New Tractor and Flail Mower

[vlcakc]

Drove over to the dealer this afternoon to check out the new tractor and mower I ordered. The tractor is a 2018 Case Farmall 55 CVT w/cab. The mower is a Land Pride FM2584 flail, the "84" in the model number being the cutting width in inches. The tractor and mower replaces the New Holland TC-45D and New Holland 918H I've used for the past 16 years. The mower mounts with a Land Pride QH15 quick hitch. The dealer had the mower mounted and had tested it before I arrived. The mower mounted easily with the quick hitch. Mower ran very smoothly with no vibration felt in the cab. Mower appears very "beefy", even more so than the NH 918H which was a pretty heavy duty mower in it's own right. Mower came equipped with the "Y" blade option. I also ordered a set of HD hammer blades to deal with a brushy pasture area that needs clearing later this Spring. Dealer is waiting on the last implement, a grapple, to be delivered before he can deliver everything. Grapple is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, so may get delivery later this week.

I'll be very interested to see how the new mower performs compared to the old NH918H. The old mower handled everything I tried with no problems. Never even had to replace the belts! Can post pics and initial impressions in a few days if anyone is interested. Later, Vic

 

[Xfaxman]

Yep, pictures please.

 

[majorwager]

Agree with photo request. Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

 

[vlcakc]

Agree with photo request. Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

The last implement, the grapple, was delivered to the dealer today, so hopefully I will get delivery soon! Photo requests noted! I'll have the camera ready when the delivery truck arrives.

The dealer was a little concerned that the flail I specified might be too large for the tractor I bought. He was more concerned about the 3-point lift capacity than the PTO HP though. Land Pride Engineering was contacted with the question. Their response was that there would be no problem with HP, that this flail could be used on tractors with even less PTO HP. A test run in the dealers yard verified that the lift capacity was way more than adequate. There was no heavy grass or weeds in the. dealer's yard to mow, so the PTO output couldn't be really challenged. After using the NH 918H flail on a smaller tractor in some heavy 5-6' vegetation with no problems, I've become a member of the "If you can lift it, you can spin it school". When I start clearing the brushy pasture land later this Spring I'll find out for sure. Vic

 

[RoyJackson]

Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

I have a Caroni 1900 flail mower (72") behind a 46 PTO tractor. It's going to depend on how thick and tall the vegetation is. I normally mow field grasses up to about 3' tall and not real thick. Doesn't even slow the mower or tractor down a bit.

 

[vlcakc]

Tractor and implements were delivered this afternoon!



Yuk! New Land Pride / Kubota orange isn't a great color match for a red tractor. It'll just have to do though.



Close up showing LP Quick Hitch installation.



I had to give it a trial run! More later. Vic

 

[vlcakc]

Quick test run on last year's Bluestem vegetation. "Y" blades were on the mower. Hammer blades are on order.



Cut was smooth and clean. Granted, dry grass isn't much of a challenge, but it's all I've got now.



Mulching was very good on the dry grass. The skids will need to be adjusted as they were dragging a furrow. Otherwise everything looks good.

I'll start another thread on the EA grapple later. Vic

 

[majorwager]

An orange tractor purchase would have solved the color coordination issue. Land Pride did offer a beige color option, perhaps not now that they are kubota owned??

 

[Fallon]

Agree with photo request. Flail mowers have reputation for devouring HP. You can discuss if that is true?

I had to go slower with my 7' flail than my 5' rotary on my L3200, but covered the same acres per hour more or less. What was explained to me & makes a lot of sense is mulching. Flails re-cut material a lot more & do a better job mulching. But all that re-cutting takes power. I like the superior finish quality & mulching action, so it's worth it to me.

 

[Fallon]

Beat to **** patched up old Ford 917 7' flail behind my old L3200. A 7' wide mower on a 25hp PTP 32hp engine machine is kind of pushing it. But it did the job well if a little slowly in that thicker grass & brush. I ran that mower on my new L4060 last year until I replaced it with the yet un-proven Peruzzo Super Bull here this winter.

I love the nice smooth carpet it left, no clumps even in that heavy grass. And due to the heavy mulching action that fine carpet disappeared below the live grass quickly.