Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions

   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions #21  
Thanks for the interesting review. I have been contemplating a double blade test for some time and plan to make something similar to the megmo for testing one day using disk mower blades.

I also don't think the round hole is an issue. I made a set of blades to use .155 push trimmer string on a rider years ago and did the same thing they did. I bored a round hole that fit neatly over the star and never had a problem with them coming loose. BUT that had the large strings instead of long blades. It gave me the ability to cut higher grass and weeds than I could with blades but didn't produce a quality cut. Both my JD F725 and my Agmate finish mowers just use round holes in the blades.

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I recently put a couple of disc mower blades on a saw blade to run on a push string trimmer. That setup did very well and I was able to cut stuff up to 1/2" with no problem. The way I have that mounted it cuts right at ground level which was fine for what I was doing. I pretty much mowed the areas I was working down to bare dirt. I put a link to that project in your other thread.

The next time I mow I am going to stack two blades on my finish mower. I am planning to square them and tack weld them to prevent any misalignment from happening.

I have bought enough disc mower blades to make a set of 4 blade cutters for my finish mower. I haven't made a final plan if I am going to use two cross bars or cut circles like the MM blades. I got a quote for having precision circles water jetted but it was going to cost more than I want to invest in a test. I made a circle guide to use with my plasma cutter I am going to try out and see if I can make balanced enough plates for this project. I am using flat disc mower blades that can spin 360 degrees.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions #22  
Meg-Mo blades on anything but a zero turn are okay at best. I bought a set for my BX 60” deck. They never left a clean cut. They’d leave small windrows if cut grass. I don’t think the blade tip speed is high enough. After spending $150 on them, they don’t even look good hanging on my barn post.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions
  • Thread Starter
#23  
Sorry Q/S-farmer and I don't mean to just sound critical, but from the 3rd picture in Post 6, it doesn't look to me like the Meg-Mo does a good job of cutting at all. It looks like the Meg-Mo just lays over the heavy grass rather than chopping it up like your rough mower.


Can you tell me what causes the striping? I have that problem too, and would like to see a smooth cut all the way across.

Thanks for your post and the pictures.

It's hard to capture in pictures what's happening with the grass. I would say the Meg-Mo does about the same job on that grass as the rough mower, it cuts it about 6" high. The difference is the rough mower lays the clippings down on top of it but the Meg-Mo shoots them quite far -- like up to 15'. So the Meg-Mo side looks a lot more uneven. Grass that tall starts to grow in clumps so it's never going to look like a lawn when it's cut short.

I'm pretty sure the striping is caused by the swing blades retracting somewhat as the deck clogs with clippings.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions
  • Thread Starter
#24  
QSFarmer, a good flail mower with hammers wouldn't even know it was cutting any of that and it would cut it as low as you would want it to be cut. Most of that stuff is way more than you should be cutting with your mower. I have one question for the MM. Do they have mulching blades for that setup? I run mulchers on both of my JD ZTs.

I guess everyone's experience is different. I have a 68" flail mower with hammers. It has three problems with tall grass:

1. On any mower, if the grass is taller than the length of the deck it doesn't all get cut. The grass gets pushed over by the front of the deck and is still being held down when the stalk reaches the rear of the deck. My flail is only about 18" long so anything over 18" tall it has trouble cutting. My only mower that doesn't have this issue is my drum mower, which doesn't have a deck.

2. In heavy grass the flail mower has trouble clearing the clippings. Eventually they will accumulate and clog the mower. The flail has very little airflow to move clippings.

3. When my grass is tall it is very strong and wiry. It will wrap around the rotor of the flail mower and jam it.

When the mower jams -- items #2 and #3 -- it's very bad. Belts burn up in a hurry and bearings aren't far behind. I just don't take the flail mower into tall grass because it's not worth the risk of damage. That's true of all of my lawn mowers, the only mowers I will take into really tall grass are the rough mower and the drum mower, it's just too easy to break them. But with the Meg-Mo I can take the lawn tractor into the tall stuff and I don't feel like I'm in danger of breaking it. Time will tell whether I'm justified in feeling that way.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions #25  
That's true of all of my lawn mowers, the only mowers I will take into really tall grass are the rough mower and the drum mower, it's just too easy to break them. But with the Meg-Mo I can take the lawn tractor into the tall stuff and I don't feel like I'm in danger of breaking it. Time will tell whether I'm justified in feeling that way.
Are you saying its too easy to break your rough cut mower? So much so that you would rather take a lawn mower in heavy grass? Sounds like you need a new heavier duty rough cut mower
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions #26  
I guess everyone's experience is different. I have a 68" flail mower with hammers. It has three problems with tall grass:

1. On any mower, if the grass is taller than the length of the deck it doesn't all get cut. The grass gets pushed over by the front of the deck and is still being held down when the stalk reaches the rear of the deck. My flail is only about 18" long so anything over 18" tall it has trouble cutting. My only mower that doesn't have this issue is my drum mower, which doesn't have a deck.

2. In heavy grass the flail mower has trouble clearing the clippings. Eventually they will accumulate and clog the mower. The flail has very little airflow to move clippings.

3. When my grass is tall it is very strong and wiry. It will wrap around the rotor of the flail mower and jam it.

When the mower jams -- items #2 and #3 -- it's very bad. Belts burn up in a hurry and bearings aren't far behind. I just don't take the flail mower into tall grass because it's not worth the risk of damage. That's true of all of my lawn mowers, the only mowers I will take into really tall grass are the rough mower and the drum mower, it's just too easy to break them. But with the Meg-Mo I can take the lawn tractor into the tall stuff and I don't feel like I'm in danger of breaking it. Time will tell whether I'm justified in feeling that way.
I have no idea what kind of flail you have but I have a Maschio 10' reverse rotation flail with hammers that has none of the issues you listed. I cut all of my grass at 1.5" to 2" and the flail does as good a job as my 2 ZTs or the 20' finish mower. The flail will also cut the tickest material you can put thorough it and it doesn't clog or wrap. It has air flow but doesn't really need it because it mulches everything.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions
  • Thread Starter
#27  
Are you saying its too easy to break your rough cut mower? So much so that you would rather take a lawn mower in heavy grass? Sounds like you need a new heavier duty rough cut mower
"Them" refers to lawn mowers. To break the rough cut mower I have to hit a rock, just right.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions
  • Thread Starter
#28  
An update: this week I replaced a spindle on the mower. At this point last year I had broken two mower drive belts, three spindles, one mower pulley and two blades with the conventional blades. I think we did more mowing this summer than last year, the first half of the summer was very wet and the grass grew like crazy. Although we've been in a drought for the last month or so and the grass isn't growing at all.
 
   / Meg-Mo swinging blades -- first impressions #30  
Glad the blades have made an improvement. But those kind of constant failures and so frequently tells me you need to step up a few notches from a box-store homeowner grade mower
 
 
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