Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Say what you want about belts but they sure make heavy bush hogging much easier on the tractor. The one thing about my Maschio and I have no idea if it's standard with all flails but they have "freewheel". Very nice feature for tractors with PTO brakes. Can't get that on a standard bush hog.

My Alamo doesn't have an overrunning clutch and neither did my Ford 917, but my tractor does. Alamo mowers only have 1 belt, and it seems to transmit the power just fine. I've blown the belt a few times when I've run over things I shouldn't be mowing (fire wood chunks). But they're cheap enough that when I need to put a new one on, I order a replacement spare (~$20 each). Plus it's just a C section belt so they're easy to find anywhere. My Ford 917 had a banded B/02 belt. Not as common as the single belts, but still available aftermarket.

If you measure the belt you should be able to find the size with a cross reference chart.

 

[AllWaysBreakinSomething]

If you want a fine cut and don't want hay hanging around for months go with the flail. Safer, quiter, cuts closer. Some cons: heavier, not good for anything woody, needs for horses than brush cutter, pricer... Teeth are about $2 each in bulk. I think my NH 7ft is over 250 teeth (replaced once). If you plan to keep make sure you can get parts (mostly bearings, teeth, slip clutch etc) rear rollers are expensive if you bend dropping it. Common thing I've seen with new owners. Good luck

 

[TMGT]

Used my Betstco AGL165 to cut the range the other day, its only about 1/2 acre but hadn't been cut in way too long, was close to 2ft in most areas and thick. Usually I cut it regularly with my zturn but it was well past that point.

Did a fantastic job even with less then fresh hammers on it, I do have a rubber flap I added to the rear which helped with mulching but in the thick stuff bogged it down a little too much. I need to make it so I can easily open the back up when needed. The grass was thick and wet in a lot of areas making for some slow going!

 

[cstamm81]

Used my Betstco AGL165 to cut the range the other day, its only about 1/2 acre but hadn't been cut in way too long, was close to 2ft in most areas and thick. Usually I cut it regularly with my zturn but it was well past that point.

Did a fantastic job even with less then fresh hammers on it, I do have a rubber flap I added to the rear which helped with mulching but in the thick stuff bogged it down a little too much. I need to make it so I can easily open the back up when needed. The grass was thick and wet in a lot of areas making for some slow going!View attachment 711228View attachment 711229

Can you please show us pics of the rubber flap you added?

 

[TMGT]

Its a peice of conveyor belting, about 1/4" thick. I had to make something real quick, one day I'll redo it so it can be adjusted out for more discharge out the rear.

 

[Beeenvenue]

You may need to get a matched set. Mine has 4 matched belts.

Look for “bx” belts sometimes called a power band (2/3/4 v belts in one almost like an htd/timing belt). Prevents worrying about matching a set.

 

[Beeenvenue]

Say what you want about belts but they sure make heavy bush hogging much easier on the tractor. The one thing about my Maschio and I have no idea if it's standard with all flails but they have "freewheel". Very nice feature for tractors with PTO brakes. Can't get that on a standard bush hog.

I bought an overriding clutch pto attachment. Takes care of any pto issues plus I needed a 6” extension. $85 from Amazon. Works great with my flail - you can hear it spinning down for almost a minute from full speed after I kill the engine.

 

[workinonit]

Yea, it takes mine quite a while to spin down but the PTO stops immediately.

 

[toolslinger]

Mornin' folks...

I'm off to check out/purchase a Mott tomorrow... It's a 6' finish cut machine.
I'm new to flails, and I generally blame all of you for this, but I kinda had it in my head for years anyway... Should be a nice upgrade from our 4' finish mower... (who buys a 4' mower for behind an 8N? I wonder about my family's sanity at times)

Photos look ok. Doesn't look like it has had a particularly hard life. Paint looks like it should with some wear, and rust patches, and not some rattle can special. It has the long knives that pin on, no shackles. What I can see in the photos don't look too bad.

Other than that, is there anything specific to a Mott that I need to be checking? I don't see a model tag in the photos, but they're overall shots anyway. Where did Mott put their tags? Can't see the back side in the photos unfortunately, so no guess on the roller condition.

This will be running off the back of a MF135. So, it'll cover the tread width barely. Had hoped to find a 7', or hydraulic offset machine, but after a number of months of searching in my price range, this one popped up at a price that doesn't seem right... So I'll go see what there is to see...

 

[Lnk]

Mornin' folks...

I'm off to check out/purchase a Mott tomorrow... It's a 6' finish cut machine.
I'm new to flails, and I generally blame all of you for this, but I kinda had it in my head for years anyway... Should be a nice upgrade from our 4' finish mower... (who buys a 4' mower for behind an 8N? I wonder about my family's sanity at times)

Photos look ok. Doesn't look like it has had a particularly hard life. Paint looks like it should with some wear, and rust patches, and not some rattle can special. It has the long knives that pin on, no shackles. What I can see in the photos don't look too bad.

Other than that, is there anything specific to a Mott that I need to be checking? I don't see a model tag in the photos, but they're overall shots anyway. Where did Mott put their tags? Can't see the back side in the photos unfortunately, so no guess on the roller condition.

This will be running off the back of a MF135. So, it'll cover the tread width barely. Had hoped to find a 7', or hydraulic offset machine, but after a number of months of searching in my price range, this one popped up at a price that doesn't seem right... So I'll go see what there is to see...

As long as you want it to cut grass that isn't two feet tall, sounds like a winner. Does it have the scoops or the Y blades? As long as you aren't looking for a golf course cut, you will be happy. So between golf course and hay field should be the sweet spot for a finish flail. Let us know.