Caroni Flail Belt Failure

Nuru · Jul 9, 2008

I am going to retest my BETST flail pretty soon on some brush work. I have a MMM and a back-up riding mower now so the flail won't be used for finish mowing.

TNhobbyfarmer · Jul 9, 2008

I was originally leaning toward the 75" Caroni wuth 56 blades. Now I'm leaning toward the 59" model with 88 blades. The tractor I will use with it is a Kubota Grand L series 3430 geared which is 34 engine HP and 28.5 HP at the PTO. I feel it is big enough to handle either one.

Here's why I am leaning toward the 59" model. I think the extra blades will give me a cleaner cut. I will be mowing about a 1 acre home lot and about 4 more acres of pasture (every month or so). The pasture will not be allowed to grow enough to have saplings so it will be mostly just fescue. Am I correct in assuming that the TL series Caroni's are designed for a cleaner smoother cut? I want my lawn area to be equivalent or close to a RFM quality cut. What do you flail experts think?

have_blue · Jul 9, 2008

sunspot said:
That's all for now. Overall, I am pleased with the Flail.

Dana,

I guess you've already thought about a stick getting caught in the belt, and checked the belt guard for gaps and such. Do you think it's possible that a little oil got to the belt? I've seen that destroy them pretty quick.

IslandTractor · Jul 9, 2008

TNhobbyfarmer said:
I was originally leaning toward the 75" Caroni wuth 56 blades. Now I'm leaning toward the 59" model with 88 blades. ..... Am I correct in assuming that the TL series Caroni's are designed for a cleaner smoother cut? I want my lawn area to be equivalent or close to a RFM quality cut. What do you flail experts think?

I think your reasoning is sound. Extra blades means finer cut.

I use the TM1900 (56 blades) but I am not looking for a fine lawn cut and value the bush hog end of the performance more highly. I think your tractor could pull a 75 inch fine cut version but I don't know if AgriSupply imports that model.

John861 · Jul 9, 2008

TNhobbyfarmer said:
I want my lawn area to be equivalent or close to a RFM quality cut. What do you flail experts think?

It is unlikely that the flail will provide as smooth of a cut as a rotary finish mower. In both Caroni styles that I have seen, the knives are angled. You aren't going to get a flat surface with knives at 45 degree angles. More blades help, and may even get it so you won't notice unless you look closely.

I switched to a T shaped knife on my flail (a common blade for the old Ford's) and it produces a far smoother cut than the angled blades. If it's that important to you, you could see if any of this style knife is available for your mower.

Foozle · Jul 9, 2008

TNhobbyfarmer said:
I was originally leaning toward the 75" Caroni wuth 56 blades. Now I'm leaning toward the 59" model with 88 blades. The tractor I will use with it is a Kubota Grand L series 3430 geared which is 34 engine HP and 28.5 HP at the PTO. I feel it is big enough to handle either one.

Here's why I am leaning toward the 59" model. I think the extra blades will give me a cleaner cut. I will be mowing about a 1 acre home lot and about 4 more acres of pasture (every month or so). The pasture will not be allowed to grow enough to have saplings so it will be mostly just fescue. Am I correct in assuming that the TL series Caroni's are designed for a cleaner smoother cut? I want my lawn area to be equivalent or close to a RFM quality cut. What do you flail experts think?

I have the 72" with the TM rotor and I think the fewer blades (or angled) is what is causing the grooving in the finish mowing. I'm assuming the higher blade count might alleviate that a bit. If you don't let the field get too overgrown, you can probably use the finer blades, but I'm not certain on that. Last I checked, AgriSupply doesn't carry the TL rotor, but you can have them special order - just be willing to wait potentially up to 6 months for delivery as they come over on a slow boat from Italy.

Dave

sunspot · Jul 10, 2008

have_blue said:
Dana,

I guess you've already thought about a stick getting caught in the belt, and checked the belt guard for gaps and such. Do you think it's possible that a little oil got to the belt? I've seen that destroy them pretty quick.

Bob, sticks caught may be the reason but I never felt or heard any jams. I did pull the unit up and the rotor area was clean. There was no wood debris under the belt cover.
I also thought of oil. I put 2 shots of grease on all the zerks before each mowing and I was going to remove the belt housing soon to check for signs of over greasing. As you can see in the photo, a lot of the belt turned to powder. I looked for any sign of oil/grease and all was normal dry.
When I put on the new belts, I'll check the operation before I reinstall the cover.

IslandTractor · Jul 10, 2008

This is the first report on TBN of belt failure with a Caroni. I am sure it is not an unheard of problem but when such a failure occurs after only 10-15 hours of use and involves all three belts, it seems to me there must have been something wrong with the set up or tensioning of the belts. The belt dust on the outside the belt housing cover (I think that is what it is) indicates the belts must have been disintegrating for a while before failing.

I had my belt cover off for maintenance (greasing) just a few weeks ago and after about 20-30 hours use the belts looked essentially new so there clearly was some sort of malfuction in your case and this is not just a premature wear issue.

Unfortunately because AgriSupply is really a mass marketer rather than an individual dealer, they don't have any real experience in maintenance of these mowers. The only dealer on TBN who has indicated he carried the line in the past and is experienced in maintenance is DavesTractor, a Mahindra dealer from CA. If I were in your position (and for the benefit of all of us), I'd PM Dave and see what he thinks.

sunspot · Jul 10, 2008

IT, I agree with all your points. It was way too early for normal belt failure.
I would like to ask all the Caroni flail users to check for heat on the belt cover and post the users findings. I mentioned mine was hot to the touch right from the get go. I have a temp probe I'll use when I get back up and running.

SPYDERLK · Jul 10, 2008

sunspot said:
My belts failed. I have 10-15 hours on the flail. Both the power and rotor shaft turn freely by hand. There was no noise or smell of burning rubber. After a few hours of first using the Caroni, I checked the belt tension and they were a bit slack. I tightened them up a wee bit. As there is a spring loaded tensioner it would be difficult to over tighten them.
I'll call Agri-Supply in the morning to see if they are covered under warranty. I was not able to find the belt number at Agri but the Caroni number is #2142. I think I need to find a US automotive belt that will work in place of the Caroni belt.

I had thot that the Caroni flail drum turned the same direction as the tractor tires. Is yours a counterrotating flail? The positioning of the tensioner on the rearward side of the belts seems to indicate so.

larry