Flail Mower Land Pride vs. Caroni Flail

[IslandTractor]

Buy the Caroni. You don't need a dealer to care for a flail mower. Besides, the only things that require more than grease for maintenance are an occasional belt and knife replacement. Easy peasy and your friends on TBN can walk you through those tasks.

 

[Ricn]

I sort of agree with not needing a dealer but is nice to have their backup when dealing with a warrantee issue. Mostly I'll be cutting pasture grass with no trees, vines and heavy brush so the light weight units will work perhaps. Does yours use cotter pins to hold the cutters on and if so, have they failed at all losing a cutter or two? Hate to think of an animal stepping on one...

Ricn

 

[IslandTractor]

I sort of agree with not needing a dealer but is nice to have their backup when dealing with a warrantee issue. Mostly I'll be cutting pasture grass with no trees, vines and heavy brush so the light weight units will work perhaps. Does yours use cotter pins to hold the cutters on and if so, have they failed at all losing a cutter or two? Hate to think of an animal stepping on one...

Ricn

What warranty issues? There are lots of Caroni owners on TBN and I don't recall any serious warranty issues. The most common problem is that the factory supplied belts are not kevlar so they break after a year or two. Replacing them with Gates Kevlar belts will triple the life span. Other items are simply the knives and clevises which are readily available either from AgriSupply or Flailmaster. There really haven't been any serious failures that I have heard of and I've been participating in Caroni mower discussions here for ten years.

 

[Ricn]

One would hope not to have any, but S--- does happen. Regardless of prices, I prefer looking at what I buy beforehand; driving 3K miles is out of the question and we don't have Ag Supply stores out west carrying Caroni. Kubota dealers often have Land Pride units to look at, not all models but enough to get the "feel" for what is being offered also a Rhino dealer 200mi to the east. If someone has a schematic diagram of Caroni 60 inch model 1500 that would help me immensely were I to see one.

Ricn

 

[Z-Michigan]

I sort of agree with not needing a dealer but is nice to have their backup when dealing with a warrantee issue.

It's a long time ago, but my experience with LandPride implements and warranty service is horrible. Non-existent, really. The selling dealer had me drop off the broken LP implement for the LP rep to look at, then told me 2 weeks later "Yeah, it's broken, rep agrees it shouldn't have. But he isn't going to do anything about it." This, for a new LandPride implement purchased from that dealer and used on a tractor with less hp than it was rated for.

Recently I got an explanation of this issue from someone - I was told that LP uses independent sales reps, and they simply have no incentive to spend any time or effort on warranty issues. I don't know if that's true, but it would make sense.

So for me, there's no chance I would spend double the money to get a LandPride whatever in the hopes of having good warranty service.

And, for what it's worth, I had a Caroni flail for 5 years and the only issue I had was belts shredding, which is a known issue and relatively easy and cheap to fix.

 

[Ricn]

Guess that doesn't say much for LP warrantee services does it? With LP and Kubota both in the same camp now, any chance that has changed? I could ask my dealer here about that but still, I may by the Caroni if I can get a diagram of how they are put together; for my uses doubt it would get worn out. So is the Ag Supply my only choice of purchase and which store should I deal with?

 

[IslandTractor]

One would hope not to have any, but S--- does happen. Regardless of prices, I prefer looking at what I buy beforehand; driving 3K miles is out of the question and we don't have Ag Supply stores out west carrying Caroni. Kubota dealers often have Land Pride units to look at, not all models but enough to get the "feel" for what is being offered also a Rhino dealer 200mi to the east. If someone has a schematic diagram of Caroni 60 inch model 1500 that would help me immensely were I to see one.

Ricn

I don't think more than 10% of Caroni buyers have ever seen one in person before purchasing from AgriSupply. I sure didn't. There are so many photos and descriptions on the interweb (and here on TBN) that unless there is something magical about laying on of hands, you can pretty much "see" one virtually.

You may want to look at the big flail mower thread ("Let's talk flail mowers") rather than this small one. There are lots of folks who have bought from AgriSupply and are happy.

I haven't seen a Landpride flail but they are a very good company generally. They are NOT known for their flail mowers however. Landpride is just another copy cat. If you insist on spending three times as much as a Caroni on a flail, do yourself a favor and buy a Mott/Alamo or Vrismo. Those are all lifetime mowers that stand up to highway dept and commercial use.

 

[Slagiatt]

i was toad by a land pride rep that land pride never made there own flail mower, they use different imports. sense i have one i hope it was italian made. purchase this used and its time for new bearing and clean up. it does seam to be a well built mower

 

[Ricn]

For the price I may go ahead with getting the Caroni as their prices are very attractive and with so many users being very pleased with theirs. Thanks for your reply, it all helps. This is such a great website, I have learned so much just in reading the posts, seeing what others have experienced.

Ricn

 

[Fallon]

i was toad by a land pride rep that land pride never made there own flail mower, they use different imports. sense i have one i hope it was italian made. purchase this used and its time for new bearing and clean up. it does seam to be a well built mower

I believe that was true up until this year. I heard they engineered an in house model recently & replaced the re-badged Italian ones they had been selling.

 

[Ricn]

After calling, the model Caroni I want is not available until July. So what do you guys know about Woodmax mowers, their website shows them to be well made, of course!

 

[IslandTractor]

I believe that was true up until this year. I heard they engineered an in house model recently & replaced the re-badged Italian ones they had been selling.

Interesting. For Landpride to decide to manufacture rather than rebadge says something about the flail market. The Italians (and some other well known companies) have been making flails for about fifty years. Maybe Landpride is just generally expanding but it's also possible that the consumer CUT revolution has created a new demand for implements other than those specialized for agricultural and public works use. Bush hogs really don't make sense for use anywhere near people or dwellings. CUTs are likely to be used closer to home than Ag tractors so might be driving demand for safer mowers.

 

[Fallon]

After calling, the model Caroni I want is not available until July. So what do you guys know about Woodmax mowers, their website shows them to be well made, of course!

U.S. Engineering China manufacturing. Their other gear, choppers especially have been getting good reviews. Not much on their flails yet on here though. I've been eyeing them to replace my ancient Ford 917. Trash door, hydraulic offset. Have some nice features there. I think there is a bit of a back order (month or 2) on some of them. Presumably waiting for the next container from China.

 

[Z-Michigan]

After calling, the model Caroni I want is not available until July. So what do you guys know about Woodmax mowers, their website shows them to be well made, of course!

I'll know in about 6 weeks! I previously owned a Caroni flail and was happy with it. I came "this close" to buying another one, but the Woodmaxx price with shipping was about the same and I like the rear trash door and appearance of somewhat heavier duty construction, and compatibility with a 3pt quick hitch. So I have on on order waiting for the May delivery.

If you could find a Caroni flail in stock and don't need quick hitch compatibility, I had no significant problems with mine.

If you were seriously considering spending $5k, Vrisimo's rep was very helpful on the phone and they make a flail in the USA, but it is twice the cost of the Caroni and Woodmaxx options.

 

[Ricn]

Well, your post is good news. I called Ag Supply but they have no Coroni units in my size until July, same as Woodmaxx folks. Evidently the flail mower uses have risen by quit a bit this year. After speaking with Joel at Woodmaxx for an hour or more, I too have one on order. Joel was great to speak with in many ways, I'd say he knows flail mowers better than most who sell them these days. Joel gave me firsthand knowledge of their machines and how they came to be, were repeatedly improved to where now they compete very well. Joel took me through most all the parts explaining each upgrade they have made to where the units now come needing almost nothing but complete checkout, setup and testing before shipping to their customers. They have Gates Belts, reversible cutters mounted with bolts not cotter keys, access door, 1/4 inch steel housing, premium bearings and color that matches my Kubota very, very close. For my limited use of pasture mowing I have every confidence their unit will be just fine for my application.

 

[danisiri]

Leaning towards Woodmaxx, thanks for the info.

 

[RoyJackson]

After calling, the model Caroni I want is not available until July. So what do you guys know about Woodmaxx mowers, their website shows them to be well made, of course!

Now it's a late August delivery, which means you probably won't see the mower until right around September....shame.
I ended up going with a Caroni unit from Agri-Supply which will be delivered on or about 12 July...just couldn't wait the extra month to six weeks.

 

[Ricn]

Roy, it's in the mail errr truck, and on the way as of last Wednesday...

Ricn

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy, it's in the mail errr truck, and on the way as of last Wednesday...

Ricn

Good for you!! You must have got one from the previous shipment!

 

[Ricn]

Yep, ordered on 4/28, model 62H -

Ricn