Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[IslandTractor]

I am new to this topic and have some questions.

I have 150 acres of pasture that is fairly flat but sometimes rocky.

I would like to be able to mow weeds at a height of about 1 foot so I miss the grass but get the weedhead. This would also keep me off the rocks.

Is a flail mower a good choice for this application?

I am a flail fan boy but for your application I suggest going with a batwing or single rotary cutter. My thinking is that with a rotary cutter you can set the rear wheel to keep the blades a pretty consistent 12 inches off the ground and if the wheel hits a rock it just bounces over or jerks to the side. With a flail you are depending on a rear roller to control cut height and that could be adjusted to keep the knives 8-12 inches off the ground BUT the rear roller itself would be hitting all the rocks and would likely evenetually be damaged (banana'd). Replacing a rear roller on a flail is not cheap. So, IMO a rotary cutter would be best for a really rocky area.

 

[MarkV]

Alex for the amount of land you have and the height you want to mow at you need the biggest rotary mower you can use with the tractor you have. Flail mowers are great for a cleaner cut, where required, and for more safety from thrown objects, where required, but don't really offer any advantage for what you describe. Road crews use rotary mowers until they get to urban areas where flail mowers are safer.

As a side note, I don't think either are going to cut at a foot high without modification.

MarkV

 

[cbfomoco]

After reading all 88 pages now I am hoping that someone can answer a few questions I have about flail mowers. First is there a limit to how tall the grass can be and still be mowed at a reasonable speed( like 3 mph) How tall is to tall? Second in average grass( 2-3 feet) how fast can it be mowed? Also I would assume the shorter the grass the faster it can be mowed? Lastly I know that there are heavy duty and light duty flails but can any of them cut small trees? Perhaps 1-2 inches? If it can do they have to be ran over or backed? Thanks

 

[J_J]

These are heavy duty axe blades, and should be able to chew up 2 in material. You still need to go slow, when trying to mulch trees.

 

[IslandTractor]

After reading all 88 pages now I am hoping that someone can answer a few questions I have about flail mowers.

The limiting factor is the PTO horsepower more than the mower (true for rotary cutter too).

With 2-3 ft grass in an open field I can mow fast enough that I am uncomfortable with the bouncing. Not sure what that is in MPH and it is obviously field dependent. I've never mowed an athletic field or something that is smooth enough to go full blast. Again, this is more dependent on tractor horsepower and your comfort level than the nature of the mower.

Light duty or finishing flails typically have lightweight knives or paradoxically heavy hammer/cupped blades. Those are not designed to cut even 1 inch trees or scrubs. Rough cut flails typically have fewer knives (typically about half the number of the same company's finish flail) but they are pretty much all capable of dealing with one inch trees/brush and can deal with 2 inch material if you back into it. Again, the tractor size and horsepower will have more to do with how you handle small trees than the type of mower.

 

[MarkV]

I think I can shed some light on some of your questions. First you need to understand that all flail mowers are not created equal. With the right hammers/blades flail mowers will cut most anything. Tall grass or small brush, no problem. It is all about what type with what type of hammer or blades you have. Many of the boom mowers you see trimming tree lines on roads sides are flail mowers. They cut 2 to 3" limbs routinely day in and day out. Also, with the right type of set up, many of the athletic fields and community parks you see are cut with flail mowers. All depends on buying the right equipment for the right application.

MarkV

 

[beppington]

IslandTractor or anybody else with Caroni flail experience: My dad just got a TM1900BSC this afternoon from Agri Supply. Several questions for you all:

1) I thought I read somewhere in this huge thread that you all adjust the TM1900's roller bar lower than its initial position, such that you're raising the unit higher than they way it comes from the factory. A quick look (it was dark out), but I couldn't see that it's adjustable. Am I remembering this correctly? Is it adjustable? If so, do you all adjust it like I think I remember reading?

2) I also thought I read somewhere in this thread that you set the TM1900's front a little higher than the rear when mowing, but the pics make it look like you set it pretty much level. Which way do you all do it?

3) Do you all use the slot or the hole at the top for mounting the top link?

4) Do you all tend to use the mower fully offset, or the more centered position? The fully offset position is really out there! And it requires my dad's right-hand lower link to be adjusted up so the mower rides level - Kind of a pain to have to adjust & re-adjust those when switching from this mower to all of his other centered implements.

Once we got it safely attached, & verified the PTO shaft wasn't too long or too short, we started out mowing with it very high in the front to avoid scalping & to sort of test the waters, make sure nothing was gonna fly apart, etc. As my dad mowed around I walked beside watching closely & then would have him stop so I could adjust the front down, down, down until it was mowing very nicely without ever scalping once, & the front is still about 1 inch higher than the rear. Is this what you all do? Or should we adjust the rear roller down & then basically level the unit?

We used the top link's slot for all this, not the hole. And, the unit tended to ride "laid back", as in laying as far back as it could in the slot. Should we use the hole instead?

If it hasn't been said here already, the Tifton, GA Agri Supply store gave us what they called a new sheet instructing Agri Supply and/ or owners to only fill the oil level to the lower dipstick reading. I can scan & post that page if anyone wants confirmation.

Thanks for whatever you can offer!!

 

[Eagleview]

, down until it was mowing very nicely without ever scalping once, & the front is still about 1 inch higher than the rear. Is this what you all do? Or should we adjust the rear roller down & then basically level the unit?

We used the top link's slot for all this, not the hole. And, the unit tended to ride "laid back", as in laying as far back as it could in the slot. Should we use the hole instead?

!!

Use the slot , adjust the top link until the pin is about halfway along the slot . The lower tractor arms carry the front of the mower at the height you have selected (which is fine) , the mower is then able to ride over rises and into hollows with the pin able to move fore and aft in the slot . This is what it is designed to do , follow the contours of the ground .

 

[IslandTractor]

1) The roller is adjustable. Look carefully at the bolts holding the roller bracket in place an you'll see that there are about five or six holes you can choose from. You can only see this from inside so you'll need to raise the mower high and get underneath (block it for safety). One of the bolts is the same as one of the skid bolts if I recall correctly, that is the one that you need to loosen. The other one dedicated to the roller needs to be removed and repositioned. Bottom line is that the bracket is adjustable and just requires loosening or removing a couple of bolts on each side. I now have mine in the second position from dead bottom. See photo below of bracket in original bottom position and you'll see the other bracket holes. Second photo is my current setting. Of note, you cannot even get at the zerk to grease the rear roller if it is in the dead bottom position.

2) Honestly I've never checked to see whether my mower is slightly up or down tilted. Doesn't matter as much as the rear roller position for determining cut height.

3) What IronHorse said.

4) I use my mower in the more centered position. That still gives me about a foot or more of cut offset to the right beyond my rear tire. I've never repositioned the brackets to allow full right offset but that might be useful when mowing along a trail or something like that. I find the center position makes mowing along fences pretty easy.

5) Glad to hear that AgriSupply has figured out the oil level thing finally. I've been keeping my oil at the bottom of the dipstick AND using the extender piece.

 

[beppington]

Thank you sirs ... I do appreciate it.