Flail Mower flail Vs. rotery cutter

[the6shooter]

I was wandering which was the better cutter ? rotery cutter or flail mower
I have a 5' massy brush cutter, and it does a good job. but have seen the results of the flail mower and was wondering if, it would be a better investment ? any pros. Vs. cons ?
thanks david

 

[Soundguy]

better ?? At cutting what ?

if you plan on cutting alot of 2" woody and 3" green material.. id get a rotary cutter... each has their prefered application...

Soundguy

 

[KB4330]

For me it came down to the lay of my land, so to speak. I have 10 hilly acres loaded with oak and doug fir and the terrain also undulates something awful in a lot of places. I chose a flail mower for a couple of reasons. First, I can manuever around all of my trees quite easily as the flail sticks out maybe a third of what a rotary cutter would. Second, because of the way my propert undulates, I would have a hard time getting an even cut in most places with a rotary cutter and would have a lot of trouble with turning and gouging as I tried to turn. With the flail, I just set it to float and I can get a very consistent and even cut and with the roller set propely.

The flail is more expensive initially and to maintain but it fit my needs much better than a rotary cutter ever could. Your mileage may vary.

 

[JoeinTX]

Yeah, kind of depends on what you're cutting and what result you're looking for.

Pastures, rough areas.......I go with a rotary cutter.

Populated areas, potential for ejecting material and causing damage.....flail.

Rotary cutter (shredder) ultimately has fewer moving parts and is simpler to maintain or repair. Flail cuts finer, it's more compact, and easier to manipulate, store, and transport.

The same discarded concrete chunk or will roll will cause two different types of damage to each type of mower.

 

[Tom_H]

Do a search in this forum using "flail" and "rotary" or "flail" and "rough cutter" or "flail" and "brush hog". Don't set any date limit. You will find numerous threads that have covered this same topic in extreme detail. There is a wealth of info in the archives. There's nothing wrong with asking the question again, it's just that it's been discussed so much that many folks with knowledge have said it so many times that they don't want to keep writing the same thing. Good luck!