Greetings Leon, you’ve hit on a lot of points:
48 acres but divided into fields of 5-10 acres. Will be mowing some areas that haven’t been mowed for 5 years, mostly Canadian Goldenrod, assorted herbaceous weeds, and fescue with some saplings (mostly <2” diameter). Plan to mow these areas every other year after first cut. Hope to transform to prairie plants as resources allow, will then be burned every other year with a mowed perimeter. Plan to mow after pruning small orchard. Biggest use will be to chop cover crops, some tall and dense (rye, millet, sorghum, etc.). Currently use a 6’ rotary which leaves a windrow, making tillage difficult.
Some rocks, but not bad, soil is central Ohio glacial till. Most rocks are baseball or smaller.
Rugrats are at a safe distance.
Not sure about 2” cutting height, never tried.
I can drive slow and recut. Slow tractor work is my meditation.
Dormant season is fine for the non cropped areas. After woodies are chopped, prefer to mow early summer to give the redwings nest time.
Finish…not particularly picky. Mulched in place.
Thought I wanted hammers for the prunings and saplings, now not sure.
Spirals are fine.
Thank you for the help.
Hello and good afternoon NCG,
Thank you for the detailed response.
If you invest in a crop shredder with heavy side slicer knives
your mowing and future crop shredding needs will be well met.
How often do you wish to mow annually?
The bigger issue is the pain in the a$$ SAPLINGS and how heavy
the plot borders are growing in.
Now the question becomes which type of flail shredder/mower for
your current and future needs.
MASCHIO BRAVA L
The optional fixed upper counter blade will help create a smaller Upper counter blade option - Yes
mulch clipping allowing the clipping to dissolve faster into the sod
The standard equipment manual side shift allows you to slide the
mower left or right to mow as needed by removing the retaining
pins and sliding the mower to the left or right and reinstalling
the retaining pins in the corresponding locking holes.
The mower is equipped with hammer knives as standard equipment. Fish tail knive option - Yes
If you invest in the model 180 model you will have 24 hammer mounting stations
in four rows mounting 6 hammers per row or 6 fish tail scoop knives per row.
If you leave the mower set at 2 inches it should mow well and the
upper counter blade will shred the brush finer on the first pass.
DEL MORINO FLIPPER SUPER
The Flipper Super with hammer knives has a recutting bar for all three models.
Model 132 has 20 hammers in 2 rows with 10 mounting stations per row 180 degrees apart
Model 158 has 24 " in 2 rows " " " " " " " " "
Model 186 has 28 " in 2 rows " " " " " " " " "
Model 132 has 40 side slicer knives in two rows of 40 side slicer knives with 10 mounting stations per row 180 degrees apart
Model 158 " 48 " " " " " " " 48 " " 12 " " " " " " "
Model 186 " 56 " " " " " " " 56 " " 14 " " " " " " "
The flail mower rotors with side slicer knives have the greater advantage over the hammer knife mowers as they
(1) have a greater total mowing edge length in cutting edge per foot of width and they can recut the brush as many
times as desired as the side slicer knives create greater lift per revolution which creates a much greater pressure
gradient/vacuum to lift the clippings up and over the flail mower rotor.
(2) The side slicer knives have 2 cutting edges which allows the user to simply unbolt the side slicer knife and flip it
to expose the new sharp edge allowing the user to mow for a longer period without having to stop and sharpen the
knife edges.
Must haves for either brand of mower with hammer knives:
V belt tension gauge
One set of 3 cog V belts kept in a sealed plastic garbage bag out of sunlight
At least six spare hammer knifes
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For the Flipper Super:
V Belt tension gauge
One set of V belts kept in a sealed plastic garbage bag out of sunlight
At east 12 spare side slicer knives
Now as far as sharpening the hammer knives and the side slicers I will tell you that
investing in a slow speed wet well grinder will maintain the cutting edges and will not
cause them to become brittle and lose the tempering.
The least expensive wet well grinder will be good enough for this work as long as you
purchase an angle adjuster for the wet well grinders tool holder to maintain the proper angle.
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The only other flail shredder mower I would like you to look at is the Vrisimo Minimax flail mower.
I have attached the file describing it in this message.
The Vrisimo flail mowers/crop shredders are made in California.
The widest MiniMax model has a 6 foot width of cut and it has 33 overlapping scoop knives.
It also has the trash deflector doors in the front of the mower to prevent objects from being
thrown forward if they are impacted by the flail mowers scoop knives.
The MiniMax was designed to be operated in front of a mule with a three point hitch
or the rear three point hitch.
Leon
