Flail Mower New member. New owner JD 25 A Flail mower. Help!

[shaeff]

Maybe this will hold you over for a bit. Cut my very lush field down at the 2.5" setting. It cuts nicer at the .5" setting, but I already had to go slow. Took half cuts at the worst sections, my father would have to do the same with his 34hp diesel Kubota.

The pic of the small tree: I did that just for you! It's about 2-2.5" diameter, that's running it over with the flail once. I was moving rather quickly, normally the flail will strip it down to the trunk.

Machine is my '64 MF35 Utility, I've only got $2100 into it, if you count the flail, everything in that pic I paid a total of $2400.

 

[Ribz]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-new-member-new-owner-jd-image-4192196146-jpg

:shocked:

Well I appreciate knowing one could do that if one wanted to. I don't think that will be necessary, however I do have some wild olive bushes that I might have to try after attacking with FEL. I have some roots left over from trees I pushed over. Looks like no worries running over them with the flail.

Leonz, I was on the tractor today. I had a friend come do some scheduled maintenance and he adjusted the roller down to the 2" setting. I discovered once in the seat that I could operate the pto with no issues. It wasn't under the seat like I had it pictured in my mind. So I made some test runs in my mowed field that has gotten pretty rough looking since I mowed it 10 days ago.

What we discovered is that the rear shield without the sideplates, allows the guard to hang too closely to the roller and the clippings can't escape. It was leaving big globs of grass and bogging down. We strapped the guard up leaving it wide open and Holy Crow... I had a green roostertail of grass following me like an Unlimited Hydroplane. No more bogging down and the cut was much more even.


Bad news is I'm going to have to replace one of the bearings on the roller. It's not really loose yet, but it won't take the grease evenly. My friend thinks its got rust clogging up the works and says it's a matter of time the way it's squeaking. Upon closer inspection, the one on the other side appears to have been replaced already. I got two prices for that blasted bearing $241 and $167.


That made the 70 bucks for my missing sideplate seem like a bargain.

Rain began again in earnest shortly after this, so it will be Sunday at the earliest before I try the field in the back that hasn't been mowed yet this year.

I hurt the finger a week ago today. Spoke with the hand specialist on the phone today who had reviewed my xrays and told me to leave it splinted another month at a minimum, and as long as it hurt when I tap my finger on something solid. Unless I have any issues, I'm good to go and don't need to come into his office at all. Cool :thumbsup: I haven't used anything but Tylenol for pain since that first night. I immobilize and wrap it up when I sleep so I don't hurt it moving in my sleep. Onward and upward.

 

[Ribz]

This is the bearing that needs to be replaced. I also need the side plate for that side.

 

[shaeff]

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=513245"/> This is the bearing that needs to be replaced. I also need the side plate for that side.

Don't spend that much for bearings! Search my posts (or I'll find it for you later today), I cross referenced the bearing part number with a New Holland number and only paid about $60/ea for my bearings. Same units you have there.

I think I got them through Messicks, but I'd have to check on that.

 

[shaeff]

Won't let me edit, just looked at my credit card statement from 11-2016, I paid $110 shipped from Messicks for TWO of those hex bore roller bearings.


Edit- New Holland part #: 80121602 for the hex bore bearings.

 

[Ribz]

I am confused on what I'm seeing. In the parts book it looks like it's showing two different designs for the bearings. One a complete assembly that mounts with two bolts and is more oval shaped. The other is a multi element system with individual parts that mounts with three bolts and is more triangular in shape. I didn't notice that the complete assembly had a different mounting pattern. Can somebody explain what I'm looking at?

Clearly in the photo you can see I have 3 mounting bolts.

 

[Ribz]

Shaeff, no luck finding your thread on those bearings. If you find it please let me know. Thanks.


EDIT. Found it. Thanks.

 

[shaeff]

Shaeff, no luck finding your thread on those bearings. If you find it please let me know. Thanks. EDIT. Found it. Thanks.

I edited my post above with the information

JD changed the bearing and bearing carrier (pillow block) design. The three-hole block that you have takes hex bore bearings. The two-hole block also illustrated in the parts diagram is for the 25A with a smooth bore bearing.

If you look at your mower, the shaft that runs through the bearings is hex shaped. This is a good thing, in theory it prevents the roller from spinning INSIDE the bearing, thus ruining the bearing AND roller.

The round bore bearing accepts the round roller shaft on the other type roller. If the bearing fails, the shaft would rotate inside the bearing's inner race and potentially destroy the shaft unless it was caught in time.

The part number I gave you above will work for your mower, as you have the hex shaped shaft. When you go to replace the bearings, the most difficult part is removing the three mounting bolts. They're usually boogered up pretty good from catching immovable objects. Replace them with new carriage bolts and nylock nuts.

To get the bearing out, no press required. Just remove the flange, you'll notice two flat spots on the back side of the flange. Simply rotate the bearing perpendicular to it's normal rotation and it slips right out. Install is just as easy.

Also, most new roller bearings are NOT greaseable. Neither of my two ruined units were, nor are the new ones I replaced them with. Not a big deal.

 

[Ribz]

Thanks to all the kind help, I am pleased to say, the eagle has landed. (If you weren't alive in 1964 and didn't pay attention in history class, that probably went over your head.) I was able to cut the field yesterday.

As I mentioned before, we had to strap up the back guard to keep the clippings from clogging up the mower. To review, I am using a Kubota 4740 open cab. Mowing at the 2" setting. The only time it bogged down on me was mowing through some heavy purple clover. A little too much ground speed caused it to choke up and momentarily slipped the belt enough to smell burned rubber and smoke the belt. I backed up, slowly engaged the clutch and PTO and it cleared itself with no further problem.
Here's the before with a test path cut through the middle.


And here is the after


Close up


To my surprise, the Johnson grass that was taller than the hood of the tractor, proved to be no match for the 25A. With the 6' bush hog, it was always the most difficult to mow.


My assessment so far, thumbs up. :thumbsup: It wasn't appreciably slower than the bush hog. It did seem to suck more diesel. It looks MUCH better than the cut from the bush hog. Because I was able to back up, it was much more maneuverable and what I lost in ground speed, I think I more than made up in the end. Working the roller seemed to work the grease through that bearing and I think it quieted it down. If I replace that bearing, I'm going to have more questions Shaeff. It looks like there are two bearings on each side. What specificly did you replace?

Thanks again to everyone for getting me up and running. I think this is far far better for my use than a bush hog.

 

[shaeff]

Glad to hear it lived up to your expectations! Your field looks great! Makes me want to put new knives on mine.

Working the roller seemed to work the grease through that bearing and I think it quieted it down. If I replace that bearing, I'm going to have more questions Shaeff. It looks like there are two bearings on each side. What specificly did you replace

That's good, too. Keep an eye on it, though. The upper bearing is for the rotor (on which all your knives are mounted). Those bearings are a bit more involved to replace. The roller (lower hex bore bearings) are pretty easy.

When I did mine, I just cut off the carriage bolts with a grinder, but kept one fully intact with no threads sticking past the nylock nut so I could accurately match the length. All in all, I replaced six carriage bolts/nylock nuts, and the two roller bearings.

One of my bearing block/mounts is cracked. But when I tighten it down the crack closes up tightly, so I just left it that way.

These are the only pics I can find, no pics of the old bearing. One pic is the bearing mount/pillow block, the other is of the roller shaft protruding from the side of the mower with no bearing to support it: