Flail Vs Finish Mower for Mulching Leaves?

[K5lwq]

Yes Sir Lou. I have been using that mower on this place for 17 years. It does a great job once I found the Gator Blades. I always have had to raise it up to swallow the pile it pushes as I run. If I stay on top of it and not let the pile get too big, it will make the leaves disappear in one pass.

This is the first year I have had a flail to compare with and thought it would be interesting. I enjoy running the flail but for leaves, there is no comparison.

 

[chim]

My experience, my side discharge finish mowers simply blow the leaves out the discharge Shute with little mulching.
Backing through the leaves with my rear discharge RFM mulches much, much better.

Below is another picture showing how my side discharge 5 footer with the added blade wings works. It does move leaves to the side, and also chops some up in the process. You can see the slightly heavier concentration of leaves along the edge of the last pass, but enough of them get chopped so they don't accumulate into a huge windrow. The end result isn't the same as you'd get with a lawn vac, but it's good enough for me.

 

[Halftrack]

Per K5lwq's request, here are photos of the belting I installed on the tailgate of a NH 918h. Belting is 7" wide used round baler belting which should be available from any round baler dealer. I just bolted it to the tailgate and trimmed the sides. I do not have any before and after leaf shredding photos and my leaf season is over, sorry. First two photos are with tailgate partially open and third is closed.

 

[K5lwq]

Halftrack, thank you for the pictures. That is a really good idea. You definitely have a better design than what I have. Mine has a strip of belting but there is still a sizable gap. The angle iron above your roller probably helps a lot with the process as well.

What knives are you running? I am betting Y knifes would work much better with mulching as well.

In this picture you can see the gap I have.

 

[Halftrack]

The only knives available for the 918 are a longer (4.6" compared to about 3") Y knife. Having had 3 previous 917's, most with the single piece, cultivator shaped knife, and same direction rotation, the 918 is set up with reverse rotation and a much higher tip speed. The leaves sound like they are hitting a burr mill with the 918. I prefer the 918 over the 917s as it shreds much better and requires less hp. The weak spot on the 918 were the lower hitch clevises, when used in the offset positions, would bend, break or give away from the frame. I have seen them reinforced, but it ain't pretty.

 

[mikester]

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Today I think I will have a little fun and do a side by side comparison on which mower mulches leaves better. The flail has hammer knives and the finish mower is a side discharge with gator blades.

Test will be one pass with each mower. Flail on the Branson and finish mower on the Kioti. Test will be a little later today after it warms up some. Lol

Which do you think will do a better job?

The snowblower.

 

[K5lwq]

The snowblower.

:laughing: If I buy a snowblower now I have to send it to Slowpoke Slim.

I told the wife I wanted a snowblower and she looked at me like "you idiot". She said we never need to remove snow! I told her I know but I can not help people on TBN that have problems with theirs, if I don't have one to know how they work. She ended that conversation with No!

I am now hoping we get 3 ft of snow at once. :shocked:

 

[shooterdon]

I live in the woods and have a lot of leaves...from birch to oak. The game changer for me was adding Gator blades to my cheap Husqvarna rider. I cannot take care of all the leaves in one pass. It takes me three sessions. I have about 2 acres to cut and it takes about 2 hours per session...so 6 hours total over a 4-6 week period. But it is an easy 6 hours. Sitting on my butt riding around and the weather is pleasant.

This is the second year so not sure if I will wind up with too much "mulch" choking out the grass but so far so good.

 

[K5lwq]

I live in the woods and have a lot of leaves...from birch to oak. The game changer for me was adding Gator blades to my cheap Husqvarna rider. I cannot take care of all the leaves in one pass. It takes me three sessions. I have about 2 acres to cut and it takes about 2 hours per session...so 6 hours total over a 4-6 week period. But it is an easy 6 hours. Sitting on my butt riding around and the weather is pleasant.

This is the second year so not sure if I will wind up with too much "mulch" choking out the grass but so far so good.

I mow in a circle blowing towards the uncut pass. By the time I get to the center nothing left. I only am mulching the red oak leaves and they disappear really well.

The other trees on my place is more like woods so I leave it natural. I will bush hog between the trees every few years but other than that nothing.