Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

Fallon · May 10, 2021

DeerPark5 said:
I'm looking at flails too. How large of a unit can a JD2032r handle. QUOTE]Specs seem about the same as my old Kubota L3200. TractorData.com John Deere 2032R tractor information The flail was 2' wider than the tractor. Not sure what a 7' 917 weighed, probably around 1k lbs.

You can go wide as long as your machine can lift it. To account for a lack of power you just go slow. Really easy with a HST. Just push the go pedal until the RPMs drop a a little bit & adjust the pedal to keep it matched to varying conditions. With a gear machine you just have to pick a gear that doesn't bog the engine.

Fallon · May 10, 2021

Feh, I give up, not sure why it wouldn't quote right in my previous post.

milesvdustin · May 13, 2021

I am going to look at that alamo one with the rear wheels on Friday. Does it really need the rear roller if in fact its missing? Also, what are some must-check items before I make an offer on it or go through with the purchase? Just want to make sure there arent any show stoppers.

kenmbz · May 13, 2021

Looking at the Betstco 48" heavy duty flail with hammers.
Any opinions?

Would be doing trail clearing post tree/large brush knockdown and my 8 or so lawn areas. Maybe an acre of grass.
Would like reasonable cut, don't need golf course quality.

Lawn tractor is falling apart, main tractor has a bit less than 20 PTO HP on a 25 HP engine, HST.
Have 5 acres forest and 1 acre open with house.

arto98607 · May 13, 2021

milesvdustin said:
I am going to look at that alamo one with the rear wheels on Friday. Does it really need the rear roller if in fact its missing? Also, what are some must-check items before I make an offer on it or go through with the purchase? Just want to make sure there arent any show stoppers.

The roller keeps the flails from "scalping" the ground in uneven areas, I don't think a flail mower needs it otherwise so the two wheels should be fine on reasonably leveled ground.
The roller also makes mowing in reverse almost useless so it should work little better in reverse direction without it, which is not a big deal.

Hofzer · May 13, 2021

Racenut said:
My tractor is 66 inches wide, but only 28hp at the PTO

FWIW, my tractor is also 28hp at the PTO and, so far, has had no trouble with a 74" Ford 917, with a fixed offset. I agree 100% with Alien's post above.

Kevrobster · May 14, 2021

Does anyone know anything about this model of flail mower? Never seen one by Woods. Are they any good? Any thoughts on what it should be worth? It's a 6' model.

nmz787 · May 14, 2021

new 48" Titan ATV flail mower for $2700, or used 44" Swisher rough cut bush hog for $1200?

I've got slopes, some grass, blackberries, probably some 1-2" woody weeds, maybe old tree limbs and some rocks.

Looking for the ATV towable for now because I've already got the ATV, and am only a week in to owning acreage and haven't found what I want and a good deal to match yet on something larger.

DieselBound · May 14, 2021

Racenut said:
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?

I've got a little less than 20 hrs on my new flail with side-shift (Nova Tractors MXZ220). ZERO chance I could run a flail without that feature: it's why it took me many years to make a decision on getting a flail (I won't go into all the details other than to say that I put a LOT of time into research, something I always do, and the result is that I got EXACTLY what I was after).

I've got trees, lots of trees to work around: sometimes the trees are such that I have to center the flail, back in, then pull ahead and cut; fixed offset would NOT work. I have ditches. And fences... I can run along with the flail shifted hard to the fence and then feather it away as I come to the fence posts. Oh, and I can center the flail and pull it into my work bay (still attached to the tractor!). I use the side-shift CONSTANTLY.

I'm running a flail that's spec'd for 60hp (to 90hp?) on my 55hp Kioti. Does it push my Kioti? Yes! Tractor is 67" wide and the flail's 86" wide (and 1,200 lbs). After operating it it's exactly as I figured. I figured I could overcome the 5hp deficiency by going slower. Reality is, with all my trees and such, I can't go fast anyways! If my ground was more even and there were less trees I'd likely have made a different decision.

WHAT you're cutting matters, a LOT. I'd in no way try to run my Kioti and its flail at my neighbor's, where there's this really nasty, thick grass that's like trying to cut huge clumps of steel wool! I've cut 10'+ grass at my place and that's easier to cut than that neighbor's stuff! I've also got plenty of wood debris, in which case I opted for a flail with hammers instead of knives: I'm amazed that I haven't broken any hammers; something that makes me feel even better about my selection because I believe that the flail will hold up just fine for me. I suspect the cutters are also going to make a difference in power requirements.