Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[arto98607]

..........................snip........................ as long as your pulleys are aligned you should have no issues.

No kidding, just take a look at the two thick shims I had to make in order to align the two V-belt pulleys in my 917L mower!
The two pulleys were totally out of alignment before installing the shims.






This mower is probably 25 - 30 years old and who knows what the previous owner did to it, so it may have left the factory perfectly aligned?

 

[leonz]

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the He** did they do to it Art??????????????????????

The tube looks like it has a slight bend in it unless its the angle of the photo image you provided.

 

[arto98607]

.....snip.............

The tube looks like it has a slight bend in it unless its the angle of the photo image you provided.

The tube is straight no worries.

By the way, the mower works very well and is a perfect fit with my 19 HP Ford 1310 (manual shuttle-shift/synchromesh transmission).
The mower is 60 inches wide and has side slicer flails.

Uses less hp and cuts nicer than my JD 48 inch brush hog in tall grass at high ground speed!

 

[Alien]

art, do you run it at 540 rpm?

 

[arto98607]

art, do you run it at 540 rpm?

Yes that is the recommended PTO speed and that is how I have run it so far.
I like the fact that it does not do scalping and no need to mess with the 3 pt height adjustment when mowing in an uneven forest area, unlike my brush hog.

I've been using it for one year so far and after the initial repairs it's been trouble free, but I would expect maintenance requirement be little higher than brush hog in the long run and am fine with that.

 

[Racenut]

I'm looking at flail mowers. My tractor is 66 inches wide, but only 28hp at the PTO, so a bit underpowered to run a flail wider than the tracks. I was looking at hydraulic adjustable offset so I could push it out past the wheels on one side for edges, fence line and around trees and stuff. This vs just having a fixed position that's maybe not centered but sticks out on one side a bit. I guess I'm asking those that have hydraulic offsets how often do you actually need it? Or those that don't, how often do you wish you did?

 

[leonz]

Hello Racenut,

what your asking us is a reasonable and valid question.

If you have two sets of remotes on your mule it can be a plus. It will save you time when doing manual trimming when you become more used to the side shift function.

You have to be careful to clean the grass dust off under and around the slide cylinder to make sure the dust does not build up against the packing gland and the rod seal as it can affect the ability of the flail mower to slide in and out. this is simply because the dust and chaff from mowing will build up and pack down while it rots away. It is easy enough to clean off with a hose with hot water if you have it or cold water if you do not have access to hot water.

its better to know what your tractors limitations are as far as the lifting power/weight limit at the
three point hitch and understand them before you even start looking at flail mowers of either type.

it is also important that the PTO shaft is cut to the correct length so it does not bend when the mower is raised as the flail mower is closer to the tractor.

 

[Alien]

Mine is a fixed offset and it works for me that way. I am glad I didn't have extra expense on a side-shift. It would have been unnecessary expense. I can drive the left wheel up against trees knowing the mower will cut close without touching the tree and I use the extended side to go along fence lines. When I bought it I thought I could add the hydraulics later if need. Glad I didn't waste my money.
I can see there could be some benefit on a larger mower. Mine is 1.5 meters.

 

[milesvdustin]

What flail would this be? It's a 6 foot cut and has trailing wheels behind?

 

[leonz]

I believe that flail mower is a Mott mower with rear wheels instead of arear roller.
It is worth every penny if you can afford to buy it and have mule big enough to lift it