Flail Mower Let's talk flail mowers

[leonz]

The OEM side slicers come from Europe and are heat treated.

 

[10backacres]

The OEM side slicers come from Europe and are heat treated.

Thanks again for your help

 

[DieselBound]

After four years of operation I finally had to replace a couple of hammer flails on my Novatractor MXZ220 after it gobbled up a t-post. One flail had two "fingers" broken off and the other only one. Didn't feel any vibrations and finished up mowing w/o incident and discovered the broken flails during inspection while cleaning things.

 

[Torvy]

My BCRM has been mostly good. Problems have been more operator error than anything else.

I have had hydraulic hose problems with the side shift. It gets pinched.

 

[10backacres]

I just bought 5 acres and will build a new house, probably this fall. I plan to have about an acre around the house as a lawn area and the balance will be cut only two to three times during the growing season. I had intended to use a rotary cutter to cut the 4 acres, but the more I hear about flail cutters the more interested I get. I have used rotary cutters for years, but have never used a flail mower. Does that sound like a good option for cutting the four acres? I would appreciate people who have experience with flail mowers to chime in and give me the good, the bad and the ugly.

I really like my Seppi sml 200 orchard y flail. does an excellent job on grass, brush smaller than 1.5 inches dia. with 36 D's with 2 flails each that's 78 tempered flail knives making a fine mulch. I prefer to use a lawn mower on my lawn since in the PNW if the ground is wet the tarctor deforms the turf due to the weight. the almost 7 ft makes mowing pasture really fast compared to the same job with a 4 ft rotary. Bite the bullet once and you'll be happy. A very high quality attachment

 

[Doug Vee]

I really like my Seppi sml 200 orchard y flail. does an excellent job on grass, brush smaller than 1.5 inches dia. with 36 D's with 2 flails each that's 78 tempered flail knives making a fine mulch. I prefer to use a lawn mower on my lawn since in the PNW if the ground is wet the tarctor deforms the turf due to the weight. the almost 7 ft makes mowing pasture really fast compared to the same job with a 4 ft rotary. Bite the bullet once and you'll be happy. A very high quality attachment

I also use the Seppi sml 200. I bought it early last year as a fixer upper. I was able to use it at the end of the season. I very much like how it cuts. I have hammers, or duck feet or whatever they are called. They did a fine job on the hay field late summer mulching. Then I took it into the small trail system in the woods, and it worked well there also.

I would recommend a flail.

Doug

 

[TractorNoob85]

I have a Betstco flail mower. Looking to get a set of grass knives for it. Betstco wants nearly $500 for a set, 64 knives. Anybody know of a cheaper source? I don't know the full dimensions, but they are 5/8" hole.

Do I dare try to make my own? Typically, what width and thickness are most knives? 1.5" x 1/4"?

 

[JWR]

I have a Betstco flail mower. Looking to get a set of grass knives for it. Betstco wants nearly $500 for a set, 64 knives. Anybody know of a cheaper source? I don't know the full dimensions, but they are 5/8" hole.

Do I dare try to make my own? Typically, what width and thickness are most knives? 1.5" x 1/4"?

I would not unless you have extensive metal fabrication experience. So many issues of balance, sharpening, temper, labor etc. I've never tried replacing all of my "Y" style medium duty blades but I have found that the dealer who supplies parts for the state highway / road maint people has the biggest stock. Check their prices. I usually keep a dozen or so spares. Your time may be too valuable to make them if they are fairly cheap.

 

[OldTrix]

If you search back in this thread, there is a company that provides replacement blades at a reasonable price. They went out of business around the pandemic, then managed to revive. Of course, I can remember all these details but can't remember the name of the place.

 

[leonz]

If you search back in this thread, there is a company that provides replacement blades at a reasonable price. They went out of business around the pandemic, then managed to revive. Of course, I can remember all these details but can't remember the name of the place.

Flail Master.