Rotary Cutter nicest finish from a non-grooming rotary cutter?

[leonz]

Thanks for the responses.

It makes sense to me that keeping the blades sharp and cutting only grass will be helpful. This seems doable. I was thinking higher blade speed would be helpful also.

In looking at light vs medium vs heavy duty cutters, I wonder if, all other things being equal, there is any difference in ability to cut grass well.

I am looking at getting a tractor with about 60PTO (probably a Kubota M7060), so I think I should be ok with a 12 foot cutter (based on comments from this board, sales people, and friends). Does this sound accurate?

I definitely would consider the flail idea, but wonder how well a flail would cut in the 12 foot model. I wonder if the quality of the cut would suffer with a single cutter of this size on uneven ground. I liked the idea of an orchard flail and have priced them. The short tail also seems like a plus.

I have only used up to an 8 foot rotary, never a batwing. Do the three decks of a clevis attached batwing independently float over the ground, or is it the same concept as a flail in that there is fixed level of cut across the whole batwing/3 decks?

=============================================================================

I think you mean a batwing mower with "2" continuous welded piano hinges connecting the wings with the center actually;

They will only float as much as the continuously welded piano hinges will let them float which amounts to an upward movement from the level plane to some extent as the flat proof wheels will only allow so much movement-based strictly on wheel wear.

As far as the cut its a case of how much mower and accesories you can buy for that mower meaning front gauge wheels "If" that is an available option on X brand of rotary mower/cutter.


A 12 to 15 food crop shredder will cut down to a 2 inch cutting height as long as you have a big enough mule to do the job period.


If your buying new-a Hiniker 15 foot flail shredder with side slicers will last you forever with your power and you can make money from crop shredding and topping off hay fields to get rid of old growth prior to winter which is someyhing that should be done by hay growers

I would rather see you buy a good used gear drive unit with more power and a cab as there are plenty of them around and with the amount of low hour iron on the market it makes it a buyers market so you have time to look.

You will spend less money on power allowing you to buy a new 15 foot Hiniker flail shredder with a towing kit and lights.

A rotary is going to depend on the ground speed of the machine and the blade tip speed at
the 540 RPM Power take off speed.

Just consider this for a minute:

The Landpride flail mowers built by Maschio of Italy have trash doors that allow the user to mow in heavy brush conditions where all the material is expelled through the trash door in the rear of the mower. This allows you to mow in heavy growth with a smaller mule.
The only thing is that they have the cast scoop knives as they are used in Vineyard and orchards to break up branches and limbs but work well in heavy brush with the trash door fully open.

A finish flail mower or a flail shredder with side slicers will allow you to recut the wet material too and shred it further. A scoop knife flail mower or flail shredder like the land pride units will only cut the brush in one pass and not recut it to smaller clippings.

Keeping the brush low allows you to mow faster and mow cleanly so keep that in mind.

 

[Buxus]

A finish flail mower or a flail shredder with side slicers will allow you to recut the wet material too and shred it further. A scoop knife flail mower or flail shredder like the land pride units will only cut the brush in one pass and not recut it to smaller clippings.

Thanks to all of you for your posts.

If I understand your recommendations correctly, you are suggesting either a large flail shredder like a Hiniker or a finish flail mower.

As I understand it, the side slicer is the type of blade on a flail that gives the nicest cut on grass.

Would the Hiniker, which looks to be designed for heavy ag work, cut a lawn nicely?

Can you point me in the direction of a "finish flail mower with side slicers?" What I have found are all in the small 6 foot range. I am thinking something 12-15 feet if possible.

Thanks again.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I think you would be hard pressed to find a twelf foot flail mower. It would have to be in sections. Even a six foot has trouble is the ground is not perfectly level. I just got rid of a sixteen (or fourteen?) foot Alamo finishing wing mower. It would have done what you wanted. It had high blade speed and rear discharge decks. I ran it with a 68 PTO tractor which was a little too much I always thought. But then when trying to sell it, we tried a 45 PTO HP tractor and it wasn't enough.

 

[Buxus]

I had planned on a 11-14ft finishing mower, but I am afraid that if I get one, I will be locked into mowing every week. At times weather or my job will leave me at 2-3 weeks between mowing certain "zones" of my property. In May in Maryland 3 weeks equals 12 inches of grass.

I'd like to avoid getting both a finish mower and a bush hog (for use when I miss a couple of weeks). Could your Alamo finish mower make it through 12 inch grass (no saplings)?

For the flail guys in the crowd, what would you pick to leave a nice finish? Will the triple section flail mowers handle 12 inch grass?

 

[jeff9366]

I have nothing against flail mowers.

Just consider how many parts are in a flail mower relative to an extremely simple bush hog. Probably eight parts on a flail for every one part on a 'hog.

Sharpening two or four straight blades on a bush hog with an angle grinder is lots easier than sharpening hundreds of complex-shaped flail teeth. Replacement ditto.

Got it?

This selection is a NO BRAINER.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I bought the Alamo, well, just because (at auction) and used it to cut about 35 acres of fields that farmers did not want at that time, plus a little custom work. I left my fields to the fall when the vegetation was dried out. So the grass was high, but not hard to cut. It would have been a challenge to cut foot high lush grass. If it worked, it would leave a heck of a mess. That much cut material doesn't just disappear.



I had new frames made to raise the decks for cutting fields. The originals had upward bends in them.

I was surprised at the little demand for such a mower when I tried to sell it. Years ago, I found out that the main gear box on this thing was six grand, a lot more then I got for the machine. It was a real rush to use it, but I was glad to get rid of it.

 

[ovrszd]

I have nothing against flail mowers.

Just consider how many parts are in a flail mower relative to an extremely simple bush hog. Probably eight parts on a flail for every one part on a 'hog.

Sharpening two or four straight blades on a bush hog with an angle grinder is lots easier than sharpening hundreds of complex-shaped flail teeth. Replacement ditto.

Got it?

This selection is a NO BRAINER.

I've got 2 Brush Cutters and a Flail. I totally agree. It's a debatable issue whether the Flail cut is worth the cost of operation. My 6ft cutter has never had the blades sharpened or any repairs, works like a champ. I work on the Flail continuously to keep it in fit form.

 

[leonz]

I had planned on a 11-14ft finishing mower, but I am afraid that if I get one, I will be locked into mowing every week. At times weather or my job will leave me at 2-3 weeks between mowing certain "zones" of my property. In May in Maryland 3 weeks equals 12 inches of grass.

I'd like to avoid getting both a finish mower and a bush hog (for use when I miss a couple of weeks). Could your Alamo finish mower make it through 12 inch grass (no saplings)?

For the flail guys in the crowd, what would you pick to leave a nice finish? Will the triple section flail mowers handle 12 inch grass?

The flail shredders will handle that without yawning, the issue is power. As for 12 inch growth your going to want to leave it at 2 inches so that you can recut it with zero issues and have clippings that will dissolve quickly.

The other issue is sod quality and whether you can live with the close cut too- the good thing is that you can recut at four miles an hour depending only on the terrain of course.

Deciding whether you want a folding crop shredder or a one piece unit with a towing package is your first step in this journey. The hinikers can be three point hitch mounted for work and then disconnected and reattached for end towing with light kits and hydraulic lift wheel kits.

Its always a seat time factor period and you have to remember the golden rule- foir every one mile per hour you are traveling 88 feet per minute

1 MPH 88 FPM
2 MPH 176 FPM
3 MPH 266 FPM
4 MPH 352 FPM

TIMES the width of the implement

SO if you invest in a 15 foot hiniker crop shredder you
will cover 1,320 square feet per minute at one mile per hour to 5280 square feet per minute at four miles per hour and with four miles per hour you will cover 316,800 square feet per hour a little under 7 acres an hour if you are running at 4 MPH. The 12 footer with all the bells and whistles may be all you need after all.

NOW ABOUT knife sharpening a flail shredder in grass and brush service in known mowing conditions will go many years between the times needed to flip the side slicer over to expose the opposing side and will last many more seasons before you need to sharpen them so no worries there ever and any saplings that come up wont be there for long when mowing at 2inches either. these machines are very well built and are ment for shredding corn stalks cotton stalks, Beet tops, Sugar cane stalks, potato topping etc. so your knife set will last you a long time before flipping it over to expose the opposite edge.

The other thing is that its a safer way to mow and you will not eject anything that a side slicer impacts where a rotary cutter will eject material for hundreds of feet and can kill a pedestrian or impact a house as it happened to iron horse in Australia when he stopped using a brand new rotary cutter for mowing and land clearing trading it in on a brand new flail mower for his work..

Please look up "iron horse" and read his threads about mowing and how his first rotary cutter hit an object(a bolt sticking out of the ground IIRC)and propelled it across a wide expanse and how it penetrated a house and the metal bolt stopped short of a crib if I remember correctly.


Most flinsh flailmowers made these days including almost all the imports use smaller diameter flail mower rotors and longer knives that cannot become airfoils to give an even cut.

A Hiniker has solid mounted side slicer knives on a large diameter flail mower rotor and the grass will recover quickly with less damage from the act of mowing with the "verticut method" compared to being torn by a rotary mower or rotary cutter..

The right flail mower(FOR YOU) will outlive your tractor and the next one and a mule with even bigger power will have no issues with a 12 foot hiniker or other brand crop shredder BTY.

V BELTS, greasing,checking the tires and checking the gearbox oil are the major needs of any brand of crop shredder.

A disc mower has the same issues a rotary mower or cutter does so keep that in mind as well and the clippings will be very long as well.


Please send me your e-mail via PM when you have a moment as I cna help you with examining the folding flail mowers that are out there.

 

[Buxus]

I bought the Alamo, well, just because (at auction) and used it to cut about 35 acres of fields that farmers did not want at that time, plus a little custom work. I left my fields to the fall when the vegetation was dried out. So the grass was high, but not hard to cut. It would have been a challenge to cut foot high lush grass. If it worked, it would leave a heck of a mess. That much cut material doesn't just disappear.

View attachment 447145

I had new frames made to raise the decks for cutting fields. The originals had upward bends in them.

I was surprised at the little demand for such a mower when I tried to sell it. Years ago, I found out that the main gear box on this thing was six grand, a lot more then I got for the machine. It was a real rush to use it, but I was glad to get rid of it.

Looks like a nice mower and a nice cut in the picture. Why were you glad to be rid of it? What do you use now?

Another question: I see what I assume is your JD 6200 in the photo. Multiple people have told me get a smaller tractor (45 PTO) for finishing mower work. They said too much weight on the grass is a problem, and limited maneuverability, etc. Any problems using your bigger tractor for this work?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I use a ten foot Cushman hydraulic mower for much of my mowing. It could cut something insane like eighty acres a day. It's an absolute joy to use. It would do what you ask. I occassionally take it into high grass and brush.

It has the nice option of using one, two or all three decks. Something the Alamo would not allow for. Plus it is always ready, not having to be hooked up first. It will go around trees like a zero turn. It is really easy to side swipe something with the Alamo.

The Cushman probably cost the taxpayer eighty grand, and if anything ever goes wrong with it, it could be very, very expensive!

I used the Alamo with the JD 6200. Since I did field work, compaction didn't matter. The 6200 is very, very hard on turf, just chews it to bits! It was also nice to be up high, away from the dust and action.

I got rid of the Alamo, because it took up room and I really had no further need for it. The cash croppers want every last inch of land now.