. I do have the loader on all the time to help with balast - I just drop the bucket when I don't need it.

I'm hoping to pick up a 6' flail mower later this spring with no worries about running it.

 

[Arc weld]

If you want to clear 1" brush, a bush hog is a better choice than a flail. There are types of flails that will cut 1" bush but they are way too much for your tractor. Flails will cut really tall grass and weeds though and if there's the odd mound of dirt or debris, the knives on a flail will fold to limit damage and not throw the debris out. Still you should always walk through any area you're going to cut and remove any debris and note other obstacles. If you can find a used Mott/Alamo flail, you'll have a good mower that will last for decades. They made a 60" super heavy duty model if you can find one. The Ford and JD flails are much lighter built than Mott's. Compare the thickness of the decks and you'll see the difference. There were sod farms that used fine cut Mott mowers. Some of the newer Italian flails have copied the Mott knife design. It's always better to have a smaller mower with a little extra HP than a larger mower with not enough HP for the tough jobs. However, if you're just cutting a lawn at regular intervals, you can use a large size mower.

 

[greg_g]

Ok guys, each to his/her own. Sounds like you finish cut dry grass in ballparks and/or driving ranges. My input is based upon all-weather pasture and roadside maintenance using the same 74" Ford 917H behind a previous 3600# geared tractor w/45 PTO hp, and my current JD3720 eHydro w/35 PTO hp. The John Deere struggles when I hit high/wet grass, especially uphill. Just can't see a little B3200 handling something like that big, particularly on hillsides and pond/ditch banks. Hence my recommendation regarding the lightest offset Gearmore that has a swath that will cut his track width track plus a little right offset

 

[troverman]

Old thread, for sure. But interesting. I run a Vrisimo 48" flail from the back of my Kubota B2920 tractor. This is an old C-148 Mighty Max which is heavily built and weighs close to 600lbs. I use the machine to mow steep sidehills at a capped landfill twice a year. The mower does well, as does the tractor. Plenty of power to operate the mower and tractor in this steep environment.

This year, for the same job, I am looking to buy a Peruzzo Fox 60" flail mower. It appears to weigh only 430lbs (lighter build quality?) but I think that could be a benefit on my small tractor. For this season I've also added 2" spacers on both rear wheels and ballasted the rear tires with the beet juice mix.

I'm amazed at the amount of work these small Kubotas can perform.

 

[tractorgirl99]

hey everyone! I'm new to this forum, so please forgive me if my questions have been answered previously. I live in western north carolina and I own a mountainous property up to the ridge line. I'd like to maintain my logging roads for trails, but I also have about 30 acres of pasture that id like to be able to keep up with as necessary. Ive been considering a flail mower to keep the forest at bay as well as for use on the farm. Id use it to mulch cover crop too.

Anyway I have a Kubota mx5200, and id like a flail mower that atleast has side shift. preferably id like to be able to mow embankments so i think that it would be best if i could get a mower that i could easily change the angle of the cut to fit a hillside. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

 

[K5lwq]

hey everyone! I'm new to this forum, so please forgive me if my questions have been answered previously. I live in western north carolina and I own a mountainous property up to the ridge line. I'd like to maintain my logging roads for trails, but I also have about 30 acres of pasture that id like to be able to keep up with as necessary. Ive been considering a flail mower to keep the forest at bay as well as for use on the farm. Id use it to mulch cover crop too.

Anyway I have a Kubota mx5200, and id like a flail mower that atleast has side shift. preferably id like to be able to mow embankments so i think that it would be best if i could get a mower that i could easily change the angle of the cut to fit a hillside. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Welcome to TBN! There are a lot of choices out there for flails. I guess a good starting point is how much do you want to spend?

 

[leonz]

Welcome to the forum;

The first thing I strongly suggest that you do is visit the flail mower thread on the forum and read the entire thread so you will become well versed about flail mowers and have a good understanding of how they work and what they can do and in the process become an informed consumer of information with regard to this implement.

Mowing embankments with a mule like yours and flail mowers becomes an issue of being able to widen the rear and front wheels and making sure that you re not traveling along an embankment slope greater than 15 degrees.

You need a slope meter if you expect to do any mowing like that and it is a good investment in any case.

To manage a mowing job with as much acreage as you say you have requires power, time and more time and that allows you to knock it down to a 2 inch height to 1. maintain a highly efficient rate of mowing and also enable you to knock down invasive weeds more effectively.

Mowing a large expanse of ground requires you to position your mule in the center of the plot and mow in a spiral and mowing outward which allows you to 1. save on fuel brakes and time as there is no backing up and turning around until you have to mow the sweeps at the corners of the plot(s).Mowing the sweeps at the corners of the plots becomes a real time eater when the brush is high as you have no idea what is there since you mowed last or whether there is a deer bed in that corner.

The other issue is mower size as too big a flail mower will be a fuel hog until you have the sod down to a 2 inch cutting height and you can move along fairly well as a hydrostatic transmission mule will eat up lots of power UNLESS you invest in a smaller flail mower that is mounted on a boom.

Buying a three point hitch mounted boom mounted flail mower will let you mow embankments to a certain width and require you to practice mowing and also maintain your patience level as the great majority of boom mounted flail mowers have forged scoop knives and will only cut the brush once and not recut it to shred it further.

The main thing you have to understand and be aware of in any case is that 1. a flail mower will provide you with an excellent cut down to 2 inches. 2. it takes a long time to knock down and shred tall brush requiring you to be more aware of the radiator screens plugging and 3. the air cleaner tattle tale indicator lies like a rug as they will stick open and the recommended service interval for air filters is not to be paid attention to UNLESS you have all your mowing down to the 2 inch height of cut.

If you have both deep sloping ditches and accessable tall road banks to mow-not short ones from logging cuts or asphalt road edges.
A boom mounted Orchard and Vineyard Flail Mower will work well ONCE you have become more comfortable with moving the boom in and out, extending the mowing head and lowering it into the ditch to mow.
YOU have to have liquid ballast in the tires for a boom mower to work well for you and front weights to maintain a low center of gravity as well.

First, measure how much bank mowing you want to do and then decide if you really want a boom mounted Orchard and Vineyard Flail Mower and then decide if you have enough work for it to do as it can also be used in an upright position to clear brush back along lane ways and trails with the mowers frame extended outward.

If you have more questions which I know you will have you are welcome to send me a private message or post it here on the forum.

 

[ericm979]

Boom mower: Boom Mowers - Bush Hog
Ditch bank mower: Nova Tractor BCRI middle duty ditch bank mower

You need a heavy tractor to run a boom mower because it can extend so far out from the tractor. Only the smallest boom mowers will be light enough for your tractor. The ditch bank mower only extends one mower width past the tractor. Because of the weight and being hydraulic powered the boom mower will be smaller than the ditch bank mower you can run on the same tractor. The ditch bank mower will be ok for mowing flat areas. The boom mower is not designed for that and would be frustrating to mow 30 acres with. Our county uses large 100hp+ tractors with boom mowers to clear along our very mountainous roads with steep uneven banks. A ditch bank mower would not be able to handle the terrain. They use cab tractors. Boom mower manufacturers recommend cabs to protect the operator from flying debris.

 

[VineyarD1023]

This is not a reply but I'm new to this forum and couldn't find where to make a comment or ask a question otherwise...
My question is: Does anyone know how much a Rhino-Ag RF-60 Flail Mower weighs?
Thanks

 

[VineyarD1023]

PS: I bought a manual from Rhino but the specifications include everything but the weight...

 

[VineyarD1023]

HelloThis is not a replay but could find not find where to start just asking questions. Does anyone know what a Rhino-Ag RF-60 Flail Mower weighs? I bought a manual from Rhino and the specifications section includes everything except the weight of the flail mower. go figure...

 

[Xfaxman]

My question is: Does anyone know how much a Rhino-Ag RF-60 Flail Mower weighs?
Thanks

Here is their Phone number, good luck.