Flail Mower McConnel Hammer Flails

[Farmall45b]

After three years of use, it is finally time to replace some of the hammer flails on my McConnel Magnum 130 flail mower. I have been having a hard time finding a source for these flails in the USA. I have e-mailed flailmaster, hard hitter, and a few others and had no luck. Does anyone have any other sources that they use for these kinds of parts. I have attached a picture of the flails with dimenstions.

 

[Farmall45b]

I also see in my parts manual, that there are optional y-blades available for this machine. I am thinking that it may be easier to find y-blades and bushings that are adaptable to this mower than hammer blades. Does anyone have any ideas on knives and spacers that might fit the dimenstions of this machine? I think that all that is critical is the lenght of the knife and the spacer diameter need to fit the diamter of the y-blade and the mounting width on the rotor and the mounting bolt diameter.

 

[Farmall45b]

Here is what the y-blade setup looks like. Basically, if the length was near 4 inches long, and the bushings fit the flails and had a center hole to fit a M14 (.55inches) I think it could be made to work.

 

[leonz]

Here is what the y-blade setup looks like. Basically, if the length was near 4 inches long, and the bushings fit the flails and had a center hole to fit a M14 (.55inches) I think it could be made to work.

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Hello Farmall45b,

Mconnel Flail Mower is part of the Alamo group now
if you were not aware of this.


In order to contact Alamo Industrial you need to
contact one of their regional sales managers to
obtain parts if you want replacement hammers
for your mower.

About your desired Y blades grass slicers;
please contact flailmaster by phone and explain
that you want to mail a worn out hammer that is
still full length and properly size a Y blade pair
for each hammer in substitution of same.

It would be simple enough to substitute
hardened flat washers for the spacers as
the hardened washers will be up to the task.


I do not think think you wil have any problems
getting hammers or cross referencing the identical
Grass Slicers from Alamo Industrial or to replace the
all the bad hammers by buying replacements from
Alamo Industrial.

 

[Farmall45b]

Leonz,

Yes, I am aware that McConnel is part of Alamo Group. I acctually bought this mower from Tiger Corporation on ebay. I have been in contact directly with McConnel in the UK, the McConnel dealer in the US, and Alamo group. They can get me the replacement hammers, but it will take some time, and considerable expense ($54 a flail X 18 flails + shipping). Alamo says that nothing crosses to any parts they have hear in the states. They are checking to see if any of the Y-blade grass slicers they have would work.

I contacted several companies is the UK that see replacement flails, and some of them can supply replacements, but it is still somewhat expensive. I contacted Keith at Bestco, and they have a hammer that matches my measurments very closely. He is out of stock at the moment, but I am going to get one from him for comparison as soon as they are back in stock.

Once I have a replacement, or am no longer in mowing season, I will contact flailmaster and send them a used flail for them to match up to a y-blade that they carry.

 

[leonz]

Please check with the folks at Muzzi in Italy as well; its been a while since I looked at their online catalog but I vaguely remember them stocking slicers for McConnel.


ZappettificioMuzzi ZAPPETTIFICIO MUZZI soc. coop. a r.l.

Welcome to the "Flail Mower Nation":thumbsup::drool:

 

[Farmall45b]

I contacted Keith from Bestco, as I remember seeing that he had flail hammers very similar to what is on my machine for sale on ebay a little while ago. He sent me the photos of what he handles for flails on the mowers that he sells. The EFGC hammer matches the dimensions of my hammers very closely. The bigest difference that I see is that the mounting hole size is 5/8 (.625) rather than 14.5mm (.570). I don't think that the that the .055 difference in size of the bolt hole will make a difference, as the flails just swing outward on the mounting bolt due to centrifical force. Does anyone know if this sounds correct? He is out of stock at the moment, but I intend to have him send me a sample hammer as soon as they arive back in stock.

 

[leonz]

I would want you to try it with several pairs of hammers
and spacer sleeves from a hardware store selecting bins
before I made a committment as you are dealing with a
very high amount of centrifugal force when under load.




In picture 1 the last knive is what is referred to as scoop knive.

 

[Farmall45b]

The EFGC hammer is essentialy the same as what I have as best as I can tell. The Only difference is the bolt hole diameter. There is a slight amount of play between the bolt hole and the bolt in the current hammers. If the measurements of the EFGC hammers of 5/8 is correct (photo says measurements approximate) then there might be slightly more play than my current setup, but I don't think that it would be a significant amount. I don't think the clearnace will be so much that I will be able to use a bushing to take up the clearance. The width at the mounting location is the same, so I won't need any spacers. I will know better when I get my hands on one and can measure it will a micrometer, as I doubt a mic was used to measure the hammers for the photos.

 

[Farmall45b]

Just to update anyone who may be in the same boat as I was. I did get the heavy duty flail hammers from Keith at Bestco and I think that they will work out just fine. A much better solution than ordering from the UK at twice the cost of what I payed for the mower. (Hammers from UK would be about $50 US each plus VAT and shipping)