SICKLE MOWER VS FLAIL

[ovrszd]

To this day I clearly remember my Dad repeatedly lecturing me about the dangers of the sickle mower when folding the bar up for transport. I started running an 8N with a sickle mower when I was 8 years old. It was all I could do to fold the bar. So I tended to grab it wherever was most effective to lift. First thing I wanted to do was grab it by the guards.......

My Dad never screamed and yelled. And when teaching he always used visual examples. I clearly remember folding that bar and watching the sickle drop thru the guards. The modern belt driven mowers aren't nearly as apt to do that. Every pitman stick mower did exactly that. Fingers could easily be cut off.

 

[Brimfield]

So I am getting a flail but I have one question. Do I need a cab on the tractor for safety?

 

[diesel85]

So I am getting a flail but I have one question. Do I need a cab on the tractor for safety?

No, flail mowers are the safest from throwing debris. That is why they are used on highways.

 

[Jrasband]

Met too many old farmers that had less then the number of fingers they were born with, to ever advocate a sickle bar.

Scotch Broom was introduced to stabilize steep ground on highway constructions. That didn't work out so well either.

Pretty easy to not lose a finger with a sickle bar if someone tells you how to raise/lower it.

I LOVE my NH 451 it is so much fun cutting grass with it I will never use a rotory mower after having learned about the amazingness of the sickle bar. I feel bad for all the people who have never gotten to enjoy one and think rotory mowers are the only way to go.

 

[Jrasband]

No, flail mowers are the safest from throwing debris. That is why they are used on highways.

Often on the roadway they operate a flail mower off the back and a sickle mower off to the side. Also, Sickle mowers are very safe they do not chuck anything. Just learn how to raise and lower the thing so you don't lose a finger .

 

[workinonit]

Maschio, Del Moarino and one that starts with a P that escapes me. All Italian made.

 

[diesel85]

Often on the roadway they operate a flail mower off the back and a sickle mower off to the side. Also, Sickle mowers are very safe they do not chuck anything. Just learn how to raise and lower the thing so you don't lose a finger .

Everything in my area they switched to boom mounted flails for whatever reason.

But I remember as a kid they'd run that setup with a flail and a sickle for the ditch. Always worked well.

With that, because they switched to a boom mounted flail for their mowing, they had to get gigantic tractors, instead of normal sized (usually open cab) machines. (As a taxpayer, not happy when I see them highway crews sitting in this huge air conditioned machine.) I live in NY, so that answers that.

 

[bigtiller]

So I am getting a flail but I have one question. Do I need a cab on the tractor for safety?

Oh yes, most definitely....and one with air conditioning... is what you should tell your wife.

 

[BukitCase]

Caroni is another flail made in Italy -

Search Results | Agri Supply

www.agrisupply.com

I have one (the 73"), it's better than the chinese stuff but if your tractor (and your wallet) can handle the extra weight and cost, I'd go with the Rears... Steve

 

[Jrasband]

Everything in my area they switched to boom mounted flails for whatever reason.

But I remember as a kid they'd run that setup with a flail and a sickle for the ditch. Always worked well.

With that, because they switched to a boom mounted flail for their mowing, they had to get gigantic tractors, instead of normal sized (usually open cab) machines. (As a taxpayer, not happy when I see them highway crews sitting in this huge air conditioned machine.) I live in NY, so that answers that.

yeah another reason I love my sickle. Run a 7' on my 32 hp LS like it is not even back there in high range 1st gear.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Old fella around here had a fleet of 8N tractors and sickle mowers to cut hay. Had a big newer tractor for baling. Cut it all with them 8n's.

 

[Jrasband]

I will add that

Old fella around here had a fleet of 8N tractors and sickle mowers to cut hay. Had a big newer tractor for baling. Cut it all with them 8n's.

he knew how to get it done!

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I will add that

he knew how to get it done!

I bet he had a dozen 8n tractors. Parked at every hay field during the summer.

 

[LightningCamaroGuy]

Sickle mowers are made for hay, and pretty much not much else. They're kind of like a disc mower in the sense that you generally don't want to use them outside their intended use as they're not really great tools for handling abuse. Yes they'll knock down some small saplings in your hayfield, but they are not really a repair job you want to get stuck with, and abusing one will quickly result in getting stuck with that repair job. As for a flail mower I grew up using one, but it's probably been 30 years since I have used one. Personally I prefer a bush hog for saplings, but I often will just use our drum mower especially if the blades are dull, and in need of changing anyway to knock down an old field with small saplings starting to sprout up. A drum mower might look like a disc mower, but they are much simpler, and handle abuse much better than a disc mower. Plus a drum mower is a relatively cheap mower, especially for one that works so well for mowing hay.

 

[wmfamily]

Multi-Floral Rose Bushes are the nemesis here. 40 years ago the Missouri Conservation Department would give you seedlings to plant. They promoted them as wildlife preservers. Horribly invasive and will completely take over a field. Sometimes our Government has good intentions that actually aren't. Well maybe a bit more than "sometimes"......

I must have been more than 40 years ago. I worked at an ag store then and we sold some very expensive granules to spread around the base of the plant. I do not recall the name as that wasn't my area of concern (too young). It was the bane of all farmers then and continues to be a PITA today. I had to cut and treat a couple nasty examples this weekend. It seems it's never ending.

 

[bigtiller]

Multi-Floral Rose Bushes are the nemesis here. 40 years ago the Missouri Conservation Department would give you seedlings to plant. They promoted them as wildlife preservers. Horribly invasive and will completely take over a field. Sometimes our Government has good intentions that actually aren't. Well maybe a bit more than "sometimes"......

The local Farm Service Agency recommended Crown Vetch to me in 1998. The county road crew had dug the road ditch out for better drainage for about 400' and I wanted some ground cover because it was to steep to mow.

They recommended a company and gave me references to buy the seed. $85 for half a pound. Fortunately I was working well over 60 hours a week back then and didn't have time to plant them.

Edit, changed Multi-Floral Rose to Crown Vetch.

 

[IndyJay]

The local Farm Service Agency recommended Multi-Floral Rose to me in 1998. The county road crew had dug the road ditch out for better drainage for about 400' and I wanted some ground cover because it was to steep to mow.

They recommended a company and gave me references to buy the seed. $85 for half a pound. Fortunately I was working well over 60 hours a week back then and didn't have time to plant them.

Good old "county road crew". They "improved drainage" along my road that I had been able to mow on my lawn tractor. Now I have to weedeat the whole 1100 feet because the bottom two feet of the bank is now too steep for the mower to even safely mow the upper part.

 

[Rustyiron]

I must have been more than 40 years ago. I worked at an ag store then and we sold some very expensive granules to spread around the base of the plant. I do not recall the name as that wasn't my area of concern (too young). It was the bane of all farmers then and continues to be a PITA today. I had to cut and treat a couple nasty examples this weekend. It seems it's never ending.

I've used road salt to kill unwanted brushy stuff. One year I just happened to have a few bags that got hard (wet) and I had some kind of junky willows growing along a creek, cutting them seemed to encourage new growth and I didn't feel good about chemicals on the creek bank. A good layer of rock salt around the ground did the trick.

 

[LouNY]

The local Farm Service Agency recommended Multi-Floral Rose to me in 1998. The county road crew had dug the road ditch out for better drainage for about 400' and I wanted some ground cover because it was to steep to mow.

They recommended a company and gave me references to buy the seed. $85 for half a pound. Fortunately I was working well over 60 hours a week back then and didn't have time to plant them.

I am surprised that they were recommending that garbage in 98, we had been fighting it for years by that time. It had started taking over pastures and hedgerows in the 60's in my area.

 

[IndyJay]

I am surprised that they were recommending that garbage in 98, we had been fighting it for years by that time. It had started taking over pastures and hedgerows in the 60's in my area.

yes, they had pretty much switched to crown vetch as the preferred ground cover by then.