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.

 

[IslandTractor]

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?

It depends. Sometimes it will jump over. Sometimes it will just stop the tractor. The worst case scenario which is not common but has happened to IronHorse is that the rear roller will snag and "banana" (bend). That puts you out of commission until fixed. However, that is pretty unusual and to my knowledge has only happened to IronHorse amongst the dozens of flail users here on TBN. It would be more likely to happen with a heavy tractor moving fairly fast.

I hit a big chunk of firewood this summer in a field and the mower sucked it up, jammed and stalled the tractor. I needed a crowbar to get it out but there was no damage to the mower once I'd removed it. The belt system protects the cutting rotor by slipping.

 

[dirt clod]

If you drive very slowly into a stump will the flail work as a stump grinder?

 

[IslandTractor]

Technically, yes but it will make an awful sound and I would not recommmend doing it that way. I suppose some of the heavy duty flails could be used like that on medium size stumps.

 

[dirt clod]

I was looking at this one

New 68" Flail Mower EFGC175 Cat.1 3pt 30+HP Rating - eBay (item 300367675997 end time Nov-21-09 17:30:32 PST)

With the heavy mulching blades.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was looking at this one

New 68" Flail Mower EFGC175 Cat.1 3pt 30+HP Rating - eBay (item 300367675997 end time Nov-21-09 17:30:32 PST)

With the heavy mulching blades.

That is the Betstco which is a Chinese made mower imported only by that one seller. Not sure about parts down the road etc. I recall there are a few guys on TBN who have purchased it so you might do a search.

For me, the few hundred bucks extra to get a Caroni (Italian) with the backing of AgriSupply and even TSC makes better sense.

 

[Big Bri]

That is the Betstco which is a Chinese made mower imported only by that one seller. Not sure about parts down the road etc. I recall there are a few guys on TBN who have purchased it so you might do a search.

For me, the few hundred bucks extra to get a Caroni (Italian) with the backing of AgriSupply and even TSC makes better sense.

i agree, i broke all three belts on my caroni the first week i owned it, made a call to agri supply and asked for the belt sizes so i could pick up localy. i was given the part number and was told that they would also send me a new set as well. . .at no charge. They didn't have to do that but it shows their comment to service.
brian

 

[kf4uda]

I am a rotary user but have been interested in flails. How does a flail handle coming in contact with the occasional rock?

 

[swampvol]

I have the Betstco, and am happy with it.

Pros:
- doesn't stick 10ft. off the back of the tractor.
- seems to be a lot less stress on the pto and tractor in general.
- doesn't kick up a lot of dust.
- pulverizes the brush and small saplings better than my bush-hog.

Cons:
- belt driven.
- my brush hog does a better finish cut on tall grass. The flail leaves patches of tall grass, at least with the y blades that I use.

Also, if you decide on the Betstco, make him an offer. I got him to come down $250 off his asking price.

 

[Sackett2]

Keith, Owner of Betstco says with the hammer blades, a flail mower can grind a stump. I cannot confirm this but If I had a flail mower from him, I'd be willing to try it on a few low stumps that have been bugging for several years... However, I cannot justify the cost at this time, I have a hog and a finish so a flail is not much needed...

 

[skipperbrown]

I have the 6' caroni and I used it for the first time this year at our hunting lease to mow down food plots and logging roads. For 1 to 2 ft grass, I can pull it at about 3 to 3 1/2 mph. For 5 to 6' weeds, stuff higher than the tractor, I am reduced to a crawl and burned up 3 sets of belts (at about $40/set). This high stuff completely fills the flail housing and it can't spit it out fast enough. The result is burning your belts. My partner was pulling his 8 ft rotary at 6 mph over the same stuff including the 5 to 6' high weeds, but he has 40 more hp than me.

My flail won't cut saplings much bigger than your index finger. It will strip it and lay it down, but not cut it.

Lesson here: If you are going to be cutting really thick tall stuff, go w/ the rotary.

The flail projects about 4' behind my tractor vs. over 10' for a rotary of the same size. It fits nicely on my trailer and is great in tight places on small plots or in the woods. This is really a huge, huge plus. With a rotary, I get neck strain always making sure I'm not going to swing it against a tree, bldg, or other equipment. I can't begin to load my tractor w/ a rotary on my trailer w/o 3' hanging off the back which I think is frowned upon by DOT.

The flail bounces over anything it hits and the knives fold up against the drum to protect the unit. If it hits something it can't bounce over, it spins the belts offering add'l protection to the powerline.

The flail cut is much better than a rotary at the cost of speed. Low grass is where the flail rules.

I was using gates belts after burning up the first set going someplace I had no business running a flail (making a trail through really thick pine plantation). I burned up the gates belts very quickly and contacted agri supply after burning up the 2nd gates set for a recommendation. They sent me a complimentary set of PIX belts. PIX was on the machine when they shipped it to me. Good folks to deal with.

I really like the flail, but I can't cut as fast or chop the big stuff.