Flail Mower Mott Fine Cut Flail in Brush?

[brianidaho]

I found a decent deal on a used Mott 6' flail mower on craigslist, and currently am planning on picking it up this weekend. My main uses will be rough cutting and clearing brush, and maintaining my 20 acres of forest land. My concern, upon further research and comparing pictures on various web sites, I discovered that this mower is set up with the fine cut flails, and the fine cut shaft. My question is how does the "fine cut" setup work for rough cutting, and short of swapping the cutter shaft (not a cheap proposition) are there different options for flails that will make this work better for coarse work?

Also, are there any sources for affordable coarse cut shafts for these mowers? The place I found them wants over a grand. Or, does anyone on here have a coarse cut shaft and want to trade? Best of both worlds if someone here is looking for a fine cut one.

Thanks for any input.
Bri

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

I don't have any experience with the fine knives, but if you have to change the drum (major component) then it may not be worth it.

Then, again, you may just be able to put regular knives on it but that would be more $$....

check with flailmaster.com........drums are very expensive

 

[brianidaho]

I don't have any experience with the fine knives, but if you have to change the drum (major component) then it may not be worth it.

Then, again, you may just be able to put regular knives on it but that would be more $$....

check with flailmaster.com........drums are very expensive

It appears that the pitch of the mounting ears on the fine cut drum is different than the course cut one, so I don't know if regular knives and shackles would fit. Flailmaster has the drums...for something like $1200 for the coarse cut and $2300 for the fine cut one. So unless I can find a used drum for a good deal, that's not happening.

I may just give it a shot anyway. I don't mind replacing knives if they break occasionally (there like $.50 each), but if I wipe out half of them the first day there's a problem. If worse comes to worse, I could probably buy the fine cut one, do some minor rebuilding/repainting/blade replacement and resell it without loosing money. There is a good looking course cut one on ebay, but with shipping cross country the costs add up quickly.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

what about cleaning it all up with a bush hog (borrow one, sell after use??)....then maintain it with the fine cut flail....

unless you really think you can make a buck off of it, i'd keep searching......

being in ID you may have to drive a distance to get one....

i'm really sold on mine....

 

[brianidaho]

what about cleaning it all up with a bush hog (borrow one, sell after use??)....then maintain it with the fine cut flail....

unless you really think you can make a buck off of it, i'd keep searching......

being in ID you may have to drive a distance to get one....

i'm really sold on mine....

I was hoping to pick up some "contract" work with this thing, as well as just on my property. My property is pretty uneven with a fair amount of rocks, even in a maintenance mode the coarse cut would probably be the better plan.

I just got off the phone with Flailmaster, sounds like I'm out of luck. For the fine cut drum you can only mount the fine cut flails, the shackles/d-loops won't fit.

Bummer.

This is one of the few times I wish I was still back east-there are a lot more good deals on tractors and attachments back there. Everything is high priced around here.

 

[tree farmer]

I also have a 6' Mott flail with fine knives and shaft, that I bought used from a golf course here. We have lots of round rocks from 1/2" to 3" diameter that keep appearing in the pasture areas. After replacing the knives twice or more each year, it now resides in the barn and I bought a new 6' rotary. I especially didn't like the 10 lbs. or so of sharp steel ( broken knives) it left behind. It sure cuts nice, though....Dan.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

what about cleaning it all up with a bush hog (borrow one, sell after use??)....then maintain it with the fine cut flail....

unless you really think you can make a buck off of it, i'd keep searching......

being in ID you may have to drive a distance to get one....

i'm really sold on mine....

I doubt that the guy that you borrow the bush hog from would appreciate you selling it.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

option 1 borrow one, option 2 buy one sell when done

I doubt that the guy that you borrow the bush hog from would appreciate you selling it.

 

[brianidaho]

I doubt that the guy that you borrow the bush hog from would appreciate you selling it.

Now that you mention it though...does sound like a good idea!

Just to close the drama, I talked at some length with another on-line dealer in flail parts. Not only does the "fine cut" cutter shaft have more blades, they are smaller than the coarse cut one, also the roller is smaller. All the way around it doesn't sound as beefy. I'm going to pass on this one and either go with a rotary or a rough cut flail.

Thanks for all that replied.
Bri

 

[danielcuilhe]

I'm looking at a similar Mott as the one in the original post. It was gently used until the guy hit a rock and lost some blades, so the Mott became unbalanced. He thought he had bent the shaft, so he took it to the nearest place for repair and they replaced everything... I tend to trust the guy on this story, and I had him run the Mott in front of me: it cut finely, was not vibrating, seemed to work just fine. He got it used from a filbert orchard, so hard to estimate the hours.

The only other question is: the Mott has the smaller, very numerous blades that do the finer cut; on my 25 acres I'll be dealing with 2-foot tender blackberry, some grass (won't let it get too tall) and weeds -- mostly tender stuff, but there's a lot of debris from old Scotch broom that was shredded up and now is littering the place. I wonder if that would be on the rougher side for this Mott? The terrain is a hillside, gently sloping, but uneven (bumps and holes here and there), not as clean as a filbert orchard. So, while the stuff I'll be mowing isn't exactly rough, it isn't just grass either. Any thoughts on how well this Mott would do in there?

PS I also have the option of having a neighbor go in with a rotary mower (a 6 foot) to chop up taller grass, but it won't really affect the Scotch broom debris on the ground: the flail will certainly pick that up. The debris has been laying there for almost a year, so even though there are some big canes and bigger pieces, it is starting to be pretty brittle. But it's rough. Your opinions are most welcome.