Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Hoochy]

Cataclysm that is one heck of a deal on your flail mower:thumbsup: I spoke with Alamo recently and downloaded a free parts catalog from their website. They do not sell parts retail, you will have to go thru a dealer and you can find the nearest to you on the website as well.

Here is the link

Alamo Industrial: Products - Flail Mowers > Super Heavy Duty Flail

 

[Jack Yuan]

Aloha Andre

Have to pretty much agree with the previous posters. I found the hydraulic toplink most useful early on when mowing areas that likely had never been mowed before. With my new flail I don't anticipate needing as much unless I start mowing virgin areas again. I did get a couple hours in today and the fixed link in the slot did well. I did note that the new mower hangs differently on my tractor and noticed the balance was different on the slopes. Probably good in that I will pay attention, adjust my operation rather than be complacent. Given my terrain, I'm feeling that the 78inch is likely the max I can use, still possible one skid or the other might be a bit lower and make a cut if I'm not careful. I could avoid some of that with the hydraulic toplink, easy to adjust in those certain spots rather than lifting with the 3point. I did find the hydraulic offset interesting to use. Quite helpful in some area, like getting closer under tree branches, but a bit challenging at full offset along my fence line due to the variations in the fence and the various plantings. I have a few areas where the thought of a tilt cylinder are enticing, but not enough to overcome my budget. I am looking at the possibility of a 2nd function diverter. I have the double remotes on my CK30 but not my DX35. I don't envision mounting this flail on the Kioti, but keep it on the DX.

View attachment 457630View attachment 457631

Hi David,

I m glad that your are choosing a Chinese flail mower, I m proud for this since I m from China.
Here is my suggestion, the EFGC and EFGCH, these two flail mower, they are using same rotor shaft, it use Chinese seamless steel tube, model Q235A, its outer diamater is 108mm and thickness is 8mm. According to our experience over years, we recommend 1750mm at most which mean EFGC175 and EFGCH175, the longer the mower is, the higher potential risk will be that rotor shaft will meet problem after years. So if your flail mower need to replace new rotor shaft some years later, you can call my friend in California for help.

By the way, could you take some photos about the hammer on your EFGCH mower? Because we all used casting hammer in the past, now the trend here is using forging hammer, so I would like to see what hammer this factory is using now. Thank you in advance.

 

[Cataclysm]

Cataclysm that is one heck of a deal on your flail mower:thumbsup: I spoke with Alamo recently and downloaded a free parts catalog from their website. They do not sell parts retail, you will have to go thru a dealer and you can find the nearest to you on the website as well.

Here is the link

Alamo Industrial: Products - Flail Mowers > Super Heavy Duty Flail

Thanks!! You guys are awesome!!

I got a chance to start on the Alamower. Ya, we gave it a name. So far so good. Everything on the drive side looked great. Only a slight amount of play in the idler bearing. The belt actually looks pretty good but I am going to get a new Kevlar belt as suggested.

I am almost done welding up the fatigued side plate. From what I can tell the non drive side took a good hit on the corner. That slightly bent the lower part inward bowing the side plate. That let the machine vibration start working the plate around the rear roller bearing retainer. Its got a fair amount cracks running around the side plate. Here's a shot of the cracks.



And the weld up.



And an added stiffener.



Tomorrow I'll weld up the inside of the cracks and see if any of the local farm supply company's have a drive shaft. Looks like it needs to be about 42" long.

 

[Fallon]

Just scored an 8' flail off CL for $250 cash. From this thread it looks like an Alamo.

The good: All the bearings turn freely with no slack. 'Y' knives look great. All the seals look good with no leaks. Gear box seems tight.

The bad. Needs a drive shaft and needs the metal sides that hold the back roller reworked. And from reading on here a fresh belt.

Current plan is to rework it enough to make sure it a good unit then a functional rebuild and paint to match my up coming LS 4155HC.

Any guesses if the 55hp LS will run it?

In my area no one hardly even knows what a flail mower is. This is the first one Ive ever seen in person

Oh and thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. I learned a lot and it has inspired me to give this flail a try.

My 32hp (25? PTO) runs my 7' fine on Colorado pasture. You should be fine.

My 917 has the pivots at the bottom lift links rather than the top. But it does have the facilities for articulation there. I still like leaving my toplink in float as it gives me a lot more articulation that does get used a bit.

I keep seeing others talk about adjustable roller or skid height. The brackets for the roller on my 917 are 1 solid cast piece & non adjustable. Easy enough to set the height with the 3pt though. You'd have to get the toplink length dialed in pretty good to get proper articulation with a standard toplink. I love the lazy factor on my TnT setup.

I had to get a new PTO shaft for my $100 find as well. Figured out what class of shaft I needed & ordered it off Amazon as the local TSC didn't have what I needed. It has a sheer bolt which is useless (belts do the same function). Best $500 (or so, about $400 in PTO shaft, knives, belts etc) I've spent since the Tractor & TnT. The old beatup patched up ugly flail is better than my well functioning rotary cutter I got brand new. Not knocking my LandPride rotary, just love my flails functionality a lot more.

 

[xtn]

I'm surprised your mower doesn't have a slot. Ideally the topping lift should be to a slot. That allows the mower to adjust automatically to slight variations in terrain and keeps the rear roller on the ground where it should be. The topping lift is mostly irrelevant for flail mowing as you'd use the 3PT arms to lift over an obstruction or for travel. Chain would work but you'd need to get the length right so you could lift for transport and to clear obstructions.

I have found my preference pulling my Caroni to have the top link fixed without using the slot...adjusted just far enough back to lift the front of the mower's side skids about an inch off the ground as measured during setup on a flat, level driveway...keeping the weight mostly on the rear roller. I find that this reduces the rutting caused by the side skids, and more importantly the side drag on my 3-point arms when turning. I still lift the mower for very sharp turns, but this way I don't have to lift it just for larger arcs.

Although this configuration doesn't allow the mower to "rock" back and forth at all, it still rides up and down over terrain just fine, owing to the fact that my 3-point arms are free to go up and down even though their geometry with the mower is fixed. Okay, sure, it isn't going to track to a 1/4" accuracy over small undulations, but it's dang close enough that I can't tell any practical difference in the result.

And sure, if I actually catch it on something a lot closer to vertical, like a tree stump or something, it's going to be a problem. But I doubt that a couple inches of slack in the top link connection is going to help with that scenario.

Just my opinion, formed after trying out a few different setup configurations.

 

[Cataclysm]

I made it out to the shop early today and got the inner welding finished and the flail put back together. I loaded up the MF tractor/flail and headed to TSC where I got the new drive shaft.

Just as we were headed back I got a call that my new LS XR4155HC was ready for pickup! So we dropped off the MF and flail and went and picked up the LS. We got the LS home and quickly switched the flail over and fitted the drive shaft. Here's a couple of action shots with the new LS and somewhat rebuilt Alamo flail.





The 4155 easily handles the 1000 plus pound flail on the back lift. I cut some rough pasture with small brush as well and the LS had plenty of power to keep the big Alamo spinning fast. Of note is the fact that the blades look pretty good but the hole where the clevis goes is worn/elongated to the point the knives are slightly hitting the deck. I was really hoping the flail would do a better cut on the small 1" brush. Right now it leaves tire killing stakes just like a rotary cutter.

I think that a new set of heavy hammers along with a new Kevlar belt is in order. I would like this to be a heavy grass/weeds/1" brush mulching pasture reclaiming monster.

Overall though the flail is a keeper. That 7'5" cut really shines!

 

[Cataclysm]

New set of heavy forged blades and belt on the way from flailmaster.com!

 

[leonz]

New set of heavy forged blades and belt on the way from flailmaster.com!

Hello Cataclysm,

I am glad to see your new to you flail mower is in good hands.

Did You order knife hangers to have spares?? I hope...

About your problematic brush monsters in your pasture;
you can back over the clumps while mowing and drive forward
and make quick work of that brush clump monster. Island tractor
has some very nice before and after pictures when dealing with
brush monster clumps.

 

[Cataclysm]

Ha ha! Thanks! No, I didnt think to get some hangers. Ill get some headed this way.

It does help to back over them a couple of times. Im looking forward to trying the heavy blades.

From flail mowing this morning I did discover a fast new way to roll barbed wire!

 

[Hoochy]

Cataclysm, all sounds great. I am in the same situation where nobody around here was that familiar with flail mowers but once they saw mine in action, they were astonished. They really do a great job.

A note on your belt, I am not familiar with the belt that flailmaster sells. That being said, I bought a non OEM belt from fleabay, and although it works, it is a bit shorter than the OEM belt and it makes it impossible to attach the belt guard. I kept that belt for spare/emergency but I also purchased an OEM belt.
I was going to tell you about my experience but I got tied up with life and I hope the one you have ordered works for you. I did write a post on this thread about it a few pages back.
Enjoy your new mower....I am on the lookout for a bigger one 88 or 96. So far, fleabay has a couple but price and shipping puts them out of my budget range.
Hoochy