Flail or finish mower to mow a "resting" hayfield?

aczlan · Apr 18, 2016

Looking at taking the year off for hay (due to a lack of time and a bunch of good hay sitting in the hayloft). We might do a second cutting, but wont be doing a first cutting.
We will need something a little wider than the 60" mid mount mower on the BX2660 to do this with.
Are there any advantages to a 90" rear discharge 3 point finish mower over an 88" flail mower?
Looking at a Walco 90" rear discharge finish mower (like this):

Vs a Almo/Mott SHD88 88" cut mower (an older version of this one):

The flail is a little cheaper ($1000 vs $1300) but both are supposed to be in working order.
I am leaning toward a flail as it will be heavier, but am looking for any suggestions.
The plan is to mow the hayfields and probably mow some of the "lawn" around them so it will need a decent cut.

Aaron Z

4570Man · Apr 18, 2016

You will have to keep up with the mowing if you plan to cut it with a finish mower. 6" grass is about the most a finish mower can handle.

aczlan · Apr 18, 2016

That is the plan, keep it short to encourage the grass to thicken (there are some spots with sparse grass and others where I would like the grass to choke out weeds).
I hadn't thought about the max depth for the finish mower. Makes me lean towards the flail though.
Would also take something like the Bush Hog SQ84 if I could find it.

Aaron Z

rgr33 · Apr 18, 2016

I have both of those mowers and use them often each year. I have a commercial vineyard that demands a lot of mowing in the summer. You don't mention how high the grass is now, if it is fairly high for the first cut, a flail will work better. If you get the settings right, it can give you a nice cut,but if you set it too low, you risk damaging the turf, as that turns it into a rototiller mode. it is not bothered much by sticks and small rocks, within reason. A flail mower takes a little more hands on work because of the number of blades it has. These blades seem to disappear often, and must be replaced in order to keep the shaft balanced, to ignore that places the bearings in peril.

If the grass is under 6 inches, a good finish mower will give a more manicured look, almost as good as a riding mower. The downside of a finish mower in high grass is clumping of the cut grass, which is usually dispersed on the next mowing. A finish mower is my go to mower, and gives the best overall look around the barn and orchard area, as long as I don't let the grass grow too high. I recommend the rear discharge version, which I see you have pictured.

aczlan · Apr 18, 2016

The grass is currently 6" or so (was last mowed in Aug when we cut the 2nd cutting hay).
Its not anything that the MMM on the BX2660 couldn't handle, but it would be slow and it would leave lots of clumps.

The fields themfelves are relatively smooth with the L3830, not quite so much with the B7500 and the BX2660 will beat you up if you try to go faster than a crawl.
It also has swales in it and its a pain to try and mow with the bushhog as you have to keep on the 3 point height or it will scalp or leave clumps.

Aaron Z

mattv1 · Apr 18, 2016

I have a Mott 88 flail mower and i've been using it for 3 or 4 years now.

It's amazing. Even very tall grass is cut,chopped, and mulched up to nearly nothing. It makes my pastures look like a baseball field. I particularly like the way the roller on the flail works. I like the way the roller on mower keeps the flails out of the dirt. The only time I have hit any dirt is because of mole/gopher hills. I have'nt had any problems with scalping at all -- but maybe i've been lucky.

also -- there are rough cut and finish cut flails --- do you know which version yours is? The flails are different looking....maybe post a picture if you can. Flail mowers are QUITE heavy as well....

When i bought my Mott '88' flail mower -- it was in working condition but very ugly. I paid $400 for it.

aczlan · Apr 18, 2016

Not sure, don't have pictures of the rotor. I would assume its the rough cut until proven otherwise.
The flail seller said that it comes with a box of extra blades.

Aaron Z

ovrszd · Apr 18, 2016

I have a Ford 917 Flail. It's a forward rotation model with rough cut blades. It doesn't mulch at all. Does a much better cut than a brush cutter. But not as good as a finish mower. I mow roadbanks and waterways with it. I appreciate it's ability to do a more uniform cut. The verdict is still out on the cost of operation since I've only had it a year. Lots and lots of moving parts on a Flail.

If the Mott you are looking at is in good operational order it's cheap at $300-ish.

Sunday I cut 2 acres of last year corn stalk stubble with my Flail so I could Drill some seeding. Don't think a finish mower would have liked that job.

So only you can decide the variety of uses you might have.

If we were neighbors I'd loan you my Flail for a test cut.

aczlan · Apr 18, 2016

Sorry, I was unclear. The flail is $1000, the finish mower is $1300.
Seems to be the price for something in decent shape right now.
The 3rd option would be a multispindle towed rough cut mower (such as the Woods D-80), but there are less of those and they are also $1000-1500.

Aaron Z