Tractor Sizing bush hogging acreage
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MtnViewRanch
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leonz, I don't know if anyone is doubting you, it is just that heavy duty flails are big money. I know that I have a very heavy duty unit, 102" cut and it will obliterate 3"-4" brush. If I would have bought it new, it would have been HUGE money. 
And as you probably know, you can't count on auctions from government entities to have what you need when you need it. So for him to purchase a big flail that would accommodate him, I would guess that it could cost close to what he can purchase a tractor and bush hog for.
And as you probably know, you can't count on auctions from government entities to have what you need when you need it. So for him to purchase a big flail that would accommodate him, I would guess that it could cost close to what he can purchase a tractor and bush hog for.
SPYDERLK
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See, thats the problem. With a 5' rotary cutter 4MPH is sedate with 40 HP and cuts an acre an hr. Whereas with a 5' Flail you must slow down to a point you only cut 2 or 3 acres per day. It takes more power to cut the grass up fine.
larry
MtnViewRanch
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Larry, your joking right? Your not actually thinking that it takes all day to cut 3 acres. At 1 mph it would be 6 hours, I doubt that one would have to go that slow.
I'm still hoping that you're just joking around. :confused2:
leonz
Super Member
The thing is a a flail shredder chopper of any size has a huge width
of cut and taking 88 feet per minute and lets say a used 20 foot
flail chopper shredder in good condition you can cover:
EDIT-the flail shredders have very wide scoop knives that are made
of hardened steel in most cases and are very inexpensive including
the mounting hardware per knive.
A swath of ground that is 20 feet wide and every minute you shred
88 feet by 20 feet=1,760 square feet per minute and in sixty minutes
you shred 105,600 square feet to the ground at one mile per hour.
In 4 hours your shredding 400,000+ 20,000+2,400=
422,400 square feet which is divided by 43,560 square feet per acre which
is 9.7 acres per 4 hour period.
When its knocked down the first time there will be little left to return in
growth as it is at ground level and any resulting growth is something that
will be knocked down quickly when mowing again at a faster speed.
A wider flail chopper will of course cover more ground per minute so even a
good flail chopper used in cotton or sugar cane guaranteed by the machinery
dealer or from a farm auction will serve the purpose and he can invest in a
small mower to do the lttle area around the home if he wants to for much
less money if he rents his power months in advance.
Renting power for a month a year will save him money and he will be able to
purchase a wider flail chopper to operate it and or a smaller flail mower from
Ken Sweet or a Caroni from agrisupply for a smaller tractor like a
BX2660
The last time I looked at tractorhouse as an example there were at least 80
pages of flail shredders and that was 2 months ago.
of cut and taking 88 feet per minute and lets say a used 20 foot
flail chopper shredder in good condition you can cover:
EDIT-the flail shredders have very wide scoop knives that are made
of hardened steel in most cases and are very inexpensive including
the mounting hardware per knive.
A swath of ground that is 20 feet wide and every minute you shred
88 feet by 20 feet=1,760 square feet per minute and in sixty minutes
you shred 105,600 square feet to the ground at one mile per hour.
In 4 hours your shredding 400,000+ 20,000+2,400=
422,400 square feet which is divided by 43,560 square feet per acre which
is 9.7 acres per 4 hour period.
When its knocked down the first time there will be little left to return in
growth as it is at ground level and any resulting growth is something that
will be knocked down quickly when mowing again at a faster speed.
A wider flail chopper will of course cover more ground per minute so even a
good flail chopper used in cotton or sugar cane guaranteed by the machinery
dealer or from a farm auction will serve the purpose and he can invest in a
small mower to do the lttle area around the home if he wants to for much
less money if he rents his power months in advance.
Renting power for a month a year will save him money and he will be able to
purchase a wider flail chopper to operate it and or a smaller flail mower from
Ken Sweet or a Caroni from agrisupply for a smaller tractor like a
BX2660
The last time I looked at tractorhouse as an example there were at least 80
pages of flail shredders and that was 2 months ago.
Last edited:
montelatici
Platinum Member
"The thing is a a flail shredder chopper of any size has a huge width
of cut "
What the heck does that mean? Leonz, I think you are going overboard on this flail mower thing. A 5 foot flail has the same width of cut as a 5 foot rotary mower, trust me.
Plus, with a rotary mower you don't have to replace knive, you hardly have to grease them and they have no belts to replace. In fact, they really need no maintenance.
of cut "
What the heck does that mean? Leonz, I think you are going overboard on this flail mower thing. A 5 foot flail has the same width of cut as a 5 foot rotary mower, trust me.
Plus, with a rotary mower you don't have to replace knive, you hardly have to grease them and they have no belts to replace. In fact, they really need no maintenance.
leonz
Super Member
Just to clarify AGAIN:
The entire compliment of grass slicer knive edge length for any flailmower except in the use of a hammer type knife IS longer in total cutting edge than the cutting edge length for a rotary cutter or finish mower
SO assuming if a rotary cutter has a five foot width it has 2 blades- each with a total cutting edge OF 30 inches EACH it only presents 30 inches of available cutting edge per rotation of the arbor per revolution
SO in a flailmowers case;
Using a finish mower rotor with 4 rows of staggered knives in my example
The number of knives is 112 knives the grass slicing cutting edge is 1.5 inches in length from what i remember. the 56 pairs knives have a total grass slicing surface edge length of 168 inches of available cutting edge exposed to gras and brush equivalent to 14 feet of cutting edge for a rotary cutter -
not including ther other 14 FEET of grass slicer cutting edge on the other side of the blade that allows you to simply flip the blade pairs when dull to provide the end user with a fresh cutting edge in my case by simply sliding the spring tensioned knive hanger to one side to remove them and flip the new fresh blade for work
The same applies to both a 2 row rotor or a three row flail mower rotor as the gras slicer knives overlap when slicing grass and brush.
SO to recap in MY 48 inch flail mowers case;
56 knive hangers
112 grass slicer knives
168 inches of sharpened grass slicer edge on one edge = 14 feet
168 inches of sharpened grass slicer edge on the opposite edge =14 feet
336 inches in total cutting edge surface
Each knive has 3 inches of slicing edge in TOTAL-front and back
The grass slicer knives have a total 336 inches of slicing edge or 28 feet of slicing edge in total.
A flail shredder chopper with 2-3 rows of scoop knives has an individual knive that may be 1.3 inches to 5 inches wide depending upon the builder and the models use for crop shredding or rough mowing.
A four foot rotary cutter in the example HAS only a total of 48 inches of cutting edge surface.
with the 2 cutter blades exposing ONE 24 inch cutting edge per revolution as the prime mover advances with
the towed implement as the following cutting edge rotates behind the previous edge to take its place.
I hope this further clarifies the issue for everyone.
I have to pour the coal out of my stocking and into my boiler now
as my fuel tank is empty AGAIN and I pay for the privilage of automatic delivery (in my dreams I guess) as this is the fifth time in 2 years I have no kerosene fuel.
Time for a tank trap to secure diesel fuel from the county snow plows I guess (too messy with a tiger pit or snare).
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
The entire compliment of grass slicer knive edge length for any flailmower except in the use of a hammer type knife IS longer in total cutting edge than the cutting edge length for a rotary cutter or finish mower
SO assuming if a rotary cutter has a five foot width it has 2 blades- each with a total cutting edge OF 30 inches EACH it only presents 30 inches of available cutting edge per rotation of the arbor per revolution
SO in a flailmowers case;
Using a finish mower rotor with 4 rows of staggered knives in my example
The number of knives is 112 knives the grass slicing cutting edge is 1.5 inches in length from what i remember. the 56 pairs knives have a total grass slicing surface edge length of 168 inches of available cutting edge exposed to gras and brush equivalent to 14 feet of cutting edge for a rotary cutter -
not including ther other 14 FEET of grass slicer cutting edge on the other side of the blade that allows you to simply flip the blade pairs when dull to provide the end user with a fresh cutting edge in my case by simply sliding the spring tensioned knive hanger to one side to remove them and flip the new fresh blade for work
The same applies to both a 2 row rotor or a three row flail mower rotor as the gras slicer knives overlap when slicing grass and brush.
SO to recap in MY 48 inch flail mowers case;
56 knive hangers
112 grass slicer knives
168 inches of sharpened grass slicer edge on one edge = 14 feet
168 inches of sharpened grass slicer edge on the opposite edge =14 feet
336 inches in total cutting edge surface
Each knive has 3 inches of slicing edge in TOTAL-front and back
The grass slicer knives have a total 336 inches of slicing edge or 28 feet of slicing edge in total.
A flail shredder chopper with 2-3 rows of scoop knives has an individual knive that may be 1.3 inches to 5 inches wide depending upon the builder and the models use for crop shredding or rough mowing.
A four foot rotary cutter in the example HAS only a total of 48 inches of cutting edge surface.
with the 2 cutter blades exposing ONE 24 inch cutting edge per revolution as the prime mover advances with
the towed implement as the following cutting edge rotates behind the previous edge to take its place.
I hope this further clarifies the issue for everyone.
I have to pour the coal out of my stocking and into my boiler now
as my fuel tank is empty AGAIN and I pay for the privilage of automatic delivery (in my dreams I guess) as this is the fifth time in 2 years I have no kerosene fuel.
Time for a tank trap to secure diesel fuel from the county snow plows I guess (too messy with a tiger pit or snare).
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Last edited:
two_bit_score
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Contract it out to someone who will be using a large batwing mower.
Can you bale it and sell it? Economically, that would be best but you should look into contracting it out also.
