Flail Mower Flail Mower Pipe Dream?

[sjsmith8688]

I am looking at a used Alamo SHD74 Flail Mower that comes up for auction next week. The flail mower is functional, but will surely need attention.
I have a Mahindra 28Max XL HST: 28hp engine, 22hp PTO

I mow about 5 acres of gently sloped land which has been completely cleared after years of rotary mowing. I rarely mow anything over 12" high.

Can I run this flail mower, in these conditions, with this tractor?

 

[lennyzx11]

I think so.
I run a Mott 72 finish flail behind a Kubota L3301 which has 31 net hp and 26 pto hp which is similar.
In real tall stuff or thick matted grass, I do have to slow down my ground speed but it cuts it.
I have to slow down in similar situations with my LP 5 ft rotary cutter also so it’s not the flail only.

 

[sjsmith8688]

I was going to wait for more replies to say Thanks, but I guess you're it!
Thanks for the quick reply.
I know I will be limited, but I think it is feasible.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's not enough power for that size mower. Passed a bunch of 500.00 Alamo Flail mowers up at auction. I'm a FORD 917 guy.
My 6 or so foot mowers weigh a thousand pounds for starters. A bit much for a 22 PTO hp tractor, if you ask me Ran one 917 regular blade mower on a 42 PTO HP tractor which seemed like a good fit.

 

[sjsmith8688]

Thanks for replying Industrial Toys.
Can I ask, is the under-powered tractor a safety concern or can damage be done to either the tractor or the flail mower due to being under-powered?

 

[Industrial Toys]

Not a big concern. But, you want an implement that a tractor can handle easily, not something on the edge of capacity.

I have used flail mowers for Decades, but some here that know your tractor should be able to give further input as to what it can and can't do.

 

[aczlan]

Not a big concern. But, you want an implement that a tractor can handle easily, not something on the edge of capacity.

I have used flail mowers for Decades, but some here that know your tractor should be able to give further input as to what it can and can't do.

Exactly.
The issue you'll run into is that the front end will spend a lot of time up in the air when the flail mower is off the ground, you will also have to go very slow, almost a creeping speed if the grass is heavy at all.
We run a 5 foot bush hog on our Kubota B7500 (19 engine HP, 16 PTO HP), the issue we run into is the front end spends a fair amount of time with the wheels off the ground and the tractor has to go at just over a creeping speed if the grass or brush being cut is thick at all.

Aaron Z

 

[sjsmith8688]

Thank you gentlemen.
I'll do some soul-searching on the Alamo.

 

[skipperbrown]

I was never happy with my 6' Caroni flail. I had to mow at about 1/2 the speed as my rotary cutter. If I mowed too fast, it would just lay the grass over. If the grass was really high, the flail had a lot of trouble discharging the grass and I had to go painfully slow. If you went too fast, I'd smoke the belts. I ended up selling it. The advantages are it didn't windrow like a brush cutter, it was easier to maneuver in tight places, and it fit on a trailer without hanging off the back. I found the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. YMMV.

 

[sjsmith8688]

Which of your Kubotas were you using to pull the Caroni?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I usually only ever used the flail on high grass in the fall when it had dried out.

 

[darmstrong2319]

I had a Mahindra 2615 gear years ago and bought a offset flail to cut ditches 23 pto hp. In the thick grass I had to cut slow but with a 5 ft brush hog you could keep right on going. There’s no way I could handle a 6 ft flail with that tractor maybe 5 if if I wasn’t in a hurry and kept it short. Just my experience with 1 flail so take it for what its worth. Good luck

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

I would love to find a Alamo or Mott flail for 500 dollars there great mowers

 

[BrokenTrack]

I would love to find a Alamo or Mott flail for 500 dollars there great mowers

They are so simple that they really never wear out. EVERYTHING is able to be replaced, and easily at that. I do not even use ALAMO Parts anymore, I just go to a bearing store and use the bearings that fit.

I average $600 in knives, shackles and pins for 900 acres of the hardest mowing possible.

 

[DJ54]

I run a 6' Mott with my little IH 240 Utility. In tall grass, I have to go in first gear, but when clipping the Chickory, and Iron weeds, etc in the pasture, I mow in 2nd with no problem. I'm getting to the age, where most times, second gear is about all my ole' back can take anymore. I love the fact that it doesn't "throw" things, like my rotary cutter, and with the forward rotation, picks up, and cuts the grass/weeds the tractor tires mash down.

I bought mine this Spring off a buddy for $300, who buys & resells used equipment. I did have to buy a new PTO shaft, as the original was not with it. I'm thinking I got a new one through Agri-Supply for $139.00. It's not real pretty from apparently setting outside most of it's life, but mows great..!!

 

[leonz]

Hello and good evening DJ54,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations" from The Great State of Ohio.

Happy mowing.

 

[DJ54]

Thanks, I've been lurking here for a while, and asked a couple of questions about flails earlier this year. Very informative group..!!

Last week, I posted my little Mott T38 pull type hammer knife mower on FaceBook Marketplace. I bought it 2 years ago, and used it to mow around the hayfield, next to the fence to barber things up for winter, and also clipped one of the small horse pastures, of Chickory, and other stemmy weeds the horses won't eat. It did a great job, and the main reason I went with the 3 pt. model. I built the offset tongue, so as to not run over tall weeds & grass, and briars. I built it using the original attaching points, and also kept the original tongue, if someday if I decided to sell it, the new owner could use what they want. It started, ran, and cut great, but with the 3 pt. model, really didn't have that much use for it, plus freed up some storage space.

I had 8 responses to the ad, within 4 hours. First guy that came to look, loaded it up, and took it home. He said it is intended to mow walking trails he built on his property, and was exactly what he was looking for.