Flail mower adjustment

drjay9051 · May 14, 2012

So I have had my Caroni flail mower for a bit. It is the 59 inch TL1500 FSC with 88 knives. As I understand it , it is a finish type of cut. I have a question about adjustment.

I have set the height by way of the rear roller. Originally had it set low for a nice low cut but found that when I go over uneven terrain I scalp the grass.

I have played with the top link adjustment but this results in the skids digging into the earth.

Just how do i adjust this thing? There are two possible places for the toplink pin, one is a hole the other is a slot which would allow the mower to "pivot"

Any help is appreciated.

BTW: This thing can sure cut.

leonz · May 14, 2012

Greetings and Salutations Dr. Jay,

I knew you would be happy with the Caroni flail mowers performance.

Glad to see that cows still outnumber people
in your town as I always liked cows and they are great
to photograph.

About your tractor AND your Fine cut Caroni finish mower;

The top link on your tractor has neat little fixit for this issue;
it is a turnbuckle.

Depending on whether it is left hand thread(which I believe most of them are) and you can lengthen the turnbuckle to prevent it from scalping by rotating the female half to the right to lengthen it and it will prevent the mower from nose diving and scalping.

The mowers skids are ment to be above the ground about an inch or so, so take this into acount when adjusting the beasts top link.

if you have small spirit level you can put it on the gearbox and attain true level this way with the mowers rear roller on the ground for proper adjustment by increasing the top links length to stiffen the mounting at the top and prevent the mowers movement by tilting forward.
a little more adjustment and a small bubble level is all you need Dr. Jay.

Edit: Happy Mowing!!

_____________________________________________________________

Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:
Pronovost or not at all!!!:thumbsup::licking::drool:

drjay9051 · May 15, 2012

Leonz:

Are you saying that "normally" the skids should NOT contact the ground?

Also, do i use the hole or the horizontal slot for the top link pin? Purpose of the slot is to allow flail to travel? Why?

greg_g · May 15, 2012

If left in full ground contact, the skids will necessarily damage the turf - especially in turns. Amplifying upon what Leon said, the gross height adjustment is the rear roller. Upper holes, short cut. Lower holes, longer cut. Et cetera. Once you determine which roller holes you're going to use, then decide whether you want to use the hole or the slot to connect the mower end of the toplink. The slot is if you have rolling ground, it helps preserve a more level cut through dips and rises. Terrain following. The hole is if you're mowing flat ground, and provides a more consistent cut than the slot.

Once attached at the tractor end, the toplink then can be lengthened or shortened to fine tune the length of the cut. lengthen toplink to raise knives (in relation to the ground), shorten toplink to lower knives. As you do this, the mower is simply pivoting on the rear roller. But watch the skids as you shorten. You don't want ground contact, 1" minimum clearance is recommended. That way most of the time your mower is riding on the rear roller. The skids are just there to prevent scalping when surface irregularities cause the nose of the mower to dip.

//greg//

drjay9051 · May 15, 2012

Thanks for the help. I thought the skids were to make ground contact. Of course I have all kinds of furrows in the ground esp. where I turned the tractor. I will get the skids off the ground.

leonz · May 15, 2012

drjay9051 said:
Thanks for the help. I thought the skids were to make ground contact. Of course I have all kinds of furrows in the ground esp. where I turned the tractor. I will get the skids off the ground.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am glad everything is OK with the Caroni

_________________________________________________________________
Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:
Pronovost or not at all!!!:thumbsup::licking::drool:

bandit67 · May 20, 2012

I ordered a Caroni TM1600 in late winter so Agri-Supply could get it into the cargo container to make the trip across the Atlantic this spring. It arrived in April, and I finally finished getting it set up today so I could start mowing.

With my hilly terrain, I set the skids 2" up from the bottom most mount, with the roller set all the way down. This gives me approx 6" of cut height.

Today was my first try with the flail, and I'm very pleased with it. Great cut, nicely shredded clippings. My property is field grasses mostly, along with various weeds. My plan for this mower which replaced a rotary mower, is to be able to cut with it at least once a month to help strengthen the grasses that I want, and kill off the weeds that I don't. It's fairly dry out here during the summer months, which keeps the grasses from growing very fast, but the weeds grow a lot faster. However, the weeds don't do too well if mowed regularly. The rotary cutter was too big a pain to use more regularly when the grasses weren't growing fast, so the weeds had too much time between mowings to take hold.

I think this flail is going to work out very nicely. I went with the 1600 over the 1900 because I am at 8500' elevation, and was concerned that at times, the 1900 could end up being too much mower with the decreased hp at elevation. The 1600 seems like it's going to work out perfectly on my B3030 up here.

leonz · May 20, 2012

I am certainly glad to see that your Caroni TM1600
flail mower arrived quickly and you are using it.

How far are you from the Moffat Tunnel.

I want to welcome you as the newest member of the
Flail Mower Nation.

I ma very sure that you will be happy with its performance
with your mowing chores.

Only 17,991 mowers to go

_________________________________________________________________Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:
Pronovost or not at all!!!:thumbsup::licking::drool:

Loudo · May 20, 2012

Drjay 9051 Do you lift your mower when turning?

drjay9051 · May 22, 2012

Loudo said:
Drjay 9051 Do you lift your mower when turning?

I do not lift on the turns as one would do with a discer. Now that the skids are airborne things are going well. Great cut.

Ricn · Jul 9, 2017

Well, I am getting scalping issues when turning and my skids are 1" of the concrete shop floor when the roller is on the concrete. My shop floor is level, also have the roller at the bottom hole for highest cut? I did move the top link out some to raise up the mower at its front but still getting some scalping. My field is not flat having some rolls but nothing drastic. Raising the 3point slightly while turning stops the scalping so are my adjustments just incorrect?

Ricn

Lnk · Jul 10, 2017

Pretty sure side skids are there to protect the rotor. They only need to make sure the rotor or hangers don't bind up if you ground it. Raise them as high as you can. I doubt the manufacturer made the adjustment that would harm the flail.

Lnk

Ricn · Jul 10, 2017

INK- Thanks for the reply; three days into having this mower and lots to understand. After rechecking everything found that the mower itself was tilted to far forward when in float so after moving the top link out AND using a level, things look much better now. I had moved the roller down as far as it would go before (3 hole adjustment) so being its in the bottom hole AND having the skids all the way up was still getting some scalping more than likely from the front of the skids being tilted forward when on the ground. The mower is now level side to side and slightly high on the front per the instructions. Will mow some today, see if things improve. My Woodmaxx has both the slotted holes and round holes for the three point connections and so far, have the pins in the slots both top link and bottom links; not sure though if using the bottom two slots is correct or should I use the round hole there? so far, have not read that being discussed just the top link slot.
TBN GUYS ARE GREAT! Have learned so much here about tractors and implement use, THANKS EVERYONE!

Ricn

Lnk · Jul 10, 2017

Everyone seems to use the slotted hole to allow the flail to move when your front wheels drop in a hole or climb up a hill. The lift arms should float whether they are all the way down or not. (No down pressure),so I am not sure it matters much either way. As if you start up a steep incline the slot is only going to allow some movement until you hit the end of the slot. I actually will raise my lift arms as I go up and lower them as I crest. Keep the gearbox level, and raise or lower the rear roller for desired cut height.

Lnk

Ricn · Jul 10, 2017

INK- ok, so I should use the slots both top and bottom for the 3 point connections? Right now, I have the mower connected that way so it can move slightly at all three points? I see some photos on the NET of mowers using the solid holes on the bottom, slotted on the top link, sort of confusing. One would think the mower instructions would cover this but no...

Lnk · Jul 10, 2017

I think you want to use the solid lower mounts and the slotted hole for your top link. I would find it hard to level with the slotted top hole unless you set your lift arms stop at level.

Lnk

Ricn · Jul 10, 2017

LINK- This makes sense so will change them out. Thanks again!

Lnk · Jul 10, 2017

Let us know how you make out.....

Lnk

vvanders · Jul 10, 2017

lnk said:
Everyone seems to use the slotted hole to allow the flail to move when your front wheels drop in a hole or climb up a hill. The lift arms should float whether they are all the way down or not. (No down pressure),so I am not sure it matters much either way. As if you start up a steep incline the slot is only going to allow some movement until you hit the end of the slot. I actually will raise my lift arms as I go up and lower them as I crest. Keep the gearbox level, and raise or lower the rear roller for desired cut height.

Lnk

I think the slot helps a little more since it allows the flail to "tilt" slightly as it goes down a hill. I've got mine in the top slot, fixed bottom with the 3pt set to just barely start sliding the top-link in the slot at level and seems to work well.

ovrszd · Jul 10, 2017

Hmmmm.... my Ford 917 has floating lower link brackets so the mower can laterally float. The top link isn't slotted. It determines cut height. I run my roller in highest cut position