Flail mower first try = terrible cut… SOLVED

[S854]

I mowed a small section of field grass/alfalfa/weeds the other day with my new 60” Betstco flail… what was left standing behind the mower wasn’t anything like the videos I’ve seen, where the mower absolutely demolishes anything and everything it runs over… leaving a nice, mulched trail behind…

The grasses and small weeds get taken off pretty well (and mulched) but the flowering alfalfa and any taller, thicker stem weeds leave a foot-tall stem standing… going back over the stems usually takes them down but I’d rather NOT mow our 20 acres twice…

I have read the majority of the “Let’s Talk Flail Mowers” without coming across a solution to my issue… (it’s actually a rather entertaining tome!)

I mowed in low range, 540 PTO engine speed on my Kioti CK2610 HST, trying various ground speeds with the pedal… no difference… (I even tried the lower PTO engine speed just for kicks)

Tried extending and retracting my hydraulic top link… no difference…

I have the mower set at its highest setting (roller and skids) as we have numerous large rocks in our fields which I’d like to avoid…

I checked the belt tension during the initial setup (gonna check it again this morning)… All the bearings are greased, all the bolts are tight…

Raising or lowering the lift arms slightly also made no difference…

I‘m at a loss… it’s something simple, I’m sure but I don’t know what else to “adjust”…

 

[Locoweed]

Mine typically cuts much better when mowing shorter.

 

[K5lwq]

Any pictures? The cut gets better the lower you can mow. Also using the top link to adjust the height helps.

 

[Hay Dude]

running backwards (wrong direction)?

 

[scootr]

Which hammers did you get?
I have the large brush cutting type and they will leave some small stuff standing.

 

[leonz]

I mowed a small section of field grass/alfalfa/weeds the other day with my new 60” Betstco flail… what was left standing behind the mower wasn’t anything like the videos I’ve seen, where the mower absolutely demolishes anything and everything it runs over… leaving a nice, mulched trail behind…

The grasses and small weeds get taken off pretty well (and mulched) but the flowering alfalfa and any taller, thicker stem weeds leave a foot-tall stem standing… going back over the stems usually takes them down but I’d rather NOT mow our 20 acres twice…

I have read the majority of the “Let’s Talk Flail Mowers” without coming across a solution to my issue… (it’s actually a rather entertaining tome!)

I mowed in low range, 540 PTO engine speed on my Kioti CK2610 HST, trying various ground speeds with the pedal… no difference… (I even tried the lower PTO engine speed just for kicks)

Tried extending and retracting my hydraulic top link… no difference…

I have the mower set at its highest setting (roller and skids) as we have numerous large rocks in our fields which I’d like to avoid…

I checked the belt tension during the initial setup (gonna check it again this morning)… All the bearings are greased, all the bolts are tight…

Raising or lowering the lift arms slightly also made no difference…

I‘m at a loss… it’s something simple, I’m sure but I don’t know what else to “adjust”…

OK,

If the flail mower does not sound like a shop vac vacuum cleaner it is not creating the amount of
pressure gradient/suction to lift the clippings up and over the flail mower rotor and the flail mower
rotor is not spinning at 2,200 RPM+.

Tall, thick, dense brush requires the user to operate at the lowest forward travel speed
at the lowest mower setting with the engine at the 540 RPM rear PTO engine setting.
Tall, thick, dense brush mowing using a small tractor requires the user to operate the
flail mower in an overlapping mowing method to recut the material and catch the
stringers/stragglers.

What is the low range speed on your mule?

Is your flail mower equipped with side slicer or the scoop/spoon knives??

A flail mower operates best with the roller at its highest mounting point (lowest mowing height setting)
which is the top mounting/height adjustment holes in the side weldments of the mower.

The skids should not touch the ground, their only job is to protect the flail mower rotor, knife hangers and knives/hammers.

Are the V belts on your flail mower tightened by hand using a flat snubber pulley?

If you are mowing 20 acres only occasionally you will not control the invasive plants like ragweed, water hemp,
thistle, poison ivy, poison sumac very well and mowing will be harder to do.

If you mow the 20 acres in 4-5 acre blocks every 2 weeks at a low cutting height you can manage the mowing much more easily.

You will be better off using the Massey Ferguson 135 for this mowing if it is in operating condition.

 

[TerryR]

I mowed a small section of field grass/alfalfa/weeds the other day with my new 60” Betstco flail… what was left standing behind the mower wasn’t anything like the videos I’ve seen, where the mower absolutely demolishes anything and everything it runs over… leaving a nice, mulched trail behind…

The grasses and small weeds get taken off pretty well (and mulched) but the flowering alfalfa and any taller, thicker stem weeds leave a foot-tall stem standing…

Yes, that's a flail mower.

They do not do well with tall stem weeds. the front of the housing, especially if there is a stiff guard hanging down, pushes them over and holds them down while the mower rides over them. See Can a Flail Mower Cut Tall Weeds?

My solution was to replace the stiff belt front guard with a chain guard, which helps a lot. See Chain Guards for Flail Mower? on the second page.

The other issue is a flail does a poor job of picking up taller stuff after the tractor wheels run over it. Then it pops back up in a couple of hours. I use my mower offset so it mostly doesn't have to deal with that to solve this issue.

 

[diesel85]

I typically cut 1-2' grasses and weeds with my flail mower and it does occasionally leave stragglers, but nothing is perfect. Does way better than a rotary rough cut mower and is easier on the machine than trying to use a finish mower.

My Woodmaxx 62" has side slicer or Y knives, or grass knives whatever you want to call them.

Does a phenomenal job mowing my lawn to a golf course look I can admit to that.

 

[S854]

The right side of the yellow line was mowed by Julie on her new Bad Boy... I think she did a nice job for her first time in the seat... there was alfalfa where she mowed, too...

Inside the red circles are what's left of 2-3' diameter alfalfa bushes where I mowed with the flail...

Outlined in red is a stripped alfalfa stalk... again, about 2-3' long...

Gonna try to answer a few questions here...

I varied my ground speed from barely moving to a brisk walking speed... the flail does sound somewhat like a shop vac ... the one odd thing I noticed was, when I first spun the mower up to test it in the garage, it sounded "good"... when I shut it down, it continued to spin for a few seconds then, as the rotor slowed, I got some loud clanging as the hammers were no longer held by centrifugal force and came into contact with the rotor... after actually using the mower on my test strip, when I shut it down the clanginig was greatly diminished... I'm not sure if that's because of some weeds which may have wrapped around the rotor or what... this just occurred to me as I was reading and replying to posts here...

Gonna check further into this when I adjust the roller/skids/belt tension...

I have "hammer" flails...

The front guard on Betestco flails consists of 20-30 sections of sheet metal... all about 1 1/2" X 2"... hanging like flaps from the front of the mower... (I'm going from vague memory here... didn't pay too much attention to the moveable guards other than the fact I thought "that's cool"...)

I'm getting ready to bring the mower into the garage for some adjustments... gonna lower the roller to it's lowest setting (I believe there's 2 choices)... I'll also lower the skids back to the "factory setting"...

With these two changes I'll be able to get a closer cut... and, hopefully, be able to lift the mower when I come across one of the larger obstacles (rocks, ant hills) in our field...

 

[diesel85]

You could always pull out the flapper rod, and replace the flaps with chain. I failed to mention my Woodmaxx has chains for guard instead of the metal flaps.