Flail Mower New Land Pride FM25 series flail mowers

[Ford850]

I noticed the deck is 10ga on the new FM25 Land Pride mowers which is thinner than the previous FM31 and FM41 models (3/16") but a little better than the old FM21 models (11ga). The new model has a higher rotation speed by 15% or so which is very nice.

 

[leonz]

Hello Ford850,

Be sure to check the steel thickness of the flail mower shrouds on the Peruzzo and Maschio model you will compare it with as the 2 beads of weld on both sides of the flail mower shroud weldments and the front and rear welds are the back bone of the flail mower.

If your mule can handle a boom mounted flail mower and end up looking seriously at the the Peruzzo and Maschio integral 3 point hitch mounted boom mounted flail mowers they will have more weld and more steel and the bronze and steel bushings on the boom arms and the hydraulic cylinders will be replaceable.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

1. they are not using flail shredder hammer knives that gets a minus.

B. The side slicer hangers are secured with nylock nuts and bolts-not good in my opinion as they use strap iron to mount the knife hangers on a single stub weld and if an impact occurs the rotor will go out of balance if the metal weld stub is broken off this gets a negative -.
1. there is a very good reason the mounting stations on flail mower rotors are designed the way they are with twin stub weldments for side slicers or hammer knives this gets a negative -.

2.The trash door only has a "fully open position" that works for changing knives and shredding tall brush in one pass- that gets a demerit only because the existing Maschio units can be adjusted to limit discharge flow in tall brush where locking the hood in several positions with the bolts provided by Maschio can offer a fully open to closed/sealed position+-.
3. the recutting bars are kept in the new units (a big plus)++++++++++++++++++++

4. the recutting bars are only held in place with spring cotter pins(that gets a minus as heavy brush mowing will eventually break the spring pins and the recutting bars will fall out (that gets a minus) It will be too late when the user finds them gone. - -

a. they need to replace the spring pins holding the recutting bars with fine threaded bolts and nylock nuts to hold them in place OR use a continuous rod with a cotter key on both ends like the Vrisimo units use to hold their side slicers in place on thier flailmower rotors +- .

The images do not show whether their mowers have the shields in the intake side of the flail mowers -+.


My thoughts after owning and operating flail mowers since 1980.

Hey Leonz,

I know this is a rather dated thread but the exchange that you had with OP was one of the most insightful that I have ever read concerning flails on here but I am at the same time left confused by some of your replies. You stated in your first critique of the landpride flail mower "they are not using flail shredder hammer knives that gets a minus." I was immediately surprised at this statement because you have been historically and traditionally against the hammer knives/duck's foot blades and instead in favor of the Y knives. So why all the sudden have you changed your position on this?

You also stated in section B that, "The side slicer hangers are secured with nylock nuts and bolts-not good in my opinion as they use strap iron to mount the knife hangers on a single stub weld and if an impact occurs the rotor will go out of balance if the metal weld stub is broken off this gets a negative -.
1. there is a very good reason the mounting stations on flail mower rotors are designed the way they are with twin stub weldments for side slicers or hammer knives this gets a negative -" This is the most intriguing yet confusing statement of all the statements you made criticizing the Land Pride flail because again you have been a big endorser of John Deere flail mowers and John Deere flail mowers have single stub welds. They are mounted to a metal bar running the entire length of the rotor just like Land Pride. However, unlike Land Pride, they don't even weld the whole bar to the rotor like Land Pride does so I am at a loss as to why you are taking the positions that you are taking on the Land Pride in light of your endorsements of John Deere flails in the recent past Maybe you can help clarify this for me?

 

[Tinhack]

Like you said, this is an old thread--Almost four years old. People are allowed to learn and grow.

My old Caldwell Barracuda flail mower is from the 80s. I wouldn't trade it for any of the new ones.

 

[vlcakc]

I bought a new Land Pride FM 2584 flail earlier this year. Some of my initial impressions are included in this thread: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/392105-new-tractor-flail-mower.html
Due to a family health issue I've not used the mower as much as I planned. I have mowed about 20 acres with it including some overgrown pasture land with a lot of saplings up to 1" in diameter. No problems so far. I ordered the mower with side slicer knives with an extra set of hammer knives for the really heavy stuff. I've yet to install the hammer knives.

Although I have the upmost respect for Leonz's opinions I have to disagree somewhat on his comments about trash doors, at least for this mower. The mower does have a top access door for maintenance. As he mentioned it isn't designed to be use as a trash door. The FM 2584 does have a large discharge opening in the rear that is permanently open that does a great job of moving out the debris. I've mowed some pretty heavy cover including brush without the slightest problem with the cuttings choking the mower housing.

The FM84 with the side slicer knives doesn't give as smooth a finish cut as the New Holland 918H flail I owned previously. It does fine for pastures, etc., but wouldn't be the best for residential lawns. The NH 918H had a lot more knives which I think accounted for the better cut. If a smooth cut is important to you get the finish knife option on the FM 25.

So far I'm very pleased with the performance of the FM 2584.

Vic

Update on my earlier post: I've had the FM2584 for about 3 years now. I replaced the side slicer knives with the hammer blades about a year ago. The hammer blades give a much smoother cut, but require more power to turn because of the much heavier weight. I have mowed some rough pasture land with brush up to about 2" in diameter with no problems. There have been absolutely no mechanical problems whatever. The mower is very robust and well made. My only criticism is LP should have designed the side slicer equipped version with more sets of knives to give a smoother cut similar to my old NH 918H. Vic

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Update on my earlier post: I've had the FM2584 for about 3 years now. I replaced the side slicer knives with the hammer blades about a year ago. The hammer blades give a much smoother cut, but require more power to turn because of the much heavier weight. I have mowed some rough pasture land with brush up to about 2" in diameter with no problems. There have been absolutely no mechanical problems whatever. The mower is very robust and well made. My only criticism is LP should have designed the side slicer equipped version with more sets of knives to give a smoother cut similar to my old NH 918H. Vic

Hey vlcakc,

That's good to hear. I have looked very closely at these flails over the last two years and they have a lot of good things going for them. However, the low number of knives is what has made me reconsider. The John Deere flail has 66 pairs of Y knives as compared the the 40 sets that the LP has. However, the John Deere flail has cut corners on the welding which does not sit well with me especially considering how much they charge for them. I am thinking about getting a Tiger flail at this point because everything is built top notch with them and our county uses them to mow the sides of our highways. However, what's ironic is if you compare the size of the Y knives of the Tiger to the John Deere the JD mower has thicker, heavier duty knives and clevis rings then the Tiger does, go figure :confused2:

 

[leonz]

Hey Leonz,

I know this is a rather dated thread but the exchange that you had with OP was one of the most insightful that I have ever read concerning flails on here but I am at the same time left confused by some of your replies. You stated in your first critique of the landpride flail mower "they are not using flail shredder hammer knives that gets a minus." I was immediately surprised at this statement because you have been historically and traditionally against the hammer knives/duck's foot blades and instead in favor of the Y knives. So why all the sudden have you changed your position on this?

You also stated in section B that, "The side slicer hangers are secured with nylock nuts and bolts-not good in my opinion as they use strap iron to mount the knife hangers on a single stub weld and if an impact occurs the rotor will go out of balance if the metal weld stub is broken off this gets a negative -.
1. there is a very good reason the mounting stations on flail mower rotors are designed the way they are with twin stub weldments for side slicers or hammer knives this gets a negative -" This is the most intriguing yet confusing statement of all the statements you made criticizing the Land Pride flail because again you have been a big endorser of John Deere flail mowers and John Deere flail mowers have single stub welds. They are mounted to a metal bar running the entire length of the rotor just like Land Pride. However, unlike Land Pride, they don't even weld the whole bar to the rotor like Land Pride does so I am at a loss as to why you are taking the positions that you are taking on the Land Pride in light of your endorsements of John Deere flails in the recent past Maybe you can help clarify this for me?

Hello Cahaba Valley Farm,

a. If I remember correctly Kubota/Land Pride is using the formed from strap steel
scoop knives and not using the cast hammers and that is why I said what I did about
them having a big minus.

b. The John Deere flails essentially use the wide metal weldment as an stationary
air paddle like the Mathews Company Lawn Genie Pick up mower to increase the
air flow up and over the flail mower rotor.

The JD flail shredders are made much like the Long, Balzer, Woods, and other crop shredders
where they use a smaller diameter flail mower rotor and longer flail knives.
The Inobreece, Maschio, Peruzzo, Perugini and others use a cast hammer that is either mounted
in a linear fashion with the following hammer knife rows overlapping the cut of the previous
hammer knife or like the Inobreece the flail mower rotor knives are mounted in a spiral pattern
around the flail mower rotor and quickly lifts the material that is shredded in several revolutions
as it advances over the crop or sod.

LeonZ

 

[leonz]

Hey Leonz,

I know this is a rather dated thread but the exchange that you had with OP was one of the most insightful that I have ever read concerning flails on here but I am at the same time left confused by some of your replies. You stated in your first critique of the landpride flail mower "they are not using flail shredder hammer knives that gets a minus." I was immediately surprised at this statement because you have been historically and traditionally against the hammer knives/duck's foot blades and instead in favor of the Y knives. So why all the sudden have you changed your position on this?

You also stated in section B that, "The side slicer hangers are secured with nylock nuts and bolts-not good in my opinion as they use strap iron to mount the knife hangers on a single stub weld and if an impact occurs the rotor will go out of balance if the metal weld stub is broken off this gets a negative -.
1. there is a very good reason the mounting stations on flail mower rotors are designed the way they are with twin stub weldments for side slicers or hammer knives this gets a negative -" This is the most intriguing yet confusing statement of all the statements you made criticizing the Land Pride flail because again you have been a big endorser of John Deere flail mowers and John Deere flail mowers have single stub welds. They are mounted to a metal bar running the entire length of the rotor just like Land Pride. However, unlike Land Pride, they don't even weld the whole bar to the rotor like Land Pride does so I am at a loss as to why you are taking the positions that you are taking on the Land Pride in light of your endorsements of John Deere flails in the recent past Maybe you can help clarify this for me?

Hello Cahaba Valley Farm,

a. If I remember correctly Kubota/Land Pride is using the formed from strap steel
scoop knives and not using the cast hammers and that is why I said what I did about
them having a big minus.

b. The John Deere flails essentially use the wide metal weldment as an stationary
air paddle like the Mathews Company Lawn Genie Pick up mower to increase the
air flow up and over the flail mower rotor.

The air paddle on the Mathews Lawn Genie is mounted on a continuous hinge across the
entire width of the flail mower rotor on the Lawn Genies.

The JD flail shredders are made much like the Long, Balzer, Woods, and other crop shredders
where they use a smaller diameter flail mower rotor and longer flail knives.
The Inobreece, Maschio, Peruzzo, Perugini and others use a cast hammer that is either mounted
in a linear fashion with the following hammer knife rows overlapping the cut of the previous
hammer knife or like the Inobreece the flail mower rotor knives are mounted in a spiral pattern
around the flail mower rotor and quickly lifts the material that is shredded in several revolutions
as it advances over the crop or sod.


The Hiniker flail crop shredders use a 6 inch diameter tubular shaft and heavy side slicer flail mower knives in an
overlapping pattern to shred row crops and grasses.


LeonZ

 

[vlcakc]

The Land Pride FM25 series of flail mowers are available with three blade options: Duckfoot, Hammer or Y Knife. I have not seen the actual Duckfoot blades, but from the LP website photos they may be the stamped steel knives Leonz referred to in his post. The Hammer blades I now have on my mower are of very heavy cast steel construction and are rated by LP for brush up to 1.5" diameter. I have cut brush somewhat larger with mine with no problem. Mine are still in good condition after some fairly tough mowing. The Y knives do a decent job with general mowing and are rated by LP for brush up to 1.5" diameter, but have the limitations discussed in previous posts. The LP website has a lot of information if interested. Vic

FM25 Series Flail Mowers | Land Pride

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Update on my earlier post: I've had the FM2584 for about 3 years now. I replaced the side slicer knives with the hammer blades about a year ago. The hammer blades give a much smoother cut, but require more power to turn because of the much heavier weight. I have mowed some rough pasture land with brush up to about 2" in diameter with no problems. There have been absolutely no mechanical problems whatever. The mower is very robust and well made. My only criticism is LP should have designed the side slicer equipped version with more sets of knives to give a smoother cut similar to my old NH 918H. Vic

vlcakc, did you have to rebalance the rotor to change from the Y knives to hammer blades?