Changing blades on flail mower to suit conditions?

[leonz]

The "Y" knives on my dad's Caroni TM1900BSC result in a "good" cut but not quite great, & not quite equal to a finish mower ... which is what I'd like, if possible.

I think that part of the reason is that the flail has less upward vacuum. And I think another reason is that the Y knives cut like this:

View attachment 264506

The Caroni and other models of flailmowers have a very small rotor and no air paddles to create a Pressure Gradient to enable the knives to mow more efficiently. The majority of finish flailmowers in Europe have large diameter rotors and air paddles to do two things:

1. the air paddles create the pressure gradient to improve the mowers ability to cut grass and brush and fill the collection basket or 2. permit better cutting of turf if the grass is too long and the same pressure gradient created by the air paddles allows you to recut the clippings if desired and carry them into the collection basket or over the rotor and back down to the ground after they have been cut a second time.

 

[leonz]

I have used it on a lawn mixed with St. Augustine & Bahia grasses when the Bahia stalks had started exceeding the height of the St. Augustine, & the results were just what I drew: Good job, but not great ... leaves me wanting to go over it again hoping to get the Bahia stragglers the 2nd time.



Both ends of the Caroni TM1900BSC roller are rounded, so no need to lift the flail when turning. It generally glides over terrain just fine without damage. Now you do need to make sure the front of the flail is not so low that the flail's side skids dig in when turning - Maybe that's what you meant? The skids would probably glide along the terrain without doing too much terrain damage it when going straight, but would usually dig in when turning, gouging the ground. The trick there is to make sure you lower your 3 point hitch to where the skids are level with the ground, not sitting on the ground. Of course even still a skid might occasionally touch the ground.

Yes the skids are the last failsafe to prevent the rotor and side slicers from having a ground strike and scalping the turf and damaging the side slicers cutting edge.



EDIT:

The one thing I forgot to add was that a flailmower will not create crop circles in overgrown turf and the grass recovers much quicker as it is less stressed after mowing with a flail. mower.

 

[kthompson]

The issue for me in needing to lift for sharp turns such as 90 degree was with the weight on the roller it provided enough friction the front tires on the tractor had to dig in and thus damage the lawn. No issue at all with the skids for they were clear of the grass. It is my understanding the mower must ride on the rear roller as that is your height control for something as precise as lawn height. Now rough cut letting the lift tote it is fine.

This was with a Caroni finish mower from Agrisupply of about 5 foot in width on a B 2710 Kubota tractor. For me my 6 foot RFM with its wheels did much better job. Again I do like flail mowers but not for lawn use. I don't know any one who does use them for lawn care either then they are not the most popular mower in my part of the world. But for rough cutting think they are by far safer than a rotatory cutter and if you do drive up on a stump not as hard on the cutter or tractor with the way the blades can flip up. They are also lighter weight and smaller for the cut width which is important when running an offset or boom mower. The chipping of most trash is a real plus for me over just the normal result of rotary cutter also.