Flail Mower flail or rotary rough cut?

[dirt clod]

I grew up using bush hog type mowers. I understand from the forum that members who own both types prefer to use the flail. For some reason the flails are not poplar around here. I do not know anyone that has one, but most that own a tractor have a rotary cutter. I own pastures that was leased to a rancher that do to help reasons did not do upkeep. As such I have a lot of brush,briars and small trees (2-3") that need to be cleared as I am fencing and cross fencing. To add to the problem He would leave old pieces of barb wire and bailing string scattered. I also have areas around my home that I prefer to keep the woods groomed. So bottom line...... would a flail mower with mulching blades be a better choice than a heavy duty bush hog?

 

[wolc123]

A light duty brush hog may be your best option. Maybe rent a heavy duty one once and get rid of all the 3" stuff, then you will be ok in following years or even cutting every other year with a light duty. A flail mower will not cut brush as well as a light duty brush hog. It also requires lots more maintenence than a brushog. These are the reasons you dont see many around. The quality of cut on grass from a flail mower is a lot better than that from a heavy duth brush hog, but not all that much better than that of a light duty, especially if you go with one of the top brands such as a Bush-hog Squealer. The 5 foot Squealer I had would cut almost as neat as my finish mower if I kept the blades sharp. It also required no maintenance but an annual sharpening in over 20 years of hard use.

 

[IslandTractor]

I've owned both. I like both but there are pluses and minuses to each. For mowing near civilization where high velocity projectiles could put a hurt on someone the flail is by far the safest. For no nonsense low maintenance the rotary rough cut comes out on top. For quality of cut the flail wins. Flails chew things to bits while rotary cutters basically rip and explode things they hit.

I am a little more cautious with my flail than I was with a bush hog. It is a more sophisticated piece of engineering and has more parts to keep lubricated. I know the flail will do the same job basically but I finesse the cutting, especially in unknown brush, while with the bush hog I was happy to simply back into the unknown to cut anything until the shear pin broke.

Never needed to do anything to my bush hog except check the oil occasionally. I grease the flail every few hours of mowing and after three years have changed the belts once ($35) and replaced a half dozen flails ($7 each including shackle).

I sold the bush hog and am very happy with the flail. If I really had my choice I'd have both.

 

[dirt clod]

What about speed of cutting. If a flail has to be ran slow like a tiller I wouldn't want one.

 

[IslandTractor]

What about speed of cutting. If a flail has to be ran slow like a tiller I wouldn't want one.

No, the flail is just as fast as a bush hog. The only time I go slow is when backing into brush I cannot see through and I still go faster than tilling speed then. I suppose in some situations a bush hog would be faster but only because it doesn't really do as good a job mulching material. So, in very thick grass a bush hog would knock the grass down if you drove over it quickly while a flail would slow you down by chewing up PTO power. Still at the end of such mowing the flail would have cut stuff almost like a lawn while the bush hog would have created a mess.

I guess my bottom line is that if you are willing to maintain the flail which is not a lot but definitely more than a bush hog requires, then get the flail for its cut, safety, less noise, less storage space and easier manuverability. If you just want to knock stuff down and want the cheapest no nonsense tool available then the bush hog is the way to go.

 

[dirt clod]

What does a flail do when theres a stump, log or such object in its path. Will it hang on it and bend or does it try to chew it up?

 

[brandoro]

When I started cutting trails on my acreage I rented a tracked skid steer with a brush mower mounted on the front loader arms. Spent a pretty exciting day on that and opened up trails through brush you couldn't have walked through. At the end of the day I had trails that were still tough to walk down even with long pants and work boots. A couple passes over that with the flail and I had trails that could easily be walked wearing shorts and sandals. The flail really cleans up the punji sticks and long limbs that the brush mower left behind. Worked best for me, rented a brush mower to open up trails, bought the flail for cleanup and maintenance.

 

[Eagleview]

Flail mowers hardy leave a trace of saplings and light scrub , they would be hard to beat . Just remember when you say 3" stuff , don't expect it to mow a group of these at once .

 

[whistlepig]

I have always used rotary mowers. I am considering a flail. I like the quality of their cut and less wear and tear on the three point and the tractor. I can see where there would be more maintenance on a flail. Flail's are much more expensive to buy than rotary cutters.

 

[IslandTractor]

Flail's are much more expensive to buy than rotary cutters.

A good quality light to medium duty 6ft Bush Hog will cost about $1300 or so last I checked. A light to medium duty flail like the popular Caroni TM1900 (75 inch cut) costs under $2000 delivered from AgriSupply. So they are a bit more expensive but not a whole lot.