Flail mower noise

[Ricn]

Good Morning to all.
my Post concerns a Woodmaxx 60 inch flail mower bought new in 2017. So here goes my question.

Have the Woodmaxx 60 inch flail mower and to date has worked great, no issues so far I know of. So, my Son was here yesterday and in his opinion, my mower is quite noisy. He is basing this from his US Brand flail on his Kubota Trac Hoe telling me, "it makes much less noise than my Woodmaxx mower".

Not hearing flails before, I thought the noise from mine was normal but now I wonder if it has issues? Since new, maybe two years now, and having very, very low hours, (I keep records) and having kept it greased in recommended intervals, I'd appreciate opinions on noise levels to be expected on three point flail mowers, if that is at all possible. Also, I notice after mowing that the black drive side housing covering the belts is warm, not hot to the touch mind you, but definitely warm, is that normal?

When I ordered my unit, the sales guy told me they had just upgraded their bearings to much better ones, and my unit when shipped, would have these newer bearings.

Judging mower noise is not easy unless hearing several units and brands for comparison: around here though I know of none to compare to, so any opinions from the experts here on TBN would be great. I will say, this mower runs up to speed quickly and easily and when the tractor is at idle speed, and engaging the mower, it spins with ease. In mowing 8-12 inch high grass at pto speeds there is no bogging down of the mower or tractor telling me resistance may be low? My tractor is 25 hp diesel not working hard at all running this mower. I plan to remove the black housing, check the belts and tensioner both but as it has no slippage I can see when mowing then perhaps I have bearing issues?

Thanks for any ideas you may have concerning noise.

Ricn

 

[ericm979]

There's a lot of ways that different flails in perfect condition could make more or less noise. Blade shape and shape of the inside of the housing would affect the air and plant matter churning around inside. The shape and thickness of the housing will affect how much noise from that churning and from the bearings is transmitted to the listener outside. Of course if yours is a single wall housing and his is double wall that will make a difference too.

 

[Ricn]

Good points both. Mine is the single wall looks like with "Y" type blades for grass.

Ricn

 

[Billrog]

I have the same mower with about 30 to 40 hrs. on it makes noise but no more than the last one I had ( a Howard or Kabota ?). The gear box gets very warm and housings around the belts as well same as the last one I put hundreds of hrs. on keep 20 acres of light brush mowed twice a yr. for 25 yrs.

 

[audsp98]

Mowing video

Here's a video of mine. It's running at full RPM (540) and I don't think it's terribly loud.

 

[Granthol]

Noise between brands can vary. I wouldn't be too concerned if it works fine, has always worked fine, and sounds just like it always has.

 

[Ricn]

Billrog - Sounds like mine may be more normal then. Tried Audsp98 utube video but it would not run...Perhaps if taking the cover off and taking a look it will make me feel better if nothing else. No change in noise since new, good point there, Granthol.

Ricn

 

[leonz]

Hello Ricn,

If you have no broken side slicers or missing knife pairs it should sound just like a vacuum cleaner in short brush or good sod
and its just the issue of encountering brush as its sliced up and lifted over the flail mower rotor.

The other thing to keep in mind is the cutting height; the shorter the cutting height the more vacuum noise you will hear as the
flail mower shroud will be closer to the ground and the greater negative pressure gradient is created as the narrow height between the
ground and the shroud entrance is where all the air is entering.

The slower you travel forward the greater the vacuum sound will be as the side slicer knives will lift and clip more material more finely as you mow.

A forestry mulcher if that is what your son has is an different animal with a different type of flail assembly.

 

[Billrog]

Ricn don't look for trouble if there's a problem your going to hear it loud and clear , slipping belts will squeal , smoke and stink. a bearing going is going to squeal, hook the knife carring tube on something and bend it there'll be a lot of vibration ,and getting a stick or branch stuck in the knives a lot of rattling a banging. There's no grass guard on these so I make sure the grass that gets wound up on the ends of the shaft is removed with a bit of effort if left it can contribute to shortening the life of the bearings.

 

[Ricn]

Sure hope you guys are right about all this not being an issue but the Wife says the mower makes much more noise than when I bought it. Today, my Son came by again so we thought to investigate more. We started by removing the side cover over the belts then took all three belts off, so far so good, we then fired up the tractor just at idle speed an engaged the mower whereby everything sounded normal with no extra noise, of course only the driveline, gearbox and shaft were running with the drum and knives idle. We increased speed and all sounded normal to us so we reinstalled the belts and tensioner, adjusting belts to 3/8s play per manual then the outer cover. We ran it again and the noise is back as before, no change. We at least have proved the nasty noise its in the knife drum and or bearings as it only is there when the drum turns. My best description is, it sounds like a concrete truck with rocks only, no sand, concrete or water and turning much faster than concrete truck drums normally turn. Must be an awful noise to my neighbors down the road. While we had it apart, we grabbed the drum on each end shaking it hard to see if bearings etc, showed any looseness in them but all was tight. We applied more grease just to be sure but having greased the bearings yesterday, we were worried about over greasing them. As for my Sons flail on his trac-hoe, it is the same type as mine, a large round drum with knives, the only difference is, his mower is driven by hydraulic lines off the engine meaning no driveline. His mower makes a humming sound and very smooth when running wide open, more like the vacumn sound mentioned here..Our only thing now is to replace the drum bearings thinking them bad from new?

Ricn

Ricn