Ford 1210 Brush Hog/Flail

[RecoveringVegetarian]

Hello all. I am a sometimes lurker here and am finally posting for the first time. My husband and I recently bought a Ford 1210 with a FEL (16hp, 13.5hp at the PTO). We have about 5 acres of fields that we need to maintain with two mowings a year. There is mostly grass but also some areas of briars and Autumn Olive which always sprouts and needs to be knocked-back.

We are looking into our options for mowing. Currently we have a BCS two wheel tractor with a 28" flail. It takes a long time but it does a great job. We'd like to relegate that to the tight areas and use the Ford for the majority of the mowing.

It seems a flail is not an option though (please correct me if I am wrong). The HP just isn't there, though I have found some small flails of 33", 37", and 41" which should work, in theory. I think we would never get above a crawl. And I want to be able to mow faster with the four wheel tractor than we can walking behind a two wheel tractor!

So a brush hog might make more sense. We are considering a 48" Woods BrushBull or a 42" Woods RCC which appears to be more of a finish mower (but is 150lbs lighter at 350lbs). I wonder if the 1210 can handle a 48" brush hog. I have seen them with 48" brush hogs occasionally, so that gives me hope. But I'd hate to buy one and find the tractor can't handle it.

Any thoughts or input? More importantly, does anyone have experience mowing fields with a Ford 1210? If so, what did you use and how well did it work with the tractor? Thank you in advance to all who reply.

 

[leonz]

Hello all. I am a sometimes lurker here and am finally posting for the first time. My husband and I recently bought a Ford 1210 with a FEL (16hp, 13.5hp at the PTO). We have about 5 acres of fields that we need to maintain with two mowings a year. There is mostly grass but also some areas of briars and Autumn Olive which always sprouts and needs to be knocked-back.

We are looking into our options for mowing. Currently we have a BCS two wheel tractor with a 28" flail. It takes a long time but it does a great job. We'd like to relegate that to the tight areas and use the Ford for the majority of the mowing.

It seems a flail is not an option though (please correct me if I am wrong). The HP just isn't there, though I have found some small flails of 33", 37", and 41" which should work, in theory. I think we would never get above a crawl. And I want to be able to mow faster with the four wheel tractor than we can walking behind a two wheel tractor!

So a brush hog might make more sense. We are considering a 48" Woods BrushBull or a 42" Woods RCC which appears to be more of a finish mower (but is 150lbs lighter at 350lbs). I wonder if the 1210 can handle a 48" brush hog. I have seen them with 48" brush hogs occasionally, so that gives me hope. But I'd hate to buy one and find the tractor can't handle it.

Any thoughts or input? More importantly, does anyone have experience mowing fields with a Ford 1210? If so, what did you use and how well did it work with the tractor? Thank you in advance to all who reply.

I tow a motorised 48 inch lawn genie(16 horsepower briggs engine)with a four row finish mowing rotor
using 128 side slicers and 64 thatching blades with zero issues for mowing and brush mowing also
using a 20 horsepower wheel horse used as a tow vehicle with zero issues.

Your mule should be fine and have no issues with a 2 or 4 row knive flail mower rotor for the
TL900-TL1200 models as the 36 inch and 48 inch units are rated for mules of 20-40 horsepower.

I would ask about having one shipped as they carry most of the Caroni line anyway so I see no issue with them ordering one for you. If they say they cannot i will ask the manager I know why they cannot for you if you like.

You might luck out and find a used motorised lawn genie as they are out there- mine is 31 years old but I will not sell it though.

 

[billybobjimmyjoejack]

I just looked in a Ford New Holland dealer specification book that lists a model 1215 with the same HP ratings that you have on your 1210.
The literature shows that the 1215 could use a model 918L 50 inch light duty flail mower or a 951B 48 inch rotary cutter.

 

[RecoveringVegetarian]

I just looked in a Ford New Holland dealer specification book that lists a model 1215 with the same HP ratings that you have on your 1210.
The literature shows that the 1215 could use a model 918L 50 inch light duty flail mower or a 951B 48 inch rotary cutter.

Thank you. This is very helpful! Now I just need to find these attachments (or some kind of self powered pull behind flail)!