Anybody with a Bestco Flail Mower Unhappy with anything at all??

[BrokenTrack]

BrokenTrack: That's a lot of replacement/wear. What type of flail mower is that you're using? And, how long are your 'days', in which you average a loss of 7-10 shackles?

I use a Alamo Boom 6 foot mower, with 8 foot offset rear mower mowing ditches for municipalities. The tractor is a 4x4 120 HP John Deere, more for stability at full extension rather than for shear HP. The Alamo is designed for a 40 HP tractor, but on ditches it would be "flippy", so hence a bigger tractor. I average 12 hour days (no lunch or breaks as I subcontract out to the towns) and figure I mow about 34 acres per day.

It is pretty brutal conditions because the towns want to maintain "what they got" so I mow to the tree line. This means beating back as much trees as I can pony up too. But I hit other stuff too. In the last two weeks I have hit a chainsaw, a barb wire fence, (2) sections of sheep fence, a harrow, an elderly person's type of oxygen tank, and somehow managed to catch a rebar survey pin in a shackle and wind that up into the drum. None did the blades much good.

I also hit rocks. That is because the guys ditching do not like to put big rocks into their dump truck bodies so they push them out to the treeline...which is where I mow. Most of the time I can feel them as my mower skips along, but once and awhile, I get into a rock pretty hard.

Sometimes my shackles break, but about as often, the heavy grass/trees are pulling the cotter pins out and then the shackles come loose. Cost for knives, shackles, pins, and cotter pins is about $600 a year. Mowing season is July-August, or about 2000 acres. 2000 HARD acres.

PS: Those afraid of flipping tractors over, need not apply!

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I have a Betstco 68" flail and I have decided to sell it. It just doesn't work for me.

My property is an old dairy farm and a lot of what I want to mow is hay fields. The flail mower can't handle it at all. By this time of year the grass is 4 to 5 feet high, and the stems are quite tough. The grass gets wrapped around the shaft and jams the mower and burns out the belts.

The only things that will mow the hay are a rough rotary mower (bush hog) or a drum mower. With either one I can run in 4L, which is about 4mph. The owner's manual for my flail mower says not to more at more than 1.5 mph. That's just painfully slow. I can follow the rough mower with the flail mower for a better cut. But I can also do that with a lawn tractor, which gives a better cut and can go faster.

In order to back up I have to lift the flail mower or I risk damaging the rear roller (I've already replaced a bearing.) However, if the angle is too great the shear pin will snap. So I have to disengage the PTO and raise the mower if I want to back up. It's just time-consuming. I've also broken shear pins going over a dip.

In general I don't find it good for anything taller than the distance between the shaft and the front of the mower, the tall stuff gets bent over and the flails miss it.

To summarize: not versatile, slow, finicky and fragile.

 

[msb1766]

I have a few more hours on my 48" Medium Duty Bestco Flail Mower with hammer knifes, I have been clearing around the property cutting back the brush and undergrowth and it has impressive as how cuts and shreds.
The brush I am shedding is anywhere between 1/4" to 2+". I have zero complaints with the cutter, it has cut everything that I have asked it to.

 

[Jack Yuan]

I was torn between the bestco and woodmaxx.

I went with woodmaxx for 2 main reasons - one being the grease maintenance - bestco is 25 hours and woodmaxx 250. Yes, 10 TIMES the time between greasings - tells me they're sealed bearings or much more well sealed. Having worked with dirt bikes and quads I can tell you sealed bearings are easily 10 times longer lasting. Second was the belt tension arrangement - to tension belts on the woodmaxx, well, it's automatic for the most part. the bestco..manual and you move teh ENTIRE gearbox/shaft assembly to do so. Awkward to say the least.

The door on the back...I opened to see the difference it makes - much rougher cut as the suction is considerably less, BUT it's tossed out much longer grass pieces - which I like as I'll be able to use it to gut hay to bale.

The other big question was hammers or knives...I ordered knives as grass is my main thing needing cut. Woodmaxx shipped it with hammers...so I mowed some with them and woodmaxx sent knives so I put them on and mowed some more.

The hammers have more mass, are noisier, shred grass MUCH finer...not sure I can tell much other difference, other htan when cutting tall grass the finer shreds fall to the ground where the knives cuttings sit on top and turn brown..waiting to see if this will kill the pasture grass or not.

Mowing speed is about the same as a brush hog - 6' hog and 78" flail both on a kioti CK3510HST (30 pto hp).

YOu cannot mow in reverse with a flail where you can with a brush hog. the hog is 8' long more or less, the flail 3' perhaps. Weight is similar (very heavy!)

I got the hydraulic offset flail which you can't get a BH like that - handy for under fences and tree limbs.

Can it work as a finish mower? Yes..but it's not as good as a finish mower.

And you'll find with the big roller at the back it can leave oddly un-cut patches when the ground is uneven.

I suggest grease maintenance within 8 hours. "25 hours" is too long, "250 hours" is risky and ridiculous, no matter what brand flail mower.

 

[the old grind]

Burned the first pair of belts on my new 53" cut Betstco. Turns out that a rotted and forgotten, decades old HFT tarp was embedded in weeds next to a stack of round bales.

'Trainer' says, "we don't have tarps out there". I say there's a dozen pieces of one out there now, and forensics will reveal cutmarks from my 2" pocket knife. :laughing:

Anyway, rotor was stopped cold and quickly. If I pushed in the clutch in <5 seconds it was still a bit late. I could smell rubber already. I cleared it and turned back toward my place. Dense clover grows alongside that lane to the hayfield, lush and green. 4-5' high was a bit much for even my casual pace (I troll Storm Hottentots faster, ~2- 2 1/2 mph) and things got wrapped on my roller within seconds on a retry, so I knew there was slippage and belts sans spring- tensioner were already toast. As soon a I lowered I could tell tha right away, and returned to the shop.

Belts were shredded, so much mat'l lost that they looked like they were inverted on the pulleys, but they weren't, just kinda sideways. I cut off the two 'B' belts easily with HFT metal snips like they were scissors. (compound-cut type w/yellow poly handles)

I did buy a spare set of belts with my order. (advised for new users who, like me, wreck more stuff helping neighbors than on their own patch :rotfl They're not cheap crap, but before I shredded the writing off them too (future cross reference) I took a spare to FF&H to match-up for replacement. Guess what. No 'exact match' in stock or listed. OEM belt is 39 1/2", store had 39" & 40" in Kevlar-wrapped, $16.99 ea. I'm sure HD or TSC would have similar, & I'll try 'em all i dont' get luckier.

As for performance, I'll have to add pics of the fantastic job this does with ease, and 28 rated PTO hp. Olive, honeysuckle, sassafras, buckthorn, blackberries, locuts .. I'm cutting across/thru them at a 'medium' walking pace with leg-wetting ease and results. Anything up to 1" or so at the base & <11' tall might as well be knee-high grass. Dried and forgotten twig piles alongside my road were ground up with the live 'fishingpole' sprouts that disguised them.

I'm not taking any chances with greasing. My work sessions will be a few hrs per, and only a few times/year, backed up by neighbors' JD 5420 4WD shuttle and Land Pride HD 7' BH since most will be on their 60. My cutter doesn't leave hay-rows where they're clearing for a food plot. Trainer's 2 girls want riding paths on the fallow fields surrounding their hay patch. They're Morgan breeders and all three fine Ladies give riding lessons. I'm anxious to do more for them with the mower.

 

[prof fate]

I suggest grease maintenance within 8 hours. "25 hours" is too long, "250 hours" is risky and ridiculous, no matter what brand flail mower.

just following the directions of the manufacturer.

More things are ruined from over-greasing and blowing seals than less frequent greasing. dirt is an enemy of moving parts and greasing till you see it come out is just asking for dirt to get in there and grind it up like sandpaper.

I'm buying a hay rake and keep finding fergusun and massey-ferguson rakes (deo 20, 25 models) that some are from the 1950's...with NO grease fittings. Sealed bearings, go work. for DECADES. Looked at one from the early 70s - 16 bearings on the rake arms were perfect, the pulley bearings look like (from the outside) like a tapered roller hub bearing, but no grease fittings on them either - solid and smooth.

Looking at true ferguson tomorrow - it's from the early 1950s, so 60, 65, maybe 70 years old. I bet it has no grease fittings either.

Nor do wheel bearings on cars anymore - used to be grease em every 12k and at 80 replace them ... now ignore them and get 120k or more from them.

 

[thekkfan]

Thought I'd update after adjusting my rear roller height and top link again, I was able to get a great cut first time through AND was able to pick up ground speed with my farmer's helper. Here's a few pics field mowing tall grass mixed with foxtail and lespedeza. Some of the areas were just over the tractor hood. Will try to post a video showing that shortly.

Again, I currently have the scoop knives installed- not the Y blades.



Video.... Betstco 68" Flail - YouTube

 

[KeithT]

I have the 60 heavy duty with hammer knives. Came nicely packaged on a pallet with a steel angle frame welded around it. Had to assemble the 3-pt hitch. Pretty straight forward, I was annoyed that washers were missing.

I have 10 acres in the mountains of WV. Rhododendron and mountain laurel so thick you can walk through it. Over the years I have hired people to cut it back (track hoe with boom mower) and I have bush hogged, cut and chipped, and tore out with a grapple. This is the best removal method I have had yet. Much better than a rotary cutter.

I have used The Betstco mower for 3 hours so far and no complaints. Have cut through up to 2-2.5 laurel. Only issue I have is when hitting some old stumps from the mountain laurel, the flails will sometimes lift it right out of the ground and the stump will get wedged between the drum and the housing. This happened 3 times. I stalled the tractor and smoked the belts a couple times, but no damage or other issues. After the first 2 hrs use I checked all the bolts and regreased the bearings. All was good. Hammers are holding up well too.

 

[leonz]

Hello and good morning KiethT,


I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations"
from the Great State of West Virginia. Are you located in the panhandle near Moundsville?

I am glad that the flail shredder is working well for you and managing your brush load.

You will need to check your nuts and bolts to make sure they have not loosened up and if they have
use a drop of blue loctite on the nuts and bolts you may have to remove to do any repairs.

The resident members of the flailmower nation that visit here are a very happy lot of mower owners.
You are among friends that can help you if you have issues that you cannot identify.

As far as greasing goes the good rule to follow is to pump 5-6 pumps of high temperature grease in the
flail mower rotor bearings and the rear roller bearings every 8 hours of mowing+-.

I do not know if you have any grease fittings under the V belt guard on your flail shredder but its best to check for them as
the rubber dust and fine chaff will have already attached itself to the side weldment of the flail shredder due to the electro
static charge created by the flail mower rotor which mowing. You will need a scraper or very hot water to remove the grass
dust and rubber dust.

If your hammer knifes are the type that have a gusset added to them in the thin casting to strengthen the thinner casting it is
always a good idea to examine them with a high intensity LED flash light to make sure that there are no cracks in the thinner casting.

When you take the v belt guard off to clean under the guard its always a good idea to check the V belts. when you check them be sure to
look for any cracks in the carcass of the V belt as it is an immediate sign that the V belt will break in the near future. The V belt or belts will
also begin to slip as they become more glazed from the heat of the sheave pulleys.

Just as an FYI; garden hose snakes and extension cord snakes are down right nasty and bite very quickly as they are
in no mood to be unwrapped from the flail mower rotor as it is nice and warm and they do not want to be untangled :laughing::laughing:

I am unsure if you intend on planting grass seed to make a good sod lawn but once you have the ground cut back low you should look
at the farmtek catalog as they have weed barrier fabric in large square sizes or strips from 6-12 feet wide to kill off weeds.



Happy Mowing. :drink:







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I have the 60 heavy duty with hammer knives. Came nicely packaged on a pallet with a steel angle frame welded around it. Had to assemble the 3-pt hitch. Pretty straight forward, I was annoyed that washers were missing.

I have 10 acres in the mountains of WV. Rhododendron and mountain laurel so thick you can walk through it. Over the years I have hired people to cut it back (track hoe with boom mower) and I have bush hogged, cut and chipped, and tore out with a grapple. This is the best removal method I have had yet. Much better than a rotary cutter.

I have used The Betstco mower for 3 hours so far and no complaints. Have cut through up to 2-2.5 laurel. Only issue I have is when hitting some old stumps from the mountain laurel, the flails will sometimes lift it right out of the ground and the stump will get wedged between the drum and the housing. This happened 3 times. I stalled the tractor and smoked the belts a couple times, but no damage or other issues. After the first 2 hrs use I checked all the bolts and regreased the bearings. All was good. Hammers are holding up well too.

 

[the old grind]

.. Just as an FYI; garden hose snakes and extension cord snakes are down right nasty and bite very quickly as they are
in no mood to be unwrapped from the flail mower rotor as it is nice and warm and they do not want to be untangled ..

Be aware that predatory carpet scraps, half-disintegrated tarps, and old discarded blankets lurk among the brooding snakes. Unfortunately, they seem to have no positive or redeeming effect on snake populations, and can be even more obstinate when coaxing one away from a mower rotor.

KeithT, welcome to Flail World! (btw, new Betsco/FHM has made my recent 'work' a popular tourist draw in the neighborhood this season.) t o g