Flail Mower Flail mower vs. rotary? (pros & cons)

[JayRm]

What maintenance if required on the Caroni flail mower?

 

[IslandTractor]

What maintenance if required on the Caroni flail mower?

1)grease rotor bearings before each day of mowing
2) grease other zerks on shaft, roller and tension pulley every few days of mowing
3) if mower develops unusual vibration check for broken/missing blades
4) gearbox oil check couple times a season
5) keep spare Kevlar belts (3) on hand.

That's about it.

 

[JayRm]

Thank you. Do the blades ever get sharpened, or are they not a to-be-sharpened part of the tool?

 

[IslandTractor]

Thank you. Do the blades ever get sharpened, or are they not a to-be-sharpened part of the tool?

In theory blades can be sharpened. As a practical matter 1) they don't need sharpening for meadow mowing or bush hogging and 2) easier to replace them.

 

[JayRm]

I contacted Flail Master about purchasing clevis pins as enhanced replacements for those that came on the fail mower from the factory. Here's that company's response?

Do you have the measurements for your blades? We have been able to help some people use our aftermarket blades as replacements. You would need to replace all the blades to ensure that you wouldn't have a balancing issue on your mower.

Thank you,

Dionne Swink
National Parts
Flail Master
Office/615-848-1813
Direct/615-203-6470
Cell/615-397-0222
Fax/615-896-5652
Flail Master | Your BEST Choice for Quality Mower Parts

 

[Fallon]

Thank you. Do the blades ever get sharpened, or are they not a to-be-sharpened part of the tool?

For a flail or rotary cutter?

I haven't on my flail with side slicers & don't see any cut quality issues despite hitting a fair amount of dirt & rocks. I hear others do though.

A rotary cutter is a bar rather than a blade. It shatters wood & brush into a fuzzy stump rather than cutting it into a sharp punji stick to spear tires with. If you want a good cut get a flail or a finish mower.

 

[IslandTractor]

I contacted Flail Master about purchasing clevis pins as enhanced replacements for those that came on the fail mower from the factory. Here's that company's response? Do you have the measurements for your blades? We have been able to help some people use our aftermarket blades as replacements. You would need to replace all the blades to ensure that you wouldn't have a balancing issue on your mower. Thank you, Dionne Swink National Parts Flail Master Office/615-848-1813 Direct/615-203-6470 Cell/615-397-0222 Fax/615-896-5652 Flail Master | Your BEST Choice for Quality Mower Parts

The exact part numbers for Caroni flails and clevis replacements are listed somewhere in the long main flail thread ("Let's talk flail mowers"). Should be able to find it with search function. I'll look later and update this post.

Remember that while the heavy duty knives from Flailmaster are a simple switch, the clevis they sell is SAE not metric and requires a bit of modification with a vise (to squeeze the arms together) and a grinder (to remove about 1/8" total from the sides) so the SAE clevis will fit. Don't worry about removing material, the modified clevis will still be considerably beefier than the factory metric version.

 

[IslandTractor]

Here is the text of a post I made in 2010. I doubt the prices are accurate but the part numbers should be.

""I know this is a general flail thread but as there are a lot of Caroni users and potential buyers reading it I thought I'd give some info on replacement parts that might be of use. All parts are available from AgriSupply and they are pretty good about shipping quickly. However, the cost of their flail knives and associated hardware is pretty high compared with what Flailmaster sells. Unfortunately, Flailmaster doesn't carry Caroni specific parts and they don't sell metric parts. Still, through trial and error I have found a few things that might be of help.

First, the Flailmaster M-108381 heavy duty forged knife is exactly the same dimension and weight as the Caroni flail. They cost $1.45 each or less than half of what the Caroni flail costs from AgriSupply. Over time you'll definitely need some to replace losses (especially if you are in rocky areas like New England).

The other parts that need replacing with the flails are the clevis and nut/bolt. AgriSupply charges dearly for the clevis at $6.49 each. The grade 8 10mm x 80mm nut and bolt costs $1.39 which isn't too bad.

I have found that nearly all my replacements have come as a result of clevis failure. Of course if the clevis fails you lose both knives too. The nut and bolt need to be replaced too so each loss mounts up to over $13 in parts if you buy from Caroni. (Update 2016: about $18 now)

Unfortunately, I have not yet found an alternative source of the metric sized clevis. Basic dimensions are 55mm tall and 45mm wide outside with a 10mm bolt hole. Flailmaster does not have anything that matches. Closest thing flailmaster has is their beefier M100761 which is just a 1/8 inch too wide and one ounce heavier. I could live with one ounce heavier especially if you replace all of them but the clevis is too wide for the Caroni mount. I tried grinding one to size but it leaves the ears being narrower than the original Caroni clevis ears so figured that was not a good idea. Too bad as the bigger gauge Flailmaster clevis costs less than half of what Caroni charges for a smaller gauge and the larger one would be more durable.""

Note that since that post I and others have found that the Flailmaster clevis can indeed be made to fit the Caroni. It just takes grinding/flap sanding about 1/8 inch off the shoulders of the clevis and pinching the clevis together with a good vise. It only takes about three minutes work each if you do them in batches.

And, I don't worry about the slight extra weight of the flailmaster clevis either. I have about half flailmaster and half Caroni clevises at the moment. Every time a Caroni clevis fails it gets replaced with flailmaster knives and clevis. Haven't had any failures of flailmaster clevises since I started using them a couple of years ago.

 

[IslandTractor]

Another note for those of you exploring flail mowers versus rotary: this is a relatively new thread. There is an active eight year old thread titled "Let's talk flail mowers" with over 3100 posts that has oodles of information and discussion about flails. It is also the place that Leonz checks at least fifty times a day and replies rapidly. Leonz is our TBN flail guru and serves as a fountain of information and experience especially on older flail types.

This thread is useful but don't miss the "Let's talk flail mowers" thread.

 

[IslandTractor]

Replacement belts for Caroni TM1900 Gates B43 Hi Power II belt 9003-2043 Need 3 in a set

I thought these has a Kevlar core but maybe not. I don't see Kevlar or aramid anywhere on the belt or label.

In any case, the 9003-2043 belts last a lot longer than the Caroni supplied original.

Don't forget to tighten the tensioner after replacing belts. Tighten to 1/2" thumb deflection.