Flail Mower First-time flail mower user, cut quality concerns

[redhead]

So I lowered the cut height by one position, 3/5 instead of 4/5, and the cut quality is greatly improved. Not perfect, but acceptable. Thank you all very much for taking the time to help.

At a glance, the blades that came on my unit have a similar edge to what you'd see on a new push mower blade. Hopefully, I can procrastinate on sharpening the 54 individual edges until it becomes a winter project.

 

[redhead]

Flail mowers don't like to mow high and/or thin sporadic growth. They actually need to create a vacuum to pull the growth toward the cutters..

This makes a ton of sense. Insight appreciated

 

[Jack Yuan]

Obviously you bought their EF with this knife,

EF mower is light duty flail mower, I only recommend customer cut grass less than 15 inch height if with flail hammer, less height grass if with the small Y knife you bought.

I suggest you to drive slow, sharpen those Y knife, lower down the roller position. Hope this could help you.

Flail hammer is more suitable for you, but not this Y knife.

 

[leonz]

The closer the flail mower knife is to the sod the more efficient the pressure gradient becomes to create a vacuum to lift the brush up and cut it and then recut it as long as you travel slowly while mowing.


It takes very little time to sharpen flail mower knives with a wet well grinder as neither the side slicer knife nor the cast hammer knife become hot to the touch and one pass with the gauge set at 37 degrees is plenty as long as the knife is clean of grass dust.

This can be down using using a diluted bleach solution with dawn dish soap and a small parts scrub brush with stiff metal bristles.

 

[leonz]

The closer the flail mower knife is to the sod the more efficient the pressure gradient becomes to create a vacuum to lift the brush up and cut it and then recut it as long as you travel slowly while mowing.


It takes very little time to sharpen flail mower knives with a wet well grinder as neither the side slicer knife nor the cast hammer knife become hot to the touch and one pass with the gauge set at 37 degrees is plenty as long as the knife is clean of grass dust.

This can be down using using a diluted bleach solution with dawn dish soap and a small parts scrub brush with stiff metal bristles.


The spacers used to hold the knife pairs in place(that are removed when it is equipped with cast hammers) do not allow the side slicer knife to become a wing and create more lift and a level cut as the knives supplied do not have an oval mounting hole.

 

[TerryR]

It takes very little time to sharpen flail mower knives with a wet well grinder as neither the side slicer knife nor the cast hammer knife become hot to the touch and one pass with the gauge set at 37 degrees is plenty as long as the knife is clean of grass dust.

This can be down using using a diluted bleach solution with dawn dish soap and a small parts scrub brush with stiff metal bristles.

leonz,

No doubt you are right that it takes very little time to sharpen a blade with a wet grinder. But how about removing, washing as you describe, sharpening, and re-mounting 50 of them? Doesn't sound quick to me.

 

[ovrszd]

leonz,

No doubt you are right that it takes very little time to sharpen a blade with a wet grinder. But how about removing, washing as you describe, sharpening, and re-mounting 50 of them? Doesn't sound quick to me.

And it's not. Leonz definition of very little time and mine are different. I guess, in his defense, if he means it takes little time to sharpen one knife I'll give him that. Forgetting the hours involved to disassemble and reassemble the machine and cleaning each knife as described.

 

[leonz]

Hello terry, ovrszd,

I guess I have forgotten how spoiled I have become with the tool less mounting system I have which lets me pull knives and the thatching blades quickly.

I use a lot of hot water with a garden hose to wash the flail mower rotor before I start any work with the knives or the thatching blades.

I still have to purchase new thatching blades as the originals are off the flail mower and look like butter knifes eliminating there effectiveness in dethatching the lawn which is long overdue.

Using a pressure washer the day before if you own one also aids in a faster removal of the cast hammer knives scoop knives and side slicer knives.

When I do a mass extraction and cleaning I have a big bucket of hot water handy with some dawn and a bit of bleach to begin the process of cleaning the side slicers that are still in good condition

I agree it does take time to remove hammer knives or side slicer pairs especially if the threads on the mounting bolts are damaged and the bolt is not double nutted to protect the threads.

Cleaning them and the bolts one at a time helps by removing the fine dust that adheres to the hammer knife and by cleaning the knives before hand extends the life of the grinding wheel by preventing it from becoming plugged with grass dust.

I never really pay any attention to the time it takes its just something I do not have to do very often.

The Vrisimo flail mowers did have a continuous rod that secures the entire knife row and the side slicers could be selectively removed to replace damaged side slicers or to sharpen all the side slicers. I am not sure if they still use this method of anchoring the knife pairs on the mounting
stations.


July 11, 2018 Edit:


My Mathews Company 48 inch Lawn Genie Pick Up Mower has the Original Briggs & Stratton 16 horse power I/C engine with the cast iron sleeve(why they stopped making this I/C engine type I will never understand either.
This lawn Genie Pick up mower has 64 knife mounting stations, 64 pairs of side slicers and 64 thatching knives as standard equipment. Sadly Mathews no longer makes them but parts are still available.

The Beautiful knives this machine came with are no longer made either. I will have to see if Clean Cutter will make them for me as Flail Master was not interested in making 144 of them for me.

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[ovrszd]

Leonz, since you are overdue for a sharpening I would appreciate it if you time the process including the prep cleaning. Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks.