Flail or finish

[drjay9051]

I am looking at a new mower for my 10 acres of bahia. Pasture for horses, no baling. I was set on a new finish mower and than I heard about flail mower.
I have done a search and found several informative threads. I am still a bit unclear on two issues:
1. Does a flail cut "cleaner" than a finish. In particulaer the Caroni TL1500FSC with the 80 + teeth. Seems to be a huge difference of opinion. Anybody used both if so what is the story??

2. One thread discussed the high maintainance of flails. Discussed the need to grease every day and states that overgreasing will "blow out the sealsWhat is the deal? i will be mowing once a week so I assume an occasional greasing will do. Am I mistaken. I wondering if the finish mower fans are just bashing the flail. I like the whole flail concept and for a couple of hundred more than a finish I can get the 59 inch Caroni.

Oh yes, also wondering about the teeth. I replace my finish blades every 2 years. What about the flail as far as sharpening or replacing?

Thanks for your help.

J

 

[CharlieS]

a flail wont give quite the high quality cut a finish mower does, and quality of cut is dependant on some variables. type of cutter knife, grass type and height and ground speed. the slower you mow the better the cut. For horse pasture you should get a decent mowing job at a reasonable speed. While i'm not familiar with the Caroni, in general knife replacement isnt too tough, just a little time consuming. Sharpening is fairly easy. Tip the mower up so the rotor is accessable, grab the flail with a pair of vice grips and touch it up with a hand grinder.
Like any other mower or piece of farm equipment, maintence is dependant upon hours of use. if it runs all day every day, then yes, greasing daily would be a good idea, as would checking/adjusting belt tension. if it runs 8 or 10 hours a month for example you'd easily get by with greasing at about 10 usage hours.

 

[J_J]

Finish Mower

Advantages, good clean cut, low cost, less maintenance.

Flail Mower. cutting appearance is average, high cost, a set of blades is expensive, can be reversed, and can be sharpened. Some states/county's require them to be used around schools, certain highways, play ground, etc.

Are you looking for a finish cut in a pasture?

Over greasing just waste grease, If one is using that much grease to be greasing daily, something is worn, or the parts are not that tight. Over greasing has been known to cause bearing failure.