Flail Mower flail vs rotary mower

[subzero]

what is the difference between these

 

[art]

They both spin, one parralell to the ground and one perpindicular to the ground. One has a lot of little blades to maintain and the rotary only has a few to keep sharp. Most flails do have a roller or skid shoes that run on the ground where the rotary will have wheels.

Both cut on impact. The heavier the knives or blades the heavier items they can cut.

 

[IslandTractor]

To expand on Art's answer: Just as there are different types of rotary mowers (eg finish and bush hog) there are different types of flails or at least different setups for flail mowers depending on whether you want primariy finish or rough cut. Flails can have knives for finish and light/medium brush or "hammers" for heavy brush.

In general, a typical light/medium duty flail mower overlaps the functions of a finish mower and light/medium duty bush hog. A heavy duty flail overlaps with a heavy duty bush hog. Light/medium duty flails cost about the same or a bit less than finish mowers or medium duty bush hogs. Heavy duty flails cost more than even heavy duty bush hogs.

Flails are generally safer to use around people/buildings/vehicles as they don't tend to shoot chunks of wood or rocks etc out from underneath the way rotary cutters do.

Flails tend to cut finer than the equivalent rotary cutter and are a bit more forgiving when hitting obstacles but because they have 40-60 knives/hammers typically, they can be a lot more work when maintenance is finally needed.

I have used a bush hog, a finish mower and a flail. The bush hog cuts most anything but leaves big chunks of material behind so multiple passes are needed to break up debris. A finish mower obviously cuts very nicely but is damaged by running into brush or rocks etc. The flail cuts material you'd generally use a bush hog for but leaves a finer cut pretty close to that of a finish mower.

Photos of a medium duty flail (Caroni TM1900) ($1600 from AgriSupply).

 

[jmfox]

In my experience flails are more violent. Loud hammering chattering little cutters. It's like a tornedo in a tin box. It is true that they don't throw rocks, but they do shoot round objects like golf balls. I would guess they use up a lot more HP, and I know they need much more maintenance attention and down time repairs.

jmf

 

[toddler]

IslandT,

Is the gearbox leaking oil in that last picture?

Todd

 

[texbaylea]

In my experience flails are more violent. Loud hammering chattering little cutters. It's like a tornedo in a tin box. It is true that they don't throw rocks, but they do shoot round objects like golf balls. I would guess they use up a lot more HP, and I know they need much more maintenance attention and down time repairs.

jmf

I have the same flail as IslandTractor and feel that it loads my tractor less than a medium duty rotary utter. Less rotating mass at a smaller radius. That particular flail is 75" wide and is rated for 20-40 hp.

The only time it loads my tractor is when I unintentionally try to dig dirt with it.

Vernon

 

[IslandTractor]

IslandT,

Is the gearbox leaking oil in that last picture?

Todd

Not exactly...one characteristic of the Caroni flail is that the oil bubbles out of the breather cap when it gets hot if you have the oil level topped off. It does fine with lower than max oil levels but it does spew a bit out the breather cap if you actually have as much oil in the thing as the dipstick seems to recommend. Someone recently posted a picture of a "fix" which was essentially just an extention tube. It doesn't affect performance and it is not a problem with the gearbox itself.

 

[IslandTractor]

In my experience flails are more violent. Loud hammering chattering little cutters. It's like a tornedo in a tin box. It is true that they don't throw rocks, but they do shoot round objects like golf balls. I would guess they use up a lot more HP, and I know they need much more maintenance attention and down time repairs.

jmf

More noise than a finish mower perhaps but much less than a bush hog.

 

[texbaylea]

I ran a 48" Land Pride finish mower behind a Kubota B6100E for a number of years and it was LOUD. I ran that Kubota at nearly full throttle and the mower was louder, I used hearing protection when I was mowing.

When I mow now I hardly hear the flail mower over the tractor unless I am cutting medium and heavier brush.

Vernon

 

[GreenMtns]

Not exactly...one characteristic of the Caroni flail is that the oil bubbles out of the breather cap when it gets hot if you have the oil level topped off. It does fine with lower than max oil levels but it does spew a bit out the breather cap if you actually have as much oil in the thing as the dipstick seems to recommend. Someone recently posted a picture of a "fix" which was essentially just an extention tube. It doesn't affect performance and it is not a problem with the gearbox itself.

Ed
Do you remember the title of that post? I would like to look at the "fix" for the breather. I just let it find the level it likes and go from there but I am not sure thats the best idea.