Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Hunhunt]

For those who have purchased a Caroni flail mower from Agri Supply were there any problems with getting the mower shipped to you? I am always a little concerned about that since I live in a rural area with limited motor freight delivery. When previously purchasing some woodworking machines, I was told that the items would be motor freighted to my place but they actually just made it to a larger town and I had to drive 100 miles to pick them up. Either way works for me but there are some logistics involved. I'm wondering about this because when I asked the salesman at Agri Supply to price shipping both ways (rural delivery to my place or to the nearest town) it was cheaper to deliver to my door?? Also, does anyone have a specific salesman at Agri Supply that they prefer to deal with or do you just deal with whoever happens to answer your call?

 

[def38]

I recently took delivery of a Titan flail mower (made in China). I have used it for about 8 hours cutting my 5 acres which had been cleared and since overgrown with weeds and brush, some 6 feet tall. My M-F 231 handles the Titan flail well (Unless you count the fence wire I ran over hidden in the weeds). The Titan is tough, well made and about half the price of Italian flails. And Titan ships free and they have good service (My mower was missing some parts and Titan offered to ship me a new one and take the original back all, no charge). I raised the cutting height to the max. Also, I have the hammer flails. Don't consider anything else for rough mowing. However, I did a few passes with it on my Bermuda lawn and the cut quality is the same as my 42 inch riding mower. Great buy. you'll need a cat 1 and about 30 PTO HP.

 

[IslandTractor]

Just regular gear oil...the manual states to change it after 40 hours, so I'd wait until after 40 hours...just my opinion on that.
As far as grease...there are 4 fittings, IIRC. Two for the rotor, two for the roller. Thinking about it, I believe there's one for the upper drive pulley too. As far as type of grease...same stuff you use for your tractor (and loader, if you have one)...standard EP grease.
Island tractor...another Caroni owner, gives his mower a couple shots of grease before each mowing...probably overkill, but I reckon I'll do that same.

Yep. Besides the five zerks you mentioned, there is a "once a year" zerk under the belt cover on the tensioner pivot too. Not a high risk or high speed fitting so not worth taking the cover off except for annual belt check.

I've never bothered changing the gearbox oil. As most Caroni owners notice, the vent cap dribbles out oil during routine cutting so I figure I replace the oil slowly through just keeping the level up. (And if you get sick of the dribbling you can add a metric spacer which CUTs the dribbling down but doesn't stop it. I think I've posted the part number from British Metrics in Maryland in this thread a few times)

 

[Mark P.]

Hunhunt
I live in NC so I am lucky, I can pickup my stuff from agri supply... I always try and talk to one of these 3 guys , they are very knowledgeable and very helpful - Vernon, Gene or Andy..I think I remember one of them telling me they had all been around 25 years there....

Mark

 

[houser52]

Just regular gear oil...the manual states to change it after 40 hours, so I'd wait until after 40 hours...just my opinion on that.
As far as grease...there are 4 fittings, IIRC. Two for the rotor, two for the roller. Thinking about it, I believe there's one for the upper drive pulley too. As far as type of grease...same stuff you use for your tractor (and loader, if you have one)...standard EP grease.
Island tractor...another Caroni owner, gives his mower a couple shots of grease before each mowing...probably overkill, but I reckon I'll do that same.

That's good. I already have both oil and grease.

Was your flail pretty much ready to go other than cutting the PTO shaft and adding gear oil? I can handle any assembly that is required, just trying to get an idea of what to expect when it arrives by getting anything that I don't already have.

I hope to place my order today sometime since the freight quote was only good through today. Im kinda getting excited about a new mower since I haven't bought one in over 30 years. I won't know how to act. I was the same way when I replaced my 20 year old pickup this year. I was like a kid. Lol

 

[RoyJackson]

That's good. I already have both oil and grease.

Was your flail pretty much ready to go other than cutting the PTO shaft and adding gear oil? I can handle any assembly that is required, just trying to get an idea of what to expect when it arrives by getting anything that I don't already have.

The 3PH tower (top link) has to be bolted on to the bracket welded to the mower body. Easier with two people, but I did it myself.
One caution...make sure you use the included lock washers (better yet (IMHO)...use the spring type split lock washers) on ALL bolts, including those used to adjust the height and skid shoes. These mowers do vibrate and the nuts are free-running...easy to vibrate loose.
When adjust the height, you find one bolt (per side) is used by both the roller adjustment and skid shoe bracket. A bit of a pain when holding the roller in place and inserting the bolts.

 

[houser52]

Well, it's a done deal.

I called Agri Supply and placed my order for a TM1900. Ordering was easy and quick since I had already entered my info on their website. The guy I spoke with said it will ship next week.

 

[lostcreekranch]

The 3PH tower (top link) has to be bolted on to the bracket welded to the mower body. Easier with two people, but I did it myself.
One caution...make sure you use the included lock washers (better yet (IMHO)...use the spring type split lock washers) on ALL bolts, including those used to adjust the height and skid shoes. These mowers do vibrate and the nuts are free-running...easy to vibrate loose.
When adjust the height, you find one bolt (per side) is used by both the roller adjustment and skid shoe bracket. A bit of a pain when holding the roller in place and inserting the bolts.

Roy, obviously I don't have a flail mower yet but, if you raised mower with 3-point could you support the roller with a hydraulic bottle jack on each end.

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy, obviously I don't have a flail mower yet but, if you raised mower with 3-point could you support the roller with a hydraulic bottle jack on each end.

Yeah...if you want to raise or lower the roller.
I didn't have a bottle jack...used a floor jack to lower the roller just a bit.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Yeah...if you want to raise or lower the roller.
I didn't have a bottle jack...used a floor jack to lower the roller just a bit.

Can you adjust one end of your roller w/o disturbing the other end? For my education only?