Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Eezeemow FX155 - NZ made - manual side shift - just over 5ft - weights around 460lbs - recommended HP @ 20 = around $8000

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And I thought the prices up here for that brand were stupid

 

[AndyCee]

That is AUD$8000 ... so approx USD$5900 ... but still lotsa $$

Hayes are probably the best Chinese flail here in Oz .. the heavy duty - 5ft wide - no side shift is about AUD$3000. There are a couple of guys in this thread that use them.

We can get "other brands" of Chinese mowers for less than AUD$2000 .... but as a no name brand, you kinda wonder how long it will last ..

as an example, you see 2nd hand for sale ads like this - no name Chinese Flail mower - 2 hours use with a collapsed bearing ... and they still want $1800!

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

as an example, you see 2nd hand for sale ads like this - no name Chinese Flail mower - 2 hours use with a collapsed bearing ... and they still want $1800!

That's insane.

 

[DieselBound]

Hi Guys,

I had hoped to get to the end of this thread before I posted my request for opinions ... currently on page 535, but have found myself in the situation where I need to make a decision ... so ...

I have a CK30 - gear tractor with 23PTO HP ... 3PL lift at 1764 lbs

As I am in Australia, we do have a somewhat limited range of available flails ... and due to current conditions, an even more limited range of what's actually in stock (or in stock soon). Looking at the manufacturers recommended specifications, most (if not all) recommend a higher PTO power than what I currently have, but using the mantra on this forum - "if you can lift it, you can turn it", and "5hp per foot" ... I am looking a 5ft wide mowers.

I have 30 acres of flat to sloping ground. It's an equestrian facility, so we have horses to do alot of the pasture mowing. As horses are fussy eaters, they tend to eat parts of the paddocks (2.5 - 5 acres) down to 1" ... and leave parts to grow to 8". I intend to use the flail to mow down to about 2" ... mulch and spread the manure piles, and then leave the pastures to recover to about 4" before putting horses back. The property is fairly good, with only small areas of some woody weeds, and a couple of blackberry patches I am trying to control.

So .... my choices seem to be between


Hayes - Chinese made - just over 5ft - manual side shift - weights about 1124 lbs - recommended HP @ 35 = around $5000

Muthing Eco-Top 160- German made - manual side shift - just over 5ft - weights around 770lbs - recommended HP @ 30 = around $8500

Del Morino Flipper 152 - Italian made - manual side shift - 62" - weights around 635 lbs - recommended HP @ 30 = around $6000

Berti Park/P 145 - Italian made - manual side shift - just under 5ft - weights around 825 lbs - recommended HP @ 25 = around $9200

all have hammer blades - seems difficult or special ordered (read: 4 month wait) to get Y blades.

Very interested in everyones feedback and opinions on the best options, and if I will "be able to turn" these effectively

Thanks

Andrew

There's initial "clearing" and then there's maintenance. No single piece of equipment can excel at both of these tasks.

I've run 5' rotaries behind my 30hp (23hp @ PTO) Kubota for years. Crept through some really nasty stuff initially: 10' tall grass; blackberries; tree/logging debris; car parts!; and MORE blackberries! Once things got more or less cleaned up it was a lot easier. As the areas under grass increased I started looking at another solution; having gotten a larger tractor I was able to look at larger attachments.

Although I have some "lawn" around the home area my primary mowing is in rough fields (with lots of trees).

I went with a 7' Nova Tractor flail (yes, Chinese). It spec'd out very close the to top of the line ones. Parts quality was the only question. Had an initial issue with loose bolts (probably a good idea to check anything one gets, even high-end stuff [had an Italian-made tiller get hammered in shipping- same thing, headaches up-front!]) but after that it's worked really well through its first season- I've got no regrets.

I will continue to use rotary cutters for initial clearing, though I do use the flail to nibble at the edges.

Conditions change. Optimal solution for initial work might not be optimal later on. Equipment which is less than optimal initially might be optimal later on. I'd lean toward the later and accept going just a bit slower up-front. For easy maintenance a 6' flail would likely be fine: I see minimal gains of opting for a flail that's the same size as a rotary (a rotary with good blades can do a pretty decent job of cutting grass); flails are more complex and require more maintenance- the acceptable trade-off, to/for me is being able to cut a wider swath (as well as the ability to side-shift [fence lines and ditches for me; also trees]). There are also finish mowers that might be a viable option (I don't know anything about them).

 

[shaeff]

Took my $300 JD25A out for a spin this past weekend in the wet, soggy field. Just tuned the carb on the old MF35 and needed to load it up to test it.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Took my $300 JD25A out for a spin this past weekend in the wet, soggy field. Just tuned the carb on the old MF35 and needed to load it up to test it.

View attachment 717748

What kind of knives do you run?

 

[shaeff]

What kind of knives do you run?

Duck foot/scoop knives.

Great for non-woody overgrowth.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Duck foot/scoop knives.

Great for non-woody overgrowth.

What's your opinion of the cut quality?

 

[shaeff]

What's your opinion of the cut quality?

Considering that I've never replaced any of the knives aside from what was damaged or missing when I got it, nor have I ever sharpened any of them- I'd say the cut quality is pretty dang good. In dry conditions at the lowest cutting height it'll take my overgrown field (seen in pics above) and make it look like I mow it weekly in just one pass. The cut quality is orders of magnitude better than a brush hog/rotary style cutter. If I hold the back guard up in wet brush it'll blow the clippings out in a smoother fashion than if it's super wet.

The key is to make sure the flail is set up right, don't let it nose dive into the ground. It takes a few minutes of careful adjustment on the threaded top link to get it to sit just right, but once set, it's great.

If I run over a small tree, something woody about 2-3" diameter at the base, it'll just shred all the small branches and leaves off of it and leave the main trunk mostly untouched. A hammer flail would likely mulch that up. But as I said, I paid $300 for this thing, it came with a coffee can of extra knives (which I had to replace six or seven of...) and top off the gear oil. I've been running it for about six years.

The plus side of the duckfoot/scoop knives is that they leave a flat cut like a lawnmower blade does. It looks more "finished" even though there are only 36 knife stations. If my zero turn dies I can use the flail to knock my yard down while I wait on parts, it still looks really good after I'm done.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

If my zero turn dies I can use the flail to knock my yard down while I wait on parts, it still looks really good after I'm done.

Thanks for your detailed reply. That is what I have always been curious about, is the cut quality as good as a top notch zero turn like a Grasshopper, Exmark or Scag?