Flail Mower Caroni Flail mower with hydraulic shift kit

[patmajia]

I ordered a 75" mower and the hydraulic shift kit from Agri-Supply.
I didn't find much info on these out on the net, but I'm taking a chance that's it's worth at least half what the others cost (such as New Holland, Deere).
At least one other person has asked about experiences of others with these units, with little response. Perhaps, there is more experience now. If so, please share info.
PHA
JD 6220, JD3520

 

[jmessing]

Pat,
I just ordered the Caroni TL1500FSC 59" flail from Agri Supply. I considered a Trimax Ezeemow S2 from New Zealand. It's also a finish type flail that's used on playing fields as well as agricultural purposes. But, for four grand, I couldn't justify it. I hope that Dirthauler was right, otherwise you and I will be spending a lot of time comparing notes in the future.
Did yours arrive yet? How much assemble did you have to do. What was the total time from order to delivery?
Thanks,
Joe

 

[IslandTractor]

Pat,
I just ordered the Caroni TL1500FSC 59" flail from Agri Supply.

Let us know about your experience with the Caroni flail. I came very close to getting one and then bought a used finish mower instead simply because it was a good deal. I think the flail may be better ultimately for my application so I'd be interested in your thoughts as you gain experience. There have been a few TBN members who have posted on these in the past with good results. I don't think they are built to maintain highway medians like the heavy duty flails but otherwise they seem like very good implements and cost a bit less than equivalent sized premium brand finish mowers.

 

[jmessing]

Hi. The shipping company called and they are delivering it today. It will take me a few days to get it attached, the backhoe's on the tractor now. Anyway, it's too wet to mow right now. It took ten days from order to delivery, not bad. I read up a bit and they recommend putting in a chain link in for the vertical strut on the three point hitch, unless you have a float capability on your hitch, which I don't. So, I'll be running down to my local tractor dealer for a couple of those. I'll keep you posted.

 

[jmessing]

I finally got the time to put the mower on the tractor. I have a 30hp Kioti with 25hp at the PTO. I got the 60 inch Caroni. I went through three to four feet high field grass. It handled it with no problem. I think my tractor could have handled the 72 inch mower. The cutter blades are for pretty rough cutting, so the first test passes, at next to the highest setting were pretty rough. A lot of waste grass that was pretty bulky. Still a lot nicer than my neighbor's Woods bush mower. No windrows. I'm going to make a second pass over what I cut already to see if it improves the cut.

I think that it would cut best on grass at about a foot high for a cleaner cut. At three to four feet, there a lot of grass to get rid of. I'm going to get my neighbor to hay it and then I'll try maintaining it with the Caroni. It runs pretty quiet and is well balanced. I think it'll do a better job than a brush or finish mower for my application. I'll wait to pass judgement at the end of the summer.

Joe

 

[SuperDutyDave]

I have owned a caroni flail, from agri-supply for years...caroni 91" finish mower too.

quality is great, can't beat price...how do they do it?...all I have replaced on flail mower is the belts...it will eat up to 2" stuff but better on lighter material though really tall deep grass is not its best application...gotta be careful on setting level correctly but works great in rough areas where ledge rock maybe encountered...watch out for trash bags wire twine etc....really get caught up in roller and makes a mess...otherwise great tool.

Finish mower is great too! only blades and belts in 5 years and lots of use.


Dave

 

[IslandTractor]

For those of you with experience with the Caroni flail mowers, what size do you think would be appropriate for a 21hp tractor (Kioti CK20)? I'd be interested in the 59" version to mow in a recovered pasture which is a bit too rough for a finish mower and my 48"bush hog is a bit too small and prone to throw things to use effectively near other houses and pedestrians.

 

[GreenMtns]

Hi Joe
My TM1900 arrived on Monday. I ordered it the Wednesday before. Only 6 days, and over the weekend. Can't ask for better than that.
I just finished adjusting the skids and roller and gave it a try out. Very impressed with the cut. The model TM1900 only has the rough cut blades and only 56 of them but it sure does a better job than a RM. I did have one little wrinkle though. All the paper work and the label on the machine said it was shipped without oil. The paper work says to put in 1/2 liter of 80W-90 oil. So I did. Well the paper work and the label were wrong. It had oil in it. How much I don't know but enough so that when I added the called for amount and ran the mower, I had oil coming out the breather all over the place. So now I get to clean it up and I think I am going to drain all the remaining oil out and start fresh.

The little I did use it though really impressed me. Very well built machine. It does not seem to need a lot of power once the hammers are swinging.

Island Tractor: Caroni calls for 20 - 40 HP for the 59" model. I would think your 21hp CK 20 would handle it OK. It mounts close in like a Rototiller not way out in back like a Rotary Mower so weight won't be an issue. Caroni put guards across the front and the roller covers the back but flail mowers don't throw things like RM do.

Al

 

[DirtHauler]

O.K., saw my name mentioned. LOL . . . When I owned my CK20 gear. I ran the 49" Coroni as the 59" would have really worked the little guy with the kinds of fields I mow and none of it much shorter than 4' and some so tall that I had to stand up just to see where I was going but the mower still handled it although it was in 2nd and some times 1st gear.

So when I traded in my 20 for the 30, I sold the 49" to a vinyard guy who converted it to hydralic drive for his skid steer and I bought the 59" (TL1500)and have been mowing a vast majority of jobs with it because I can get in tight areas and manuver it better than the 60" rotary and my customers like the finish look better. Also it's great on those "blind" mowing jobs where you find all kinds of trash.

As you know, the 49" (TL1200) has 72 blades and the 59" has 88 which means there's a whole lot of cutting going on there so your best results will be with a slow speed in very tall grass, where most flails have anywhere from 54 to 64 "Y" blades on a 60" rotor. Also the Coroni's throw the cut grass ahead of the rear roller which means you don't get things thrown out the back which can hit other things/people as opposed to the "big dollar" flials that kick the cuttings out after the roller and need some sort of guard.

I have gone thru two sets of belts, one set my fault trying to mow tall green grass too fast which caused it to wrap around the rotor before it could be re-cut and lite the belts up! the other set came apart due to grease getting on them, a set of blades due to finding those pier blocks in that over grown field where the chicken coop used to be!! But if I distroy my Coroni I won't feel too bad as I can buy two of them for price of just one of the "others".
All in all, I like it and I use it for stuff that they probably weren't really designed for! Oh, and FYI, TSC also sells Coroni flails.

 

[texbaylea]

I am planning on ordering a TM1900B from Agri Supply when they are back in stock ("about 30 days"). I am prohibited from mowing until all the wild flowers have gone to seed - soon I hope. The grass is high enough that I could just see the back of a yearling spike buck out in the field tonight.

After what I have read here I guess that my best bet would be to do a quick high pass with the rotary cutter then come back with the flail mower a few days later. I have several brush piles left from last year because we could not burn. I wonder if any of you had any experience with slowly backing to such piles to reduce them?

Incidentily I got a quote of $699.95 delivered for the hydraulic shift kit but it wont be available until August.

Vernon

 

[jmessing]

Hi.

My Caroni 1500FSC has been on the job for a few weeks now. It has five or six presets for height adjustment. The lower the cut, the better. I plowed through grass between one to four feet and it did a great job! No windrows. The 1500FSC is a fixed offset at about 60/40 to the right side of the tractor. I think I have my wheels at seven feet on the tractor, so my left rear wheel is out of range of the flail. About a foot of the mower extends beyond the right side of the mower.

It doesn't do a good job mulching the grass as I would have liked. I guess I could make a rough cut and then lower the setting for a finish cut to clean up the cut grass. Going over it twice at the same height seems to have little effect.

I have an old Kioti LK3054, 30HP, 25HP at the PTO. It easily handles this flail. I think I could have handled the 72 inch, but it's a pretty big compact tractor.

I'm very pleased with the quality of the mower. It came with some place where the paint was rubbed off, but the color is the same as Rustoleum Red. I have a little complaint about the outside design. When I have the mower raised on the 3pt, it pools water on the back shelf of the mower when left out in the rain. I guess a couple of 3/8ths inch holes in the corners would allow it to drain through. The paint will scrape off the roller pretty quickly, so I imagine that will develop a nice rust patina.

You can't beat the price!

Joe

 

[GreenMtns]

Joe
Your right on. I have just used my 72" mower on 2 fields that I used to mow with a rotary cutter. Very big difference in the finished look of the fields. A much more finished look. Not like a hay field that has not been picked up.
Very competitive price, competitive with a lot of rotary mowers. It only took Agri-Supply 5 days to deliver the mower. Very impressive.
I am going to lower the cut after the old hay has rotted in the fields and see what that looks like. But be aware, it will find any old barb wire lying around the out side edges of the fields and allow you to become more intimate with your mower.

Al

 

[IllMarty1]

I have an old Kioti LK3054, 30HP, 25HP at the PTO. It easily handles this flail. I think I could have handled the 72 inch, but it's a pretty big compact tractor.

Joe,

I have 27 HP at my PTO, and really would prefer the 6'. Do you really think your 25 HP could handle the 6' rated at 30-60 HP? Anyone else want to weigh in?

Conditions will be just mowing grass, but will get tall occaisionally.

Marty

 

[GreenMtns]

Marty
I don't know where Joe is right now but I'll take a shot at it. When I talked to Agri-Supply about the mowers I asked about the HP rating. I was told HP listed is engine HP not PTO HP. My tractor is rated 37 HP engine and 30 HP PTO. It handles the TM1900 with no problems at all. If it ever does get into very heavy stuff, I will just take half swaths until I am through it. You will also note that the TM1900 uses different blades than the TL1500. Also the number of blades is different, TL1500 = 88 blades, TM1900 = 56 blades. I would think, but don't know for sure, It would be a little easier on the tractor powering 56 verses 88.

Al

 

[MarkV]

Can any of you guys fill me in on the hydraulic shift kit mentioned? Does it run off of a remote and allow the mower to be shifted to the side on the fly? How much shift will it do?

MarkV

 

[IllMarty1]

Thanks Al. I have 33HP on the tractor, so I should be good.

If I understand the info on Caroni's site, the TM1900 is a rougher cut mower that will work on smaller brush too. The blades, while less in number, must be heavier in weight and designed differently for this type of work.

Marty

 

[texbaylea]

MarkV
I did a quick check. The side shift is 35 cm, about 14 inches. This is about the width of the R4s on my Kubota. It is designed to run off a remote valve so could be shifted on the fly.

Vernon

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks Al. I have 33HP on the tractor, so I should be good.

If I understand the info on Caroni's site, the TM1900 is a rougher cut mower that will work on smaller brush too. The blades, while less in number, must be heavier in weight and designed differently for this type of work.

Marty

You are correct. In fact the "blades" are not called blades on this type of flail mower but rather are refered to as "hammers" which is appropriate as they function more like a bush hog blade that bashes rather than slices. I would guess that the cut is not as fine but that the hammers can take apart brush and bounce off obstructions that would damage the finer flail fiinish blades.

 

[jmessing]

Hi. Here's the end-of-season review of my Caroni TL1500FSC. My wife took it out in the meadow behind our house and was able to go about 6 mph. I think she covered the entire six acres in about four hours. The grass had not been cut all summer. My neighbor took his bush mower out to his smaller field and it took him two full days to cut it down. Ours looks good with no windrows and the cut grass has blended into the field after a month. His has windrows in every pass. So I would recommend the flail over a bush mower. I think we'll take it out one more time to do a finish cut before the cold weather sets in. Also, I've checked the flails and they're in pretty good shape. I should be able to get another summer out of this side, then I'll flip them and get a couple more seasons out of them. I'd like to try a spatula shaped cutter after these wear out.
Joe

 

[napabavarian]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this mower to run behing our 8n's and 9n's so I can slip into those tight spots that the "I didn't think it would be this much bigger " Kubota and 6' bush hog just don't fit in, more for a finish work, but still out in the fields, and some comercial work (3500# trailer instead of a 9000# trailer

Big questions I have, the page dosn't mention if it has hammers or knives, I assume knives, I hope, are they? Also, for those who have one already, did it come with a PTO driveshaft?