Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[nova3930]

Someone close by just put up a Titan 65" ditch bank flail for around half off new. Are they just complete Chinese junk or will they get the job done ok?

 

[leonz]

Buy a Maschio or Del Morino unit for your needs.

 

[nova3930]

Buy a Maschio or Del Morino unit for your needs.

Trying to find a dealer now. They don't make it easy....

 

[DieselBound]

Someone close by just put up a Titan 65" ditch bank flail for around half off new. Are they just complete Chinese junk or will they get the job done ok?

Even the BEST stuff can be broken depending on use.

I've got a Nova Tractor flail, from the place that makes, if you listen to so many around here, "Chinese junk." I've put it through one extremely hard full year of use (mowing grass that was upwards of 6' tall, something that you're not supposed to be doing) and it has flat out just worked. Yeah, some cheesy bits here and there, but that's the trade-off when talking thousands of dollars of difference: a couple of access door locks ran away on me- the door is heavy and it stays down, so no big deal; and that's kind of the things I'm talking about.

ANYTHING can fail prematurely (before one expects, whether an unrealistic expectation or one based on "warranty"). As prospectuses note: past performance does not guarantee future performance. Today (and tomorrow) are going to be radically different than prior days, and perhaps far more than most folks here could imagine.

Longer you wait the greater the chance that something will ONLY be less affordable: reduced manufacturing (and increased costs- ask those Italians who build those "nice" units how much they're paying for energy these days [I'll bite my tongue about how stupid Europe has been]) means higher per-unit costs, costs that can only be pushed on to the consumer; and then there's the purchasing power of your currency (if you're dealing in USD you're holding up a bit, but sooner or later the inflationary time bomb is really going to fire off).

If one is to get something then NOW is the best time. There might not be any possibility in the future. The guiding principle ought to be to look to buy stuff that you NEED over that which you WANT: driving decisions based on NEEDS tends to soften most bumps, whereas decisions based on WANTS can be more readily seen as questionable when encountering any bumps.

One day I figure I'll end up going with goats...

 

[leonz]

Trying to find a dealer now. They don't make it easy....

6 Maschio dealers in Alabama,

Clanton Tractor and Equipment

Don Allison Equipment

First Choice Farm and Lawn

H+R Agripower

I75 Truck Sales

Implement sales LLC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One South East Region Del Morino dealer/territory manager
in Pensacola Florida

Coastal Machinery
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With either brand you will have a high quality implement to put on your mule.

 

[nova3930]

6 Maschio dealers in Alabama,

Clanton Tractor and Equipment

Don Allison Equipment

First Choice Farm and Lawn

H+R Agripower

I75 Truck Sales

Implement sales LLC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One South East Region Del Morino dealer/territory manager
in Pensacola Florida

Coastal Machinery
------------------------------------------------------------------------


With either brand you will have a high quality implement to put on your mule.

Yep finally found the maschio dealer locator.

Wondering just how you found that del morino distributor though.

Place I bought my tiller from is still a del morino dealer. Been well pleased with my tiller so probably see what they can do for me.

 

[thewalnutguy]

I just bought 5 acres and will build a new house, probably this fall. I plan to have about an acre around the house as a lawn area and the balance will be cut only two to three times during the growing season. I had intended to use a rotary cutter to cut the 4 acres, but the more I hear about flail cutters the more interested I get. I have used rotary cutters for years, but have never used a flail mower. Does that sound like a good option for cutting the four acres? I would appreciate people who have experience with flail mowers to chime in and give me the good, the bad and the ugly.

I've got a Mott (now owned by Alamo) 88" wide flail mower that I use for mowing 7 acres of rows of black walnuts three times a summer. The flails are double-sided. In 37 years I've purchased one new set of flails. I've turned them over, never tried sharpening them since unless that was done with a calibrated holding jig balance might be an issue. I'm using the mower with a Kubota L3600 which handles the mower just fine. Even when clearing areas of 3' or higher grass. When Mowing the rows of walnuts I use a kick-wheel rotary on the end of the mower, power coming from tractor's hydraulics. The kick-wheel runs in the row of trees and rolls around the trunk when it encounters a tree. I do this to help control wild grape.

 

[dieselscout80]

I've got a Mott (now owned by Alamo) 88" wide flail mower that I use for mowing 7 acres of rows of black walnuts three times a summer. The flails are double-sided. In 37 years I've purchased one new set of flails. I've turned them over, never tried sharpening them since unless that was done with a calibrated holding jig balance might be an issue. I'm using the mower with a Kubota L3600 which handles the mower just fine. Even when clearing areas of 3' or higher grass. When Mowing the rows of walnuts I use a kick-wheel rotary on the end of the mower, power coming from tractor's hydraulics. The kick-wheel runs in the row of trees and rolls around the trunk when it encounters a tree. I do this to help control wild grape.

What brand is your kick-wheel? It would be great for trimming underneath fences.

 

[thewalnutguy]

What brand is your kick-wheel? It would be great for trimming underneath fences.

made by rears manufacturing, web address for the mower is SIDE CUTTER -- Rear's Manufacturing I've been impressed by Rears' customer service, they actually respond promptly to customer inquiries.
A lower cost option might be Country Home Products DR PRO XLP 3-Point Hitch Trimmer Mower | DR Power Equipment
The DR trimmer mower uses a string line rather than rotary mower blade. The DR uses a rub rail to retract the mower when it encounters an obstruction (tree, fence post) whereas the Rears mower has a wheel with a cushioned rim to roll around the obstruction. For fence line application this wouldn't make any difference, but for trimming around my trees I didn't want the rubbing action against the bark of the tree.

 

[leonz]

I've got a Mott (now owned by Alamo) 88" wide flail mower that I use for mowing 7 acres of rows of black walnuts three times a summer. The flails are double-sided. In 37 years I've purchased one new set of flails. I've turned them over, never tried sharpening them since unless that was done with a calibrated holding jig balance might be an issue. I'm using the mower with a Kubota L3600 which handles the mower just fine. Even when clearing areas of 3' or higher grass. When Mowing the rows of walnuts I use a kick-wheel rotary on the end of the mower, power coming from tractor's hydraulics. The kick-wheel runs in the row of trees and rolls around the trunk when it encounters a tree. I do this to help control wild grape.

Good morning walnutguy,

I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations".

The best way to sharpen your flail mowers side slicer knives is to use a wet well grinder.

Using a low speed wet well grinder prevents damaging the side slicer knives from the heat
and friction of a high speed carborundum grinding wheel.

A wet well grinder uses a low speed grinding wheel that is bathed in a water bath that
cools the grinding wheel and prevents overheating the edge of the hand tool or
flail mower knife from overheating and losing its temper from heat treating.

You can purchase a wet well grinder from www.MicroMark.com at a very reasonable price.

It is currently on sale through an internet purchase for $99.95 plus tax and shipping cost to your door.