Flail Mower Ford 917L shaft bearing

[5788johnf]

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.

Showed the one in the photo to an engineer friend who does specialised fabrication. He agrees with me that twisting and bending them cold will be fine. (I'll still heat treat them afterwards.) He seems to think that it is more than just heat treated mild steel and suggested I try some before going to the expense and trouble of making a full set. I bought some mild steel flat bar yesterday to make enough to do one section (4 blades).

At less than $1 each it's not a big deal.

MH-386 will be wide enough but not long enough by my calculations - but you could lower the deck to compensate a bit. If you heated MH-386 I think you would need to heat treat them again. No big deal it your time is free.

I have spent ages looking for cheaper blades like mine without success. Messicks told me that they get obsolete pates from dealers who specialise in them. You can tell when they do this because they have "3-7 days" for delivery on their web site. I also spent ages looking for obsolete parts dealers, but they must operate under the radar and only sell to companies like Messicks - or they geo-block so that people like me out of the US can't see them. (If you know of any, please let me know.)

If all else fails, I will get a set of MH-386 from Flailmaster when I need them - knowing they worked for you gives me all of the confidence I need to go that way. Thanks

 

[arto98607]

I would probably just put in set of 96 MH-386 Flailmaster blades and new grade 8 bolts once the current set has worn out.

The material is hard steel and twisting them without heating up red hot will not work out likely in my opinion.