Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Jack Yuan]

Thanks! Woodmax actually recommends that the front of the mower be tilted up 10-15 degrees. Its designed that way. I'll see if I can find where I read that.

It's wrong, flail mower is not designed work in that way, make it horizontal with the ground. They don't understand flail mower as deeply as you thought.

 

[def38]

When i lived next to the trailer park, the lawn genie was only thing that kept their garbage they threw over the fence in check and ate the sycamore tree leaves...Glad I sold that place 20 year ago.

Folks here in Alabama haven't yet been introduced to waste baskets or trash containers. The roadside is used for trash disposal. Trashing Alabama will cease only when LEOs begin issuing citations. I live on a rural road in Blount County and I mow the roadside adjacent to my land. Beer cans, plastic beverage bottles and other trash get mulched when I mow.

 

[AGTtactical]

Folks here in Alabama haven't yet been introduced to waste baskets or trash containers. The roadside is used for trash disposal. Trashing Alabama will cease only when LEOs begin issuing citations. I live on a rural road in Blount County and I mow the roadside adjacent to my land. Beer cans, plastic beverage bottles and other trash get mulched when I mow.

Wow...pretty crappy thing to say about 4 million people, and not even remotely accurate. I lived in NJ for 4 years, pretty much the worst litter I've ever seen.

Given the "Folks here in Alabama haven't yet been introduced to waste baskets or trash containers" comment, maybe the people that know you just are throwing trash on your property on purpose because they don't like you. I can see why.

 

[def38]

You ought to see the roadsides here in rural Alabama...they are a mess. I moved here from "Don't mess with Texas". Texans seem to care about their state's roadways...very little trash on the highways there. It has nothing to do with whether people like me or not...is has to do with the personal values and common sense.

The flail mower takes pretty good care of the roadside trash in and around my land.

 

[bruceha2000]

Stupid question I'm sure and maybe answered somewhere I've not found.

My tractor has rear remotes for the backhoe which has its own controls. How do you control the side shift on a flail? The hoses connect to the rear ports on the tractor but that doesn't give you any control. Does someone make a "control box" of some sort that you can connect to the rear ports and connect the flail hoses to that? I know some people get long hoses and "steal" the bucket dump from the loader control. Wondering if there isn't maybe a cleaner solution, small box with a single lever control or something.

Thanks

 

[aczlan]

What you're looking for would be called an Open Center valve.
Your tractor probably needs one that is rated for around 8 gallons per minute, something along the lines of this: 1 Spool 8 GPM Prince MB11B5C1 DA Valve | Directional Control Valves | Hydraulic Valves | Hydraulics | www.surpluscenter.com
Depending on if you have two or three lines that would connect your backhoe, you may also need a power beyond kit for that valve.
The way the hydraulics on your tractor work, the hydraulic pump is always pumping fluid through the system, the valve diverts the flow from being pumped through the open loop to going into your cylinder to extend it or retract it depending on which way you move the valves.
When it does that, the pressure will rise from the 100 to 500 PSI that it is at when you're not doing anything to whatever your system relief pressure is or whatever pressure is needed to move the cylinder whichever is lower.

Aaron Z

 

[RoyJackson]

What do you guys do to store your mowers (mine is a Caroni) over the winter?
I'd love to store it inside....don't think I'll have the room for it

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks Aaron.

There are 3 hoses. The manual says that the female hose connecter must be put into the male connector (lower in the picture) when the BH is removed to "keep the tractor from going over the main pressure relief". The female is on a hose that comes out past the fixed connectors on the back of the tractor and goes down under the BH footwell

Of course there is then the question of where to put the spool valve. Starting to wonder if it isn't easier to just steal the loader dump function. 2 hoses about 5' -6' long each.

 

[def38]

What do you guys do to store your mowers (mine is a Caroni) over the winter?
I'd love to store it inside....don't think I'll have the room for it

Roy,

Given your climate, clean away any mowing debris, pressure wash the mower and allow to dry thoroughly, spray paint any areas that might rust, set the mower well off the ground on cinder blocks, cover with a tarp (Use the grommets and some bungee cords) after greasing everything well. Put the PTO shaft in the basement after a good greasing. Also, don't forget to grease the tractor and mower PTO shaft stub. I would also relax the mower belts, maybe even remove them and bring them indoors.

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy,

Given your climate, clean away any mowing debris, pressure wash the mower and allow to dry thoroughly, spray paint any areas that might rust, set the mower well off the ground on cinder blocks, cover with a tarp (Use the grommets and some bungee cords) after greasing everything well. Put the PTO shaft in the basement after a good greasing. Also, don't forget to grease the tractor and mower PTO shaft stub. I would also relax the mower belts, maybe even remove them and bring them indoors.

Thanks for the response!
I'd already pressure washed and greased the unit and the PTO driveshaft is in the garage. I'll tarp it this weekend, when it dries up a bit. Oh, and the mower is setting on a pressure treated pallet...I guess that'll work.