BEFCO flail mower videos and new site announcement

[SmallTrac]

Hello TBN'ers

It has been a while since I posted last. I have been busy, in large part due to the fact that I am changing hosts--just some details that my old host either could or would not do for me. I have gone with a local host that I can interact with on a face-to-face basis. Shortly I will be re-opening under the name SmallTrac.com with basically the same format but with a few glitches smoothed over.

In the mean time I produced a couple of videos of my BEFCO 48 flail mower with paddle blades. It has been wonderful to use and now is my standard go-to mower. I can finish mow, rough cut and everything in between. I have the mower set at 4 inches so it does not clear right to ground level, though if I set it at its lowest level, I am certain it would clear everything straight to the ground. Anyhow, please take a look and let me know what you think.

Eric

Hedge Row Clean Out HD
This is a combination of materials that were growing up under an overgrown hedgerow that has become a living fence.
http://youtu.be/tmcgqnMjnYY

Mowing Small Patch of Tall Grass.mp4
I tested my flail mower in bush hog conditions. Notably, I got to obliterate a Russian Olive bush.
http://youtu.be/SMF9Q4on3eo

 

[cmhyland]

Thanks for the videos. It's funny how people from the city think that fields just stay fields with no work…. I have people that I work with who think… What do you have to do to fields? When I explain that mother nature will take back 6 or 8 feet a year without maintenance they can't believe it…

Regards,
Chris

 

[LiveRoll]

Impressive looking little mower, however, is there a plate or rear cover / shield to cover the back? it looks like a lot of debris flying out the back, was it perhaps removed?

Cheers

Roger

 

[SmallTrac]

cmhyland, LiveRoll

No problem regarding the videos. I am glad you liked them--thanks for the comments and feedback.

Chris--I certainly understand your point about city folk not understanding the very idea of field maintenance. Where I live, I am required by local regulations to have any open acreage mowed at least once per year. Personally, I like open grass land and therefore I only mow as often as required by regulations. Sometimes I mow relatively early. This year I have still not gotten around to mowing about half my open acreage and it is filled with woody material. I am debating making another video of mowing through my grass and Russian Olive/Sumac land.

Roger, I ordered the mower without a cover and I can check to see if there is a cover available. I am sure it would be no major difficulty to rig something up. However, I watched this aspect VERY carefully and what I noticed is that though there is a lot of material coming out, it is thrown down, and not out parallel to the ground at high speed like my rough cutter does. If I am mowing in really rough conditions with a lot of twiggy type of material to be mowed, an occasional piece will take a bounce, but it is a pretty gentle one as most of the kinetic energy is transferred into the ground.

Again, thanks for the response. It is surely helpful to get feedback. I have a bit more footage to post. I also have some video of mowing in woods. I presently have a total of 7 videos on YouTube. Are they visible to you after clicking on one of the links I posted or would it be more helpful for me to post the whole list?



Thanks for the feedback and comments. It is really quite helpful.

Eric

 

[SmallTrac]

Thank you everyone for your very kind comments, both public and those by PM. A couple of people have asked about the possibility of a rear cover. I am in the process of working with a local manufacturer for a very easy bolt-on design that needs no new holes drilled. We have a preliminary design. It is notable, however, how much of the exhausted debris is deposited straight down on the ground and the absence of thrown airborne debris.

I included a new video that I just finished editing.

Thanks to all

SmallTrac

Berry Patch Recovery Part 1
http://youtu.be/hpPZxbgLPQQ

 

[leonz]

1. why are you not lowering the rear roller to its lowest position?

2. you do not require a trash shield for the rear.

It would only create a huge clog of debris affecting the flailmower rotors
speed of rotation and creating a possible stalling condition from the cut
brush being unable to exit the mower shroud.

3. with the mower raised as it is it is losing the suction created by
the flail mower rotors rotation to enable it to cut the brush more effectively.


4. hanging folding debris shields/shutters are ment for the front of a flail mower
with clockwise rotation (looking from the left side) per the european safety standards.

5. the mowing is fine but the mowers rear roller needs to readjusted to lower the cutting
height as the invasives and brush stubble will remain there.

 

[SmallTrac]

Leonz,

1) I have the mower set at 4 inches which is the height my finish mower is also set at. My flail mower has become by double-duty mower of choice. As it stands, the forward suction is quite impressive. I don't know if I have any footage shot of that specific angle, but I have seen the mower really draw in debris from the sides. I will check through my footage for any shots demonstrating the suction.

2) I think you are right that a rear shield is unnecessary, but a couple of people who PM'd me were interested in one--I thought it prudent to cater to this concern.

3) There is a front shield.

4) You are right, the lower the mower, the closer to the ground the cut will be. If you look at the video http://youtu.be/tmcgqnMjnYY (hedge row clean out), the mower set at 4 inches did a pretty good job of clearing invasives--for us, the worst is Japanese Honeysuckle. Those vines will take over the countryside given the chance.

All your points are fair ones, but as I have grown fond of the flail mower for a finish mower on my lawn, a 1 inch cut would be disastrous on our tall fescue yard.

Maybe you can inform me on a minor point. Was my last post actually posted twice? I was having troubles getting the post to load, re-typed it twice and walked away thinking it had not actually gotten posted at all. If I did post twice, my apologies.

SmallTrac