FAE arrives

Mowermoney · Jun 28, 2007

Hello Quickdraw. Newbie here. I've been running Fae's for four years.

I've got two, one good and one not so good. I've had three motor failures, all terminal. I've been waiting on parts since December. The main shaft of the drive motor attaches directly to the shaft extension and receives it's lubrication via a shielded bearing. When you lube the housing there is no way of knowing whether or not the grease is getting to the coupling. One ran dry for a long time and failed. Another time the bearing wore and produced slack. In both instances the entere motor had to be replaced. You can fix this by adding a grease fitting on the coupler side of the shaft housing.

Twice the pressure releif valve stuck, once exploding the aluminum manifold attached to the motor, and once rupturing the pump housing. FAE will only sell you the manifold for $ 550. You can't buy just the releif valve.

I'm about to order a new RC 100 with a Magnum Mower. I'm hoping their motors are less expensive and more availabe than the Rexroth motors on the FAE mowers.

You are right about the grind. They do a great job on most materials. Stay away from wysteria vines.

I had an old Fecon once It cut good, but not as good as the FAE.

Is yours the 60" Model?

jmfox · Jun 28, 2007

Okay, I found the FAE site, thank you, now what is a Magnum Mower? I'm looking for something that my SR80 could handle.

jmf

QwikDraw · Jun 28, 2007

MM,

It's always good to hear the opinion of someone who has run the equipment. I do think that FAE has changed the head and made improvements but I never got to see an older model so I don't really know. I do know the rep and CEO showed up on my job and were very helpful and nice to deal with, a big plus. I also ran a Magnum mulcher for a week (rented and saw a demo by rep), I do like them but the lack of any type of "counter combs" or fixed teeth leaves them behind the other for finished product (my opinion of course). Magnum comes with a Rexroth motor, I don't know how many different models their are of Rexroth motors so they may be different models in different manufactures(Fecon also runs a Rexroth). The FAE I demo'd did start to make a whining noise when it was coming down from speed, I don't know what that was and it only had 6-8 hours on it (may have been nothing).

I recently installed a door on my Fecon, compared to the FAE the Fecon's door flexes under pressure from the cylinder and when a chunk of wood slams in to it. I plan on reinforcing it and adding some sort of teeth for a better finished mulch.

If I had a little more work I'd think about a 140 HP Rayco or Fecon, although I have been happy with the ASV/Fecon (60") so far.

TED

Mowermoney · Jun 29, 2007

Ted:

Thanks for the heads-up on the Magnum Mower. I do not have any problem with the Rexroth motor per se. I just don't like the way FAE couples it to the drive shaft. I have talked to the FAE rep several times about this issue and thy have chosen to deny there is a problem. Fecon connects theirs with a taper lock so there is no slack between the splines on the motor's output shaft and the female shaft extension. The problem with the motor is that once the shaft has rounded, you can't just replace the shaft, you have to replace the entire motor and shaft housing at a cost of around $4,000.

And these motors are hard to come by making downtim a major factor in your operation. I really wish Fae would address this problem. It is nice having them right up the road in Flowery Branch.

Gamma · Jun 29, 2007

Qwikdraw,

You mentioned wanting to add some 'teeth' to the Fecon door. From looking at your pictures of the FAE head, the teeth on it look very much like 'racks' used with spur gears. Here's a link to the McMaster-Carr website that shows what I'm talking about:

McMaster-Carr

Good Luck.

QwikDraw · Jun 29, 2007

Thanks Gamma,
That's an interesting idea, I'll check it out.
Ted

Maka · Jun 29, 2007

Yes, how about the SR-80 with a Loftness Carbide Cutter running a #6 motor. The Loftness website has it listed as the set-up for the SR-80 but any real world experience in using it?

Maka

yellowdogsvc · Jul 22, 2007

Great Pics!
I have the identical head with CAT paint on it. Only small difference is hose routing (I think). Drum and frame are identical. I have the same problem with clogging but I get a good finished product and my customers seem to approve. Close the door and soft woods look like old hay when you are done!

The CAT mulcher runs about $23 or $24k and like I said, it's the FAE with CAT paint just like the Bobcat mower is a Fecon and Bradco is a magnum.

Renze · Jul 30, 2007

QwikDraw said:

What's the point of putting a sticker on it that says "stay back 300 feet" if its only 2 inches high, so one can only read it from a distance of less than 50 feet ????