Flail Mower Ford 917L shaft bearing

[BCinMI650]

really? their website says "We are currently closed due to COVID. We look forward to Re-opening soon!". How are their prices? I noticed their catalog doesn't show them and i didn't get an email back when i sent one.

 

[arto98607]

really? their website says "We are currently closed due to COVID. We look forward to Re-opening soon!". How are their prices? I noticed their catalog doesn't show them and i didn't get an email back when i sent one.

I know nothing about that, but maybe they have had supplier problems?

In July their Alamo / Mott MH386 flails were under a dollar each .

I bought two sets of 120 flails since 60" 917L mower takes 96 flails & I reused the flange nuts, but bought new 3/8" grade 8 bolts from eBay vendor.
The flail holes had to be drilled from 7/16" to 3/8" and I bought cobalt drill bits from Amazon vendor for that since the steel was pretty hard.

With Alamo / Mott MH386 part No. you should be able to find these elsewhere also.
(Looks like Alamo / Mott may actually use part No. A-EF386)


Ford vs. Mott / Alamo MH386 from Flail Master

 

[BCinMI650]

My 6ft 907 has 33 stations. I was quoted roughly $7/knife delivered which feels expensive. it does not look like the Alamo knives have the same cutting width so I worry that there will be missed sections as the knives will not fully overlap. I found a company that has a hardened scoopstyle knife that would fit for roughly $4/knife delivered. Still seems expensive compared to what you were quoted though.

 

[arto98607]

My 6ft 907 has 33 stations. I was quoted roughly $7/knife delivered which feels expensive. it does not look like the Alamo knives have the same cutting width so I worry that there will be missed sections as the knives will not fully overlap. I found a company that has a hardened scoopstyle knife that would fit for roughly $4/knife delivered. Still seems expensive compared to what you were quoted though.

The Alamo knives are cutting very well in my 917L but since your 907 is using scoop knives they are totally different and prices should be different accordingly.

33 knives in 907 vs. 96 knives in 917L

 

[BCinMI650]

ya the knives on it right now aren't true scoop, they are kind of a single piece that are nearly a "Y". the Scoops i have found have the same cutting width and dimensions so i figured they would be a suitable replacement. Do you have any experience with the scoop style? are they pretty good?

 

[arto98607]

ya the knives on it right now aren't true scoop, they are kind of a single piece that are nearly a "Y". the Scoops i have found have the same cutting width and dimensions so i figured they would be a suitable replacement. Do you have any experience with the scoop style? are they pretty good?

Sorry none with scoop flails, this is my first flail mower which I bought well used, knowing it needed few repairs.
Mainly bought it just to see if it works better for me than brush hog.

So far I like it because it makes a nicer looking cut and has not done any scalping at all when set to about 3.5 inch cut.

By the way, I have found lot of useful flail mower etc. information on this forum and appreciate it!

 

[5788johnf]

The Alamo knives are cutting very well in my 917L but since your 907 is using scoop knives they are totally different and prices should be different accordingly.

33 knives in 907 vs. 96 knives in 917L

I have just bought the equivalent to a 60" 918L that mounts to a New Holland out front mower. It looks like it has plenty of use. It will take the same fine cut knives as the 917L (ME6101080 of the number for a 918L but it is

86509415 for a 917L) I believe. It also uses a twisted blade ME6100077 that seems to work more like a hammer type blade. My machine is fitted with these but they will require replacement next season (I am on the east coast of Australia). ​

My unit has 48 stations and takes either 96 of ME6101080 or 48 of ME6100077. Messicks price for ME6101080 is just over $10 and ME6100077 just over $23. This plus fasteners makes using original parts pretty expensive when shipping and import duties are added. While Messicks stock some aftermarket blades, they don't have any for 917L/918L.

Flailmaster don't have ME6101080 in stock at the moment and won't be making more until Jan/Feb next year - I asked for a price but they didn't give me one.

I was very interested in your comments that Alamo / Mott MH386. Flailmaster also suggested them. The thing that had me thinking is what BCinMI650 says about coverage. A 60" Alamo/Mott has far more stations (76) and uses far more knives (152) than a 60" Ford (48/96). I measured the knife overlap for my unit and it is about 1/16". Your experience suggests that the knives must set up some sort of turbulence that ensures everything gets cut. I like the idea that the MH386 are thinner and therefore use less power.

After a lot of looking, researching and thinking I am going to make a set of ME6100077. I checked the knives with a file and they seem to be about the same hardness as mild steel. I can make the necessary jigs to shape them from stuff in my salvage pile. The material cost will be less than $1 each.

One of the main reasons for staying with ME6100077 is that I have some rough areas to mow and these knives are 3/16" thick, plus their shape makes them less likely to be damaged (this may explain why they can get away with lower carbon steel). If they turn out to be too soft, I will heat treat and temper them - not a lot of extra work involved to get a bit more durability.

Thanks for your post. It really helped me to get my head around what to do.

 

[arto98607]

Flail steel material hardness:

The MH-386 steel of the set I bought from Flailmaster in summer of 2020 was hard enough that it was somewhat of a challenge to drill out the holes from 7/16" to 3/8"!
Their cost was under a dollar/each at the time.

At first I used a cobalt drill bits but later switched to carbide tipped one which worked much better!

For flail bolts I used a set of very low cost "3/8"-16 x 1 3/4" grade 8 bolts from eBay vendor and reused the OEM flange nuts.
The bolts can be still purchased for about 29 cents apiece.


These have stood up very well for close to two seasons and the mower cuts pretty good.

 

[5788johnf]

This is the type of knife/blade/flail (whatever you want to call it) on my machine. It takes 48 of these. They are 1 3/8" wide and therefore have a 3/32" overlap. I am waiting on a gearbox part to come from Messicks. Looking forward to seeing how the unit handles the heavier growth areas.

 

[arto98607]

Interesting - it looks kind of like a very lightweight "hammer flail"!

With a large oxy/acet torch etc. etc. tools you could probably twist MH-386 to similar shape if they are long enough, but hopefully you can buy the correct factory made ones at a reasonable price.