Rotary Cutter Flail vs Brush cutter... Who wins?

[7sam15]

Talk about a different opinion. I just called the two local tractor dealers I have been talking with and got totally different opinions of flails. The first dealer said that they are not intended for “heavy brush”. He thought they would cut blackberry, scotch broom and holly up to 1 inch but repeated use will damage the bearings requiring frequent replacement.

The other dealer said that “heavy brush and thick grass” is the intended use for the flail. He said that ODOT specifies the REARS SPF flail with heavy hammers for all roadside cutting. They apparently beat them to death without problems. He admitted they do have problems cutting thinner longer grass. The flail tended to matt the thinner grasses without cutting and occasionally wrapping the grass around the drum.

Both dealers agreed that maintenance was higher on the flail than the rotary.


Now I’m more confused then ever…

Isn’t implement shopping fun…

7sam15

 

[gerard]

Not really too confusing but there are pros and cons. Flails will weigh more than a brush hog, they will NOT cut as heavy material, I don"t beleive you can cut at 7 mph unless your happy leaving a lot of uncut grass behind. All municipalities I see use flails but also cut VERY slowly. (Of course they also use a 3 gang set up so they're cutting 15 foot at a swath). Main pr of a flail is safety and the ability to hit things in the grass (bottles, cans etc) without tossing them. A flail can also cut closer to the ground due to the roller set up being able to follow the ground contour. BUT flails cost more and I wouldn't want to sharpen one. Every set of knives is individually bolted to the rotating drum, has to be unbolted, sharpened and re attached. Rotary cutter you just have the two blades.

 

[Gatorboy]

Don't be confused...just get yourself a nice rotary cutter -- Rhino, Bush Hog, etc. -- stay away from the Woods.

I've posted this in the past, but my opinion on the Woods mowers comes from conversations with my dad. My dad's business mows 400-600 acres PER DAY down in Florida. He has tried most of the mowers out there. Several years ago Bush Hog gave him a mower to use for a season to get his feedback on what the company could do to improve their mowers.

I'm sorry if I offend the Woods believers, but of all of all the mowers he has used, Woods is by far the worst. He was constantly having to repair the darn things. Even the wheels would fall off for Pete's sake!

His company now ONLY mows with the Rhino 15' and 20' flex-wings (Heavy Duty)

I am sure that for the average Joe out there any mower would work fine. I am just giving my 2 cents to those that may want to know how some mowers stack up when fully exercised.

Oh, for those wondering -- the tractors he uses are John Deere 7210's, and he has been in this business for over 17 years.

 

[Henro]

Gatorboy,

Do you happen to know if your dad's experience was with the older model Woods, or the redesigned BrushBull model?

 

[Gatorboy]

It was with a 15-footer -- about 10 years ago. He was very disappointed with the quality of the unit.

 

[mgrick]

Gatorboy you aren't offending me.I've got a new Woods BB60 and I can't see anything about it that was worth the extra money I had to pay for it.I've used it about 2 hours so far and the blades look worse than on my Honda that I've used for 12 years.The design may look good and allow the water to run off but when I stand on the back the deck will buckle all around the trap door because there's no cross members there like on other mowers and I weigh 200 lbs.Not to mention the paint melting on the gear box.I have to wonder how many years I'll get out of this thing.

 

[JFarms]

As mentioned above, there are two types of flails. Flail mowers and flail mower/shredders. The mowers have curved or L-shaped blades. I've no experience with the mowers, but I have a mower/shredder. Each cutter is sharpened "hammer knife." It is safer than a rotary brush cutter. It does throw stones but not far, in only one direction --forward at ground level. Mine leaves a much nicer cut than a rotary mower. The cut can adjust from inches above down to ground level. I don't mow sapling with it, but I mow branches pruned from the orchard, and there's no sign of the branches after the flail eats them. This spring I mowed grass and weeds over 6 feet tall without problem. What it leaves behind is finely chopped mulch, laid out evenly on the ground. If I remember right, there are flail shredders / mowers designed to cut saplings up to 4 inches in diameter, but those require a much larger tractor to run. I've had mine over 3 years, and love it. Also agree they are more expensive. Other than lube and sharpening the blades, I've had no maintenance. Hope this helps.

 

[Slamfire]

If it throws the stones forward at ground level, does that mean you hit 'em again, and again, until you pick up the mower. How many times can you hit a rock with a hammer before one or the other breaks. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[JohnMiller3]

Flail vs Rotary Cutters

 

[JFarms]

Slamfire, I've never hit a thrown rock twice. I'm sure because throwing a rock is really rare, but it has happened. The rocks usually break when the hammer knives hit them, but I've never had a knife break. The knives swing on a bolt similar to an axle so if they hit a large enough rock, they bouce off it. Hitting rocks has also decreased as I've improved the land (or broken up all the rocks with the flail /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif). I used only one set of knives since buying the flail. Rocks dull the knives and I sharpened them this year for the first time.